New London
Virginia
Page Two
Nevertheless, the village maintained its comfort and dignity for a number of
years. Some of its leaders donated plots of land for the building of a school, and in 1795 New London Academy was founded as a college preparatory school for young men.
It was located in an oak grove one mile west of the village, and originally consisted of the president's house, a brick chapel, and a two-story building which contained class rooms and dormitories. The
Academy acquired an excellent reputation
for the quality of its instruction. A number of distinguished names may be found on it’s rosters, including that of Francis Eppes, grandson of Thomas
Jefferson. In 1879, the Academy became co-educational and soon developed in addition to its college preparatory courses, an outstanding teacher training program. Since 1918 it has been designated as a Smith-Hughes Federal Aid School. It is the oldest secondary school in the South.
When the War Between the States broke out in 1861, New London men were among those who formed the First Virginia Companies in the field. Three years later, in the spring of 1864, the village found itself in the path of General David Hunter’s Raid through the Valley of Virginia to Lynchburg. New Londoners prepared themselves for the fight with pikes, old revolutionary muskets, and anything else which might serve the purpose. Farmers cut down huge trees and threw them across the turnpike to slow the enemy’s advance. On June 16, the Confederate General McCausland attacked Hunter at New London, and there was sharp skirmishing along the Pike and through the village. At one point in the Cemetery were used as breastworks where. The Botetourt Artillery had dug in and were damaged by shells in several places. The staunch defense of the people and the arrival of reinforcements under General Jubal Early broke the back of the Union assault and sent the enemy out of Bedford County in Disorderly Retreat.
Although the old bustling, prosperous New London is no more it’s contribution to the county, state and nation lives on. Much of the atmosphere remains, in the ancient boxwood that fronted the Inn, the line of mock orange trees down the slope to the alum springs, the broad view of the Peaks of Otter past the curve in the Pike. And the spirit lives, too. Almost, it seems, if one looked carefully he might see Jimmy Steptoe, Jefferson’s friend and Clerk of the Court, with his square-rimmed glasses pushed up on his forehead.