Kelly's Ford

On March 17, 1863, Union and Confederate horsemen clashed near Culpeper County, Virginia, in what became known as the Battle of Kelly's Ford, sometimes called Kellysville or Kelleysville. The fight formed part of the broader cavalry struggle unfolding along the Rappahannock River that winter and spring, and it foreshadowed the clashes at Brandy Station and the other mounted engagements tied to the Gettysburg campaign later that summer.

Brig. Gen. William W. Averell led some twenty-one hundred Union troopers across the Rappahannock, intent on striking back at the Confederate horsemen who had spent the winter harassing his command. Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee answered with a counterattack, bringing roughly 800 men of his own brigade into the action. Although the Union side managed a measure of success in parts of the field, pressure mounted as the afternoon wore on, and Averell's men pulled back without managing to break or destroy Lee's cavalry.

Background

After the disaster at Fredericksburg in December 1862 and the failed Mud March that followed in January 1863, Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside lost his position atop the Army of the Potomac. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker took his place and set to work rebuilding the force from winter camps near Fredericksburg, retraining troops and restructuring their organization. Among the changes Hooker made, none proved more consequential than merging the army's scattered cavalry regiments into a unified Cavalry Corps under Maj. Gen. George Stoneman. Confederate horsemen under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart had repeatedly gotten the better of their Union counterparts up to this point. This was not for lack of resources on the federal side, since Union troopers enjoyed better equipment and access to abundant manpower and horses, but rather a shortage of battlefield confidence, seasoning, and capable leadership.

A raid took place on February 25, 1863, when Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of Gen. Robert E. Lee and a trusted officer under Stuart, brought 400 Confederate horsemen against Union positions near Hartwood Church in Stafford County, some nine miles from Fredericksburg. Federal cavalry failed to catch him effectively, and the division of Brig. Gen. William W. Averell, a former West Point companion of Fitz Lee's, lost 150 men as prisoners in the process. Furious at this outcome, Hooker warned Stoneman that further failures to halt such incursions would cost him his command.

Meanwhile Fitzhugh Lee amused himself by sending provocative notes to his

Battle

At daybreak on March 17, 1863, the leading elements of Averell's force arrived at Kelly's Ford along the Rappahannock, only to discover that downed trees and a contingent of sixty Confederate sharpshooters stood in the way of any crossing. Union soldiers tried three separate times to push across and were beaten back each time under intense fire, which held up their advance for more than ninety minutes. It fell to Major Samuel Chamberlain, Averell's chief of staff, to finally break the deadlock, leading twenty troopers from the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry across the water. He took a wound to the head in the process. Even though losses in this fight were slight, Averell moved forward with great caution afterward, needing over two hours to get his entire command across the fast current.

Word of the crossing reached Lee by half past seven that morning at Culpeper Court House, some ten miles to the west. Believing Averell intended to strike at Brandy Station along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, Lee dispatched 800 men to intercept the Union column. The two sides met near the C.T. Wheatley house, roughly two miles northwest of the ford, where the Federal cavalry had already taken up position. Duffié held the left flank within a stand of woods, McIntosh anchored the center, and Reno's pair of regular regiments guarded the right side behind a stone wall.

As chance would have it, Jeb Stuart was also present in Culpeper Court House that day for a court-martial proceeding, and he chose to ride toward the sound of fighting, bringing along his artillery commander, Major John Pelham. What greeted them was a Confederate force struggling against odds of two to one and up against a strongly placed battery. That day marked the first occasion in the conflict when a Confederate cavalry unit, the 2nd Virginia, broke and ran from a Union assault.

Lee's five regiments moved forward together in a single line. Sharpshooters guided the 3rd and 5th Virginia Cavalry as they pressed along the stone wall, searching for any breach they could exploit. Pelham rode alongside the advancing troops, and just as he gestured them through an opening in the fence, a shell burst above him, driving a small piece of shrapnel into his skull. The wound proved fatal, and he died within hours. Carbine volleys from the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry, combined with cannon fire from Martin's battery, threw back the Confederate push.

Meanwhile, on the opposite flank, Duffié broke from Averell's instructions to hold firm and instead launched a charge of his own. This unexpected assault compelled Lee's troops to retreat through the timber into an open area just beyond it. Lee then turned and struck back at the oncoming Union horsemen, but was again forced to yield ground, overwhelmed by greater numbers and cannon support. The Confederate line might well have collapsed entirely, but Reno never moved up to reinforce Duffié's success, staying put in accordance with Averell's earlier command.