The III Corps was camped at Warrenton Junction (shown below) when they received their orders on the evening of the November 6th. Major General William French was to effect a crossing of the Rappahannock River at Kelly’s Ford and to move forward toward Providence Church and assist in the operations of the right column at Rappahannock Station commanded by General Sedgwick. He would use the III Corps to assault Kelly’s Ford, supported by the II Corps. The I Corps would protect the supply train. The III Corps would head to Morrisville at 5:00 AM and from there along the Summerduck Road to Kelly’s Ford. French would be commanding the left wing and Major General David Birney would command the III Corps. In the lead would be Colonel Regis De Trobriand’s 3rd Brigade of Brigadier General John Hobart Ward’s 1st Division. The 2nd US Sharpshooters were the advanced guard and the 1st US Sharpshooters served as flankers. The Sharpshooters were a group of elite marksmen (Berdan’s Sharpshooters).

They reached Mount Holly Church, about a mile from the ford, around 1:00 PM. A ridge between the Church and the ford kept the 29,000 Federals out of sight of the Rebels guarding the ford. Confederate scouts had spotted small numbers of Union soldiers in the area. Lieutenant Colonel Stallings rode out from Kelly’s Ford to see for himself but because of the ridge could only see what he thought were nothing more than Union scouts on a reconnaissance mission.

Birney placed two batteries on the Mount Holly Church ridge and a third above the Rappahannock Station-Kelly’s Ford Road. At 1:30 PM French gave Birney the command to advance. As Union skirmishers crested the ridge, they came under fire from Confederate pickets from the 2nd NC that were hidden in the brush on the Fauquier County side of the river. The North Carolinians were pushed back across the ford by the advancing 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and took refuge in rifle pits where they found surprisingly few of their comrades.

The pictures below are of Kelly’s Ford from the Culpeper County side.

Robert Knox Sneden’s map of the area is shown below.

The 2nd NC were the front-line troops at Kelly’s Ford but the unit contained only 322 men. They were commanded by Colonel William R. Cox. The regiment was in Brigadier General Stephen Ramseur’s brigade of Major General Robert Rodes division of Ewell’s Corps. Ramseur had taken leave to get married leaving Cox in charge of the brigade and Lieutenant Colonel William Stallings in charge of the 2nd NC. With these 322 men the 2d NC were expected to cover the area from Wheatley’s Ford, a mile north of Kelly’s Ford, to Mountain Run, a mile and a half to the south. Cox had one company of men at these locations and another company at Stevens Ford a half mile south. The remaining 7 companies, only 225 men, were at Kelly’s Ford. Kellysville and Kelly’s Ford because of the topography was difficult to defend. The high ground on the Fauquier County side made it a sitting duck for artillery. Behind the town was a large open plain that extended for about 700 yards to a wooden hill where William Sillers 30th NC was camped (500 men), along with Captain John Massie’s Fluvanna Artillery. The best this force could do would be to fight a delaying action hoping to buy enough time for Rodes division, camped a mile and a half west of the river, to respond to an assault.

Shown below is a view of where Kellysville was located from the high ground on the Fauquier County side of the river.

Shortly thereafter the Confederates got a clearer view of what they were up against when the 10th MA Battery and infantry appeared across the river near where Marsh Creek entered the Rappahannock. Stallings sent couriers back to alert Colonel Cox, the 30th NC and Massie’s Battery. Union guns opened fire and a heavy skirmish line rushed toward the river. The 2nd NC was able to keep the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters pinned down on the opposite bank for a short period. The 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery deployed near the river and showered the Confederate rifle pits with canister, Captain Franklin Pratt’s 1st CT Battery shelled the town and snipers in the mill. Ramseur’s brigade under Cox was closest to the ford. The attack caught the Confederates in the area off guard. Rodes upon receiving a message from Cox rode to the front. He would need to buy enough time for his and Johnson’s divisions to reach the field, which meant Cox’s men were on their own until then. Unfortunately for the Rebels the local command structure at the ford would be destroyed when Cox was hit by a fragment of an artillery shell and knocked out of action.

The 30th NC which was to support the 2nd NC at the ford was unable to reach them. The plight of the 30th North Carolina is described in their regimental history- The 30th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War by William Thomas Venner. I have excerpted part of the section on the Second Battle of Kelly’s Ford below. The 30th NC was in reserve, protecting the solitary battery (Napoleon) about three-quarters of a mile from the Rappahannock River near Kellysville and Kelly’s Ford. They were in the edge of the woods nearest the ford, only 15 minutes away from the fight, when they were ordered forward (shown in the map below).

Lieutenant Colonel William Sillers’ five hundred troops crossed the crest of the hill and emerged onto a flat, open field that sloped gently down to Kellysville. Three Northern batteries, nearly eighteen guns, adjusted their ranges and began to shell them. Sillers urged his men forward on the double quick with many seeing the solid brick buildings of Kellysville as a refuge. Meanwhile, Colonel Risden Bennett (14th NC) arrived at the Confederate artillery emplacement and quickly analyzed the situation. He could see there was no way the 2nd NC could hold their position against the Union infantry, and he watched in horror as the 30th was being blown to pieces trying to support this futile endeavor. The 30th’s soldiers had reached Kellyville’s outskirts, only a couple of houses, their properties outlined by stoutly made wooden fences.

The barrier forced the 30th to halt its advance as the men climbed over the fence boards. Sergeant Major Peter Arrington recorded, “In advancing we had to cross a fence that ran obliquely to our line of battle which kept the Regiment very much broken, and together with the fact of there being a residence immediately in our front encircled by railings of the same kind which necessarily separated the men.” The regiment’s companies reached the barricade at different times, as the fence was at a diagonal to the riflemen’s advance. Union artillery continued to reign terror down on the North Carolinians. Finally, Massie was able to get his Fluvanna Artillery into place and return fire. Once he drew the attention of Union gunners 16 cannons turned their fire upon him forcing him to move back into the woods to avoid destruction.

The right wing which included Company K reached the fence line, one company at a time, with each unit struggling to cross the stout barrier. As they reached the fence Siller received orders to withdraw. He gave the command to those men in the right wing who had not crossed the fence. Unfortunately, by now several hundred had already made their way into Kellysville. General Rodes noted, “[the 30th] deliberately [broke] ranks and fle[d] to the houses about the mill.” William Sillers shouted at Captain John Witherspoon (Co. K), who along with Sgt. Samuel Boyce (Co. K), had already clambered over the fence, and was attempting to corral men and turn them away from entering the town. Unfortunately, before Witherspoon could hear Sillers’ words, a near-by explosion killed Sillers. Captain Witherspoon did not see Sillers fall; instead, he worked his way to a clump of confused soldiers milling behind a brick house and convinced them to leave. Captain Witherspoon found Captain Willis Moore and together they got another group of men to retreat, this group following Moore to safety. The 30th’s riflemen, seeing the Federal artillery bombard their hiding spots, sought better shelter within the town’s brick structures. One wrote, “The [mill] house cellar and yard was filled with soldiers and behind the building, all in confusion.” Some took refuge in the large mill house, its thick brick walls providing some protection. A few went to the upper story windows and began shooting at the Yankees.

Major General Birney knew that artillery alone would not drive the Rebels from their works and ordered Colonel de Trobriand across the river with seven regiments with the 1st US Sharpshooters leading the way under the highly competent Lieutenant Colonel Casper Trepp. Trepp sent four companies of men under Lieutenant Rudolf Aschmann to cross the river a few hundred yards to the north and attempt then to flank the rebels at the ford. Aschmann lost 10 men in the process but was able to cross the river. Trepp’s men hesitated resulting in General Birney riding to the ford and ordering them to cross. Trapp’s men crossed under heavy fire and with Aschmann attacking from the left were able to overcome and captured 80 men. The remainder of the earthworks along the river were taken in heavy fighting. The Federals then focused their attention on the Rebels in the town.

A Northerner wrote, “One of [their] fellows began shooting at our men from a [mill] window above, when he put his gun and head out again, Thorp pulled on him and the reb’s gun dropped to the ground outside, while the Johnny fell inside.” An artilleryman added, “I shelled the brick houses at the ford in which the enemy’s [infantry] were.” Captain John Witherspoon (Co. K), leading the Carolina defense, assembled another small force within the confines of a vegetable garden, but his efforts failed. Private Aaron DeArmond (Co. K) wrote, “Capt. J. G. Witherspoon was shot through the breast.” Captain Weldon Davis (Co. B), also with Witherspoon in the garden, fell, his right leg shattered by a minié bullet. The remaining North Carolinians huddled inside the various houses, some still thinking of resistance, though most just seeking hiding spots. The Federals moved from location to location, rousting out the crestfallen. In some houses they resisted, but their single-shot weapons were no match for the Sharps the Northerners possessed. “Nearly [200] members of the 30th had taken shelter in a cluster of buildings, refused to abandon them when ordered to fall back across ground subject to enemy fire, and meekly surrendered to advancing Federals.” Colonel Frank Parker later noted, “the regiment was badly cut to pieces.” The Federals in Kellysville now had over 150 prisoners from the 30th NC, twelve of whom were wounded (the list is shown below).

With the ford taken Federal engineers quickly set about building a pontoon bridge and by 3:00 PM Birney’s entire division was across Kelly’s Ford. Northern surgeons did what they could for the injured soldiers, while provost guards marched 300 prisoners off to a holding pen, as preparations were made to ship them off to interment. Most were sent to the prisoner of war facility at Point Lookout, MD. The Federals lost 7 men killed and suffered 42 casualties. At least 45 Confederates were killed.

Rodes was able to set up a defensive line with the left anchored on Wheatley’s Ford and Johnson’s division arrived shortly after dark to further extend the right. Once Lee learned that Sedgwick had taken the tete de pont at Rappahannock Station and French had crossed Kelly’s Ford and was advancing toward Brandy Station he had little choice but to evacuate his position and cross the Rapidan River back into Orange County. Just as he had done after Gettysburg Lee had managed to escape Meade’s grasp much to the chagrin of the Union high command and Lincoln.

Sources

The 30th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War by William Thomas Venner