"The spring of 1864 opened with United States forces pressing Confederate armies defending fronts scattered throughout the Confederacy. Union Gen. Franz Sigel was assigned the task of securing the Shenandoah Valley, always one of the Civil War's most hotly contested areas. On the last day of April 1864, Sigel, with 9,000 men and 28 guns, marched south from Martinsburg. By May 11, Sigel's advance ran into Confederates posted at Rude's Hill under the command of a Maryland Confederate, Capt. T. Sturgis Davis. Davis and his commander, Gen. John Imboden, were able to delay the Federal advance until Gen. John C. Breckenridge arrived at New Market with his small army, including the Virginia Military Institute Cadet Battalion. On the even of his May 15th success at New Market, Breckenridge advanced his artillery to the crest of this hill where they shelled Sigel's disorganized, retreating Federals. " - Civil War Trails sign at Rude's Hill