Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 26.djvu/307

 //(*/> r,-lk'iin niul \\' heeler. -''7

Forty-three years ago, a tall, erect, handsome young man reported for duty at the Military Academy at West Point. His blonde hair, t.iir complexion and blushing cheeks giving him a delicate, refined apprai mce, in spite of his athletic form and well-krrown superiority in manly sports, would have attracted attention in any assemblage. His general bearing gave proof of firmness and integrity of charac- ter, and in the retrospect, we can readily understand that he pos-

-i 'd characteristics which enabled him to rise to the superb heights he so rapidly attained. It is the portrait of this manly form upon which we gaze to-night.

THE CAREER OF PELHAM.

John Pelham was born near Alexandria, Calhoun county, Ala., in September, 1838. He entered West Point in 1856, remaining there until the spring of 1861, when the thunders of war summoned him back to his native State, a week before the graduation of his class, when he would have received his commission in the United States Army. He was immediately put in charge of the Confed- erate Ordnance at Lynchburg, Va., with the rank of first lieutenant, and was shortly after assigned as drillmaster to Albertus's Battery, at Winchester. His handling of the guns at the first Battle of Ma- nassas established his reputation as a fearless officer and a skilful artillerists, and he was entrusted by General Stuart with the organi- zation of a battery of six pieces of horse artillery, which he recruited from Alabama, Virginia and Maryland. At Williamsburg and First Cold Harbor, at the second Battle of Manassas, at Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown he fought with the enthusiasm of youth and the coolness of a veteran. Stonewall Jackson loved and trusted "The Boy Artillerist," as he was often called, and frequently gave expres- sion to his appreciation of Pelham's magnificent work. At the Battle of Fredericksburg he met the concentrated fire of several bat- teries with one Napoleon, and elicited the unstinted praise of his superior officers. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colo- nel, and his commission was before the Senate for confirmation when his death occurred at Kelly's Ford, on the Rappahannock, March 17, 1863. He was cut down in the act of leading a charge while waiting the arrival of his artillery. His death was a crushing loss to the division, and was announced by General Stuart in words seldom surpassed in strength or beauty. He says of him:

"The noble, the chivalric, the gallant Pelham is no more. How much he was loved, appreciated and admired let the tears of agony