486:
Some of his fellow officers believed that he lost his nerve, concerned about the presence of Jeb Stuart on the battlefield and, hearing the sound of railroad cars approaching, imagining the possibility of a
Confederate infantry force pinning him against the river. The Union advance had covered 2 miles over more than 12 hours and resulted in 78 casualties (6 killed, 50 wounded, 22 missing). The Confederates lost 133 (11 dead, 88 wounded, 34 captured); 71 Confederate horses were killed and 12 were captured. The loss of the youthful Pelham, age 24, well respected by Robert E. Lee, Stuart, and many veterans of the Battle of Fredericksburg, was a shock. Stuart wrote after the battle, "The gallant Pelham—so noble, so true—will be mourned by the nation."
120:
506:
own against its
Confederate counterpart for the first time in the war completely reversed such sentiments. Union forces, encouraged by this victory, would proceed into the 1863 summer campaigns with increased confidence. However, Confederate forces were able to achieve a tactical victory due to Averell's failure to convert his defensive success and untimely withdrawal, which left Lee's brigade in possession of the battlefield. One of the participants, Lt. Joseph A. Chedell of the 1st Rhode Island, wrote that Kelly's Ford was the "first real, and perhaps the most brilliant, cavalry fight of the whole war."
103:
538:) and its partners have acquired and preserved 1,370 acres (5.5 km) of the battlefield in five separate acquisitions since 2006. The well-preserved cavalry battlefield is on the south bank of the Rappahannock River within the C.F. Phelps Wildlife Management Area and includes hiking trails, interpretive markers and the "Gallant Pelham" memorial to Maj. John Pelham, the distinguished Confederate artillery officer who was mortally wounded at age 24 during the March 17 battle at Kelly's Ford and died the next day.
408:
39:
399:, contains the names of 16 Maryland Confederates who served rifled gun #1 of James Breathed's Battery and were on picket duty in Brandy Station on March 16, 1863. The unfurling banner (also known as the horizontal scroll) reads: "Rifle Gun" and "No. 1, Stuart Horse Artillery / Breathed's Battery / On Picket - March 16, 1863." Breathed's Battery was heavily engaged at the battle on the next day.
478:
338:. Although they possessed superior equipment and had the advantage of a plentiful supply of men and federal horses, the Union cavalrymen had lacked the confidence, experience, and leadership to challenge Stuart. On February 25, 1863, Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, one of Stuart's key subordinates and a nephew of Gen.
435:, Lee sent his 800 men forward to block the Union advance. They encountered the Union cavalrymen deployed near the C.T. Wheatley house, about 2 miles northwest of Kelly's Ford. Duffié's brigade was positioned on the left in a woodlot, McIntosh's in the center, and Reno's two regiments of regulars on the right, behind a stone fence.
485:
By 5:30 p.m., Averell, citing his exhausted men and horses, "deemed it proper to withdraw." He left two
Confederate officers who had been wounded and captured by Averell's troops, a sack of coffee, and the following message: "Dear Fitz, Here's your coffee. Here's your visit. How do you like it?"
357:
Scouts from
Averell's 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps, detected Confederate cavalry near Culpeper Court House about three weeks later. Averell assembled a force of 3,000 cavalrymen and six artillery pieces (the 6th Battery, New York Light Artillery, under Captain Joseph W. Martin) and set off for Kelly's
505:
The Battle of Kelly's Ford proved to be a significant moral victory for Union forces. Prior to the battle, Stuart's horsemen had been successfully raiding the Union position for months, causing Union morale, especially that of its cavalry units, to plummet. The
Federal cavalry's ability to hold its
460:
regiments, led by sharpshooters, ran along the stone fence with the expectation they would find a gap in it somewhere. Pelham moved forward with Lee's men, and as he waved them through a gate in the fence, a shell exploded over his head, sending a tiny fragment of shrapnel into his brain, mortally
353:
At the same time, Fitzhugh Lee was sending his old friend and classmate taunting messages across the river. One of the more challenging messages said "I wish you would put up your sword, leave my state, and go home. You ride a good horse, I ride a better. If you won't go home, return my visit, and
468:
On the Union left, Duffié disobeyed
Averell's orders to hold his position and ordered a charge. The surprise attack forced Lee to withdraw his men back through the woods to a clearing just behind. Lee counterattacked the advancing Union troopers, but once again had to fall back in the face of
419:
Early on the morning of March 17, 1863, Averell's advance guard reached Kelly's Ford on the
Rappahannock and found that felled trees and 60 Confederate sharpshooters opposed their crossing. Three attempts to cross were repulsed under heavy fire, delaying the Union advance by over 90 minutes.
208:
491:
There were men in our lines who were engaged at
Malvern Hill, at Gaines Mill, in many of Jackson's Battles, and with one accord they say that they never passed through such a fearful fire as thinned our ranks in that charge.
509:
Both Union and
Confederate armies used Kelly's Ford extensively during the Civil War. In addition to the role it played in this battle, it was also host to two notable engagements that occurred later that same year: the
346:, 9 miles northwest of Fredericksburg. The federal cavalry was ineffective in pursuing Lee and managed to lose 150 prisoners from the division of Brig. Gen. William W. Averell, one of Fitz Lee's closest friends at
201:
971:
445:. They arrived to find that Lee's men were not doing well, outnumbered two to one and facing a well-positioned artillery battery. It was the first time in the war that a Confederate cavalry regiment (the
194:
469:
superior numbers and artillery. A rout of the
Confederate position might have been possible, but Reno did not advance in support of Duffié, maintaining his position as ordered earlier by Averell.
366:
Counties. After various troops were detached to cover his movements and to engage the enemy's pickets at Rappahannock Station, he had 2,100 men ready for battle in three brigades, commanded by
424:. Chamberlain was wounded in the head. Despite the minor casualties in this action, Averell proceeded cautiously, taking over two hours to cross his men over the swiftly running river.
986:
996:
295:
counterattacked with a brigade of about 800 men. After achieving a localized success, Union forces withdrew under pressure in late afternoon, without destroying Lee's cavalry.
438:
Jeb Stuart also happened to be at Culpeper Court House that day, attending a court-martial. He decided to ride out to witness the battle, taking with him his artillery chief,
976:
932:
654:
330:. One of his most significant actions was to combine smaller cavalry units, spread out across the army, into a single Cavalry Corps, led by Maj. Gen.
846:
568:
412:
658:
901:
519:
384:. Facing him was a detached Confederate brigade commanded by Fitzhugh Lee, 800 men in five regiments, with a two-gun artillery section.
427:
Lee, 10 miles west at Culpeper Court House, was notified of the crossing attempts by 7:30 a.m. Assuming that Averell's target was
981:
334:. Up until this time, the Union cavalry had been consistently outperformed by their Confederate counterparts, commanded by Maj. Gen.
882:
867:
830:
815:
800:
766:
421:
277:
432:
319:
350:. Hooker was furious and threatened to relieve Stoneman of his command if he did not stop Confederate raids of this type.
304:
124:
119:
1001:
742:
728:
535:
111:
991:
462:
363:
359:
343:
257:
75:
71:
554:
U.S. National Park Service, Heritage Preservation Services, CWSAC Battle Summaries; Kelly's Ford or Kellysville
511:
428:
396:
327:
315:
269:
367:
288:
836:
740:
580:
553:
420:
Averell's chief of staff, Major Samuel E. Chamberlain, eventually forced a crossing led by 20 men of the
442:
407:
347:
461:
wounding him. He died a few hours later. The Confederate advance was repulsed by carbine fire from the
457:
453:
446:
378:
370:
311:
273:
924:
280:
265:
261:
136:
30:
761:, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.
897:
878:
863:
826:
811:
796:
779:
762:
841:
642:
515:
374:
307:
186:
775:
Sabres and Spurs: The First Regiment Rhode Island Cavalry in the Civil War, 1861–1865
38:
789:
531:
388:
331:
392:
326:, immediately began reorganizing and training his army, in winter quarters outside of
965:
339:
335:
323:
107:
102:
43:
Plan showing battleground and cavalry fight, March 17, 1863, Kelly's Ford, Virginia.
726:
439:
292:
141:
860:
Lee's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of Northern Virginia
773:
759:
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
875:
Lincoln's Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac
653:
Breathed's Battery is usually shown in orders of battle as a Virginia unit. See
381:
284:
947:
934:
786:. First published 1876 by the First Rhode Island Cavalry Veteran Association.
919:
783:
679:
610:
477:
914:
476:
406:
452:
Lee's men advanced with the five regiments in line abreast. The
342:, led a force of 400 troopers in a raid near Hartwood Church in
190:
291:
cavalry that had been harassing them that winter. Brig. Gen.
581:"Battle Detail - the Civil War (U.S. National Park Service)"
411:
Map of Kelly's Ford Battlefield core and study areas by the
757:
Blumberg, Arnold D. "Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia." In
972:
Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
287:
cavalry division crossed the Rappahannock to attack the
896:. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981.
793:
The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War
745:
Kelly's Ford Battlefield page. Accessed May 29, 2018.
915:
Detailed NPS battle description and battlefield tour
481:
An illustration of the battle from the 1863 Harpers
808:The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide
925:Emerging Civil War Blog: A View of Kelly's Ford
489:
23:
987:Inconclusive battles of the American Civil War
894:From Fort Sumter to Gettysburg 1861–1863
260:, as part of the cavalry operations along the
997:Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia
322:in January 1863), his replacement, Maj. Gen.
202:
8:
877:. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000.
862:. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002.
810:. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001.
731:"Saved Land" webpage. Accessed May 25, 2018.
276:that summer. Twenty-one hundred troopers of
825:. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017.
842:Brandy Station Foundation, Maryland Scroll
655:Brandy Station Confederate order of battle
643:Brandy Station Foundation, Maryland Scroll
449:) had fled in the face of a Union charge.
209:
195:
187:
20:
977:Culpeper County in the American Civil War
219:Cavalry Operations along the Rappahannock
837:National Park Service battle description
795:. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
638:
636:
596:
594:
592:
590:
778:. Baltimore: Butternut and Blue, 1994.
564:
562:
546:
413:American Battlefield Protection Program
358:Ford on the Rappahannock River between
318:in December 1862 and the fiasco of his
310:was relieved of command of the Union's
659:Gettysburg Confederate order of battle
630:Blumberg, pp. 1111-12; Eicher, p. 451.
626:
624:
622:
620:
618:
520:Second Battle of Rappahannock Station
7:
514:on June 9, 1863, and one during the
465:and shelling from Martin's battery.
256:, took place on March 17, 1863, in
890:The Union Cavalry in the Civil War
690:Blumberg, p. 1112; Eicher, p. 452.
391:," a graffiti on the wall of the "
14:
272:and other cavalry actions of the
118:
101:
37:
16:Battle of the American Civil War
823:The Union Cavalry Comes of Age
433:Orange and Alexandria Railroad
1:
354:bring me a sack of coffee.".
1018:
743:American Battlefield Trust
729:American Battlefield Trust
536:American Battlefield Trust
314:(following the disastrous
982:Fauquier County, Virginia
920:Brandy Station Foundation
680:Brandy Station Foundation
611:Brandy Station Foundation
463:16th Pennsylvania Cavalry
258:Culpeper County, Virginia
226:
160:
147:
130:
94:
76:Fauquier County, Virginia
72:Culpeper County, Virginia
47:
36:
28:
556:, Retrieved May 8, 2014.
526:Battlefield preservation
512:Battle of Brandy Station
422:1st Rhode Island Cavalry
397:Brandy Station, Virginia
316:Battle of Fredericksburg
55:March 17, 1863
948:38.476921°N 77.779880°W
268:. It set the stage for
494:
482:
416:
246:Battle of Kelly's Ford
131:Commanders and leaders
24:Battle of Kelly's Ford
953:38.476921; -77.779880
522:on November 7, 1863.
480:
410:
250:Battle of Kellysville
161:Casualties and losses
873:Longacre, Edward G.
858:Longacre, Edward G.
821:Wittenberg, Eric J.
458:5th Virginia Cavalry
248:, also known as the
944: /
847:CWSAC Report Update
772:Denison, Frederic.
669:Eicher, pp. 450-52.
600:Salmon, pp. 165-67.
569:CWSAC Report Update
534:(a division of the
312:Army of the Potomac
274:Gettysburg Campaign
888:Starr, Stephen Z.
708:Wittenberg, p. 137
699:Wittenberg, p. 135
483:
417:
281:William W. Averell
266:American Civil War
262:Rappahannock River
137:William W. Averell
31:American Civil War
1002:March 1863 events
902:978-0-8071-3291-3
678:William Averell,
498:The Richmond Whig
239:
238:
185:
184:
125:CSA (Confederacy)
90:
89:
1009:
992:1863 in Virginia
959:
958:
956:
955:
954:
949:
945:
942:
941:
940:
937:
806:Salmon, John S.
790:Eicher, David J.
746:
738:
732:
724:
718:
717:Denison, p. 213.
715:
709:
706:
700:
697:
691:
688:
682:
676:
670:
667:
661:
651:
645:
640:
631:
628:
613:
607:
601:
598:
585:
584:
577:
571:
566:
557:
551:
516:Bristoe Campaign
501:
375:John B. McIntosh
371:Alfred N. Duffié
308:Ambrose Burnside
221:
220:
211:
204:
197:
188:
123:
122:
106:
105:
62:
60:
49:
48:
41:
21:
1017:
1016:
1012:
1011:
1010:
1008:
1007:
1006:
962:
961:
952:
950:
946:
943:
938:
935:
933:
931:
930:
911:
855:
853:Further reading
754:
749:
739:
735:
725:
721:
716:
712:
707:
703:
698:
694:
689:
685:
677:
673:
668:
664:
652:
648:
641:
634:
629:
616:
608:
604:
599:
588:
579:
578:
574:
567:
560:
552:
548:
544:
532:Civil War Trust
528:
503:
496:
475:
405:
389:Maryland Scroll
344:Stafford County
332:George Stoneman
301:
242:
241:
240:
235:
222:
218:
217:
215:
180:
178:
176:
171:
169:
167:
117:
100:
78:
74:
58:
56:
42:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1015:
1013:
1005:
1004:
999:
994:
989:
984:
979:
974:
964:
963:
928:
927:
922:
917:
910:
909:External links
907:
906:
905:
886:
871:
854:
851:
850:
849:
844:
839:
834:
819:
804:
787:
770:
753:
750:
748:
747:
733:
719:
710:
701:
692:
683:
671:
662:
646:
632:
614:
609:Fitzhugh Lee,
602:
586:
572:
558:
545:
543:
540:
527:
524:
488:
474:
471:
429:Brandy Station
404:
401:
393:Graffiti House
328:Fredericksburg
300:
297:
270:Brandy Station
237:
236:
234:
233:
227:
224:
223:
216:
214:
213:
206:
199:
191:
183:
182:
173:
163:
162:
158:
157:
154:
150:
149:
145:
144:
139:
133:
132:
128:
127:
115:
97:
96:
92:
91:
88:
87:
84:
80:
79:
70:
68:
64:
63:
53:
45:
44:
34:
33:
26:
25:
19:
18:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1014:
1003:
1000:
998:
995:
993:
990:
988:
985:
983:
980:
978:
975:
973:
970:
969:
967:
960:
957:
926:
923:
921:
918:
916:
913:
912:
908:
903:
899:
895:
891:
887:
884:
883:0-8117-1049-1
880:
876:
872:
869:
868:0-8117-0898-5
865:
861:
857:
856:
852:
848:
845:
843:
840:
838:
835:
832:
831:0-73850-357-6
828:
824:
820:
817:
816:0-8117-2868-4
813:
809:
805:
802:
801:0-684-84944-5
798:
794:
791:
788:
785:
781:
777:
776:
771:
768:
767:0-393-04758-X
764:
760:
756:
755:
751:
744:
741:
737:
734:
730:
727:
723:
720:
714:
711:
705:
702:
696:
693:
687:
684:
681:
675:
672:
666:
663:
660:
656:
650:
647:
644:
639:
637:
633:
627:
625:
623:
621:
619:
615:
612:
606:
603:
597:
595:
593:
591:
587:
582:
576:
573:
570:
565:
563:
559:
555:
550:
547:
541:
539:
537:
533:
525:
523:
521:
517:
513:
507:
502:
500:, March 1863.
499:
493:
487:
479:
472:
470:
466:
464:
459:
455:
450:
448:
444:
441:
436:
434:
430:
425:
423:
414:
409:
402:
400:
398:
394:
390:
385:
383:
380:
376:
372:
369:
365:
361:
355:
351:
349:
345:
341:
340:Robert E. Lee
337:
336:J.E.B. Stuart
333:
329:
325:
324:Joseph Hooker
321:
317:
313:
309:
306:
298:
296:
294:
290:
286:
282:
279:
275:
271:
267:
263:
259:
255:
251:
247:
232:
229:
228:
225:
212:
207:
205:
200:
198:
193:
192:
189:
174:
165:
164:
159:
155:
152:
151:
146:
143:
140:
138:
135:
134:
129:
126:
121:
116:
113:
109:
108:United States
104:
99:
98:
93:
85:
82:
81:
77:
73:
69:
66:
65:
54:
51:
50:
46:
40:
35:
32:
27:
22:
929:
893:
889:
874:
859:
822:
807:
792:
774:
758:
736:
722:
713:
704:
695:
686:
674:
665:
649:
605:
575:
549:
529:
508:
504:
497:
495:
490:
484:
467:
451:
447:2nd Virginia
437:
426:
418:
386:
356:
352:
302:
293:Fitzhugh Lee
254:Kelleysville
253:
249:
245:
243:
231:Kelly's Ford
230:
142:Fitzhugh Lee
95:Belligerents
86:Inconclusive
29:Part of the
951: /
443:John Pelham
382:Marcus Reno
289:Confederate
264:during the
181:34 captured
179:88 wounded
170:50 wounded
966:Categories
939:77°46′48″W
936:38°28′37″N
892:. Vol. 1,
752:References
348:West Point
299:Background
278:Brig. Gen.
175:133 total
172:22 missing
59:1863-03-17
473:Aftermath
320:Mud March
305:Maj. Gen.
168:6 killed
166:78 total
784:30404710
364:Culpeper
360:Fauquier
177:11 dead
148:Strength
67:Location
431:on the
373:, Col.
57: (
900:
881:
866:
829:
814:
799:
782:
765:
403:Battle
395:," in
377:, and
153:2,100
83:Result
542:Notes
387:The "
379:Capt.
303:When
285:Union
112:Union
898:ISBN
879:ISBN
864:ISBN
827:ISBN
812:ISBN
797:ISBN
780:OCLC
763:ISBN
530:The
456:and
440:Maj.
368:Col.
362:and
244:The
156:800
52:Date
518:'s
454:3rd
283:'s
252:or
968::
657:,
635:^
617:^
589:^
561:^
904:.
885:.
870:.
833:.
818:.
803:.
769:.
583:.
415:.
210:e
203:t
196:v
114:)
110:(
61:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
