Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park - Virtual Tour Stop, The Gallant Pelham (U.S. National Park Service)

Modern intersection of Route 2/17 and Route 608.

In this vicinity, "the Gallant" John Pelham with one cannon and a few artillerymen held up the Union advance for nearly an hour. The cannon faced in the direction shown here. Modern development sprawls across this part of the battlefield.

John Pelham was a 24-year-old Confederate artilleryman at the Battle of Fredericksburg. A native of Alabama, he dropped out of West Point when the war began. General Robert E. Lee observed Pelham's action during the battle and referred to him as the "gallant Pelham". The name stuck as a nickname. He was mortally wounded at Kelly's Ford on March 17, 1863.

In 1903 Confederate staff officer James Power Smith placed this monument to John Pelham a cannoneer in Jeb Stuart's horse artillery. It is one of ten monuments that Smith erected in the Fredericksburg area.

Interpretive Sign for "The Gallant Pelham"

Interpretive Sign for the south end of the Battle of Fredericksburg

Return to Virtual Tour of the Battle of Fredericksburg