Jubal Early Jubal Anderson Early ( November 3 , 1816 – March 2 , 1894 ) was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War . He served under Stonewall Jackson and then Robert E . Lee for almost the entire war , rising from regimental command to lieutenant general and the command of an infantry corps in the Army of Northern Virginia . He was the Confederate commander in key battles of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , including a daring raid to the outskirts of Washington , D . C . The articles written by him for the Southern Historical Society in the 1870s established the Lost Cause point of view as a long - lasting literary and cultural phenomenon . Early years . Early was born in Franklin County , Virginia , third of ten children of Ruth ( née Hairston ) and Joab Early . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837 , ranked 18th of 50 . During his tenure at the Academy he 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 prompted Armistead ' s resignation from the Academy . After graduating from the Academy , Early fought against the Seminole in Florida as a second lieutenant in the 3rd U . S . Artillery regiment before resigning from the Army for the first time in 1838 . He practiced law in the 1840s as a prosecutor for both Franklin and Floyd Counties in Virginia . He was noted for a case in Mississippi , where he beat the top lawyers in the state . His law practice was interrupted by the Mexican - American War , in which he served as a Major with the 1st Virginia Volunteers from 1847 – 1848 . He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1841 – 1843 . Civil War . Early was a Whig and strongly opposed secession at the April 1861 Virginia convention for that purpose . However , he was soon roused by the actions of the Federal government when President Abraham Lincoln called for 75 , 000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion . He accepted a commission as a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia . He was sent to Lynchburg , Virginia , to raise three regiments and then commanded one of them , the 24th Virginia Infantry , as a colonel in the Confederate States Army . Early was promoted to brigadier general after 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 the Seven 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 by Robert E . Lee , the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia . Lee affectionately called Early his " Bad Old Man , " because of his short temper . He appreciated Early ' s aggressive fighting and ability to command units independently . Most of Early ' s soldiers referred to him as " Old Jube " or " Old Jubilee " with enthusiasm and affection . His subordinate generals often felt little affection . Early was an inveterate fault - finder and offered biting criticism of his subordinates at the least opportunity . He was generally blind to his own mistakes and reacted fiercely to criticism or suggestions from below . Early was wounded at Williamsburg in 1862 , while leading a charge against staggering odds . Serving under Stonewall Jackson . He convalesced at his home in Rocky Mount , Virginia . In two months , he returned to the war , under the command of Maj . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson , in time for the Battle of Malvern Hill . There , Early demonstrated his career - long lack of aptitude for battlefield navigation and his brigade was lost in the woods ; it suffered 33 casualties without any significant action . In the Northern Virginia Campaign , Early was noted for his performance at the Battle of Cedar Mountain and arrived in the nick of time to reinforce Maj . Gen . A . P . Hill on Jackson ' s left on Stony Ridge in the Second Battle of Bull Run . At Antietam , Early ascended to division command when his commander , Alexander Lawton , was wounded . Lee was impressed with his performance and retained him at that level . At Fredericksburg , Early saved 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 on January 17 , 1863 . At Chancellorsville , Lee gave him a force of 5 , 000 men to defend Fredericksburg at Marye ' s Heights against superior forces ( 4 divisions ) under Maj . Gen . John Sedgwick . Early was able to delay the Union forces and pin down Sedgwick while Lee and Jackson attacked the remainder of the Union troops to the west . Sedgwick ' s eventual attack on Early up Marye ' s Heights is sometimes known as the Second Battle of Fredericksburg . Gettysburg and the Overland Campaign . During the Gettysburg Campaign , Early commanded a division in the corps of Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell . His troops were instrumental in defeating Union defenders at Winchester , capturing a number of prisoners , and opening up the Shenandoah Valley for Lee ' s oncoming forces . Early ' s division , augmented with cavalry , eventually marched eastward across the South Mountain range in Pennsylvania , seizing vital supplies and horses along the way . He captured Gettysburg on June 26 and demanded a ransom , which was 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 , the farthest east in Pennsylvania that any organized Confederate force would penetrate . On June 30 , Early was recalled as Lee concentrated his army to meet the oncoming Federals . Approaching Gettysburg from the northeast on July 1 , 1863 , Early ' s division was on the leftmost flank of the Confederate line . He soundly defeated Brig . Gen . Francis Barlow ' s division ( part of the Union XI Corps ) , inflicting three times the casualties to the defenders as he suffered , and drove the Union troops back through the streets of town , capturing many of them . In the second day at Gettysburg , he assaulted East Cemetery Hill as part of Ewell ' s efforts on the Union right flank . Despite initial success , Union reinforcements arrived to repulse Early ' s two brigades . On the third day , Early detached one brigade to assist Maj . Gen . Edward " Allegheny " Johnson ' s division in an unsuccessful assault on Culp ' s Hill . Elements of Early ' s division covered the rear of Lee ' s army during its retreat from Gettysburg on July 4 and July 5 . Early served in the Shenandoah Valley over the winter of 1863 – 64 . During this period , he occasionally filled in as corps commander during Ewell ' s absences for illness . On May 31 , 1864 , Lee expressed his confidence in Early ' s initiative and abilities at higher command levels , promoting him to the temporary rank of lieutenant general . Upon his return from the Valley , Early fought 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 at Spotsylvania Court House . At Spotsylvania , Early occupied the relatively quiet right flank of the Mule Shoe . At the Battle of Cold Harbor , Lee replaced the ineffectual Ewell with Early as commander of the Second Corps . The Valley , 1864 . Early ' s most important service was that summer and fall , in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 , when he commanded the Confederacy ' s last invasion of the North . As Confederate territory was rapidly being captured by the Union armies of Grant and Maj . Gen . William Tecumseh Sherman , Lee sent Early ' s corps to sweep Union forces from the Shenandoah Valley and to menace Washington , D . C . , hoping to compel Grant to dilute his forces against Lee around Richmond and Petersburg , Virginia . Early delayed his march for several days in a futile attempt to capture a small force under Franz Sigel at Maryland Heights near Harpers Ferry . He rested his men from July 4 through July 6 . Although elements of his army would eventually reach the outskirts of Washington at a time when it was largely undefended , his delay at Maryland Heights prevented him from being able to attack the capital . During the time of Early ' s Maryland Heights campaign , Grant sent two VI Corps divisions from the Army of the Potomac to reinforce Union Maj . Gen . Lew Wallace . With 5 , 800 men , he delayed Early for an entire day at the Battle of Monocacy , allowing more Union troops to arrive in Washington and strengthen its defenses . Early ' s invasion caused considerable panic in Washington and Baltimore , and he was able to get to the outskirts of Washington . He sent some cavalry under Brig . Gen . John McCausland to the west side of Washington . Knowing that he did not have sufficient strength to capture the city , Early led skirmishes at Fort Stevens and Fort DeRussy . 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 Fort Stevens , his lanky frame a clear target for hostile military fire . After Early withdrew , he said to one of his officers , " Major , we haven ' t taken Washington , but we scared Abe Lincoln like hell . " Early crossed the Potomac into Leesburg , Virginia , on July 13 and then withdrew to the Valley . He defeated the Union army under Brig . Gen . George Crook at Kernstown on July 24 , 1864 . Six days later , he ordered his cavalry to burn the city of Chambersburg , Pennsylvania , in retaliation for Maj . Gen . David Hunter ' s burning of the homes of several prominent Southern sympathizers in Jefferson County , West Virginia earlier that month . Through early August , Early ' s cavalry and guerrilla forces attacked the B & O Railroad in various places . Realizing Early could easily attack Washington , Grant sent out an army under Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan to subdue his forces . At times outnumbering the Confederates three to one , Sheridan defeated Early in three battles , starting in early August , and laid waste to much of the agricultural properties in the Valley . He ensured they could not supply Lee ' s army . In a brilliant surprise attack , Early initially routed two thirds of the Union army at the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19 , 1864 . In his post - battle dispatch to Lee , Early claimed that his troops were hungry and exhausted and fell out of their ranks to pillage the Union camp . This allowed Sheridan critical time to rally his demoralized troops and turn their morning defeat into victory over the Confederate Army that afternoon . One of Early ' s key subordinates , Maj . Gen . John B . Gordon , in his 1904 memoirs , attested that it was Early ' s decision to halt the attack for six hours in the early afternoon , and not disorganization in the ranks , that led to the rout that took place in the afternoon . Most of the men of Early ' s corps rejoined Lee at Petersburg in December , while Early remained in the Valley to command a skeleton force . When his force was nearly destroyed at Waynesboro in March 1865 , Early barely escaped capture with a few members of his staff . Lee relieved Early of his command soon after the encounter , because he doubted Early ' s ability to inspire confidence in the men he would have to recruit to continue operations . He wrote to Early of the difficulty of this decision : Postbellum career . When the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered on April 9 , 1865 , Early escaped to Texas by horseback , where he hoped to find a Confederate force still holding out . He proceeded to Mexico , and from there , sailed to Cuba and Canada . Living in Toronto , he wrote his memoir , " A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence , in the Confederate States of America " , which focused on his Valley Campaign . The book was published in 1867 . Early was pardoned in 1868 by President Andrew Johnson , but still remained an unreconstructed rebel . In 1869 , he returned to Virginia and resumed the practice of law . He was among the most vocal of those who promoted the Lost Cause movement . He criticized the actions of Lt . Gen . James Longstreet at Gettysburg . Together with former General P . G . T . Beauregard , Early was involved with the Louisiana Lottery . At the age of 77 , after falling down a flight of stairs , Early died in Lynchburg , Virginia . He was buried in the local Spring Hill Cemetery . Legacy . Early ' s original inspiration for his views on the " Lost Cause " may have come from General Robert E . Lee . In Lee ' s published farewell order to the Army of Northern Virginia , the general spoke of the " overwhelming resources and numbers " that the Confederate army fought against . In a letter to Early , Lee requested information about enemy strengths from May 1864 to April 1865 , the period in which his army was engaged against Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ( the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg ) . Lee wrote , " My only object is to transmit , if possible , the truth to posterity , and do justice to our brave Soldiers . " Lee requested all " statistics as regards numbers , destruction of private property by the Federal troops , & c . " because he intended to demonstrate the discrepancy in strength between the two armies . He believed it would " be difficult to get the world to understand the odds against which we fought " . Referring to newspaper accounts that accused him of culpability in the loss , he wrote , " I have not thought proper to notice , or even to correct misrepresentations of my words & acts . We shall have to be patient , & suffer for awhile at least . . . . At present the public mind is not prepared to receive the truth . " All of these were themes that Early and the Lost Cause writers would echo for decades . Lost Cause themes were also taken up by memorial associations , such as the United Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy . To some degree , this concept helped the ( white ) Southerners to cope with the dramatic social , political , and economic changes in the postbellum era , including Reconstruction . Early ' s contributions to the Confederacy ' s final days were considered very significant . Some historians contend that he extended the war six to nine months because of his efforts at Washington , D . C . , and in the Valley . The following quote summarizes an opinion held by his admirers : Early was an outspoken believer in white supremacy and despised the abolitionists . In the preface to his memoirs , Early wrote about former slaves as " barbarous natives of Africa " , whom he believed were " in a civilized and Christianized condition " as a result of their enslavement . He continued :