“Gentlest and bravest in the battle brunt,
The Champion of the Truth,
He bore the banner to the very front
Of our immortal youth.”
His body was carried to Richmond and lay in state in the Capitol, until it could be borne under proper military escort to his native state, Alabama. Stuart, who loved Pelham like a son, went to Richmond to be present at the funeral.
When he wrote Mrs. Stuart of the young hero’s death, he said, “His record is complete and it is spotless and noble. His character pure and his disposition as sweet and innocent as our child.” The general had a strong personal affection for the young men of his staff and the death of Pelham was as great a grief to Stuart as it was a loss to the army.
Stuart’s men and horses were greatly weakened by the heavy and almost constant skirmishes, picket duty, and raids in which they had been engaged since the fall. On the other hand, the Federal cavalry, just reorganized into one splendid corps under the command of Major-General George Stoneman, was in better condition than ever before. General Hooker depended upon this large and finely-equipped force to open a campaign which would prove fatal to General Lee’s army.
General Stoneman was ordered to cross the Rappahannock river at one of the fords in Culpeper county and, after dispersing the small force of Confederate cavalry in that vicinity, to proceed toward Richmond, destroying the Central Railroad, capturing all supply stations, and doing all possible damage along the Pamunkey river. He was then to proceed to the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, and by breaking up that road and burning certain bridges, to cut General Lee’s army off from Richmond. As soon as Stoneman started on his raid, the “Grand Army,” as it was called, under General Hooker himself, was to move to Chancellorsville about ten miles southwest of Fredericksburg. Thus General Lee was to be forced to come out of his entrenched position and to give battle on ground of Hooker’s own choosing.
Several bodies of Federal cavalry tried to cross at various fords on the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, but were repulsed by small bodies of watchful Confederate pickets. The rivers were now rising rapidly from the usual spring rains, and the Rappahannock became so swollen that the advance of Stoneman was checked for two weeks. Many of Stuart’s troopers were absent for various reasons and he had only about two thousand men with whom to guard the fords and to cover a front of more than fifty miles.
On the afternoon of April 24, three corps of Federal infantry appeared at Kelly’s Ford. A strong party crossed in boats and drove the pickets from the ford. They then laid a pontoon bridge; and during the night, the Twelfth Army Corps passed to the southern shore. The next morning, Stuart learned that the entire Grand Army was on the move. He telegraphed this information to General Lee who ordered Stuart at once to swing around the Federal divisions that had crossed the river and join him at Fredericksburg. General W. H. F. Lee with only two regiments—a small force but all that could be spared—was sent to protect the Central Railroad from Stoneman’s cavalry.