William Ransom Johnson Pegram, known as "Willie" or "Willy", (June 29, 1841 – April 2, 1865) was an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

officer in Robert E. Lee's

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. He was mortally wounded in the

Battle of Five Forks The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, near the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Union ...

. He was the younger brother of Confederate General

John Pegram John Pegram (November 16, 1773April 8, 1831) was a Virginia planter, soldier and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and a major general during the War of 1812. Ear ...

, who was also killed in action. His grandfather,

, was a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

Early life

Born in a house along Main Street in Richmond, Virginia, Pegram was a student at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

's law school when the Civil War broke out in 1861.

Civil War

Pegram quickly enlisted in an artillery battery from Richmond known as the " Purcell Artillery" in April 1861. The youthful Pegram would become General A. P. Hill's favorite artillery officer. He gained a reputation for his scholarly looks—extreme nearsightedness required that he wear his gold-rimmed spectacles even in the heat of battle–and for his utter fearlessness in battle. Confederate General

Henry Heth Henry Heth ( not ) (December 16, 1825 – September 27, 1899) was a career United States Army officer who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He came to the notice of Robert E. Lee while serving briefly as his quartermast ...

commented that Pegram was "one of the few men who, I believe, was supremely happy when in battle." One of his soldiers recalled that Pegram thought "A soldier should always seek the most desperate post that has to be filled." Pegram amassed a commendable combat record during the Civil War, first with A.P. Hill's famous "Light Division" and then with Hill's Third Corps. He fought in virtually every major action in the Eastern theater in which the Army of Northern Virginia was engaged. Willy Pegram rose through the ranks from private to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of artillery in command of sixty guns. There was a movement afoot to make him a general, but nothing ever came of it. It is said that both division level commanders Henry Heth and Richard H. Anderson separately asked for his promotion and assignment to command of an infantry brigade, and A.P. Hill endorsed Heth's recommendation of Pegram: "No officer of the Army of Northern Virginia has done more to deserve this promotion than lieutenant colonel Pegram." But Lee did not promote Pegram, saying, "He is too young—how old is Colonel Pegram?" Heth had answered: "I do not know, but I suppose about 25." Lee replied: "I think a man of 25 is as good as he ever will be; what he acquires after that age is from experience; but I can't understand, when an officer is doing excellent service where he is, why he should want to change." And so, the recommendations for Pegram to be promoted were returned with the statement that "the artillery could not lose the services of so valuable an officer." Indeed, many thought that Pegram was the best gunner in the Army of Northern Virginia. Willy's older brother, John, was a

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

graduate of the class of 1854. John was killed just two months earlier and near the same location at the Battle of Hatcher's Run in February 1865. The death devastated Willy, who had always been close to his older brother.

Death

Willy Pegram once stated, "Men, whenever the enemy takes a gun from my battery, look for my dead body in front of it." On April 1, 1865, at the

- a battle Southern historian

Douglas Southall Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...

deemed "a day of disaster not to be recorded solely in terms of four guns lost or of good soldiers captured" - Pegram finally suffered the loss of one of his guns while he lay mortally wounded beside it. He lingered into the evening, dying at 8 o'clock the next morning. He was buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery. Pegram went by the nickname of Willy or Willie. His family members apparently used the spelling of "Willy" as does his modern biographer. Freeman, and many other Civil War authors, spell the name as "Willie." General Joseph R. Anderson, of

Tredegar Iron Works The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond its capital. Tredegar supplied about half the artillery used ...

fame, married Pegram's sister Mary Evans in 1881.

References

* Allardice, Bruce S. ''Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register.'' Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. . * Carmichael, Peter, ''Lee's Young Artillerist: William R.J. Pegram''. University Press of Virginia, 1995.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pegram, William 1841 births 1865 deaths Confederate States Army officers People of Virginia in the American Civil War Confederate States of America military personnel killed in the American Civil War Burials at Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia) Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia