William N. Pendleton - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

William Nelson Pendleton was born in 1809 in Richmond, Virginia. He grew up there on the plantation belonging to his parents, Edmund Pendleton and his wife Lucy (Nelson) Pendleton. His primary education came from private tutors and from attending John Nelson's School located in Richmond. Pendleton's family arranged for his older brother (Francis Walker Pendleton) to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point, but when Francis expressed little military interest William went in his place. He entered West point in 1826 and graduated four years later, standing 5th out of 42 cadets.

Among Pendleton's classmates at West Point were future Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, and John B. Magruder (with whom he was roommates) as well as future statesman Jefferson Davis. He was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the United States Army on July 1, 1830. That same day Pendleton was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Artillery as a full second lieutenant. His regiment was ordered to Fort Moultrie defending the harbor in Charleston, South Carolina, but that fall Pendleton fell sick with malaria and was re-assigned to the arsenal in Augusta, Georgia to restore his health. On July 15, 1831, he married Anzolette Elizabeth Page, and they would have four children together. His only son, Alexander Swift "Sandie" Pendleton, would also serve the Confederacy as an aide to Stonewall Jackson and was killed in action as a colonel during the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864. His daughter Susan would marry future Confederate general Edwin G. Lee on November 16, 1856.

Pendleton returned to West Point in 1831 to teach mathematics, and on October 27, 1832, he was transferred to the 4th U.S. Artillery. He resigned his U.S. Army commission a year later on October 31, 1833, reportedly due to the issue of nullification in his home state. In 1833 Pendleton joined the faculty at Bristol College in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, teaching mathematics. In 1837 he began serving in the same capacity at Newark College in Delaware. That same year Pendleton was ordained an Episcopal priest in the state of Pennsylvania, and in 1840 he began teaching at the Episcopal Boy's High School in Wilmington, Delaware. Three years later he relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1847 he gave up teaching and served as rector of All Saints' Church. In 1853 Pendleton returned to Virginia and became rector of Grace Church in Lexington, and was there when the American Civil War began.