CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
24 January 1832 - 6 February 1865
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John Pegram CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 24 January 1832 - 6 February 1865 |
John Pegram was the quintessential Virginian, and an example of how the sophisticated, gentile nobility of southern society could fail in the harsher environment of the west. Born in Petersburg, Virginia, he was from one of Richmond's most prominant families. West Point trained, he graduated 10th in his class in 1854. Assigned to western duty throughout much of the war, he met with little success. Only when he returned east to join Lee's Army of Northern Virginia did he begin to achieve any degree of success, though it remained marred with doubts of his military skills and leadership abilities. He became part of the inner circle of Confederate high command, and it seemed at times that regardles of what mistake he made, he would remain in favor. His qualities as a battlefield commander are best summed up by Scott Laidig in Brigadier General John Pegram, Lee�s Paradoxical Cavalier ...
Pegram was a Virginia gentleman from an aristocratic family. He was also a professional soldier who answered his state�s call to rebellion. In battle he was courageous to a fault, and his officers and men generally responded to his leadership by example. But there was something wrong about his generalship. His relations with non-Virginians and volunteers were strained. His judgment on the battlefield, especially when in independent duty outside the direct supervision of his commander, was often poor.
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... General Pegram, who is promoted regularly after every one of his defeats. Shows what faith they have in him, a conspicuous mark of the confidence his superior officers have in his merits ... You are aware of the feeling which exists in some irregular organizations in reference to being commanded by regular officers. In your relations with the troops, even more than with General Morgan, you should endeavor to conciliate that feeling. I have written to General Morgan, informing him that I have a right to expect from him a hearty co-operation with you as his senior. I feel assured that you will receive from General Morgan his able and hearty support, if you show toward him and his command the proper consideration and a spirit of great conciliation. |
Someone counted 14 generals in church and suggested less piety and more drilling of commands would suit the times better. Lee, Longstreet, Morgan, Pegram, Gordon and Bragg ... We are pained to announce the death of Brigadier General John Pegram. Though unsuccessful early in the war, General Pegram had latterly established an enviable reputation as a gallant soldier and an able and efficient officer. Brigadier General Pegram ... fell nobly at the head of his men. He had been in the army since the opening of the war, and had borne a distinguished part in many hard-fought fields. He was a man of the most unflinching gallantry and a high order of intellect. |
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LINKS |
Brigadier General John Pegram, Lee�s Paradoxical Cavalier. Well-done research on John Pegram.
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Pegram suffered the humiliation of being the first officer to surrender during the war, at the Battle of Rich Mountain in what is now West Virginia. It was so early in the war that Major General George McClellan, who accepted Pegram's surrender, had to wire Washington for instructions how to handle prisoners. Pegram was soon exchanged, but he fought to overcome the stigma of his early defeat. Pegram would later face the Union commander he was exchanged for -- Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcox. It may have been fate or good judgment, but in the exchange the Union may have known they were getting the better part of the deal. In 1863, Pegram's brigade was assigned to picket the Cumberland River and defend two northern Tennessee counties. Willcox surprised Pegram and drove him back from the river. Pegram claimed that lack of forage for his horses caused him to retreat, along with the threat from eleven Union infantry regiments. Willcox would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor following the war. |
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Pegram served under some of the South's most illustrious generals -- including Beauregard, Bragg, Kirby Smith, Forrest, Early, and Lee. He started as a Lieutenent Colonel of the 20th VA Infantry. After being exchanged following the Battle of Rich Mountain, he was promoted to Colonel and was Chief Engineer for the Army of Mississippi under Beaureard, and the Army of Tennessee under Bragg. He was then assigned as the Chief of Staff for Kirby Smith. In November 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General of Cavalry, commanding brigades at the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee and the Battle if Chickamauga in northern Georgia. Transfered east, he remained a Brigadier General, but of infantry. He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia, and when he returned temporarily took command of a division in Early's 1864 Shenandoah Campaign. |
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Pegram's military abilities and tactical skills came under question throughout the war, and his trials began early. In western Virginia, at the Battle of Rich Mountain, he permitted his unit to be flanked and cut off. Lost in the mountains, the victim of some bad luck and poor leadership, Pegram decided to surrender without attempting to escape. His officers were irate and openly critical. At the Battle of Stones River, in December 1862, some placed the responsibility for Bragg�s defeat on Pegram. He was cited for poor intelligence gathering and slipshod performance. He failed to accurately report Union movements, and his ability to employ artillery effectively was questioned by Brigadier General John Wharton. His report clearly shows that Pegram was unable to direct his battery at a critical moment of the battle. In a cavalry raid into Kentucky on 31 March 1863, Pegram outnumbered a Union force almost 2 to 1 and had a superior defensive position. But Pegram was defeated and lost several hundred men as prisoners, as well as most of the cattle he had gathered to feed Bragg�s army. A month later Pegram�s superior was appalled that Pegram had withdrawn from a confrontation with Union Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcox at the Cumberland River. It wasn't until Pegram returned to the east that he began to earn the laurels he felt he so richly deserved. Under General Jubal Early, Pegram rose to command a division, though he was never promoted to Major General. Many accounts speak to Pegram's personal bravery, handsome appearance, cavalier demeanor, and faithful piety. And yet questions would always linger. |
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Pegram's Civil War career was also tarnished by poor personal relations with his fellow Confederate officers. And like his military abilities, the questions started early. Upon arriving in western Virgina, he immediately argued over seniority. After being exchanged, he was promoted in November 1862 and given a small brigade of cavalry in the west. Serving under a variety of generals, Pegram commanded the brigade until November 1863. But his assignment was marred by controversy with subordinates as well as other brigadiers, and an unbecoming appeal to one of his commanders for support. In early 1863, Pegram lead a cavalry raid into Kentucky in which two of his subordinates were outspoken in their criticism of Pegram. He was finally sent back to his home state of Virginia, and it was here that his problems with subordinates and contemporaries ended. This implies his difficulties were due to his social standing and professional demeanor which were more acceptable in Virginia than in the west. Pegram was an aristocratic member of the landed gentry, and many of the volunteers in his western commands were mountain people or farmers who had little in common with their slave-owning commander. Handling volunteers did not come naturally to Pegram, especially when those volunteers resented West Point graduates. |
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One of the reasons that Pegram may have continued to retain a favored position among the southern military elite was not for something he accomplished on the battlefield, but in the high society of Richmond. He was engaged to the beautiful belle of Richmond, Hetty Cary. Many besides Pegram found her irresistible. Born in Baltimore, she was an outspoken supporter of the Confederacy and was forced to leave to escape arrest. Her stays in Richmond were well publicized and she was paid a great deal of attention, especially by Confederate generals. DeLeon wrote that, "No reign in Richmond was more lasting, more undisputed than hers." She and Pegram became engaged in 1862, and were married in January 1865. Three weeks later Pegram was killed at the Battle of Hatcher's Run on 6 Februrary 1865. |
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John Pegram had a younger brother named William, also called Willy, who was killed in the next battle. The Brothers Pegram were members of a genteel Richmond society group known as the Mosaics, which met at various homes for evenings of music, conversation, improvisation, and general merriment. |
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