"At the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862: 'In an open field, a young captain of twenty-three, with gunners who had been drilling only three weeks, had commanded a bat- tery with a gallant daring that made men ask his name. It was John Pelham.' At Gaines’ Mill, June 27, 1862: “'Ensued one of the most gallant and heroic feats of the war’ [wrote Stuart.] Captain Pelham, with his single Napoleon, direct- ing fire against two Federal batteries ‘with a coolness and intre- pidity only equaled by his previous brilliant career.’ Pelham it was who cleared the way for Stuart’s advance to the White House, Pelham who chased the Marblehead down the Pamunkey, Pel- ham who challenged the Federals across the Chickahominy, and Pelham who, at Stuart’s order, opened from Evelington Heights. ‘I feel bound to ask for his promotion,’ said Stuart, ‘with the remark that in either cavalry or artillery no field grade is too high for his merit and capacity.'" —Douglas Southall Freeman,Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command
The Perfect Lion examines Pelham's life, death, and popularity in detail, and is a welcome addition to Civil War biography shelves."--The Civil War Shelf
“This is a superb book that is a wonderful addition to the historiography of the field artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, begun with the Long Arm of Lee and expanded by Trout in his Galloping Thunder. It is hoped that a work like this will spawn additional projects about the middle managers of the Army of Northern Virginia.”—Blue and Gray Magazine
“[Jerry H. Maxwell’s, The Perfect Lion] is a superb book that is a wonderful addition to the historiography of the field artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia.”—Blue and Gray magazine
