by Brian Steel Wills
During the Civil War, North Carolinian William Dorsey Pender
established himself as one of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s best
young generals. He served in most of the significant engagements of the war in
the eastern theater while under the command of Joseph E. Johnston at Seven
Pines and Robert E. Lee from the Seven Days to Gettysburg. His most crucial
contributions to Confederate success came at the battles of Second Manassas,
Shepherdstown, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. After an effective first
day at Gettysburg, Pender was struck by a shell and disabled, necessitating his
return to Virginia for what he hoped would be only an extended convalescence.
Although Pender initially survived the wound, he died soon thereafter due to
complications from his injury.
In this thorough biography of Pender, noted Civil War
historian Brian Steel Wills examines both the young general’s military career
and his domestic life. While Pender devoted himself to military service, he
also embraced the Episcopal Church and was baptized before his command in the
field. According to Wills, Pender had an insatiable quest for “glory” in both
earthly and heavenly realms, and he delighted in his role as a husband and
father. In Pender’s voluminous correspondence with his wife, Fanny, he shared
his beliefs and offered views and opinions on a vast array of subjects. In the
end, Wills suggests that Pender’s story captures both the idealistic promise
and the despair of a war that cost the lives of many Americans and changed the
nation forever.
About The Author:
Brian Steel Wills is the director of the Center for the
Study of the Civil War Era and professor of history at Kennesaw State
University. He is the author of numerous books about the Civil War, including
George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel, The War Hits Home: The Civil War in
Southeastern Virginia, and A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford
Forrest.
ISBN 978-0807152997, Louisiana State University Press, ©2013,
Hardcover, 304 Pages, Photographs, Maps, End Notes, Bibliography & Index.
$39.95. To Purchase the book click HERE.
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