Peter Wellington Alexander

Background

Peter Wellington was born on March 21, 1824, in Elberton, Georgia, United States. His parents were Peter Wellington and Elizabeth A. Banks Alexander. Little is known about his early life.

Education

Alexander graduated second in the class of 1844 at the University of Georgia as a student in English composition.

Career

Peter Alexander was admitted to the Thomaston, Georgia, bar in 1845.

Alexander, a Whig, did editorial writing for the Savannah Republican, the leading Whig organ in Georgia, before becoming its editor-in-chief in 1853. In 1857, he returned to Thomaston to practice law.

Throughout the Georgia secession convention, in which he was a delegate, Alexander held steadfast to his unionist beliefs. Writing under the initials P.W.A. during the war, he reported for the Savannah Republican and later the Atlanta Confederacy, Columbus Sun, Mobile Advertiser and Register, and other Confederate newspapers. His articles were read and copied throughout the South, and he was idolized by soldiers and civilians alike.

In 1861, he provided on-the-scene reports of the battle of First Manassas. Although he was a reporter, at First Manassas he was made an acting colonel for his work as a forward observer. A close friend of General Robert Toombs, Alexander was sharply critical of incompetence and injustice in Confederate civilian and military life.

Alexander no doubt influenced the states' rights movement in Georgia during the last stages of the war. After the war, he settled in Columbus, Georgia, where he practiced law with James Milton Smith. When Smith became governor in 1872, he named Alexander his private secretary.

In 1877, he moved to Marietta, Georgia, where he lived until his death on September 23, 1886.

Achievements

• Peter Wellington Alexander was known as the leading editor of the great organ of the Whig party in Georgia, The Savannah Republican. During the war, he was the most noted correspondent in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Writing and Fighting the Confederate War : The Letters of Peter Wellington Alexander

    (Over 200 letters written by Peter Wellington Alexander, C...)

    2002

Connections

Alexander married Maria Theresa Shorter on September 27, 1870.

Father:

Peter Wellington Alexander

1783-1856

Mother:

Elizabeth A. Banks Alexander

1796-1852

Brother:

Leonidas B. Alexander

1819-1864

Brother:

John Banks Alexander

1826-1858

Brother:

Elbert Alexander

1829-1829

Brother:

Richard Banks Alexander

1829-1832

Brother:

Milton Asberry Alexander

1838-1839

Sister:

Ann Eliza Alexander

1841-1843

Wife:

Maria Theresa Shorter Alexander

1840-1918

Daughter:

Sara Shorter Alexander Allen

1872-1940

Son:

George Shorter Alexander

1874-1928

Friend:

Robert Toombs

colleague:

James Milton Smith

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977