Battle of Kelly's Ford

Other Names: Kellysville

Location: Culpeper County/Fauquier County, Virginia

Campaign: Cavalry Operations along the Rappahannock (March 1863)

Date: March 17, 1863

Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. William W. Averell [US]; Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee [CS]

Forces Engaged: 2,100 [US]; 800 [CS]

Casualties and losses: 134 [US]; 232 [CS]

Result(s): Inconclusive

Brief Description:

Kelly's Ford was one of the early larger scale cavalry fights in Virginia that set the stage for Brandy Station and cavalry actions of the Gettysburg campaign. Twenty-one hundred troopers of Averell's cavalry division crossed the Rappahannock River to attack the Confederate cavalry. Fitzhugh Lee counterattacked with a brigade of about 800 men. The "Gallant" Pelham was killed. He was John Pelham Known as the "Boy Major," of the first horse artillery he heard of an impending action at Kelly's Ford on March 17, 1863. Away from his battalion at the time, he joined the fray with the cavalry.. After achieving a localized success, Union forces withdrew in mid-afternoon.