Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/106

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

lieutenant-colonel and occupied the same position upon the staft' ; he was offered a brigade, but declined it to hold the position which he preferred ; he was Gen. Early's chiefrof-staff in the famous march that he made from the Chickahominy to the gates Oi Washington, and was known by all ac- quainted with the history of that movement as among the most efficient officers in that .rommand ; after the battle of Winchester, in trying to stay the retreat at Fisher's Hill, Ac was truck by a piece of shell, which proved to be his death wound ; thus he died September 23, 1864, before he was twenty- four years old; of him Col. Allen said: "In the long catalogue ot useful sons who sprang to arms at her bidding and fell in her defense, Virginia mourns no one more worthy of her grand renown and whose open life gave promise of a more useful and dis- tinguished future ;" his wife, Kate (Corbin) Pendleton, of Moss Neck, survived him.

Pendleton, William Nelson, born at Lex- ington. Virginia, December 2^. 1809, son of Pldmund Pendleton and Lucy (Nelson) Pendleton, his wife. He was graduated in 1830 from the United States Military Acad- emy, where he formed a close friendship with Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. He was for a year an instructor at West Point, then as second lieutenant served with the artillery at Fort Hamilton, New York, until 1833, when he resigned. He was a professor at Bristol (Pennsylvania) Col- lege, and then at Delaware College. In 1837 he took orders in the Episcopal church, and received the degree of D. D. In 1861 he became captain of a Lexington company, and soon was commissioned captain of ar- tillery, C. S. A. He commanded the Rock-

bridge artillery until shortly before the battle of Manassas, when he was iiromoted to colonel and made chief of artillery to Gen. J. E. Johnston. It is told that in the battle, when he brought his artillery into action, he said, with solemn reverence, "Lord, have mercy on their souls !" He continued under Johnston, was promoted to brigadier- general, and after Lee came into command of the army, served under him in the same capacity to the end of the war. Under him the artillery rendered excellent service at Gettysburg. With Gens. Longstreet and Gordon he arranged the details of the sur- render. After the war he resumed his cler- ical duties at Lexington. His only son. Col. "Sandie" Pendleton, was a member of Gen. Jackson's staff, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Winchester. Gen. Pendle- ton died January 15, 1883.

Pickett, George Edward, l)orn in Rich- mond, Virginia, son of Robert Pickett, who took an active interest in affairs of church and state, of Henrico county, and of Mary Johnston, his wife. He graduated from the L'nited States Military Academy in 1846, and commissioned brevet second lieutenant, Eighth Infantry. In the Mexican war he took j>art in the siege of Vera Cruz, battle of Cerro Gordo, capture of San Antonio, battles of Contreras, Cherubusco. Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and capture of City of Mexico, winning several brevets for conspicuous gal- lantry. He was on frontier duty in Texas, 1849-55 ' promoted to captain. Ninth Infan- try, serving against the Indians in the far west. On June 25, 1861, he resigned and enterd the Confederate service as colonel of Virginia troops, and went into service on