The Mysteries of Kelly's Ford
The events leading to John Pelham's death at Kelly's Ford are shrouded in mystery. According to popular theory, sometime in March, 1863, Jeb Stuart showed Pelham the following note from Miss Nannie Price of "Dundee":
Dear General: We had a little candy stew last night, and knowing your fondness for "sweets" of all kinds, I send you some of it this morning. Miss Brill sends some of it for the "Gallant Pelham," which you must be sure to give him... |
Nannie was visiting Miss Brill at Orange Court House.
The army being inactive and in winter quarters, Pelham was bored with camp life. He decided to thank Miss Brill and Nannie Price personally. General Lee, however, discouraged any unnecessary leaves from the front, so Pelham would ask for leave to inspect Moorman's battery of the horse artillery, conveniently encamped at Rapidan Station1 near Orange. At dinner, Pelham was granted the leave. Norman FitzHugh, Stuart's adjutant, issued the order.
Pelham knew Stuart well. He often granted leave, but if he felt a desire for an officer's company, did not hesitate to rescind it. Therefore, Pelham left "Camp No Camp" at Hamilton's Crossing at dawn, not even taking breakfast. Down the road a few miles was another camp, but he only stopped for a cup of coffee. The roads were bad and muddy, and Pelham's horse naturally slowed its pace. Near his destination, Pelham looked over his shoulder and saw a courier from headquarters approaching -- Stuart wanted him back. He told the courier that the hour was too late and the roads too muddy to turn back, so he spent the night in Orange.
At Orange, next day, a train from Culpeper arrived to procure ammunition. From soldiers on board, Pelham learned of Federal activity along the Rappahannock. He boarded the train for Culpeper and was seen there by Harry Gilmor, a Marylander temporarily serving on Stuart's staff, at the Virginia Hotel the night of March 16.
Stuart had spent March 16 testifying in Culpeper at the court-martial of Colonel Henry C. Pate of the 5th Virginia Cavalry. Early on the 17th, Pelham joined Stuart. Soon couriers arrived with the news of fighting down at Kelly's Ford. Fitz Lee's pickets were already engaged. Borrowing horses, Pelham and Stuart, with Gilmor, rode out to the scene of the fighting.
General William Averell, commanding the Federal cavalry, had left Morrisville at dawn, March 17. About 7 a.m. he reached Kelly's Ford on the Rappahannock River. Confederate pickets put up a stiff resistance, delaying him at least an hour, and he had to force a crossing. His skirmishers then advanced, and the Federals took up a posi tion behind a stonewall on the farm of Mr. C. T. Wheatley.
The skirmishers were hotly engaged when Stuart, Gilmor and Pelham arrived. Pelham's horse artillery was not yet up. Having nothing else to do, he impulsively accompanied the 3rd Virginia Cavalry in its charge against the Union position at the stonewall. The stonewall ran from the river to the road; it was high, and the Confederates were unable to surmount it. There must be a gap somewhere. On the extreme Federal right was a group of outbuildings. There might be a gap there. Shouting "Forward," with raised saber, Pelham accompanied the charge. He fell when wounded by a piece of shell fragment. Harry Gilmor aided in placing his body on a horse and put him in charge of two cavalrymen.
The battle continued its course. The Confederates withdrew to a second position about two miles in the rear, but about 5:30 p.m. Averell recrossed the Rappahannock. He had only gained a few miles of ground and never got to Culpeper Court House. His 2100 men had badly outnumbered Fitz Lee's 800. Federal casual ties were 78 killed, wounded and missing, versus 133 Confederate casual ties. Pelham was the most notable casualty.
Later, Gilmor overtook the two cavalrymen. Instead of seeking immediate help, they were already halfway to Culpeper. Pelham's body had been thrown across the saddle, his head hanging down. Gilmor angrily ordered the men to stop and placing Pelham's body on the ground, was amazed to still hear a heartbeat. An ambulance was found, which took him to Judge Henry Shackelford's house in Culpeper. Three surgeons were sent for, but their efforts were to no avail, and Pelham died at 1 p.m., March 17.
The above is the usually accepted theory as to how Pelham met his fate. The theory is a compilation of varied accounts of Pelham's death, as outlined in books like H. B. McClellan's I Rode with Jeb Stuart, Harry Gilmor's Four Years in the Saddle, W. W. Blackford's War Years with Jeb Stuart, and Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants. Close scrutiny, however, indicates that the theory is marred by many contradictions. More questions are raised by it than are answered.
First, who was the mysterious Miss Brill? I have never found a record of a Brill family in Orange County. Pelham's visit to her and Miss Nannie Price set into motion the series of events leading to Kelly's Ford. Even her first name is unknown.2
Then there is the question of time. Freeman, in Lee's Lieutenants, carefully avoids giving an exact date when Pelham left for Orange. Gilmor does state that he saw Pelham in Culpeper the night of March 16. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that Pelham left for Orange on March 15. He would have required a good day's travel on muddy roads between Fredericksburg and Orange. Of course, obtaining a copy of the leave would solve this question.
What happened to Pelham's horse? James Louis Clark, a friend of Pelham's (he even claims to have been his tentmate at this time) said that Pelham had just bought a horse prior to leaving for Orange. He describes it as "a handsome little pale sorrel of about 850 pounds which arrived the morning he left and was brought to our tent for inspection." So why did Pelham need to go by train to Culpeper? Culpeper is only about 15 miles from Orange. Did Pelham's horse throw a shoe, or otherwise breakdown? Or did Pelham, in his hurry to arrive at Culpeper, be near the scene of possible action, and meet Stuart in order to explain his reason for not returning to camp, simply leave his horse and jumped on the train to Culpeper? Unless something happened to his horse, the latter seems unlikely to me.
Where Pelham stayed once he arrived in Culpeper is debatable. A careful reading of Gilmor will show that he does not say that Pelham spent the night at Colonel Welby Carter's room in the Virginia Hotel, but that he saw him there. Local tradition says that Pelham spent the night at "Redwood," home of the Williams', just one mile from Culpeper Court House. Mayor John W. Kearns of Culpeper, a descendant of Mrs. Williams, has provided us a copy of his great-grandmother's memoir. Written after the war, she states that Pelham spent the night of March 16 in her home and had breakfast there. It is interesting to note that "Redwood" is a Pendleton home, and the Pendletons are related to John Esten Cooke (and, incidentally, the Dandridges). Perhaps Mrs. Williams confused a prior visit of Pelham's with the night of March 16. It is impossible to state with certainty where Pelham spent the night of March 16.
W. W. Blackford wrote that Pelham did not even arrive in Culpeper until March 17 and he had to do some hard riding to catch up with the Confederate forces at Kelly's Ford. Clark says that Pelham was planning to return to camp at Hamilton's Crossing and was at the depot waiting for the train when he met Miss Bessie Shackelford. He became so involved in conversation with her that he missed the train. Then the news came of the fight at Kelly's Ford and he rode out to the front, joining Gilmor. Yet Gilmor positively states that Pelham left with him and Stuart.
At Kelly's Ford, the various accounts make it almost impossible to reconcile what probably happened. We should first note that several people wrote about Kelly's Ford who were not present at the battle. These people include W. W. Blackford, John Esten Cooke, Channing Price, and James Louis Clark. Their testimony is second-hand and confuses more than it enlightens. The only two people who were present and who wrote about the battle were H. B. McClellan and Harry Gilmor. As these two accounts totally differ, we need to examine them in detail.
Harry Gilmor, as already noted, was temporarily assigned to Stuart's staff. According to Gilmor, the 3rd Virginia was already repulsed and the 2nd Virginia Cavalry engaged. Rosser had been wounded and Major J. W. Puller killed. Gilmor wrote:
About half an hour after Puller was killed, Pelham and I were standing together, on the right of the 2d Virginia, which was in line, and just then sustaining a severe fire of shell from a light battery posted near.... The shells continued to explode all around us, but principally in our front; and so familiar had they become, that I had ceased to regard them... when, just as the last files of the 2d wheeled into column, I was deafened, by the explosion of one very near. Even then I did not look back till I heard [Capt. James] Bailey exclaim, "My God, they've killed poor Pelham." I had not heard the well known "thug" of a bullet or piece of shell, which you never fail to hear when a man is struck as near as Pelham was to me. Turning quickly in my saddle, I saw Pelham's horse, without his rider, slowly moving off, and Pelham himself lying on his back upon the ground, his eyes wide open, and looking very natural, but fatally hurt. |
Gilmor, Captain Bailey, and Lieutenant Minnegerode of Fitz Lee's staff placed PeIham's body on Gilmor' s horse. Finding two dismounted cavalrymen, they put Pelham in their care, ordering them to find an ambulance. The blood stained, Gilmor met Stuart, who inquired if he was hurt. When he found out it was Pelham's , .. blood, he reacted with "distress and horror." Later in the battle, Gilmor overtook the two cavalrymen with Pelham's body. He was angered to find that they had not found an ambulance, but were already halfway to Culpeper. Pelham's body was across the horse just as they had placed him when they started off, "his head and hands hanging down on one side, his legs on the other -- face, hair, and hands caked and clotted with mud and blood." Gilmor found an ambulance and Pelham was taken to the Shackelford home where he died at 1 p.m., March 17.
H. B. McClellan would not join Jeb Stuart's staff until after Chancellorsville. At Kelly's Ford, he was adjutant of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, which participated in a charge. McClellan in his book, I Rode with Jeb Stuart, wrote:
The [3rd] regiment swept down the line of the stone fence which separated them from the enemy in the woods beyond, delivering the fire of their pistols....But no outlet could be found through the stone fence, and the 3d regiment turned across the field to its left and moved down toward Wheatley's ice-house. As adjutant of the 3d, it was my duty by Colonel Owen, who led the charge in person, to see that the column was kept well closed up. When about midway of the column, I saw Major John Pelham rushing to its head with the shout of battle on his lips. After the rear of the regiment had passed through a small enclosure near Wheatley's house, I saw a single cavalryman struggling to place the body of a comrade across the bow of his saddle. I approached to assist,' and recognized Pelham. He had been struck in the head by a piece of a shell, and life was extinct. By this narrow chance was his body preserved from falling into the hands of the enemy. |
It is interesting to note that McClellan does not state that Pelham fell at
the stonewall unless "a small enclosure" is defined as such. McClellan
says he assisted in placing Pelham's body on the horse which contradicts Gilmor.
It seems we have two conflicting accounts. Gilmor has Pelham sitting on the sidelines of the 2nd Virginia, not participating in any sort of action, when he was hit; McClellan, on the other hand, has Pelham actively participating in the charge of the 3rd Virginia. Who was the more reliable witness? Gilmor wrote his book, Four Years in the Saddle, in 1866. It would seem he wrote closer to events; however, recent evidence indicates that Gilmor himself did not write his book, but that it was ghostwritten.3 The book is hopelessly melodramatic and Gilmor is the hero on every page. Yet it cannot be dismissed in its entirety. McClellan wrote his book in 1885, twenty years after the end of the war. McClellan tried to be painstakingly accurate and his memory on many occasions, when official reports were not available to him, proved very reliable. It seems unlikely, too, that McClellan would have forgotten what he did that day. As adjutant of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, it was his duty to see that the column was kept well closed up. He would have recognized Pelham if he, in fact, did join in the charge.
An interesting comment on McClellan's book comes from Fourth Sergeant Charles W. Chick, who served in Company I, 2nd Virginia Cavalry. In a letter to General Thomas Munford, dated August 9, 1886, Chick wrote:
He [McClellan] seems to think that Major Pelham was killed at Kelly's Ford charging with the 3rd Regt. I am satisfied that it was with the 2d. I saw an officer whom I took to be Pelham ride up to Major Breckinridge and heard him deliver an order from Gen. Lee to charge. He fell from his horse immediately afterwards shot in the head. |
However, words like "whom I took to be Pelham," only indicate that
Chick was himself not sure.
Unfortunately, Confederate official reports are scanty about the engagement and give no details about Pelham's wounding, except to note that he was wounded. Stuart did not submit a report; nor did the horse artillery, under command of Captain James Breathed at the time. Averell's report is virtually worthless, but the Union artillery commander, Lieutenant George Browne, Jr., of the Sixth New York Battery , Ieft a report. It is very detailed, even listing expenditures of ammunition. Browne states that a section of his battery, two guns, was posted on the extreme Federal right, which would be behind the stonewall. One or two guns were kept in the rear as reserve. Unfortunately, even this report does not tell us where Pelham fell....He was hit by a piece of shell fragment. If he was right up at the gap of the stonewall, he could have been hit by a fragment; if, as Gilmor states, he was with the 2d Virginia, he was also well within Union artillery range. The 2d Virginia was approximately one quarter of a mile from the stonewall.
Channing Price writes an interesting account of Pelham's death. Price was not present at the battle, but he wrote his account three days later. He got his information from one Minghini, apparently a courier on Stuart's staff. Minghini said that Stuart was not only aware of Pelham's wounding, he ordered him to go to his aid. Minghini found Pelham already being cared for by surgeons and he got an ambulance to take him to the Shackelford home. All this contradicts the other accounts. Pelham "was struck on the top of the head with a piece of shell, which went out about 2 inches from where it entered, crushing the skull."
There are various accounts as to when Pelham died. Gilmor says specifically that he died at 1 p.m., March 17. However, this makes no sense if you look at the time involved. If Averell took until 7 a. m. 4 to reach the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, it took him another two hours to get into position. His sharpshooters then became engaged. He could not have gotten into position until about 10 a.m. The 3rd Virginia Cavalry did not make their charge until some time between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Certainly Pelham fell no later than 7 a.m. He would have been eight miles from Culpeper. Unfortunately, Gilmor is vague in his account but it appears that he did not overtake the cavalrymen until some time later, and then they were only "half way to Culpeper. " This means they still had four more miles to go, and even an ambulance would not have gotten Pelham into Culpeper, nor would three surgeons have had time to be called for to examine him, in order for Pelham to die and 1 p.m. Blackford says he did not die for another twelve hours. Milham states that he died at 1 a.m., March 18, 1863. Minghini told Price it was "I o'clock in the night," and this seems logical.
Given all the contradictory evidence ,what shall we conclude? We can conclude that two witnesses -- McClellan and Gilmor -- both disagree in their accounts. McClellan has Pelham actively engaged in the charge of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry; Gilmor has Pelham sitting on the sidelines, one-quarter of a mile from the area of the stonewall, not participating in any attack. Unless other primary sources come to light which favor one account over the other, we must unfortunately conclude that we will probably never know exactly what happened to John Pelham that March day. It is a tantalizing mystery, one that remains to be solved. As time goes by and no new evidence is forthcoming, the events surrounding Pelham's death may remain obscure; its mystery will continue to fascinate nonetheless.
EDITOR'S NOTE: As we know three surgeons examined John Pelham after he was taken to the Shackelford home in Culpeper. Until now, we had no idea who any of them were. This letter, written by Mrs. William A. Herndon of Culpeper to Mrs. Atkinson Pelham, is revealing. The original is in the Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama.
Culpepper Ct. Ho. Mrs. Pelham Dear Madam, Mrs. Herndon |
1 John J. Shoemaker, Shoemaker's Battery, Stuart Horse Artillery, Pelham's Battalion (Butternut reprint, 1983) p. 28, states that the battery was located at Mount Pisga Church. "Here we encamped for the night...and stayed over Sunday, the 16th....We arrived at Rapidan Station on the 17th." But March 16th was on a Monday. Even so, Pelham expected them to be a Rapidan Station as evidenced by his last dispatch, written to Captain Moorman:
Culpeper C.H. Capt. Mos. Respty Cpt Moorman |
This dispatch was written just hours before Pelham was killed and is quoted in Milham, p. 229. Incidentally, had Pelham noted the time of this dispatch, he could have answered many of the questions we have.
2 Eugene M. Scheel in Culpeper: A Virginia County's History through 1920 (Green Publishing Co., Orange, Va., 1982), p. 193, says Miss Brill's first name was Lucinda. He cites as a reference Freeman, 2 Lee's Lieutenants, p. 455. Nowhere does Freeman give a first name for Miss Brill, nor does Burke Davis, who quotes Nannie Price's letter in Jeb Stuart: The Last Cavalier, p. 269.
3 James I. Robertson, Jr., "The War in Words," Civil War Times Illustrated, Vol. XVI, No.2, May 1977, p. 48. Col. Francis Henney Smith, the first superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, wrote most, of the text drawn from rough sketches provided by Gilmor, who was in a Federal prison at the time.
4 Averell, in his report (O.R., Series I, Part I, Vol.
XXV, p. 48) says he reached Kelly's Ford at 8 a.m. Freeman, 2 Lee's Lieutenants,
p. 459, says 7:30 a.m. H. B. McClellan, I Rode with Jeb Stuart, p.
207, quotes the diary of Lt. Col. W. R. Carter of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry,
who wrote that the 3rd Virginia left its camp in Culpeper at 7 a.m.
This article first appeared in Volume 1, No. 2 of The Cannoneer.
Sources:
W. W. Blackford, War Years with Jeb Stuart.
Letter of 4th Sgt. Charles W. Chick to General Thomas Munford, August 9, 1886,
Munford-Ellis Papers, Duke University.
Captain James Louis Clark, "The Gallant Pelham: True Details of the Great
Cannoneer's Death...," The Gossip(?), undated.
Culpeper His torical Society, Inc., Historic Culpeper, 1974.
Burke Davis, Jeb Stuart: The Last Cavalier.
Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants, Volume 2.
Harry Gilmor, Four Years in the Saddle, Harper & Brothers, 1866.
H. B. McClellan, I Rode with Jeb Stuart.
Charles G. Milham, Gallant Pelham: American Extraordinary.
O. R., Series I, Vol. XXV, Part 1, pp. 47-64.
Channing Price quoted in The Cannoneer, Vol. 2, No.1, July 1983, p.
4.
James I. Robertson, Jr., "The War in Words," Civil War Times
Illustrated, Vol. XVI, No.2, May 1977.
Eugene M. Scheel, Culpeper: A Virginia County's History Through 1920,
Green Publishing Co., Orange, 1982.
John J. Shoemaker, Shoemaker's Battery, Stuart Horse Artillery, Pelham's
Battalion, Butternut Press, 1983.
