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

Preface

PREFACE While visiting Richmond one summer day in 1935, William C. Fender, a rising young Norfolk attorney and grandson of General William Dorsey Fender, decided on the spur of the moment to pay an introductory call on Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman at the latter's office in the Richmond News Leader on North Fourth Street. Upon being informed by the receptionist that Dr. Freeman was busily engaged in writing editorials, Mr. Fender begged her not to disturb him and quickly excused himself after depositing his calling card. Leaving the building and proceeding north on Fourth Street, Mr. Fender suddenly heard his name being called by a gentleman who was straining to catch up to him. This man, of course, was Dr. Freeman who warmly clasped Mr. Fender's hand and escorted him back to the office, apologetically commenting that "any relative of General Fender is always welcome in my office." During the course of the ensuing conversation that morning, Dr. Freeman inquired whether Mr. Fender knew of the existence of any papers or diary that had belonged to the General. The youthful attorney replied that he knew of none but would inquire and be on the lookout for any. Four years later, quite unexpectedly, he discovered a cache of the General's correspondence in the cellar trunk of his deceased aunt (General Fender's daughter-in-law) whose effects he was perusing. This dusty repository held about two hundred faded but still decipherable letters which General Fender had written to his wife, Fanny, in the years between their marriage in 1859 and the fateful battle of Gettysburg in which he was mortally wounded. xv Mr. Fender generously made this collection available to Civil War scholars including Dr. Freeman and Clifford Dowdey. The latter expressed the feeling of all who have read the General's letters when he said, "I was deeply moved by them." Mr. Fender subsequently donated the bulk of his grandfather's papers to the Southern Historical Collection of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I first encountered the Fender papers in the course of researching my biography of A. P. Hill, the Confederate commander under whom Fender served during most of his wartime career. My reaction on reading these letters was that those which dealt with the Civil War period provide many refreshing and poignant insights into "the real war" which Walt Whitman prophesied "will never get in the books." With this in mind I undertook the transcription and editing of the General's papers for publication. Unlike the stereotyped humdrum letters of most soldiers and officers, the vivid personal details of General Fender's animated correspondence sketch an intimate unvarnished portrait of the real man inside the formal gray uniform. His privy day-to-day comments about his personal problems, aspirations, colleagues and military doings, coupled with his husbandly advice and affections , depict an underlying humanity which characterized the truly great leaders on both sides. In reading the General's frequent missives to "My dearest Wife," one shares the young officer-husband's emotions, struggles, and ambitions as he progresses from Captain of artillery in the Provisional Army to Major General, C.S.A., in command of the famed Light Division. As a regimental commander he confides to Fanny, "I fear I love too much the applause of men," and then rationalizes, "I would like to be a great man for your sake." Further up the ladder he touchingly notes, "This is a most lonely life." By the time he leads a division toward Gettysburg he candidly observes, "Responsibility is a load that is anything but pleasant." Early in the war the budding officer, self-conscious of his rank and attractiveness to women, engaged in a harmless flirtation with an admirer at Suffolk. When he injudiciously related the epsiode in a letter to his hyperjealous wife she keeps him in suspense awhile before bringing him about with a searing letter (happily preserved and included in the text) which reduces him to a contrite penitent who begsforgiveness. As Fender matures, his commentaries become increasingly xvi penetrating and perceptive. Thus he informs Fanny, "What we do not understand we cannot fully explain." He reassures her that "Danger always looks more dangerous in the imagination than in reality." He shrewdly observes that "Men are in some measure ranked in proportion as they rank themselves." His concern for their children's future evokes this notation: "Education...