Atlas Obscura
The Field of Lost Shoes in New Market, Virginia
In early 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant deployed forces led by General Franz Sigel down the Shenandoah Valley to target the strategically-important railroad junction at Staunton. In response, Confederate General John C. Breckinridge hastily gathered as many men, tested and untested, as he could find and marched them northward. Among the mustering were 257 cadet volunteers, some as young a…