- Joined
- Aug 6, 2016
The life of General William Dorsey Pender, has been for me, one of the saddest stories of the Civil War. I got to know him through the book “One of Lee’s Best Men; The Civil War Letters of General William Dorsey Pender”. General Pender was a West Point graduate, and on the 2nd day at Gettysburg he was hit in the thigh from a shell fragment fired from Cemetery Hill. He was taken to Staunton, Virginia and died when an artery ruptured and the subsequent leg amputation was not able to save him. He was 29 years of age when he succumbed to his injury on July 18, 1863.
Public Domain - Wikipedia
General Pender was a faithful letter writer to “his dear Wife”, and his letters were filled with love for his children. He eldest son Samual “Turner” born November 28, 1859 was always upmost in his mind as seen in one of his 1st letters he would write March 4, 1861 - - -
My dear Wife, - “Excuse my writing so soon, but I hurried off so unceremoniously that I feel as if I ought to write you. You must be cheerful, and try to make the best of our position. It is bad but might be worse. I did not tell Turner good bye as you must kiss him and make my apology to him. Keep the little fellow in good health. God bless, you darling, and keep you in good spirits.” - Your devoted husband - Dorsey
The native born North Carolinian resigned from the U.S. Army on March 21, 1861, and was appointed a captain of artillery for the Confederate States Army.
On March 26th he would write Fanny - - -
“My darling how is Turner” Excuse my putting you second in my inquiry”
By June 2nd, 1861 he includes an inquiry of another little one - - -
“I have said nothing of you and dear Turner and Little Dorsey, but not because I have not thought of you”.
Based on his letters it appears that William Dorsey Pender, II was born on May 28th of 1861. On June 13th, 1861 he writes - - -
“you say it is not fair that I should give all my love to Turner instead of dividing it with Dorse. I have no doubt but that after I become well acquainted with the latter I shall love him as well as Turner, but Turner is such a dear boy, and the other I have had such a short acquaintance with. In the meantime I know your heart is large enough to give him plenty to exist on.”
On June 28th, 1861 he wrote Fanny - - -
“I would indeed like to see Turner. If you could hear me brag on my wife and child you would suppose no one ever had a wife or child before.”
His love for Turner is so evident in his letters. His family visits several times in camp, and he grows to love Dorsey, but there is no doubt how much Turner meant to his father. His last letter dated June 28, 1863, his last paragraph is for Turner - - -
“Now darling, may our Good Father protect us and preserve us to each other to a good old age. Tell Turner I have a pretty pair of low patent leather shoes with heels for him” - - - Your loving Husband.”
In 20 days his life was over. Among his last statements he gives to a chaplain that approached him in fear that the general would bleed to death. The chaplain inquired about the state of his soul. - - -
“Tell my wife that I do not fear to die. I can confidently resign my soul to God, trusting in the atonement of Jesus Christ. My only regret is to leave her and our two children. I have always tried to do my duty in every sphere in which Providence has placed me.”
The Pender family must move on. Their 2nd son, Dorsey, studied law at the University of North Carolina and practiced law in Norfolk, the youngest Stephen, whom his father never saw, went into the cotton business. The little boy in General Pender’s letters, Turner, would be the next in the family to bring more sorrow in the tragic tale.
Samuel Turner Pender (Public Domain)
Turner Pender was employed as a general freight and passenger agent of the Carolina and Northwestern Railroad, and then on April 22, 1897 death comes again - - -
Turner was 37 when he died and he is buried in Bellview Cemetery, North Carolina. His mother, Mary Frances “Fanny" joined her husband in death in 1920 and they are buried in Calvary Church Cemetery, North Carolina.
The Death of a Father, the Death of His Name Sake
In 1843, Albert Sydney Johnston wed his 2nd wife 8 years after the death of his 1st wife. Together General Johnston and his wife Eliza would welcome a son they named after his father. General Johnston was killed fighting at Shiloh.
Memorial st Shiloh - Public Domain
A year would pass and the Johnston family was once again faced with death, when an accident would claim another Albert Sydney Johnston. General Johnston’s 17 year old son was in California in April of 1863 visiting his mother. He was returning back east, many thought to join the Confederate army. As he was being taken from the shore to the awaiting “Senator”, he was being ferried on a small steamer. The name of the steamer was the “Ada Hancock”, and on that spring day as the winds were gusty, the waves washed upon her decks, people panicked, causing the boat to list and eventually cold water made it’s way to the boiler - it exploded. 17 year old Albert Sydney Johnston, Jr. was among the 26 people killed.
Ada Hancock
Los Angeles Fire Department - Historical Archive
General Albert Sydney Johnston is buried in the “Confederate Field Section”, Texas State Cemetery in Austin. His son is buried Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, in Los Angeles, CA. His mother, Eliza, joined him there when she died in 1896.
Sources
1. One of Lee’s Best Men (“The Civil War Letters of General William Dorsey Pender”), edited by William W. Hassler
2. https://www.lafire.com/fire_boats/articles_harbor-incidents/1863-0927_AdaHancock.htm
3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75453088/albert-sidney-johnston
Public Domain - Wikipedia
General Pender was a faithful letter writer to “his dear Wife”, and his letters were filled with love for his children. He eldest son Samual “Turner” born November 28, 1859 was always upmost in his mind as seen in one of his 1st letters he would write March 4, 1861 - - -
My dear Wife, - “Excuse my writing so soon, but I hurried off so unceremoniously that I feel as if I ought to write you. You must be cheerful, and try to make the best of our position. It is bad but might be worse. I did not tell Turner good bye as you must kiss him and make my apology to him. Keep the little fellow in good health. God bless, you darling, and keep you in good spirits.” - Your devoted husband - Dorsey
The native born North Carolinian resigned from the U.S. Army on March 21, 1861, and was appointed a captain of artillery for the Confederate States Army.
On March 26th he would write Fanny - - -
“My darling how is Turner” Excuse my putting you second in my inquiry”
By June 2nd, 1861 he includes an inquiry of another little one - - -
“I have said nothing of you and dear Turner and Little Dorsey, but not because I have not thought of you”.
Based on his letters it appears that William Dorsey Pender, II was born on May 28th of 1861. On June 13th, 1861 he writes - - -
“you say it is not fair that I should give all my love to Turner instead of dividing it with Dorse. I have no doubt but that after I become well acquainted with the latter I shall love him as well as Turner, but Turner is such a dear boy, and the other I have had such a short acquaintance with. In the meantime I know your heart is large enough to give him plenty to exist on.”
On June 28th, 1861 he wrote Fanny - - -
“I would indeed like to see Turner. If you could hear me brag on my wife and child you would suppose no one ever had a wife or child before.”
His love for Turner is so evident in his letters. His family visits several times in camp, and he grows to love Dorsey, but there is no doubt how much Turner meant to his father. His last letter dated June 28, 1863, his last paragraph is for Turner - - -
“Now darling, may our Good Father protect us and preserve us to each other to a good old age. Tell Turner I have a pretty pair of low patent leather shoes with heels for him” - - - Your loving Husband.”
In 20 days his life was over. Among his last statements he gives to a chaplain that approached him in fear that the general would bleed to death. The chaplain inquired about the state of his soul. - - -
“Tell my wife that I do not fear to die. I can confidently resign my soul to God, trusting in the atonement of Jesus Christ. My only regret is to leave her and our two children. I have always tried to do my duty in every sphere in which Providence has placed me.”
The Pender family must move on. Their 2nd son, Dorsey, studied law at the University of North Carolina and practiced law in Norfolk, the youngest Stephen, whom his father never saw, went into the cotton business. The little boy in General Pender’s letters, Turner, would be the next in the family to bring more sorrow in the tragic tale.
Samuel Turner Pender (Public Domain)
Turner Pender was employed as a general freight and passenger agent of the Carolina and Northwestern Railroad, and then on April 22, 1897 death comes again - - -
Clipped from Daily Concord Standard, Friday, April 23 1897
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/631915/samuel_turner_pender_death/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/631915/samuel_turner_pender_death/
Turner was 37 when he died and he is buried in Bellview Cemetery, North Carolina. His mother, Mary Frances “Fanny" joined her husband in death in 1920 and they are buried in Calvary Church Cemetery, North Carolina.
The Death of a Father, the Death of His Name Sake
In 1843, Albert Sydney Johnston wed his 2nd wife 8 years after the death of his 1st wife. Together General Johnston and his wife Eliza would welcome a son they named after his father. General Johnston was killed fighting at Shiloh.
Memorial st Shiloh - Public Domain
Ada Hancock
Los Angeles Fire Department - Historical Archive
General Albert Sydney Johnston is buried in the “Confederate Field Section”, Texas State Cemetery in Austin. His son is buried Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, in Los Angeles, CA. His mother, Eliza, joined him there when she died in 1896.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Mothers joined together in tragedy. They mourned their husbands and in time would mourn their sons as a result of tragic accidents. For Eliza Johnston’s there was only 12 months before she faced her son’s death. For Fanny Pender she got to see Turner grow up with a family of his own before death would take him. Their breaking hearts can still be heard through the years to those that listen.
Sources
1. One of Lee’s Best Men (“The Civil War Letters of General William Dorsey Pender”), edited by William W. Hassler
2. https://www.lafire.com/fire_boats/articles_harbor-incidents/1863-0927_AdaHancock.htm
3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75453088/albert-sidney-johnston
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