May 15, 1864. The Shenandoah Valley. A Union army marched south to burn the breadbasket of the Confederacy. Standing in its way: John C. Breckinridge, former Vice President of the United States, the man who had run against Lincoln in 1860, with 4,500 men he didn't have. Among them, 257 cadets from the Virginia Military Institute. The youngest was 15. They had marched 80 miles in four days to reach the field, sleeping in the rain, eating nothing but hardtack. Breckinridge ordered them held in reserve. "I will not put those children in," he said. By afternoon, his center was buckling. He turned to his aide, eyes wet. "Put the boys in, and may God forgive me for the order." They advanced through a rain-soaked wheat field. The Virginia mud was so deep it sucked the shoes from their feet. The locals would call it the Field of Lost Shoes forever after. They didn't run. They didn't break. They charged a Union battery in the open, and took it. One cadet swung the captured gun around and fired it back at the retreating Federals. 10 boys died. 47 fell wounded. The youngest killed was 17. 162 years later this morning, VMI will call their names. A bugler will play. The Corps will stand silent in formation. They have done this every May 15 without missing a year.