Pelham at the Battle of Fredericksburg
An Address by Donald C. Pfanz
Staff Historian Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to address the John Pelham Historical Association, for no name is more closely or gloriously associated with the battle that was fought here than that of Pelham.
General Ambrose E. Burnside brought the Army of the Potomac to Fredericksburg in December, 1862. Fredericksburg, an elegant, historic town of some 5,000 inhabitants, was no stranger to Union troops. In May, Irwin McDowell had occupied the town with 30,000 men, and in August Burnside himself had debarked elements of his IX Army Corps at nearby Aquia Creek, making his headquarters at Chatham.
Now Burnside had returned at the head of a 115,OOO-man host, intent on capturing Fredericksburg, and if all went well, Richmond. But things did not go well. The pontoon bridges needed by Burnside to cross the Rappahannock River did not arrive, and by the time they did, Robert E. Lee' s Army of Northern Virginia had seized the heights behind the town, making Burnside's task much more difficult.
For three weeks Burnside pondered his options. Finally, he made his decision: he would cross his army at Fredericksburg, in the very center. of the Confederate position, and attempt to storm Lee's position by frontal assault. The plan's one hope for success was speed. Lee's army was spread out over a 20¬mile area and would require two days to concentrate at Fredericksburg. If Burnside could attack Lee before then, he stood a good chance of driving the outnumbered Confederates from the heights. But Burnside did not move quickly. Mississippi sharpshooters prevented Burnside from crossing the river on December 11th, and he squandered the next day bringing his troops across the river. By the time Burnside was ready to attack, Lee had gathered his entire army on the heights beyond the town.
Lee's 78,OOO-man army was divided into two corps of infantry and a division of cavalry. James Longstreet commanded the I Army Corps, which Lee posted on the left of his line, closer to Fredericksburg, Stonewall Jackson commanded Lee's II Corps, extending Longstreet's line south of town. Two brigades of Jeb Stuart's cavalry patrolled the right end of the line, connecting Jackson's right with Massaponax Creek, a marshy and impassable tributary of the Rappahannock.
With Stuart was the commander of the army's horse artillery battalion, John Pelham. Although the war was then a year and a half old, the 24-year-old major had already won an an enviable reputation for himself within the army. At First Manassas, Gaines Mill, Second Manassas, Antietam, and other engagements, he had displayed an audacity, courage and skill in handling guns that marked him for greatness. None of his previous exploits, however, would compare with his actions at Fredericksburg.
On December 13th, Federal forces led by William B. Franklin crossed the Rappahannock River and maneuvered into position to attack Jackson's corps, posted on the wooded heights. Franklin designated George Meade's Pennsylvania division, 4,000 strong, to spearhead the assault, supported on the right by John Gibbon's division and in the rear by Abner Doubleday's division. At 8:30 a.m., Meade moved forward, advancing beyond the Richmond Stage Road to the rise beyond.
Stonewall Jackson observed the Federal advance through the shifting fog fran his command post on Prospect Hill. When Heros von Borcke expressed trepidation on the size of the Union host opposing Jackson, Stonewall replied, "Major, my men have sometimes failed to take a position, but to defend one, never! I am glad the Yankees are coming!" He then ordered von Borcke to have Stuart open up on the Federal flank. Stuart passed the order on to Pelham, who then made an audacious request: he asked permission to take a gun to the intersection of the Richmond Stage Road and Mine Road, nearly a mile beyond the main Confederate line and there enfilade Meade's line of battle at close range. It was a bold, almost foolhardy request, but one the brave Stuart could not deny. He not only granted Pelham permission to go, but accompanied his young protege to the intersection.
Fortunately, a heavy fog hid the Confederates' approach from the Federals. Pelham posted his 12-pounder Napoleon behind a hedgerow at the intersection, and opened fire with solid shot on the Federal flank, now just 500 yards away. The young Alabamian's unexpected attack threw the Federals into confusion. Initially they thought the gun was one of their own, but as projectiles whistled down the line, knocking down men like bowling pins, they realized that the Confederates had gained a position on their flank and rear.
Pelham was in high feather. For a few minutes, he had things his own way, firing down the astounded Federal line with impunity. One shot broke a Federal axle, another blew up a caisson. But before long Federal artillery responded to his fire. One of Pelham's gunners remembered the ferocity of the Union guns' reply: "In a few minutes, though, a battery of 32 pounders across the river opened on us. Then a light battery of six guns dashed to the infantry line and opened with shrapnel. We were Iiterally smothered with shot and shell; of 12 horses we lost 11; out of 14 men 9 were killed and wounded..."
As many as four batteries -- 15 to 20 guns -- opened fire on Pelham from the plain and from Stafford Heights across the river, filling the air around the Confederate gun with bursting shells. A Confederate Blakely rolled into action closer to the railroad to assist Pelham, but was instantly knocked out of action, enabling Federal guns to concentrate fire on Pelham's lone Napoleon. Stuart, seeing the danger of his young friend, sent von Borcke to Pelham with a message suggesting he retire from the field, but the combative youth was not "done. "Tell the General I can hold my ground," he replied.
For better part of the next hour, Pelham continued the unequal contest, shifting from one position to another as the Federal artillerists zeroed in on his location. Casualties at one point became so severe that Pelham had to help man the piece himself. A second time Stuart sent a message urging him to retire, but Pelham paid no more heed to it than he had the first.
Soldiers on both sides peered through the patchy fog to catch a glimpse of the unequal contest. Among the spectators was Robert E. Lee who, watching Pelham from Prospect Hill remarked, "It is glorious to see such courage in one so young! " Stonewall Jackson was also watching. Later , he would remark to Stuart, "General, if you've got another Pelham, I'd like to have him."
Finally, with his ammunition chest almost empty, Pelham obeyed a third summons from Stuart to retire. Amid exploding shells, the artillery crew and its gun tumbled back to the Confederate line, having delayed the Federal assault for better than an hour. Pelham's attack made Franklin so wary of an assault on his left flank that he thereafter dispatched Doubleday's division to the left to guard against such a threat. Where else in the annals of history can one find an instance where a single gun crew immobilized a 5000-man division for an entire day?
With Pelham out of the way, Meade proceeded with his attack. For an hour he shelled the heights in preparation for his assault. Receiving no reply, Meade at 11 a.m. ordered his infantry to advance. Slowly the Federals made their way toward the wooded hills. When just 800 yards away Reuben Lindsay Walker's 14 guns on Prospect Hill and 15 additional guns commanded by Pelham opened fire on the Federal line. The Federals stopped and lay down while Federal artillery again moved forward to engage the Confederate guns. Now, with their positions revealed to the enemy, the Confederate gunners suffered terribly. Nevertheless, Pelham remained calm, even happy. A member of the Rockbridge Artillery remembered the Alabamian joking "that he would keep us in until I got killed, and then he would relieve our company. He is as gallant a fellow as I ever saw."
"Gallant" was also the word used by Robert E. Lee to describe Pelham that day. In his report of the battle, Lee described how Stuart's artillery "opened with effect" upon the enemy flank to open the battle, "and drew upon the gallant Pelham a heavy fire, which he sustained unflinchingly for about two hours." But the greatest tribute to Pelham came from Federal officers who, in their reports of the battle, invariably reported coming under fire from not one, or even two guns, but an entire battery.
"The gallant Pelham," as he was known from that time on, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in recognition of his actions at Fredericksburg, but he would not live to enjoy that rank. Gallant to the end, the impetuous youth died in March, 1863, while participating in a cavalry charge near Kelly's Ford, 20 miles up-river from Fredericksburg. His loss was mourned throughout the South, but particularly by his comrades in the cavalry who knew him not only as a gallant officer, but as a friend.
In 1903, James P. Smith, a member of Stonewall Jackson's staff and later a Presbyterian minister in Fredericksburg, placed a modest granite marker at this intersection to commemorate Pelham' s important role in the battle. Until today, that was all that indicated the historical nature of the ground. But thanks to the generosity of your organization, this sign will now stand side-by-side with the stone marker to pay homage to the young major's heroic conduct, telling all who drive by what momentous events occurred here. The sign and the stone will one day crumble into dust, but as long as there are people like yourselves who prize the virtues of bravery, modesty, and nobleness of character, the "gallant Pelham" shall not be forgotten.
This article first appeared in Volume 11, No. 1 of The Cannoneer.
