Colonel 30th Alabama Infantry

Confederate General Captured at Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863

United States Congressman from Alabama

(1833-1907) Born in Sullivan County, Tennessee, he moved with his father to Selma, Alabama, in 1836. He received limited schooling, but showed an aptitude for architecture, and became an architect and builder in the 1850's. He served as a lieutenant of the "Talladega Artillery" at the beginning of the Civil War, and was stationed at Fort Morgan, Alabama. Upon the reorganization of his company into infantry, Shelley was elected captain of the newly designated 5th Alabama Infantry, fighting with them at the 1st battle of Manassas, Va., in July 1861. In January 1862, he recruited the 30th Alabama Infantry, and was commissioned its colonel. He fought in General Braxton Bragg's 1862 Kentucky invasion, at Port Gibson, Miss., and in the 1863 Vicksburg campaign where he was captured. After his exchange he joined the Army of Tennessee, and participated with them in all of their battles from Chattanooga to their final surrender at Greensboro, N.C. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, on September 17, 1864. He commanded a brigade at the fiercely fought battle of Franklin, Tennessee, and suffered 432 men killed and wounded out of 1,100 men active for duty. Miraculously, despite having his horse killed from under him, and his uniform pierced by several bullets, Shelley somehow managed to escape being wounded himself. General John Bell Hood, in praising Shelley, said that his strategy at Franklin saved General A.P. Stewart's whole corps from being captured. General Shelley's brother James, who was the Lieutenant Colonel of the 10th Alabama Infantry, was killed in battle at Petersburg, Va., on June 22, 1864. After the war, he served four consecutive terms as a United States Congressman from Alabama, 1877-1885. After he left politics, he went to Birmingham, Alabama where he was engaged in industrial interests until his death on January 20, 1907. He was laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery, Talladega, Alabama.

Signature With Place: 6 1/2 x 3, in ink, C.M. Shelley, Selma, Ala. Excellent.