John Pelham ( officer ) John Pelham ( September 7 , 1838 – March 17 , 1863 ) was an artillery officer who served with the Confederate cavalry under J . E . B . Stuart during the American Civil War . Dubbed " The Gallant Pelham " for his military prowess and personal courage , Pelham revolutionized the usage of light artillery as a mobile arm of the cavalry . Early life . Pelham was the third of seven children , with five brothers and a sister Betty , born to Dr . Atkinson and Martha Pelham ( née McGehee ) at his grandparents ' home along Cane Creek near Alexandria , Alabama . He grew up on the family ' s plantation , and learned to raise horses at a young age . On one occasion , he rode a neighbor ' s milk cow until it ran dry , prompting a lecture to only ride bulls in the future , if he were feeling adventurous . In 1856 , local Congressman Sampson Willis Harris secured an appointment for Pelham to the United States Military Academy at West Point ( N . Y . ) , at the request of A . J . Walker . Civil War . Already in 1860 , rumblings of Southern secession were affecting Pelham , his concerns that he would not be able to graduate expressed in letters he wrote home . In 1861 , with graduation approaching and war breaking out , Pelham wrote to the new leader of the Confederacy , Jefferson Davis , inquiring as to whether he should leave West Point . Ultimately , Pelham resigned from West Point , just a few weeks before his planned graduation , in order to accept a commission in the militia of his home state of Alabama . He soon went to Virginia , where he joined the army of Joseph E . Johnston as a lieutenant in the artillery . Pelham ' s well - drilled and disciplined battery caught the eye of J . E . B . Stuart , who provided horses for the men and transformed the battery into " horse artillery " , more mobile than conventional artillery . Pelham was involved in every major military engagement of Stuart ' s cavalry from the First Battle of Bull Run to Kelly ' s Ford , more than 60 encounters . He particularly distinguished himself as the Chief of Stuart ' s Artillery in the Battle of Antietam ( Sharpsburg ) and Battle of Fredericksburg . At Sharpsburg , Pelham ' s guns , positioned on a rise known as Nicodemus Hill , repeatedly harassed the flanks of oncoming Union lines , causing numerous casualties and breaking up battle formations . Lt . Gen . Stonewall Jackson said of him in his report on the battle , " 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 . " At Fredericksburg , Pelham ' s guns , positioned well in advance of the main Confederate lines , held up the entire flank of the Union Army of the Potomac for several hours , enabling the Confederates to repel a series of strong attacks . General Robert E . Lee commended Pelham in his official report for " unflinching courage " while under direct fire from multiple Union batteries . Pelham was , at the time , commanding only two guns that were in service , but with those batteries for a time enfiladed the entire advancing Federal lines of battle . At Kelly ' s Ford on March 17 , 1863 , Pelham participated in a cavalry charge , his artillery not being engaged . Standing up in his stirrups , he urged his men to " Press forward , press forward to glory and victory ! " Not long afterward , he was struck in the head by a fragment of an exploding Federal artillery shell . He was carried six miles ( 10 km ) from the battlefield to Culpeper Courthouse , and died the following morning without having regained consciousness . Stuart said of his death , in a general order to the rest of his division : Maj . Harry Gene Beck III , a fellow officer and tentmate of Pelham ' s , wrote : " He is the bravest human being I ever saw in my life . " Legacy . The Confederate Senate approved Lee ' s recommendation that Pelham receive a posthumous promotion to lieutenant colonel . Pelham ' s body was returned home and buried at City Cemetery in Jacksonville , Alabama where a statue erected downtown in 1905 commemorates the fallen officer . In 1863 , Stuart named his third child Virginia Pelham , in honor of the cannoneer he had admired . In 1894 , poet Larry Maffit Jr . wrote the poem " John Pelham " . In 1901 , a portrait of Pelham was hung with other Confederate officers in Alexandria , Virginia , and General Joseph Wheeler gave the speech on the ascension of his portrait , referring to him as the " Gallant Pelham " . In 1907 , one of his spur s was among the artifacts melted down to create the Pokahuntas Bell for the Jamestown Exposition . The John Pelham Historical Association seeks to maintain his memory and preserve his archive of papers and memorabilia . In 1955 , he was named to the Alabama Hall of Fame . The cities of Pelham , Alabama , and Pelham , Georgia , are named in his honor . In 2004 , the state of Georgia designated the section of State Highway 300 that passes through Pelham as the " John Pelham Memorial Parkway " . The United States Field Artillery has honored Pelham with artillery camps named for him , such as the former Camp Pelham which housed artillery battalions of first the 1st Cavalry Division and then later the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea . The County of Culpeper , Virginia , built Lake Pelham in the 1970s in honor of the Boy Artillerist . The states of North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and Alabama have towns and / or communities named in honor of Pelham . During and after the Civil War Pelham ' s 1858 photograph , taken in the Mathew Brady studio , was well known in the South . While many copies were made , the original was long thought lost . It was held by Pelham ' s sister , Betty , and kept by her descendants at home in a fireproof safe . In 2010 Pelham ' s great - great grand - nephew consigned the piece for auction . It sold for $ 41 , 825 . In March 2013 , the city of Jacksonville celebrated Pelham with a weekend of living history campsites and a sesquicentennial recreation of Pelham ' s funeral procession to City Cemetery .