page_title: Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
section_title: Command under Lt. Gen. J.A. Early
hierarchical_section_title: Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia / Command under Lt. Gen. J.A. Early
caption_attribution_description: Jubal A. Early
context_page_description: The Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia was a military organization within the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during much of the American Civil War. It was officially created and named following the Battle of Sharpsburg in 1862, but comprised units in a corps organization for quite some time prior to that. The Second Corps developed a reputation for hard fighting under famed early commander Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
context_section_description: With Ewell's reassignment, Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early took command, bringing a wealth of experience. He had already temporarily commanded both the Second and Third Corps during the incapacitation of Ewell and Hill during The Battle of the Wilderness.  Early had much experience as a division commander and had served under Generals Jackson and Ewell.  Therefore, Lee decided in June 1864 to use the Second Corps on yet another invasion of the Union in an attempt to cause General Ulysses S. Grant to fall back from pressing Lee's front.  Early took the Second Corps, technically as a detached Army of the Valley, down through the Shenandoah Valley and up to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., raiding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and countryside of Maryland and Pennsylvania along the way. But the invasion was short lived, as the Union was able to respond with a counter campaign under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who pressed Early back into Virginia with overwhelming Union forces.  As Sheridan fought Early up the Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan commenced upon his famous "Burning" of the Valley, destroying crops, livestock, farms, barns, homes and destroying everything in his path. Early's Army of the Valley, the bulk of which came from the Second Corps, sustained heavy losses in the battles at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. In November and December, the greater part of Early's forces were ordered back to Richmond, first Kershaw's division in November, followed by the three divisions of the Second Corps in December.
caption: Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early.
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