Battlefields Foundation Announces Preservation Victory at Clinedinst-Crim Property on the New Market Battlefield

Originally published July 2018 · p. 3

NEW MARKET, Va.—One of the most iconic parts of the New Market Battlefield is now forever preserved. On Friday, May 25, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation announced the preservation of the Clinedinst-Crim Property. This site played important roles during the famous battle, in the immediate aftermath of the fighting, and in post-war years. The SVBF also unveiled a marker in honor of Virginia Military Institute Cadet Thomas Garland Jefferson, a great nephew of founding father Thomas Jefferson, who died of wounds on the property. Speakers at the event included Keven Walker, Chief Executive Officer of SVBF; John Hutchinson, Director of Conservation of the SVBF; Lt. Col. Troy Marshall, Site Director of the Virginia Museum of the Civil War; John Crim, great-grandson of Eliza Clinedinst Crim; and David Edwards of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The unveiling of the Jefferson marker, in the front yard of the Clinedinst-Crim House, just steps away from where Jefferson died,—took place immediately after the announcement. The Battle of New Market, fought on May 15, 1864, was a Confederate victory that threw back a major Union advance. The Clinedinst-Crim property sits on the eastern part of the battlefield, where the opposing armies

Keven Walker, Chief Executive Officer of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. “All too often, there was no dividing line between battlefront and home front. That’s what makes it so critical for us to preserve sites such as this, places that tell that story. This site was someone’s home and it was in the middle of the battle, core battlefield land.”

Thomas Garland Jefferson engaged in an artillery duel before the fighting moved through the town, including the Clinedinst-Crim property, bringing the horror of war to the doorsteps of the residents. After the battle, the Clinedinst-Crim property served as a hospital location for wounded. The property was the home of Lydie Clinedinst, the celebrated “Mother Crim,” who was given that title by VMI Cadets for her care of wounded soldiers after the battle, and for her work to preserve and honor the memory of the cadets in the post-war years.

Lydie Clinedinst. (Eliza Crim) Jefferson, a VMI cadet and great nephew of President Thomas Jefferson, was wounded on the Bushong Farm during the battle. He died three days later, May 18, 1864, on the Clinedinst-Crim property, with Lydie Clinedinst and Jefferson’s friend, fellow VMI cadet (and future renowned artist) Moses Ezekiel by his side. Jefferson’s sacrifice is commemorated today in the logo for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, which features his likeness in the design as a symbol of the human cost of the war in the Valley. “People lose sight of the fact that Civil War battles were not fought only on broad, open landscapes, but also in and through towns, on people’s doorsteps,” said

Additional Details During the Battle of New Market, the Clinedinst-Crim property was at the heart of the fighting through town. As the battle moved north of town, it left behind a landscape full of dead, dying, and wounded men. Despite the stunning events of the day, and even as the battle continued to rage further north, the people of New Market rushed out to help. Among them was 24-year old Lydie Clinedinst, the daughter of a local carriage maker, who was living with her parents in New Market. Lydie is said to have been the first civilian to reach the field and she was soon joined by many others. “They commenced carrying the dead from the field…” Lydie remembered. “O, what a sickening sight after the battle.” Lydie and her family helped care for the wounded and dying, including mortally-wounded Thomas Garland Jefferson, throughout the night and into the next day. After the battle, Jefferson’s friend, fellow cadet Moses Ezekiel (the first Jewish cadet at VMI), went in search of his comrade. Finding the badly-wounded Jefferson lying on the floor of a hut, Ezekiel got a wagon and transported Jefferson to the Clinedinst home. Jefferson, now in grave condition, was placed in Lydie’s mother’s bed. Lydie recalled that “When we laid him down he looked up at me, and said: ‘Sister, what a good, soft bed.’ Mother had an old-time feather bed, and it must have felt soft to him after lying on the hard ground…He was about sixteen years of age, was blue-eyed, and had golden hair. I will never forget him and his sweet, boyish face. He was shot in the breast, and the bullet was cut out of his back. His sufferings were intense, but he bore up so well and never complained. Cadet Ezekiel nursed him very tenderly. His own mother could not have done more for him.” Jefferson’s wound was mortal. Lydie later wrote, “The evening before he died, he called Cadet Ezekiel to read for him. He read the fourteenth chapter of St. John: ‘Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you.’… He died about midnight in Moses Ezekiel’s arms. He was buried in the old churchyard where they fought so bravely.” Lydie Clinedinst would forever be connected with the Institute and its cadets. She married John Crim in 1867 and became extremely active in the efforts to commemorate the battle and the role of “her boys,” the VMI cadets. In 1881, Lydie’s brother, John, a Confederate veteran, built a new house on the site of their childhood home, and later sold it to Lydie’s son. As she got older and needed more care, Lydie moved in with her son. Lydie and the house became a rallying point for VMI cadets and other veterans and their families who returned to the battlefield in post-war years. Lydie herself became known as the “mother of the VMI Cadets”—“Mother Crim.” During commemorative events Lydie, now Eliza Crim was the matron of honor, honored for her service to those suffering cadets who had fallen in the battle. When VMI awarded special “New Market Cross of Honor” medals to the cadets who fought in the battle, Lydie was also presented with a medal, the only woman to receive one. Lydie died at home in 1931 at the age of 93, just a few feet from where she had cared for Thomas Garland Jefferson so many years before. Over 1,000 mourners, including two congressmen, gathered in New Market for her funeral. Six VMI cadets, including two grandsons of cadets who had fought at New Market, carried her flag-draped casket to the cemetery. She was laid to rest under a tombstone that reads, “Mother of New Market Cadets”…a lasting tribute to “Mother Crim.” The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation serves as the community-driven non-profit manager of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, partnering organizations and governments to preserve the Valley’s battlefields and interpret and promote the region’s Civil War story. Website is located at www.ShenandoahAtWar.org