VA-N3 The Gallant Pelham

Marker text: THE GALLANT PELHAM

Here Major John Pelham, commanding Stuart's Horse Artillery, executed a stunning flank attack on advancing Union troops during the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862. Reduced to one cannon, the 24-year-old Pelham halted the Federals for almost two hours by employing the flying artillery tactics that he had perfected. Observing from a nearby hilltop, Lee exclaimed, "It is glorious to see such courage in one so young! Lee's battle report commended "the gallant Pelham." The Alabamian was fatally wounded three months later at Kelly's Ford on the upper Rappahannock River.

Department of Historic Resources, 1992.