One of Lee's Best Men: The Civil War Letters of General William Dorsey Pender

On the day that Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861, twenty-seven-year-old William Dorsey Pender, en route to the provisional Confederate capital in Montgomery, Alabama, hurriedly scribbled a note to his wife, Fanny. So began a prolific correspondence between a rising Confederate officer and his cherished wife that would last until Pender was mortally wounded at Gettysburg.

First published by UNC Press in 1965, Pender's letters are filled with personal details, colorful descriptions, and candid opinions of such important figures as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, and A. P. Hill. His comments on his military activities and aspirations and the challenges of command, combined with his husbandly advice and affection, sketch an intimate and unvarnished portrait of the man who was perhaps the most distinguished North Carolina commander.

Author: William W. Hassler
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 04/19/1999
Pages: 289
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.16h x 5.96w x 0.78d
ISBN: 9780807848234

About the Author
The late William W. Hassler was president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and author of biographies of A. P. Hill and John Pelham.