Stiff, old and really, really tired...

That would be me.  The cadets who marched to New Market were disgustingly upbeat and surprisingly energetic throughout, moving at a strong pace every day despite some serious foot problems for a couple of them.

Third Classman (or sophomore) Curt Herron rests just outside the town line.  I had driven ahead to film them marching past the sign saying, "New Market," and when they didn't arrive went back to find them resting in the gateway to a nearby farm.  Fortunately, I had checked my odometer, and so was able to tell them they were only 1.3 miles out.

Herron's feet were perhaps the worst of the group, developing painful blisters before rolling his ankle.  Then, the taped padding and bandages rubbed, scraping the skin off the backs of his heels.  He pushed on nonetheless, doing the full distance despite suggestions that he ride part of the way in the support van which followed, carrying water and food.  His hobbled stride was painful to watch...

Here they are upon first arriving at the New Market battlefield.  Behind me as I take this image is the Bushong House, and in the background you can see the Hall of Valor, the museum.  After dropping much of their gear (blanket rolls, haversacks, etc.), the cadets formed into a line and marched to the fence where, 145 years ago to the day, the VMI corps of Cadets moved when called into battle.  As their predecessors did, these six fired two volleys and then climbed over the fence to charge the artillery position at the top of the hill.

I was of course filming during the charge, so there are no stills.  Also, that's a really, really long hill.  

The image above is in the aftermath.  You can see a Union artillery team there -- reenactors there for the events this weekend, who added a sense of reality to the charge by firing blank rounds throughout.  They congratulated the cadets after (having happily surrendered, unlike their historical antecedents, who put up a hand-to-hand fight before giving up the guns) and insisted on having pictures made with them.

In 1864, 10 cadets died as a result of the battle (5 instantly and five from their wounds after) and 47 were wounded.  All these guys lost was one aging filmmaker, who came puffing up behind them at the end of the charge.

So here is the group as they finished lunch:

The lunch was brought by First Classman Ben Scudder's family, there to watch his success.  It was Scudder who organized the whole thing -- that's him standing on the far left.  He's off at the end of summer to join the Coast Guard to help pay for the completion of his final year at VMI.

Kneeling in front is Eric Wittig, and standing, from left to right next to Scudder, are James Lockett, Aaron Cregar, Hank Baker and finally Herron (really Michael Herron, but he goes by "Curt").  Aside from Scudder, all the cadets are Third Classmen.

So now, aside from a couple of general storytelling interviews to provide background, it's on to editing for me, which isn't as exciting to blog.  I'll try to put up a video as soon as I get one ... and as soon as I can figure out how to do it...

Update from the front...

So as I set out this evening to catch up with the cadets, I encountered the rest of the VMI student body practicing for Friday's New Market parade.  They use a special formation, much closer to the road around the parade deck and centered on the statue of Virginia Mourning Her Dead, erected in honor of the cadets killed in the battle.

As I prepared to leave, this scene developed, featuring what I can only assume to be passing tourists...

The heavy metal style contrasted with the pristine white, orderly ranks of cadets was too much, especially with the one fellow slouching on the cannonball (a minor monument on campus).  And yes, I included the "Do Not Enter" sign on purpose.

That's House Mountain in the background, the central local landmark.  Recent rains have really cleared the air around here of haze and pollen, and the view was spectacular.

Meanwhile, on the road...

This is what I found at 11 this morning, when I finally located the cadets marching to New Market in Verona, Virginia.  They had already reached the halfway point of their daily distance, and broken for lunch.  The two at far left are asleep, and the entire group would be before the hour was out.

Also, note the bandaged feet of the cadet second from left, mostly covering hotspots and blisters.  However, before the day was out, he would roll one of his ankles.  He walked through the pain (though with the ankle wrapped) to their destination.

Foot pain seems to be the main problem for the cadets, caused more by the hard surface of the road than their shoes, they claim.  Their morale is disgustingly high...

Tromp, tromp, tromp, the boys are marching...

Seven VMI cadets are reenacting the march their predecessors did over 100 year ago, when they left the campus in Lexington,Virginia, in May of 1864 and marched 85 miles in five days to New Market, to the north, where they took part in the battle there on May 15.  The 2009 cadets are dressed in period clothing and (perhaps most importantly) wearing period shoes.

I had often said that it would be an interesting little film to follow such an adventure, but no one had done it since the last effort in 2005.  So when I was told it was happening this year, I could hardly back out.

Here we see the cadets marching up Route 11, having already been on the road over a day:

And at their campsite at the end of the second day (last night), at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia:

It's not much helping the drama of my show that they all seem rather cheerful, with high morale, and not very worn down by the beating their feet are receiving, after an 18-mile march on the first day and 19 miles on the second...