Battle of Lynchburg, June 18, 1865 A week before the city of Lynchburg was to be invaded by 18,000 Union troops, the city lay vulnerable, unprotected by Confederate forces. Brigadier General Francis T. Nicholls, a double amputee who had recovered in a Lynchburg hospital, organized a corps of convalescing Confederates from Lynchburgs numerous hospitals to defend the city during that critical week. Over 700 cripple corps manned the barricades along with 200 Virginia Military Institute cadets who had rushed to defend the city. The initial line of inner defenses ran through this Old City Cemetery where V.M.I. cadets bivouacked for the night. The cadets and convalescents protected Lynchburg until the Confederate Second Corps and other units arrived to repel the Union attack the next day. Gary.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 21:55:46 +0000
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