Civil War Confederate Army Officer. The son of a prominent doctor, "the Gallant Pelham" was born into a comfortable setting in present day Calhoun County, Alabama. Before his tragic death, his name became legendary and would be synonymous with the Confederate artillery. His course to this celebrated persona began on July 1, 1856 when he entered the United States Military Academy from Alabama. During his years at West Point, he became fast friends to many other plebes who themselves would become idols in the coming conflict. From all accounts, he proved a better hands-on cadet on the school's training grounds than in its classrooms. The impending war made his nearly 5 years at the academy all for naught, however. Filled with anxiety, he left West Point with graduation ceremonies waiting mere weeks away (he being one of the last -if not the last- southern-enrolled student to make the fateful decision). Returning to Alabama, he used his father's influence to personally petition President Jefferson Davis for an appointment in the Confederate Army. Receiving a commission as a 1st lieutenant, he was ordered to Virginia with the responsibilities of drill instructor in artillery strategy. He entered action for the first time on July 21, 1861 at 1st Manassas, where at the outcome of the battle, commendation of his contributions to the Confederate's first victory was received in the form of an honorable mention in the battle report of then Colonel Thomas Jackson. Arguably the greatest contribution Pelham offered to the Confederacy was his personal involvement in the forging of the "Stuart Horse Artillery", a component of General JEB Stuart's cavalry. Promoted to Captain on March 23, 1862, his vision for the unit was to be swift into action, hurried in the actions of limbering and unlimbering, and most of all, for the artillerymen to be deadly accurate in their fire. The advance of Union General George McClellan's forces against the Confederacy's capital at Richmond during that officer's 1862 Peninsula Campaign offered Pelham the opportunity to bring the horse artillery into action for the first time. His actions in protecting the rearguard of the retreating forces of Confederate Joseph E. Johnston won himself and his artillerymen the praise and admiration of their unit's namesake. He was thereafter promoted to Major on August 9, 1862. Exhibiting maturity beyond his age, his reputation of a professional artillery commander continued with the Seven Days battles, 2nd Manassas and Antietam. During the 1862 winter battle of Fredericksburg; his legend became immortal. In the attempt to thwart the advance of Union General Ambrose Burnside's force, he executed a flanking movement and for two hours, arrested the progress of the Federals. Initially, at the command of two cannons, he was reduced to a lone Napoleon and with his ammunition exhausted, was forced to withdraw from his forward position. This abiding stand against superior forces produced him acclaim from his supreme commander, General Robert E. Lee, who had witnessed it personally. At Kelly's Ford, Virginia in the spring of 1863, Pelham, astride a horse, was struck in the rear of his head from a bursting artillery shell which emptied him from his saddle. Appearing dead, his body was draped across a horse and borne from the battlefield. Incredibly, he was rushed to a nearby home after an onlooker noticed that he was breathing. The effort to save his life proved futile; however as he died on March 17, 1863 without ever regaining consciousness. As a mark of respect, his body lay in state in Richmond, Virginia before its transfer to Jacksonville, Alabama. The Confederate Congress posthumously awarded him a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel to date from March 2, 1863. Located south of Birmingham is the city of Pelham, which was named in his honor.
Civil War Confederate Army Officer. The son of a prominent doctor, "the Gallant Pelham" was born into a comfortable setting in present day Calhoun County, Alabama. Before his tragic death, his name became legendary and would be synonymous with the Confederate artillery. His course to this celebrated persona began on July 1, 1856 when he entered the United States Military Academy from Alabama. During his years at West Point, he became fast friends to many other plebes who themselves would become idols in the coming conflict. From all accounts, he proved a better hands-on cadet on the school's training grounds than in its classrooms. The impending war made his nearly 5 years at the academy all for naught, however. Filled with anxiety, he left West Point with graduation ceremonies waiting mere weeks away (he being one of the last -if not the last- southern-enrolled student to make the fateful decision). Returning to Alabama, he used his father's influence to personally petition President Jefferson Davis for an appointment in the Confederate Army. Receiving a commission as a 1st lieutenant, he was ordered to Virginia with the responsibilities of drill instructor in artillery strategy. He entered action for the first time on July 21, 1861 at 1st Manassas, where at the outcome of the battle, commendation of his contributions to the Confederate's first victory was received in the form of an honorable mention in the battle report of then Colonel Thomas Jackson. Arguably the greatest contribution Pelham offered to the Confederacy was his personal involvement in the forging of the "Stuart Horse Artillery", a component of General JEB Stuart's cavalry. Promoted to Captain on March 23, 1862, his vision for the unit was to be swift into action, hurried in the actions of limbering and unlimbering, and most of all, for the artillerymen to be deadly accurate in their fire. The advance of Union General George McClellan's forces against the Confederacy's capital at Richmond during that officer's 1862 Peninsula Campaign offered Pelham the opportunity to bring the horse artillery into action for the first time. His actions in protecting the rearguard of the retreating forces of Confederate Joseph E. Johnston won himself and his artillerymen the praise and admiration of their unit's namesake. He was thereafter promoted to Major on August 9, 1862. Exhibiting maturity beyond his age, his reputation of a professional artillery commander continued with the Seven Days battles, 2nd Manassas and Antietam. During the 1862 winter battle of Fredericksburg; his legend became immortal. In the attempt to thwart the advance of Union General Ambrose Burnside's force, he executed a flanking movement and for two hours, arrested the progress of the Federals. Initially, at the command of two cannons, he was reduced to a lone Napoleon and with his ammunition exhausted, was forced to withdraw from his forward position. This abiding stand against superior forces produced him acclaim from his supreme commander, General Robert E. Lee, who had witnessed it personally. At Kelly's Ford, Virginia in the spring of 1863, Pelham, astride a horse, was struck in the rear of his head from a bursting artillery shell which emptied him from his saddle. Appearing dead, his body was draped across a horse and borne from the battlefield. Incredibly, he was rushed to a nearby home after an onlooker noticed that he was breathing. The effort to save his life proved futile; however as he died on March 17, 1863 without ever regaining consciousness. As a mark of respect, his body lay in state in Richmond, Virginia before its transfer to Jacksonville, Alabama. The Confederate Congress posthumously awarded him a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel to date from March 2, 1863. Located south of Birmingham is the city of Pelham, which was named in his honor.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7407/john-pelham: accessed
), memorial page for John Pelham (7 Sep 1838–17 Mar 1863), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7407, citing Jacksonville City Cemetery, Jacksonville,
Calhoun County,
Alabama,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for John Pelham
Fulfill Photo Request for John Pelham
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.