William Dorsey Pender William Dorsey Pender ( February 6 , 1834 – July 18 , 1863 ) was one of the youngest generals in the Confederacy in the American Civil War . Promoted to brigadier on the battlefield at Seven Pines by Confederate President Jefferson Davis in person , he fought in the Seven Days Battles and at Second Bull Run , Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville , being wounded in each of these engagements . Lee rated him as one of the most promising of his commanders , promoting him to major general at twenty - nine . Pender was mortally wounded on the second day of Gettysburg . Early life . Dorsey Pender , as he was known to his friends , was born at Pender ' s Crossroads , Edgecombe County , North Carolina to James and Sally Routh Pender . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Artillery regiment . He served later in the 2nd Artillery , and then the 1st Dragoons ( heavy cavalry ) , where he demonstrated personal bravery in Washington Territory , fighting in the Indian Wars . Civil War . On March 21 , 1861 , Pender resigned from the U . S . Army and was appointed a captain of artillery in the Confederate States Army . By May he was a colonel in command of the 3rd North Carolina Infantry ( also designated the 13th North Carolina ) and then the 6th North Carolina . Tried in combat successfully in the Battle of Seven Pines in June 1862 , he was promoted to brigadier general and command of a brigade of North Carolinians in Maj . Gen . A . P . Hill ' s " Light Division " . Confederate President Jefferson Davis personally promoted Pender on the Seven Pines battlefield . During the Seven Days Battles , Pender was an aggressive brigade commander . He was wounded in the arm at the Battle of Glendale , but recovered quickly enough to rejoin his brigade and fight at Cedar Mountain , Second Bull Run ( where he received a minor head wound from an exploding shell ) , Harpers Ferry , and Antietam . At Antietam , Pender arrived in the nick of time with A . P . Hill after a 17 - mile march to save the Army of Northern Virginia from serious defeat on its right flank . At Fredericksburg , he was wounded again , in his left arm , but the bone was unbroken , so he continued in command , despite the spectacle of him riding around bleeding . At Chancellorsville , on May 2 , 1863 , A . P . Hill was wounded in Thomas " Stonewall " Jackson ' s famous march and attack on the flank of the Union XI Corps ; Pender assumed command of the division . On the following day , Pender was wounded in the arm yet again , this time a minor injury from a spent bullet that had killed an officer who stood in front of him . Following the death of Jackson , Gen . Robert E . Lee reorganized his army and promoted A . P . Hill to command the newly formed Third Corps . Pender , at the young age of 29 , was promoted to major general and division command . He was well regarded by his superiors . Lee wrote to Jefferson Davis , " Pender is an excellent officer , attentive , industrious and brave ; has been conspicuous in every battle , and , I believe , wounded in almost all of them . " Death . Dorsey Pender ' s promising career ended at the Battle of Gettysburg . On July 1 , 1863 , his division moved in support of Maj . Gen . Henry Heth ' s division down the Chambersburg Pike towards Gettysburg . Heth encountered stronger resistance from the Union I Corps than he expected and was repulsed in his first assault . Uncharacteristically for the normally aggressive Pender , he did not immediately charge in to assist Heth , but took up positions on Herr Ridge and awaited developments . In Heth ' s second assault of the day , Hill ordered Pender to support Heth , but Heth declined the assistance and Pender once again kept his division in the rear . For the second time in the day , Heth got more than he bargained for in his assault on McPherson ' s Ridge . He was wounded in action and could not request the assistance from Pender he had earlier refused . Hill ordered Pender to attack the new Union position on Seminary Ridge at about 4 p . m . The 30 - minute assault by three of his brigades was very bloody and the brigade of Brig . Gen . Alfred M . Scales was almost completely destroyed by Union artillery canister fire . In the end , Pender ' s men forced the Union troops back in and through Gettysburg . On July 2 , Pender was posted near the Lutheran Seminary . During the " en echelon " attack that started with James Longstreet ' s assault on the right , from the Round Tops through the Peach Orchard , Pender ' s division was to continue in the attack sequence near Cemetery Hill , to the left of Maj . Gen . Richard H . Anderson ' s attack on Cemetery Ridge . Pender was wounded in the thigh by a shell fragment fired from Cemetery Hill , and turned command over to Brig . Gen . James H . Lane . His division ' s momentum was broken by the change in command and no effective assault was completed . Pender was evacuated to Staunton , Virginia , where an artery in his leg ruptured on July 18 . Surgeons amputated his leg in an attempt to save him , but he died a few hours later . His superiors wrote in their official reports of the Gettysburg Campaign about Pender ' s death : Legacy . Pender is buried in Calvary Churchyard in Tarboro , North Carolina . He is memorialized in the name of Pender County , North Carolina , founded in 1875 . He is the posthumous author of " The General to his Lady : The Civil War letters of William Dorsey Pender to Fanny Pender " , published in 1965 . During World War II , the United States Navy commissioned a Liberty Ship , the SS " William D . Pender " , in honor of the fallen general .