On March 17, 1863, Union Gen. William W. Averell led 2,100 horsemen to the northern bank of the Rappahannock River at Kelly's Ford, under orders to rout or destroy Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and his cavalry command in their camps at Culpeper Court House. Averell's men pushed through heavy fire and advanced about a mile before Lee counterattacked near Wheatley's Ford. Dismounted Union troopers drove back the Confederate cavalry from behind a stone wall and mortally wounded artillerist John Pelham before remounting and chasing the Virginians into the fields, where the two lines collided several times in a savage melee. In a swirling fight marked by pistol fire, saber blows, and cries of "To the death!" the Federals forced their opponents back across Carter's Run. With artillery fire passing overhead, Lee rallied his shaken men, and after eight hours of hard fighting Averell chose to withdraw. Although he failed to rout or destroy his foe, the battle proved that the reorganized and refitted Union cavalry had become a combat force to be reckoned with.
