William Dorsey Pender (American National Bibliography)

Dorsey Pender was one of the most outstanding North Carolinians in Confederate service. General A. P. Hill termed him "an excellent officer, attentive, industrious and brave." General Robert E. Lee felt that Pender's "promise and usefulness as an officer were only equaled by the purity and excellence of his private life." Later that same year, Lee paid an even higher tribute to the Carolinian. "I am gradually losing my best men," the commander wrote Jefferson Davis, beginning his list with the names "Stonewall" Jackson and Dorsey Pender.