William Nelson Pendleton (December 26, 1809 – January 15, 1883) was an American teacher, Episcopal priest, and Confederate 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.

[4] 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 reassigned to the arsenal in Augusta, Georgia to restore his health.

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 1853, he returned to Virginia and became rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, where he remained as the American Civil War began.

He commanded a four-gun battery called the Rockbridge Artillery, initially armed with training guns from the Virginia Military Institute.

On the evening of 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.

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.

"[11] 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.

[12] After the war, Pendleton returned to Lexington, Virginia, and his rectorship of Grace Church, which he would hold for the rest of his life.

Departing entirely from his own previous statements, including his Official Report written just days after the battle,[14] he claimed that General Lee had ordered Longstreet to attack the Union right at "sunrise" on July 2, 1863.

The attack was not begun until about 4:00 p. m., and Pendleton falsely claimed that Longstreet disobeyed Lee's orders and that the supposed delay was solely responsible for loss of the battle, which became a mainstay of the Lost Cause.

His only son, Alexander Swift "Sandie" Pendleton, also served the Confederacy as an aide to Stonewall Jackson and was mortally wounded during the retreat that directly followed the Battle of Fishers Hill on September 20, 1864.