William N. Pendleton - Civil War Service

Civil War Service

When the American Civil War commenced in 1861, Pendleton chose to follow the Confederate cause. On March 16 he entered the Regular Confederate Artillery with the rank of captain, and on May 1 he was elected captain in the Virginia Artillery. He commanded a four-gun battery called the Rockbridge Artillery, naming his guns "Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John" after the Gospel writers. On July 2 Pendleton participated in the minor Battle of Falling Waters, where "he and his battery performed capably." On July 13 Pendleton was promoted to colonel and began serving as chief of artillery for Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's command during the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21. He was wounded in this fight, injured in an ear and his back.

Beginning in July 1861 Pendleton led the artillery of the Confederate Army of the Potomac, and on March 14, 1862, he continued in this role after the army was renamed the Army of Northern Virginia. On March 26 he was promoted to brigadier general. On July 3 Pendleton was again wounded when a mule from his artillery kicked him in the leg and possibly breaking one of his bones there. His most noted Civil War performance occurred during the 1862 Maryland Campaign. On the evening September 19 Lee gave Pendleton command of the rearguard infantry following the Battle of Shepherdstown, ordering him to hold the Potomac River crossings until the morning. Despite a commanding position from which to defend the fords, "Pendleton lost track of his forces and lost control of the situation." Awakening Lee after midnight, he frantically reported his position lost and all of his guns captured. This turned out to be a highly exaggerated and hasty account, as he lost only four guns, but he had pulled out the infantry "without sufficient cause." Richmond newspapers viciously reported on this incident for the remainder of the war, and unflattering rumors and jokes were spread by his own soldiers and throughout the army. At least one military court of inquiry was held to investigate Pendleton's actions at Shepherdstown.

Pendleton served with the Army of Northern Virginia for the rest of the conflict, taking part in the 1863 and 1864 major campaigns of the Eastern Theater. However during the final two years of the war, Pendleton's role was mostly administrative, and his active command was only of the reserve ordnance. Throughout the war, he continues in his religious calling, always preaching to his men. Pendleton surrendered with Lee's army at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, and was paroled from there and returned home.