he settled his differences with John Allan. Lieutenant Howard wrote a letter to John Allan explaining the situation to which John Allan replied: “he had better remain as he is until the termination of his enlistment.” Edgar then wrote to John Allan himself, explaining that he had made a mistake when he joined the Army but partly blamed Allan for it. He also stated that he had become a better man. Edgar’s sense of poetry could be noticed in this letter in the following quote:“I have thrown myself on the world, like a Norman conqueror on the shores of Britain &, by my avowed assurance of victory, have destroyed the fleet which could alone cover my retreat – I must either conquer or die --- succeed or be disgraced.” John Allan did not reply, and three weeks later Edgar wrote him again, summarizing what he had said before and pretended like Allan had never received the letter. Once again Edgar did not get a reply. After another six weeks, now after Edgar’s twentieth birthday, he wrote again but this time he asked for John Allan’s help to enter West Point, stating he wanted to further his career as a soldier. No one knows if h received a reply to this letter but reconciliation was is the offing. Fanny Allan’s Death (1827-1829 continued) In his letters to John Allan, Edgar asked how Fanny was doing. The fact was that she was seriously ill and no improvement was to be seen. She eventually died February 28, 1829, at the age of forty-four. On her deathbed she wished to see Edgar but he was not able to arrive until the night after her burial in Shockoe Hill Cemetery (where Jane Stanard was also buried). Edgar felt guilty for leaving Fanny in her bad condition and once wrote: “I have had fearful warning & have hardly ever known before what distress was.” Fanny’s death had softened John Allan and he bought Edgar a suit of black clothes, some hosiery, and a k...
