Colonel John Pelham: Lee's Boy Artillerist [Illustrated Edition]

By Satoshi Kitamura

Includes more than 30 maps, diagrams and portraits of Pelham, his artillery and his commanders.
“Even before the end of the Civil War Colonel John Pelham had become a legendary figure of the Confederacy. General Lee called him “the gallant Pelham,” and on seeing the young artillerist employ but a single gun to hold up the advance of three Union divisions and over a hundred guns at Fredericksberg, he exclaimed: “It is glorious to see such courage in one so young.”
“Stonewall” Jackson, who relied implicitly on Pelham in tight situations said: “It is really extraordinary to find such nerve and genius in a mere boy. With a Pelham on each flank I believe I could whip the world.”
“Jeb” Stuart, the dashing cavalry chief, claimed that “John Pelham exhibited a skill and courage which I have never seen surpassed. I loved him as a brother.”
Major John Esten Cooke, a fellow-officer and tent-mate, wrote: “He is the bravest human being I ever saw in my life.”
And one of Pelham's veteran gunners asserted: “We knew him-we trusted him-we would have followed him anywhere, and did.”
Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities in the spring of 1861, Cadet Pelham slipped away from West Point to join the Confederacy. Following the fierce Battle of First Manassas, in which he fought side-by-side with “Stonewall” Jackson, Pelham was assigned to “Jeb” Stuart's command with orders to organize the Stuart Horse Artillery. This mounted unit-dashing from action to action on the battlefield-provided General Lee's army with invaluable mobile firepower which saved many desperate situations.
In over sixty battles Pelham's blazing guns saw furious action against Union infantry, cavalry, artillery, gunboats and even locomotives. Although he fought against tremendous odds, Pelham never lost an artillery duel or a single gun!
This action-packed book fully describes the incredible feats of the adventurous, romantic artillery genius of the Confederacy.”-Print Ed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Golden Springs Publishing
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781782898436

Satoshi Kitamura

Satoshi Kitamura has written over 20 picture books and illustrated many more. A multiple award-winner whose work has been translated all over the world, he lives in Kobe, Japan.

Book preview

Colonel John Pelham Lee’s Boy Artillerist

By

WILLIAM WOODS HASSLER

Illustrations by SIDNEY E. KING

This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

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Text originally published in 1960 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

DEDICATION 5

MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 5

PREFACE 6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8

CHAPTER I — The Training of a Soldier 9

CHAPTER II — Turning the Tide at Manassas (Bull Run) 15

CHAPTER III — The Horse Artillery Wins Its Spurs 29

CHAPTER IV — Pounding the Union Army and Navy 38

CHAPTER V — Always in the Right Place at the Right Time 51

CHAPTER VI — Artillery Hell 68

CHAPTER VII — Riding Around McClellan’s Army 81

CHAPTER VIII — The Incomparable Pelham 98

CHAPTER IX — It Is Glorious to See Such Courage in One So Young 108

CHAPTER X He Is Irreplaceable 120

Glossary 132

INSIDE A LOADED CANNON 135

TYPES OF GUNS USED BY PELHAM 136

CAISSON AND LIMBER 137

HANDSPIKE 139

RAMMER 139

WORMER 139

SPONGE 139

GUNNER’S PICK 140

TOMPION 140

TYPES OF AMMUNITION 140

ROUND SHOT 140

BOMBS OR SHELLS 140

SPHERICAL CASE OR SHRAPNEL 141

CASE OR CANISTER 141

GRAPE SHOT 141

Suggestions for Further reading 146

THE AUTHOR 147

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 148

DEDICATION

To Bob and Tom My Two Twentieth Century Pelhams

MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Colonel John Pelham

The Plain

Henry Hill

Map—The Battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861

General Robert E. Lee

Lieutenant General T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson

Bringing Off the Guns

Moving Up

Load

Map—The Peninsula Campaign, 1862

The Wake of Battle

Pelham vs. U.S.S. Marblehead

Major General James E, B. (JEB) Stuart

Major Heros von Borcke

Surprise Attack

Jackson’s Raid at Manassas

Map—Second Manassas, 1862

Stirring Them Up

Battle of Antietam

Guarding the Rear

Slipping Through the Net

The Bower

Map—General Stuart’s Ride Around the Federal Army, 1862

Map—Route of Stuart’s Horse Artillery, Oct. 29 to Nov. 16, 1862

A Telling Blow

Map—The Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862

His Last Battle

Map—Theater of Operations, January-March 1863

Where Pelham Died

Monument to Pelham

Inside a Loaded Cannon

Types of Guns Used by Pelham

Caisson and Limber

Gunnery Tools

Types of Ammunition

Gunnery Practice and Operations

PREFACE

This is the true story of John Pelham—the most beloved and esteemed young man in the Confederacy. His superiors relied on him because he was a brilliant artillerist. His men trusted him because he was fair and considerate. Charming Dixie belles loved him because he was handsome and chivalrous. And the whole South worshipped him because he modestly played a decisive role in victory after victory.

These same qualities which endeared John Pelham to his countrymen a century ago still serve as an inspiration to the youth of today. It is my hope that in the pages of this book readers of all ages may re-live the heroic exploits and breathe the dedicated spirit of this remarkable young man.

William W. Hassler

Willow Grove, Pa.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

One of the most gratifying rewards of writing is the invaluable assistance rendered by interested persons, I wish to acknowledge special appreciation to the following. To Dr. James C. Hazlett of Wheeling, West Virginia for hard-to-get information and pictures of the Blakely gun and for tracking down the correct spelling of the name of this English fieldpiece. To Mrs. James S. Patton of Alexandria, Virginia for making available numerous excerpts from her grandmother’s diary which provide an intimate insight into Pelham at the time of the Battle of Fredericksburg. To Mr. George Kusel of Willow Grove for helpful guidance on matters pertaining to Civil War arms. To Joseph O’Donnell and Dr. Sidney Forman, archivists of the United States Military Academy, for providing Pelham’s record at West Point. To Mr. Sidney E. King, Virginia artist, who combined artistry with a sense of history in drawing the illustrations and maps for the book. To Mr. G. Edmond Massie, with whom it is always a pleasure to work, and whose encouragement and advice are indispensable. And to Mary, my dear and devoted wife, who as usual acted as general editorial assistant and counselor.

CHAPTER I — The Training of a Soldier

In all his seventeen years adventure-loving John Pelham could not remember a year which was nearly as exciting as 1856. Almost every newspaper carried gory accounts of new violence in Bloody Kansas where Northern and Southern sympathizers were hustling ruffians into the territory to fight for or against the state’s admission into the Union as a slave state.

During May a wild-eyed migrant farmer by the name of John Brown cruelly murdered five pro-slavery Kansas settlers along Pottawatomie Creek. In Washington, Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina angrily strode into the Senate chamber and, without warning, clubbed Senator John Sumner of Massachusetts with his cane until the anti-slavery New Englander fell unconscious beside the desk at which he had been working quietly.

In his own state of Alabama, John listened to bitter stories about William Strickland and Edwin Upson, owners of the largest bookstore in downstate Mobile. These two storekeepers had been run out of town by enraged citizens because they sold  three anti-slavery books which some curious customers had ordered. Dr, Pelham cautioned his boys to keep calm in the hope that passions would cool. But when Major Buford of South Carolina stopped in Alabama to recruit several hundred daring lads who could handle a musket, John Pelham itched to join the crusade which was heading for Kansas under a blazing red banner bearing the motto SOUTH CAROLINA AND STATES’ RIGHTS.

However, John wisely decided to follow his father’s advice and first obtain an education at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Certainly no young man had a better background to recommend him for such an appointment. He was the third son of Dr. Atkinson Pelham and his wife Martha, both prominent citizens of Benton County in northeastern Alabama. Here on a thousand acre estate young John and his five brothers played their share of pranks and became embroiled in rough scrapes. Those wild Pelham boys, as the neighbors called them, always seemed to be up to some mischief or other. They played hooky from school to fish and hunt; they feasted on farmers’ ripe corn and luscious melons; and they deviled their teacher by removing and hiding all the desks in the little one-room schoolhouse.

In this healthy outdoor environment John Pelham developed a wiry athletic physique which later enabled him to endure strenuous battle campaigning with such sturdy veterans as Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jeb Stuart. The young Alabamian enjoyed all sports and rough-and-tumble activities. When he and his brothers tired of fighting each other they would tussle with anyone who was spoiling for a fight. On one such occasion John took on a scrapper much larger than himself. Pelham fought gamely, but he soon realized that he was no match for the older lad who battered him so hard that Charlie, John’s oldest brother, started to step in and take his kid brother’s part. But John waved him back, shouting, No, Charlie, I’ll fight this one out myself. And slug it out he did until he fell to the ground completely exhausted.

Another favorite sport of John’s was horseback riding in which he became expert at an early age. When he tired of riding horses across the cotton fields he rode a neighbor’s cow around the pasture. Several days of this vigorous exercise reduced the poor cow and cut her milk supply to a trickle. Pelham then went to the irate owner and admitted that he was responsible for the cow’s rundown condition. The farmer ordered John hereafter to leave the cows alone and ride the bull if he felt he must ride some animal beside a horse for variety. This idea appealed immensely to Pelham who proceeded to mount the bull which snorted unhappily as it pranced back and forth in a furious attempt to dislodge the determined rider. But Pelham stayed on and eventually tamed the bull so that even his younger sister Betty could ride him.

But now that the country was seething with internal troubles, seventeen year old John Pelham put aside these fun-loving antics to seriously consider his future. During the national crisis of 1856 John and his father talked with the Honorable S. W. Harris, local representative to the United States Congress, about the possibility of securing an appointment for John to attend West Point. Congressman Harris was favorably impressed by young Pelham’s sincerity and manliness, and promptly obtained the appointment for him.

The last week in June John bade farewell to his family and started north to this country’s best school for military training and engineering. On the last leg of his journey he took the leisurely steamboat ride from New York to West Point. Upon leaving the boat at the South Dock pier he climbed with his bags up the steep slopes to the broad and remarkably flat plain which commands a panoramic view of the peaceful Hudson and the majestic heights bordering the opposite shore.

In the middle of the plain stood a group of two, three and four-storied buildings which housed the offices, classrooms and barracks. A cadet sergeant directed John to the administration building where he signed the register and was immediately assigned to Company D which was composed mostly of Southern boys. Pelham shared his cramped quarters with Tom Rosser, a tall, powerfully built Virginian whom John soon came to admire and respect. Another classmate with whom John formed a close and warm friendship was Adelburt Ames of Maine who later remembered Pelham as easily the most popular man of the Corps….everybody liked him. Ames himself later became a boy general in the Union army.

Plebe Pelham entered West Point under an experimental five-year program established by Jefferson Davis in 1854 when he was Secretary of War under President Pierce. July and August the new students or plebes’ got their first taste of army life as they encamped on the Plain. Throughout the hot summer days these future officers fell in shortly after daybreak for inspection, followed by long hours of drilling in infantry tactics and artillery practice. While most of the sweating youths dropped off to sleep at the end of each day—four in a tent—a few classmates took turns standing guard on the post. These sentinels were frequently the butt of upper-class-men, who would wrap themselves in sheets and approach the guards on hands and knees while muttering strange words which scared the new plebes into believing they were being challenged by weird creatures from outer space. But in spite of the rugged schedule and teasings, most of the plebes" including Pelham came to enjoy this outdoor experience more than any other at the Academy.

When the hardened plebes returned to barracks in September they plunged into the study of mathematics and English. John was bright and enjoyed reading entertaining adventure books, but he did not study as much as either he or his instructors knew he should. Sometimes he would put off studying until too near the deadline. Then he had to tack blankets over his window in order to study after taps sounded lights out at 10 o’clock. Although he was by no means a model student, Pelham managed to pass the oral final examinations and finish 35th in a class of 59.

In contrast to his mediocre work in his studies, John excelled in cavalry tactics and athletics. Every afternoon he practiced riding on the cavalry plain, followed in the evening by an hour’s boxing and fencing in the gymnasium. Despite his medium build, John shortly gained the reputation of being the finest athlete at the Academy. When the Prince of Wales visited West Point in 1860, the future King Edward VII of England was impressed by the form and grace of Cadet Pelham’s horsemanship. For years after Pelham left the Academy, instructors and cadets held up his riding feats as-a model to imitate,

John’s athletic ability coupled with his friendliness and integrity made him a favorite among his classmates. When he tried out for the color-guard (an honor that required military bearing plus spit and polish) his fellow cadets made sure that he was perfectly garbed in every detail. One classmate loaned him a new waist-belt, another brought a gleaming scabbard, while still a third carefully whisked the last specks of dust from Pelham’s gun. During this ceremony the modest Alabamian, blushingly thanked his friends for their attention and help, but said he didn’t think he’d get the position. However, the regular army officers at the Academy thought otherwise and appointed him to the post from which he later advanced to a cadet non-commissioned officer and finally to a cadet officer.

Cadet Pelham was just as particular about his habits off the parade ground as on. When the distinguished Board of Visitors inspected the Academy in 1860 the president of the Board personally complimented Pelham on the neatness and cleanliness of his room, jokingly adding that Pelham had no need of a wife as he could keep an orderly house by himself. And when a number of cadets were caught and arrested for drunkenness, John wrote disgustedly to his