Confederate Document General Jubal Early Letter & Envelope

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Confederate Document General Jubal Early Letter & Envelope:
$900.00

Early,Jubal A. - ALS to Marcus Wright Re Gen. Rodes

Framed (Frame Size 22½ x 18½) one page, 8½ x 5¾, Lynchburg,Virginia, 27 July 1888. To General Marcus J. Wright, War Records Office,Washington D.C., with the address portion of the original mailing envelope fromAdjutant General’s Office, United Confederate Veterans Office; Early writes: Ifound your letter here on my return from New Orleans two weeks ago, but havenot answered sooner because I was not able until to-day to get the informationas to General R.E. Rodes birthday, which has now been furnished me by a brotherof his from the old family Bible, and is given in the accompanying text [notpresent]. General Robert Emmett Rodes was killed during the Battle ofWinchester on September 19, 1864. The letter is very fine. Matted with an imageof Early and the envelope and archival framed with Tru Vue conservation glass.

General Marcus J. Wright, was appointed agent forcollection of Confederate records for War of the Rebellion: Official Records ofthe Union and Confederate Armies, (a U.S. War Department publication) in 1878and served in that post for thirty years. This letter is a response to Wrightsgathering of information related to General Rodes.

This item was sold at sale in 2007 for $1,400 and most recently acquired by myself.

Major General Jubal Early Biography

Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816– March 2, 1894) was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American CivilWar. He served in the Eastern Theater of the war for the entire conflict, as adivision commander under Stonewall Jackson and Richard Stoddert Ewell, and in lateractions commanded a corps. He was the Confederate commander in key battles ofthe Valley Campaigns of 1864, including a daring raid to the outskirts ofWashington, D.C. The articles written by him for the Southern HistoricalSociety in the 1870s established the Lost Cause point of view as a long-lastingliterary and cultural phenomenon.

Early was born in the Red Valley section of Franklin County, Virginia, third often children of Ruth (née Hairston) and Joab Early. The Early family was awell-connected old Virginia family. Early\'s father operated an extensiveTobacco plantation of more than 4,000 acres at the foot of the Blue Ridge.Early attended local schools as well as private academies in Lynchburg andDanville before entering West Point in 1833.

He graduated from the United StatesMilitary Academy in 1837, ranked 18th of 50. During his tenure at the Academyhe was engaged in a dispute with a fellow cadet named Lewis Addison Armistead.Armistead broke a mess plate over Early\'s head, an incident that promptedArmistead\'s resignation from the Academy, although he too would have a storiedmilitary career.[3] After graduating from the Academy, Early fought against theSeminole in Florida as a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery regimentbefore resigning from the Army for the first time in 1838. He practiced law inthe 1840s as a prosecutor for both Franklin and Floyd Counties in Virginia. Hewas noted for a case in Mississippi, where he beat the top lawyers in thestate. His law practice was interrupted by the Mexican-American War, in whichhe served as a Major with the 1st Virginia Volunteers from 1847–1848. He servedin the Virginia House of Delegates from 1841–1843.

Early was a Whig and strongly opposedsecession at the April 1861 Virginia convention. However, he was soon roused bythe actions of the Federal government when President Abraham Lincoln called for75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion. He accepted a commission as abrigadier general in the Virginia Militia. He was sent to Lynchburg, Virginia,to raise three regiments and then commanded one of them, the 24th VirginiaInfantry, as a colonel in the Confederate army.

Early was promoted to brigadier generalafter the First Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas) in July 1861. In that battle,he displayed valor at Blackburn\'s Ford and impressed General P.G.T. Beauregard.He fought in most of the major battles in the Eastern Theater, including theSeven Days Battles, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg,Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and numerous battles in the Shenandoah Valley.During the Gettysburg Campaign, Early\'s Division occupied York, Pennsylvania,the largest Northern town to fall to the Rebels during the war.

Early was trusted and supported byRobert E. Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. Leeaffectionately called Early his \"Bad Old Man\", because of his shorttemper. He appreciated Early\'s aggressive fighting and ability to command unitsindependently. Most of Early\'s soldiers referred to him as \"Old Jube\"or \"Old Jubilee\" with enthusiasm and affection. His subordinategenerals often felt little affection. Early was an inveterate fault-finder andoffered biting criticism of his subordinates at the least opportunity. He wasgenerally blind to his own mistakes and reacted fiercely to criticism orsuggestions from below.

Early was wounded at Williamsburg in1862, while leading a charge against staggering odds.

While in Maryland, Early demanded$300,000 from the residents of the city of Frederick, Maryland, who wereunwelcoming towards the Confederates, threatening to raze their town if theydid not. The city\'s residents paid the ransom and the city is now home to aConfederate army monument

He convalesced at his home in RockyMount, Virginia. In two months, he returned to the war, under the command ofMaj. Gen. Thomas J. \"Stonewall\" Jackson, in time for the Battle ofMalvern Hill. There, Early demonstrated his career-long lack of aptitude forbattlefield navigation and his brigade was lost in the woods; it suffered 33casualties without any significant action. In the Northern Virginia Campaign,Early was noted for his performance at the Battle of Cedar Mountain and arrivedin the nick of time to reinforce Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill on Jackson\'s left on StonyRidge in the Second Battle of Bull Run.

At Antietam, Early ascended to divisioncommand when his commander, Alexander Lawton, was wounded. Lee was impressedwith his performance and retained him at that level. At Fredericksburg, Earlysaved the day by counterattacking the division of Maj. Gen. George G. Meade,which penetrated a gap in Jackson\'s lines. He was promoted to major general onJanuary 17, 1863.

At Chancellorsville, Lee gave him aforce of 5,000 men to defend Fredericksburg at Marye\'s Heights against superiorforces (4 divisions) under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick. Early was able to delay theUnion forces and pin down Sedgwick while Lee and Jackson attacked the remainderof the Union troops to the west. Sedgwick\'s eventual attack on Early up Marye\'sHeights is sometimes known as the Second Battle of Fredericksburg.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Earlycommanded a division in the corps of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. His troops wereinstrumental in defeating Union defenders at Winchester, capturing a number ofprisoners, and opening up the Shenandoah Valley for Lee\'s oncoming forces.Early\'s division, augmented with cavalry, eventually marched eastward acrossthe South Mountain range in Pennsylvania, seizing vital supplies and horsesalong the way. He captured Gettysburg on June 26 and demanded a ransom, whichwas never paid. Two days later, he entered York County and seized York. Here,his ransom demands were partially met, including a payment of $28,000 in cash.Elements of Early\'s command on June 28 reached the Susquehanna River, thefarthest east in Pennsylvania that any organized Confederate force wouldpenetrate. On June 30, Early was recalled as Lee concentrated his army to meetthe oncoming Federals.

Approaching Gettysburg from thenortheast on July 1, 1863, Early\'s division was on the leftmost flank of theConfederate line. He soundly defeated Brig. Gen. Francis Barlow\'s division(part of the Union XI Corps), inflicting three times the casualties to thedefenders as he suffered, and drove the Union troops back through the streetsof the town, capturing many of them. In the second day at Gettysburg, heassaulted East Cemetery Hill as part of Ewell\'s efforts on the Union rightflank. Despite initial success, Union reinforcements arrived to repulse Early\'stwo brigades. On the third day, Early detached one brigade to assist Maj. Gen.Edward \"Allegheny\" Johnson\'s division in an unsuccessful assault onCulp\'s Hill. Elements of Early\'s division covered the rear of Lee\'s army duringits retreat from Gettysburg on July 4 and July 5.

Early served in the Shenandoah Valleyover the winter of 1863–64. During this period, he occasionally filled in ascorps commander during Ewell\'s absences for illness. On May 31, 1864, Leeexpressed his confidence in Early\'s initiative and abilities at higher commandlevels, promoting him to the temporary rank of lieutenant general.

Upon his return from the Valley, Earlyfought in the Battle of the Wilderness and assumed command of the ailing A.P.Hill\'s Third Corps during the march to intercept Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant atSpotsylvania Court House. At Spotsylvania, Early occupied the relatively quietright flank of the Mule Shoe. At the Battle of Cold Harbor, Lee replaced theineffectual Ewell with Early as commander of the Second Corps.

Early\'s most important service was thatsummer and fall, in the Valley Campaigns of 1864, when he commanded theConfederacy\'s last invasion of the North. As Confederate territory was rapidlybeing captured by the Union armies of Grant and Maj. Gen. William TecumsehSherman, Lee sent Early\'s corps to sweep Union forces from the ShenandoahValley and to menace Washington, D.C., hoping to compel Grant to dilute hisforces against Lee around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia.

Early delayed his march for severaldays in a futile attempt to capture a small force under Franz Sigel at MarylandHeights near Harpers Ferry.He rested his men from July 4 through July 6.Although elements of his army would eventually reach the outskirts ofWashington at a time when it was largely undefended, his delay at MarylandHeights prevented him from being able to attack the capital.

During the time of Early\'s MarylandHeights campaign, Grant sent two VI Corps divisions from the Army of thePotomac to reinforce Union Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. With 5,800 men, he delayedEarly for an entire day at the Battle of Monocacy, allowing more Union troopsto arrive in Washington and strengthen its defenses. Early\'s invasion causedconsiderable panic in Washington and Baltimore, and he was able to get to theoutskirts of Washington. He sent some cavalry under Brig. Gen. John McCauslandto the west side of Washington.

Knowing that he did not have sufficientstrength to capture the city, Early led skirmishes at Fort Stevens and FortDeRussy. The opposing forces also had artillery duels on July 11 and July 12.Abraham Lincoln watched the fighting on both days from the parapet at FortStevens, his lanky frame a clear target for hostile military fire. After Earlywithdrew, he said to one of his officers, \"Major, we haven\'t takenWashington, but we scared Abe Lincoln like hell.\"

Early crossed the Potomac intoLeesburg, Virginia, on July 13 and then withdrew to the Valley. He defeated theUnion army under Brig. Gen. George Crook at Kernstown on July 24, 1864. Sixdays later, he ordered his cavalry to burn the city of Chambersburg,Pennsylvania, in retaliation for Maj. Gen. David Hunter\'s burning of the homesof several prominent Southern sympathizers in Jefferson County, West Virginiaearlier that month. Through early August, Early\'s cavalry and guerrilla forcesattacked the B&O Railroad in various places.

Realizing Early could easily attackWashington, Grant sent out an army under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan to subduehis forces. At times outnumbering the Confederates three to one, Sheridandefeated Early in three battles, starting in early August, and laid waste tomuch of the agricultural properties in the Valley. He ensured they could notsupply Lee\'s army. In a brilliant surprise attack, Early initially routed twothirds of the Union army at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864. Inhis post-battle dispatch to Lee, Early claimed that his troops were hungry andexhausted and fell out of their ranks to pillage the Union camp. This allowedSheridan critical time to rally his demoralized troops and turn their morningdefeat into victory over the Confederate Army that afternoon. One of Early\'skey subordinates, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon, in his 1904 memoirs, attested thatit was Early\'s decision to halt the attack for six hours in the earlyafternoon, and not disorganization in the ranks, that led to the rout that tookplace in the afternoon.[9]

Most of the men of Early\'s corpsrejoined Lee at Petersburg in December, while Early remained in the Valley tocommand a skeleton force. When his force was nearly destroyed at Waynesboro inMarch 1865, Early barely escaped capture with a few members of his staff. Leerelieved Early of his command soon after the encounter, because he doubtedEarly\'s ability to inspire confidence in the men he would have to recruit tocontinue operations. He wrote to Early of the difficulty of this decision:

While my own confidence in yourability, zeal, and devotion to the cause is unimpaired, I have neverthelessfelt that I could not oppose what seems to be the current of opinion, withoutinjustice to your reputation and injury to the service. I therefore feltconstrained to endeavor to find a commander who would be more likely to developthe strength and resources of the country, and inspire the soldiers withconfidence. ... [Thank you] for the fidelity and energy with which you havealways supported my efforts, and for the courage and devotion you have evermanifested in the service.

— Robert E. Lee, letterto Early

General Early, disguised as a farmer,while escaping to Mexico, 1865.

Earlyin his elder years
When the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9, 1865, Early escapedto Texas by horseback, where he hoped to find a Confederate force still holdingout. He proceeded to Mexico, and from there, sailed to Cuba and Canada. Livingin Toronto, he wrote his memoir, A Memoir of the Last Year of the War forIndependence, in the Confederate States of America, which focused on his ValleyCampaign. The book was published in 1867.

Early was pardoned in 1868 by PresidentAndrew Johnson, but still remained an \"unreconstructed rebel\". In1869, he returned to Virginia and resumed the practice of law. He was among themost vocal of those who promoted the Lost Cause movement. He criticized theactions of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet at the Battle of Gettysburg. Together withformer General P.G.T. Beauregard, Early was involved with the LouisianaLottery.

Jubal Early died in Lynchburg, Virginiaat the age of 77, after falling down a flight of stairs. He was buried in thelocal Spring Hill Cemetery.

Mainarticle: Lost Cause of the Confederacy

Early\'s original inspiration for his views on theLost Cause may have come from General Robert E. Lee. In Lee\'s publishedfarewell order to the Army of Northern Virginia, the general spoke of the\"overwhelming resources and numbers\" that the Confederate army foughtagainst. In a letter to Early, Lee requested information about enemy strengthsfrom May 1864 to April 1865, the period in which his army was engaged againstLt. Gen. UlyssesS. Grant (the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg). Lee wrote,\"My only object is to transmit, if possible, the truth to posterity, anddo justice to our brave Soldiers.\" Lee requested all \"statistics asregards numbers, destruction of private property by the Federal troops,&c.\" because he intended to demonstrate the discrepancy in strengthbetween the two armies. He believed it would \"be difficult to get theworld to understand the odds against which we fought\". Referring tonewspaper accounts that accused him of culpability in the loss, he wrote,\"I have not thought proper to notice, or even to correctmisrepresentations of my words & acts. We shall have to be patient, &suffer for awhile at least. ... At present the public mind is not prepared toreceive the truth.\" All of these were themes that Early and the Lost Causewriters would echo for decades.

Lost Cause themes were also taken up bymemorial associations, such as the United Confederate Veterans and the UnitedDaughters of the Confederacy. To some degree, this concept helped someSoutherners to cope with the dramatic social, political, and economic changesin the postbellum era, including Reconstruction.

Early\'s contributions to theConfederacy\'s final days were considered very significant. Some historianscontend that he extended the war six to nine months because of his efforts atWashington, D.C., and in the Valley. The following quote summarizes an opinionheld by his admirers:

Honest and outspoken, honorable anduncompromising, Jubal A. Early epitomized much that was the SouthernConfederacy. His self-reliance, courage, sagacity, and devotion to the causebrought confidence then just as it inspires reverence now.

— James I. Robertson,Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor of History, Virginia Tech; Member of theBoard, Jubal A. Early Preservation Trust

Like many Confederates, Early was anoutspoken believer in white supremacy, believing it to be justified by theChristian religion, and despised the abolitionists. In the preface to hismemoirs, Early wrote about former slaves as \"barbarous natives of Africa\",whom he believed were \"in a civilized and Christianized condition\" asa result of their enslavement. He continued:

The Creator of the Universe had stamped them, indelibly, with a different colorand an inferior physical and mental organization. He had not done this frommere caprice or whim, but for wise purposes. An amalgamation of the races wasin contravention of His designs or He would not have made them so different.This immense number of people could not have been transported back to the wildsfrom which their ancestors were taken, or, if they could have been, it wouldhave resulted in their relapse into barbarism. Reason, common sense, truehumanity to the black, as well as the safety of the white race, required thatthe inferior race should be kept in a state of subordination. The conditions ofdomestic slavery, as it existed in the South, had not only resulted in a greatimprovement in the moral and physical condition of the negro race, but hadfurnished a class of laborers as happy and contented as any in the world.