10 A
MONDAY MARCH IS, 1963
MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
ZS 7-
i
'. mm
CIVIL WAR
Saga of The Gallant Pelham'
SIGNIFICANT CASUALTY There were 15 (ights at Kelly's
Ford, Va during the Civil War and Hie most siRnifleanl
casualty occurred on March 17, 1863. That day marked the
death of Maj. John Pclham. Pelham joined the Confederate
forces and become almost a legend in his own lifetime. He
was called "The Gallant" by Gen. Robert E. Lee, who
Joined the whole Confederacy in mourning Polham's death.
Pelham is shown above in a photo made during the war. (UPI)
By MERTON T. AKERS
UPI Correspondent
The history books call the
fight at Kelly's Ford Va., on
March 17, 1863 an engage
gent. In the language of military
men that means the cavalry
clash - a minor Federal vic
tory - was something less
than a battle and something
more than a skirmish.
All told during the Civil
War there were 15 fiRlils of
one sort or another at Kelly's
Ford which made the history
books. Eleven of these were
called skirmishes, two were
called operations (scouting or
two achieved the status of en
forage expeditions) and only
engagements.
This crossing of the Rap
pahannock River above Fred
crickburg was a sort of
"Grand Central Terminal"
during the war. Sooner or
later, it seemed, everybody In
the eastern theater splashed
through it.
But whether historians call
a fight a skirmish nr engage
ment or battle, those few
who get killed in . one of
these small affairs arc no lers
dead than if they had fallen
storming a parapet under the
eyes of thousands. They sim
ply die obscurely, likely as
not wilh never a line in
an official dispatch. Or per
haps they arc burled where
they fell and their names be
come only another In a long
column of casualties.
Of the 211 casualties re
corded on both sides in the
March 17 affair at Kelly's
Ford, the only death which
the history books talk about
in detail was that of Maj.
John Pelham, called "The Ga-
lam Pelham."
In War From Start
Pclham had been in the
war almost from the start. He
was studying at West Point
and soon after his native
slate of Alabama seceded he
resigned. In May 1861 he
made his way through the
Federal lines and enlisted in
the Confederate artillery.
He fought as a captain with
distinction at both battles of
Bull Run and on the Penin
sula. At Anticttim he was
made a major for gallantry.
He handled the horse artil
lery for Gen. J. E. B. Stuart
with a spirit never before
pliown In that arm. He even
Invented new tactics.
It was at the battle of Fred
erlckiburg where he earned
the name of "The Gallant."
It was bestowed by none
other than Gen. Robert E.
Lee when Pelham with two
guns held up the advance of
a Federal division.
"It is glorious to see such
courage in one so young,"
Lee raid of him that day.
Col. W. W. Blackford,
Stuart's engineering officer,
described Pclham as "tall,
slender, beautifully propor
tioned and very graceful, a
superb rider and as brave
as Julius Ceasar."
Blackford, who often read
aloud to Pelham from mar
tial books, added that he was
"as grand a flirt' as ever
lived."
The blonde, bluc-cyed Pcl
ham took part In the Kelly's
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j'Ford engagement partly by
acccident, partly by order and
partly because he loved a
good fight.
Asked For Leave
A few days before Kelly's
Ford Pelham asked Stuart for
a leave to go and see a girl
In Orange, Va., so he might
thank her in person for some
candy she had sent.
Stuart granted the leave to
the young artilleryman - he
was Just 24 at the time - and
the major set out early the
next morning before Stuart
could change his mind.
(Stuart was likely to gr-nt a
leave at night and then recall
the man the next morning.)
Pelham was nearly to
Orange when a courier caught
up with him. Stuart had chan
ged his mind as usual.
But Pelham remained the
night in Orange. History is
silent on whether he saw the
girl, Miss Nannie Price, one
of Stuart's Richmond cousins,
but Pelham never was one to
avoid women and it seems
reasonable to believe he kept
his date.
From Orange Pclham went
to Culpepper, Va., where Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee, threatened by
a Union calvary force, was
commanding. There Pelham
met Stuart.
The Federal calvary under
Brig. Gen. W. W. Averell -
about 2,100 men with six guns
- forced Kelly's Ford early in
the morning of March 17
against a few of Lee's calv-alrymen.
Lee promptly moved his
800 men to the ford to cut
off Avereell's force before it
could hit the Orange & Alex
andria railroad about four
miles away.
Pclham and Stuart borrow
ed horses and rode out to see
the fight.
Lee's riders sighted the
Federals about a half mile
from the ford. They seemed
deployed as if expecting an
attack. Lee talked to Stuart
who gave him the word to go
in.
Fire Too Hot
One squadron of the Third
Virginia Calvalry pushed to
ward a stone fence behind
which the Federal sharpshoot
ers were operating. The Fed
eral fire was too hot for the
Confederates and the squad
ron foil back. Stuart rode in
to rally it.
Then the Third charged at
fours, yelling and swinging
the stone fence in columns of
sabers. But the fence was too
high to jump and the regi
ment veered left toward some
farm buildings looking for a
gate.
Here Pclham rode into the
charge.
The classic account of Pel-
ham's death was written by
Dr. Douglas Southall Free
man In "Lee's Lieutenants."
The Joy of battle was in
the boy's shining eyes," he
wrote.
"As he waved his sword.
he smiled and shouted 'for
ward' , , . and cut across
the angle of the column to
reach lis head. By the time
he approached the farm build
ings, the men were steaming
through a gap in the fence
and were filing off to the
extreme left . . . Pclham drew
rein at the gate and yelled
encouragement to the men as
thry passed.
In the high ecstasy of con
flict, he stood in his stirrups.
sword uplifted, battle shout
on his lips. Overhead a roar.
I flash, the loud explosion of
a shell. The horse leaped. Pel
ham fell. He lay on his back.
The smile did not fail. His
eyes remained open; his face
was not marred. He looked
as If at the moment he would
rise and shake off the dust
and shout again, 'forward';
but In the back of his head,
just at the hairline, there was
a small bleeding wound
where a fragment of shell had
entered."
Draped Across Horse
rclham's body was draped
across a cavalry horse and
started for Culpepper. Half
way there the body whs
placed on the grass and IVI
ham was found to be breath
ing. An ambulance carried
him to a house In Culpepper
There he died soon after
noon.
Three Confederate girls put
on mourning for him.
Of the many tributes to
Pelham as his hody lay in
state in Richmon ' and jour
neyed to Alabama, perhaps
the best was from General
Lee, who originally called
I him "The Gallant "
I In a letter to Mrs lee on
I March IP from Kredric' -
I burg, the four star general
j wrote of the major:
"I grieve over the loss of
; major Pelham. He hud been
' stricken down In the midst
j of his career of usefulness
land honour, which In it
! progress I had hoped would
'have expanded in brightness."
The Medical Roundup
M. .V I
Emeritus Consultant In Medietas
.Mayo Clinic
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic
(Register and Tribune Syndicate,
19631
BREASTS TOO LARGE OR
TOO SMALL
I used to try to talk sur
geons into helping unhappy
women by removing the ex
cess tissue from pendulous
breasts but
for years 1
failed. The
surgeons fear
ed that any
operation on
the breast
which would
interfere with
the function
of the tiny
Alvarei ducts might.
in some unknown way, lead
to the production of cancer.
Today, a number of sur
geons have lost this fear, and
have gone ahead to help the
big-breasted of fallen-breasted
woman who often is dis
tressed and embarrassed. But
some surgeons are still argu
ing as to how the nipple
should be transplanted. Ac
cording to Dr. Philip Thorek
of Chicago, the best technic
Is to remove the nipple to
gether with the areola (the
Dink or dark circle around
the nipple) and then to graft
it onto the skin above, where
it used to be before the breast
became large or much elonga
ted, and hung down.
Dr. Thorek tells me that for
a long time now he has been
transplanting the nipples,
without any failure. Obvious
ly, no milk can ever come
away through such a nipple.
Dr Thorek says that the wo
man with the "cut-down" and
"remodeled" breasts are very
grateful.
There are also many unhn-
py women who write to sy
they are almost as flat-chested
as a man. It is not surpris
ing that some develop an in
feriority complex. Many are
afraid to go out with an ad
mirer, and they are afraid to
marry a man without first
telling him the truth. Today,
with the movie people making
so much of the full - bosomed
woman, many a flat-chested
girl starting out in the busi
ness world, feels that if she is
to hold her job, she had bet
ter wear "falsies."
Few Sympathetic
few of Us physicians are as
I am ashamed to say that
sympathetic as we should be
wilh these unhappy girls and
women, I personally feel that
plastic surgeons should make
every effort to perfect a tech
nic for inserting behind the
thin breasts of these women a
sort of plastic material which
will push the breast forward.
Naturally, the material must
remain soft.
A while ago I had a long
talk with a plastic surgeon
who has spent years search
ing for a plastic that will
work as he and his palL-ts
want it to do. Eventually, he
found one, and now has learn
ed to sterilize it ; i well that
when it is put in place, it
does not get infected, and
does not get infecter, and does !
does not have to be taken out
again.
A couple of years ago, the
doctor wrote me that he felt
he had the problems solved,
because all of the operations
of this type thai he had per
sthesis" had become infected
had been successful. No "pro
formed in the previous year
so that it had to be removed.
One problem is that when a
girl writes me from a mall
town in Canada or the Uni
ted States, I have difficulty
finding a surgeon for her.
Some plastic surgeons tell
me that they try to make
what looks and feels like a
breast out of muscle around
onto the front of the chest
wall, but I can't feel enthusi
astic about this technic.
I feel that r one f ould
ever try to discourage these
girls and women from trying
to have somethir done. They
should not be condemned to
remain miserable and unhap
py. I do hope many capable
surgeons come to their res
cue. One great trouble today is
that with the modern craze
for suing the surgeon for
things do not quite to the
$500,000 - and getting il - if
things do not go quite to the
woman s satisfaction - no sen
sible man cares to take the
terrible risk.
Cancer Of The Voice Box
Anyone whose voice sud
denly changes and doesn't
clear up in a few days should
go immediately to - good
throat man and have him look
into the voice box with his
little mirror. He may see
what looks like a little wart
on one of the cords; and if
this is promptly clipped off,
even if mocroscopic examina
tion shows it to be an active
cancer, the man's life and his
voice are likely to be saved.
If nothing is done, and a
cancer spreads into the lymph
nodes on each side of the
voice box, the man is likely
to lose his larynx (voice box)
and he can even lose his life.
Fortunately, today modern
radiation treatment, if quick
ly used, can cure one of these
cancers. So much depends on
whether the whole laryr : has
to be taken out.
I hear that Henry Viscardi
of Abilities, Incorporated,
has developed an electrical
apparatus that will enable a
whisperer to talk loudly.
Usually we begin to have
problems with vision when
we get to be 45 or so. Dr.
Alavarcz has prepared
booklet, "How to f" .feguard
Your Vision," which may
prove valuable to you. You
may obtain it by sending 25
cents and a -Jit-addressed,
stamped envelope with your
request for it to Dr. Waller
C. Alvarez, Dept. MM", Box
957, Des Moines 4, Iowa.
Problem-Solving
Approach in School
Learning Praised
Bv DAVID NYDICK
UPI Education Specialist
fine method of teaching
children social studies is the
problem-solving ai pro- It
is one of the interesting ways
for children to learn.
A look at a partciular prob
lem studied bv a urotin of
students will give you an idea
of the broad growth which
might occur. The question
was raised in a classroom as
lo whv the United Stales had
developed so much faster than
the other countries in the
Americas. A discussion fol
lowed which brouglil out
many possible answers such
as our form of government,
natural resources, climate,
etc.
Class Divided
The class became highly in
terested and decided to go
more deeply into the reasons
for the rapid growth. They
talked about ways to ap
proach this study. It was de
cided lo divide the class into
small interest groups Each
crouo studied a different as
pect of our nation's progress
in relation to other coun
tries The committee whirl, stu-
ied ihe effects of government
enthusiasm grew as their un
derstanding developed.
The students developed
many important academic
skills. The research included
the use of reference books,
analysis and comparison of
ideas, note taking, reading,
writing, grammar, spelling,
and public speaking. The
learning which tikes place in
the problem-solving approach
is endless. It covers almoM
every area of the school pro
gram. This method of leaching in
volves the child in a vast
number of experiences. He
learns through his own ini
tiative and efforts. A student
with enthusiasm is on the
right track. He will need to
master skills in order to
satisfy his curiosity. He will
begin to think.
Meaningful Knowledge
The value of this approach
lies in its contribution of
meaningful knowledge. The
accumulation of factual in-:
formation is advantageous
when it adds to understand
ing. The particular problem
studied donated much to Ihe
students' understanding id
knowledge of the American
started with an analysis of heritage .They became aware
the Constitution. As the
members examined this basic
law, they were searching con
stantly for its effects upon
our way of life and continu
ous growth. It often was nec
essary to uncover why its
writers had designed it as
they it id. As the group com
pared our government with
those of other nation, they
began to appreciate the real
meaning of our democratic
form of government. Vhcir
of their own participation and
responsibilities as citizens.
Perhaps the problem-solving
approach is one which
helps meet the needs of our
society. We want people to
develop initiative, civic re
sponsibility, the ability to
think, curiosity, and apprecia
tion of our society. This
method seems to achieve these
aims while allowing for in
dividual differences in inter
est and ability. '
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