Battle of Fredericksburg • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • Armies
The Gallant Pelham and Fort Hood Virginia historical markers are at the Pelham markers at Benchmark Road. (see map below) They are just a short distance from the Stuart and Pelham monument and the The Battle of Fredericksburg and The Gallant Pelham wayside markers.
Text from the markers:
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The Gallant Pelham
Here Major John Pelham, commanding Stuart’s Horse Artillery, executed a stunning flank attack on advancing Union troops during the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862. Reduced to one cannon, the 24-year-old Pelham halted the Federals for almost two hours by employing the flying artillery tactics that he had perfected. Observing from a nearby hilltop, Lee exclaimed, “It is glorious to see such courage in one so young! Lee’s battle report commended “the gallant Pelham.” The Alabamian was fatally wounded three months later at Kelly’s Ford on the upper Rappahannock River.
Department of Historic Resources 1992
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Fort Hood
In November 1862, Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood constructed this fort a half mile northeast on the Rappahannock River in an effort to prevent Union gunboats from ascending the river toward Fredericksburg. Four rifled guns of Capt. H.M. Ross’s Georgia Battery briefly occupied the work, but were withdrawn when the Union army crossed the river upstream from here on 11 December. Two days later, during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Union troops of the Iron Brigade captured the fort after a brief skirmish with the 13th Virginia Cavalry, which guarded this portion of the Confederate line.
Department of Historic Resources 1993
Location of the markers
The markers are 3.7 miles southeast of downtown Fredericksburg and 1.1 miles southeast of the Slaughter Pen site via Business Route US 17. (38°15’09.6″N 77°25’34.5″W)