This article is about the nineteenth century Confederate officer. For the twentieth century U.S. diplomat, see John Hubert Kelly. For other people with this name, see John Kelly.
John Herbert Kelly
John H. Kelly, Brigadier General in the Confederate Army
John Herbert Kelly was born in 1840 to Isham Kelly and Elizabeth Herbert at their homeinCarrollton, Alabama.[4] Kelly's father died while in Cuba when John was four, and his mother died three years later.[5] His grandmother Harriet Herbert Hawthorne took responsibility of the young orphan.[5] When John was about seventeen he received an appointment to West Point through the help of his uncle, Congressman Philemon T. Herbert and another relative Congressman William W. Boyce.[4] A few months before his graduation in 1861 his home state of Alabama seceded from the Union. Hearing the news Kelly left West Point and headed to Montgomery.[6]
In October of that year he fought at the Battle of Perryville. Later in 1862 he fought at the Battle of Murfreesboro where he was wounded.[5] Kelly commanded a large brigade of men at Chickamauga consisting of the 5th Kentucky, 58th North Carolina, 63rd Virginia, and the 65th Georgia Infantry Regiments.[6] He lost 300 men at Chickamauga within the one hour.[6] Also during the battle while leading his troops Kelly had a horse shot out from under him.[6]
Because of his bravery at the Battle of Chickamauga generals Cleburne, Liddell, and Preston asked for a promotion for Kelly.[4] General Cleburne told Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon of Kelly, "I know no better officer of his grade in the service."[4] On November 16, 1863, John Kelly was promoted to a brigadier general at age 23.[7] Kelly's brigade was one of the key factors at the Battle of Pickett's Mill that lead to the Confederate victory.[6]
In August and September 1864 Kelly's Brigade fought at Franklin, Tennessee, during Wheeler's raid on Sherman's railroad supply line. While leading a charge at a skirmish near Franklin on September 2, Kelly was shot in the chest by a Union sharpshooter.[8] Kelly was immediately taken to the Harrison House to be seen by doctors. At the Confederate retreat, he was too badly hurt to be moved and was forced to be left and captured by Union forces on September 3. Kelly died the following day in his bed at the Harrison House.[1][8]
John Herbert Kelly was one of the youngest generals to die during the Civil War at age 24.[2]
He was buried in the gardens of the Harrison House just south of Franklin on the day of his death. Local residents bought him a coffin and the new clothing he was buried in, except for the uniform coat which he was wearing when he died.[1] Later in 1866 his body was moved and reburied in the Magnolia Cemetery of Mobile, Alabama.[9] Sons Of Confederate Veterans Camp 1980 Gordo, Alabama Named In His Honor.
^ abcdWillis Brewer's Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men: From 1540 to 1872 ( 1872) pg. 502
^ abcdThomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owens' History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (1921) pg. 960
^ abcdefClement Anselm Evans's Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History (1899) pg. 421
^Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owens' History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (1921) pg. 326
^ abWarner, Ezra J.Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN978-0-8071-0823-9. p. 169.
^Jack D. Welsh's Medical Histories of Confederate Generals (1999) pg. 125
Brewer, Willis. Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men: From 1540 to 1872. Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Co., 1975. Originally published 1872.