Edward Albert Pollard

Edward A. Pollard
Portrait of Pollard, 1865
Born	27 February 1832(1832-02-27) Nelson County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	17 December 1872 (aged 40) Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, writer
Party	Democratic

Edward Albert Pollard (sometimes also Edward Alfred; 27 February 1832 – 17 December 1872) was an American military historian, author, journalist, and Confederate sympathizer during the American Civil War.

Life

Pollard "was during the war probably the most widely known journalist in the Confederacy; as the Richmond Examiner, of which he was one of the chief editors, was at the head of its class of journals. He was known as an opposition man; and his paper was fearless, independent, pungent, anti-administration, and able; and par consequent, was eminently popular, although the body of the people perhaps felt that its asperities were often too severe and its denunciatory criticisms of public affairs and officials sometimes misplaced."

"Mr. Pollard was born on Monday, the 27th of February, 1832, in Nelson County, Virginia. His father, Hon. Richard Pollard, was for eight years United States Minister to Chile, under the appointment of President Jackson. His mother was a sister of Senator William C. Rives of Virginia. The relationship embraces the Cabells, a large and influential family in that state."

"Our author was educated at the University of Virginia, where he graduated in some branches in 1849; and at William and Mary College, where he studied law under Judge Beverly Tucker, the eminent jurist. He was a great favourite of Judge Tucker, and imbibed from that source, no doubt, the tenor of his political views."

"The occasion of Mr. Pollard's leaving William and Mary before graduation in law, furnishes an incident illustrative of his character. He was an opposition man at that early date. He led a revolt against a rule of college discipline which required the students to testify privately, in the Blue Room, as to their pranks and disorders. This mode of educing testimony had been long unpopular with the students, especially so with those of sensitive tone and Southern opinions of honour and truth. This movement required his withdrawal from the college, although he was not publicly expelled. Judge Tucker has left upon record the highest testimonials of his appreciation of the great ability of his élève, and of his confidence in the promise of a brilliant future that lay before him. Mr. Pollard was at that time eighteen years of age."

"After leaving William and Mary College he finished his law studies with Joseph J. Speed, Esquire, a celebrated lawyer of Baltimore. He emigrated to California, and shared the adventurous life incident to that wild region until 1855, when he directed his wanderings southward, spending, sometime in northern Mexico, and again in Nicaragua; and at length returned to the States. He next spent two years in Washington City, where he was employed during Buchanan's administration as Clerk of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives.

At the breaking-out of the war he was without political employment, and was studying for the Episcopal ministry, having been admitted a candidate for holy orders by Bishop Meade of Virginia. The only interval that he had during his editorial labours was about eight months, when he was a prisoner in the North, having been captured at sea on his way to England on a literary mission. Since the war he has been devoted exclusively to literary pursuits."

"In the summer of 1868, just at the opening of the presidential campaign, Mr. Pollard commenced the publication of a weekly called The Political Pamphlet. The principles of the journal were democratic. It survived only two weeks."

According to Mildred Lewis Rutherford’s 1907 book, Edward A. Pollard died in 1872. Rutherford gives a summary of his life as follows: “when the War between the States broke out he left for Richmond to cast in his lot with his own people, and during the war was known as the ablest journalist of the Confederacy” and “when the war ended he abandoned the law and the ministry and devoted himself exclusively to his literary work”.

Works (excerpt)

• Black Diamonds Gathered in the Darkey Homes of the South (New York, 1859)
• The Seven Days' Battles in front of Richmond (1862)
• The Second Battle of Manassas (1862)
• The Southern History of the War; 3 vols.: Published by Charles B. Richardson, New York City
  • The First Year of the War, with B. M. DeWitt, 1862
  • The Second Year of the War, 1863
  • The Third Year of the War, 1864
• Southern History of the War 2 vols. Charles B. Richardson, New York City (1866)
• Southern History of the Civil War; 4 vols. The Blue & The Gray Press:
  • First Year, Volume 1 (No publication date given)
  • Second Year, Volume 2 (No publication date given)
  • Third Year, Volume 3 (No publication date given)
  • Fourth Year, Volume 4 (No publication date given)
• Observations in the North: Eight Months in Prison and on Parole (1865)
• Echoes from the South (1866)
• The Lost Cause: A New Southern History of the War of the Confederates (1866)
• Lee and His Lieutenants (1867)
• The Lost Cause Regained (1868)
• The Life of Jefferson Davis with a Secret History of the Southern Confederacy (1869)
• The Virginia Tourist (1870)

Bibliography:

• Davidson, James Wood, 1829-1905. The Living Writers of the South. New York: Carleton; [etc.,etc.], 1869, pp. 427–429
• Manly, Louise, 1857-1936. Southern Literature From 1579-1895: a Comprehensive Review, With Copious Extracts And Criticisms for the Use of Schools And the General Reader. Richmond: B. F. Johnson Pub. Co., 1895. p. 497
• Rutherford, Mildred Lewis. The South in History and Literature : A Hand-Book of Southern Authors, from the Settlement of Jamestown, 1607, to Living Writers. Franklin-Turner Co., 1907, pp. 686–687