William N . Pendleton William Nelson Pendleton ( December 26 , 1809 – January 15 , 1883 ) was an American teacher , Episcopal priest , and soldier . He served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War , noted for his position as Gen . Robert E . Lee ' s chief of artillery for most of the conflict . After the war , Pendleton returned to his priestly duties and also wrote religious materials . Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach , Virginia is named in his honor . Early life and career . William Nelson Pendleton was born in 1809 near Richmond , Virginia . He grew up on the Caroline County plantation belonging to his parents , Edmund Pendleton Jr . , grandnephew and adopted son of Edmund Pendleton who established the plantation , and his wife Lucy ( Nelson ) Pendleton . Private tutors taught young William , who also attended John Nelson ' s School . 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 instead . 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 Confederate president Jefferson Davis . Appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the United States Army on graduating ( July 1 , 1830 ) , Pendleton was assigned to the 2nd U . S . Artillery as a full second lieutenant . His regiment was ordered to Fort Moultrie to defend 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 . 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 , and taught mathematics . In 1837 he began serving in the same capacity at Newark College in Delaware . In 1838 , Pendleton was ordained an Episcopal priest by Bishop William Meade of Virginia , and in 1840 he became the first principal at the Episcopal High School in Alexandria , Virginia . Three years later he relocated to Baltimore , Maryland to serve as a priest in two parishes ; he also served as rector of All Saints ' Church . In 1847 Pendleton served as rector of All Saints Church in Frederick , Maryland . In 1853 , he returned to Virginia and became rector of Grace Church in Lexington , where he remained as the American Civil War began . 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 , initially armed with training guns from the Virginia Military Institute . 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 . Postbellum career and death . After the war , Pendleton returned to Lexington , Virginia , and his rectorship of Grace Church , which he would hold for the rest of his life . There in Lexington he retained a strong friendship with Matthew Fontaine Maury , Francis Henney Smith , and Robert E . Lee , and played a significant role in persuading his former commander to move to Lexington himself to take up the presidency of the institution that was to become Washington and Lee University . Lee , in turn , became one of Pendleton ' s parishioners , and Lee ' s last public transaction in 1870 was at a Grace Church vestry meeting in which Lee led a group of church leaders in a mutual pledge to increase Pendleton ' s salary . Pendleton remained in Lexington until his death in 1883 , and is buried next to his son at the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery . Family and geneaology . On July 15 , 1831 , Pendleton married Anzolette Elizabeth Page , and they had four children . His only son , Alexander Swift " Sandie " Pendleton , also served the Confederacy as an aide to Stonewall Jackson and was killed in action during the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19 , 1864 . His daughter Susan married future Confederate general Edwin G . Lee on November 16 , 1856 . In popular media . Pendleton was portrayed in the 2003 Civil War film " Gods and Generals " by John Castle . The scene featured a conversation between Pendleton and Stonewall Jackson regarding his son , Alexander Swift " Sandie " Pendleton , who was present . During the scene , Pendleton informed Jackson of the naming the howitzers Mathew , Mark , Luke , and John ; to which , Jackson replied " I ' m sure your men will spread the gospel wherever they encounter the enemy . "