Page "Edgar Allan Poe" Paragraph 11

Unable to support himself, on May 27, 1827, Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private.

Using the name " Edgar A. Perry ", he claimed he was even though he was 18.

He first served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor for five dollars a month.

That same year, he released his first book, a 40-page collection of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems, attributed with the byline " by a Bostonian ".

Only 50 copies were printed, and the book received virtually no attention.

Poe's regiment was posted to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina and traveled by ship on the brig Waltham on November 8, 1827.

Poe was promoted to " artificer ", an enlisted tradesman who prepared shells for artillery, and had his monthly pay doubled.

After serving for two years and attaining the rank of Sergeant Major for Artillery ( the highest rank a noncommissioned officer can achieve ), Poe sought to end his five-year enlistment early.

He revealed his real name and his circumstances to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Howard.

Howard would only allow Poe to be discharged if he reconciled with John Allan and wrote a letter to Allan, who was unsympathetic.

Several months passed and pleas to Allan were ignored ; Allan may not have written to Poe even to make him aware of his foster mother's illness.

Frances Allan died on February 28, 1829, and Poe visited the day after her burial.

Perhaps softened by his wife's death, John Allan agreed to support Poe's attempt to be discharged in order to receive an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.