Some people call it the War of Northern Aggression, some call it the War for Southern Independence, Still others call it the War Between the States. Most people call it the Civil War.Some people are offended by it. Some people try to forget what happened and why it happened. Some people apologize for what happened. Some people just don’t care.
Four men who do care are Eli Henderson, Charles Brown, Jimmy Tucker and Tom Smith — men determined to keep history alive, especially history involving Calhoun County.
These men have been the driving force behind restoring and making Janney Furnace one of the most attractive and popular tourist attractions in Alabama. At the same time they have managed to help preserve a valuable piece of Calhoun County history.
If you haven’t visited Janney Furnace Memorial Park and the Calhoun County Confederate Memorial, then take time out before the summer ends to see the work that has been completed.
The 35-acre park is built around Janney Furnace, a destroyed Confederate iron works located in Ohatchee. Before Henderson and his crew got involved, it was forgotten, neglected and ignored. The ruins were in an overgrown forest.
But Henderson, who is a Calhoun County Commissioner, got involved with bringing Janney Furnace to light. He was joined by Brown, Tucker and Smith — all members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. After all, 4,200 men from Calhoun County served in the Confederate army and 2,000 of those did not return home.
Calhoun County’s 50 percent casualty rate is one of the highest wartime death rates in the nation.
Their idea was not only to restore Janney Furnace, but to build a memorial that would honor Calhoun County’s Confederate soldiers — both those killed during the conflict and those who returned home.
It took a lot of hard work and some heartaches, but no one ever gave up. After several years, the hard work began to pay off. Most of Janney Furnace Park was built at cost. The Calhoun County Commission paid for the black granite to be used for the Confederate memorial.
The 135-foot long memorial has three panels of black granite. One panel contains the names of those Calhoun County men who gave the ultimate price for their country. The other two panels list the names of those who came home to help their county rebuild.
Two of the panels have a special section to honor Robert E. Lee and Calhoun County war hero John Pelham.
In the recent issue of “Confederate Veteran,” Smith documents the obstacles and struggles of these men to build the monument and park.
The next scheduled event at Janney Furnace Park will be Oct. 20-22 when there will be a reenactment of the Battle of Ten Islands.
A history of Janney Furnace
This comes for the Janney Furnace Web site (www.janneyfurnace.org)
Records show that Alfred Janney purchased 300 acres, the land on which the iron furnace was built, from Benjamin Griffin and his wife, on Dec. 6, 1862.
Janney then purchased additional land surrounding the iron furnace on Aug. 5, 1863, and again on April 15, 1864.
This land was owned by Lewis D. Varnum and his wife. Both land sales were by order of the State of Alabama and conducted by Samuel D. McClelen, the sheriff of Calhoun County, with agents from the State of The furnace’s location was obviously chosen because of the abundance of iron ore in the area, the close proximity to the Coosa River and the furnaces building site is on the primary stagecoach line near Greensport, on the Old Ashville to Montgomery Road.
It is believed that Janney Iron Furnace was built in the final years during the war and that the furnace was privately owned and built to provide iron for the Confederacy, but was not commissioned to be built by the Confederacy.
Present-day historians and archeologists, hired by the Calhoun County Commission, speculate that Janney Iron Furnace was not finished in time to go into production.
There is some evidence that test firings had begun by the time of the furnaces destruction and that a small amount of iron had been smelted.
From research conducted by Maj. Gen. (Retired) Larry Lee:
“Union Major General Lovell Rousseau and a force of 2,300 cavalry troops overpowered a valiant resistance by Confederate Brigadier General James H. Clanton at Ten Islands Ford and successfully crossed the Coosa River. Learning of the location of Janney Furnace and Cane Creek Iron Works, General Rousseau dispatched his Engineer Officer, Captain Ed Ruger and a detail of men to destroy the furnaces. The Cane Creek Iron Works furnace was totally destroyed. However, only the chimney was destroyed on the Janney Furnace. Many feel that the reason the Janney Furnace was not destroyed was because it was not in operation.”
Thirteen Confederate soldiers died defending this assault.
The Gallant Pelham
If you are new to the area, or just don’t know who John Pelham was or why the main street in Jacksonville is called Pelham Road, then here’s a little history gathered from the Internet:
John Pelham served with the Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart. Nicknamed “The Gallant Pelham” by Robert E. Lee for his military prowess and personal courage, Pelham revolutionized the usage of light artillery as a mobile arm of the cavalry.
Pelham was born to Dr. John and Martha Pelham at his grandparents’ home along Cane Creek near Alexandria.
He grew up on the family’s 1,000-acre plantation, along with five brothers and a sister. In 1861, Pelham resigned from West Point in order to accept a commission in the Alabama militia.
He soon went to Virginia, where he joined the army of Joseph E. Johnston as a lieutenant in the artillery.
Pelham was involved in every military engagement of Stuart’s calvary from the First Battle of Manassas to Kelly’s Ford — over 60 encounters. He particularly distinguished himself as the chief of Stuart’s artillery in the battles of Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg.
At Sharpsburg, Pelham’s guns, positioned on a rise known as Nicodemus Hill, repeatedly harassed the flanks of oncoming Union lines, causing numerous casualties and breaking up battle formations.
Stonewall Jackson said of him in his report, “Every Army should have a Pelham on each flank.”
At Fredericksburg, Pelham’s guns, positioned well in advance of the main Confederate lines, held up the entire flank of the Union Army of the Potomac for several hours, enabling the Confederates to repel a series of strong attacks. Lee commended Pelham in his official report for “unflinching courage” while under direct fire from multiple Union batteries.
Pelham was, at the time, commanding only two guns that were in service, but with those batteries for a time enfiladed the entire advancing Federal lines of battle.
At Kelly’s Ford on St. Patrick’s Day 1863, Pelham participated in a cavalry charge, with his artillery not being engaged.
Standing up in his stirrups, he urged his men to “Press forward, press forward to glory and victory!”
Not long afterwards, he was struck in the head by a fragment of an exploding Federal artillery shell. He was carried six miles away from the battlefield to Culpeper Courthouse, where he soon died without regaining consciousness.
Stuart said of his death, in a general order to the rest of his division: “The major-general commanding approaches with reluctance the painful duty of announcing to the division its irreparable loss in the death of Major John Pelham, commanding the Horse Artillery.
He fell mortally wounded in the battle of Kellysville, March 17th, with the battle-cry on his lips, and the light of victory beaming from his eye... His eye had glanced on every battlefield of this army from the First Manassas to the moment of his death, and he was, with a single exception, a brilliant actor in them all. The memory of “the gallant Pelham,” his many manly virtues, his noble nature and purity of character, are enshrined as a sacred legacy in the hearts of all who knew him. His record has been bright and spotless, his career brilliant and successful.” — J.E.B. Stuart, General Orders No. 9, March 20, 1863, Official Records.
The Confederate Senate approved Robert E. Lee’s recommendation that Pelham receive a posthumous promotion to lieutenant colonel. Pelham’s body was returned home and buried in Jacksonville. In 1955, he was named to the Alabama Hall of Fame.
Did you know?
• The Calhoun County Confederate Memorial is the world’s largest black granite
Confederate monument and the largest Confederate memorial in the State of Alabama.
• Calhoun County lost more men during the war than the State of Alabama’s total combined war dead from the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
• Architectural plans have been commissioned to build the Calhoun County Confederate Museum to house and to keep safe Confederate artifacts, documents and memorabilia for public display and for the use of future generations.
• The final four men to enlist in the Confederate Marine Corps were from Jacksonville.
Directions to Janney Furnace
From Anniston, take U.S. 431 to Alexandria. Turn left on Alabama 144 at the red light. Turn right on Big Oak Road (this is a dead end road). Turn right on Janney Road.
From Jacksonville, take Alabama 204 to U.S. 431, turn left on U.S. 431 to the first red light in Alexandria. Turn right on Alabama 144. Turn right on Big Oak Road. Turn right on Janney Road.
