One of Lee's Best Men

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.<br/><br/>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.