The Gallant Pelham

Young, handsome, and modest, Major John Pelham was one of the most popular men in the Confederate army and one of its premier artillerists. Time and again, the twenty-four-year-old officer engaged the enemy at close quarters, earning the praise of his superiors and the respect of his peers. He gained his greatest fame at Fredericksburg, where on December 13, 1862, he single-handedly took on the Union army and delayed its advance by almost an hour. Although finally forced back to the main line, he continued to battle the Federals, pouring shot and shell into their advancing ranks from his position astride the modern Benchmark Road, one half mile to your front. The brave young Alabamian died three months later during the Battle of Kelly’s Ford, leaving a legacy of military prowess and unsurpassed valor.

Virginia · United States