Battle of New Market Chess Set:

Original 54mm metal toy soldier chess set featuring charging VMI cadets by Frontline Figures.  The set also includes a VMI cadet flagbearer, also by Frontline Figures.

The Union pieces feature pawns by Britains and reflect the 54th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry that were part of General Franz Sigels forces at the Battle of New Market.

Jackson Statue with the "Four Apostles"

Stonewall Jackson Statue:

Stonewall Jackson Statue w/ the Four Apostles:

Coming soon, the Stonewall Jackson statue in 54mm metal (unpainted).  Also available will be the statue complete with the Four Apostles.

In the spring of 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant set in motion a grand strategy designed to press the Confederacy into submission. "My primary mission," reasoned Grant, "is to ... bring pressure to bear on the Confederacy so no longer could it take advantage of interior lines." Control of the strategically important and agriculturally rich Shenandoah Valley was a key element in General Grant's plans. While he confronted General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the eastern part of the state, Grant ordered Major General Franz Sigel's army of 10,000 to secure the Valley and threaten Lee's flank, starting the Valley Campaigns of 1864.

Receiving word that the Union Army had entered the Valley, Confederate General John C. Breckinridge pulled together all available forces to repulse the latest threat. The VMI Cadet Corps, over half of whom were first year students, or "Rats", were called to join Breckinridge and his army of 4,500 veterans. The cadets, under the direction of VMI Commandant of Cadets Lt. Col. Scott Ship, marched 80 miles (130 km) in four days to meet up with General Breckinridge's Confederate force. The cadets were intended to be a reserve and employed in battle only under the most dire circumstances. The two armies met at New Market on May 15, 1864. "I shall advance on him", the aggressive Breckinridge declared. "We can attack and whip them here and we will do it!" As the general rode by the cadets he shouted, "Gentlemen, I trust I will not need your services today; but if I do, I know you will do your duty."

Donated to VMI by President Zachary Taylor in 1850, these four guns were christened as "The Four Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John" by Episcopal rector Col. William Nelson Pendleton and the seminary students "because they spoke a powerful language". At the start of the Civil War the guns were turned over the the 1st Rockbridge Artillery (then under the command of Pendleton). Pendleton loved working with these cannons and felt it was a "good sign from God".  The guns of Rockbridge Artillery saw their first action on July 2, 1861, in a small skirmish at Falling Waters. After first imploring, "May the Lord have mercy on their souls!" battery commander Pendleton shouted, "Fire!" and a large body of charging Union cavalry was sent scurrying for safety.  Nineteen days later the Four Apostles were used in the fighting on Henry House Hill at the Battle of First Bull Run, and played a part in the repulse of repeated attacks on that position. The guns also accompanied the Stonewall Brigade on the winter campaign to Romney, WV, and were heavily engaged in Jackson's famous spring 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign. The battery earned more honors at Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. In May 1863, the 1st Rockbridge defended the heights of Fredricksburg during the Chancellorsville campaign. In 1864 the 1st Rockbridge served with valor in the Wilderness and aided General Robert E. Lee in stopping Grant's advance on Spotsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor.  Replaced with heavier artillery pieces as the War progressed, the 1st Rockbridge was sent to the defenses of Richmond, bombarding the Federal army as it attacked the city. The Four Apostles were captured by Union forces at Deep Bottom as the capital fell.  After the war the Four Apostles were returned to VMI, and the cadets continued to train on them until they were retired in 1913. The Four Apostles were placed at the foot of the Jackson monument on the parade ground at VMI where they can still be seen today.

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