Second Corps , Army of Northern Virginia 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 . Background . The troops comprising the Second Corps originate known as the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac , under the command of Major General Gustavus W . Smith . This unit was also known as the Second Division and was eventually subsumed into general Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia as a reserve in Maj . Gen . D . H . Hill ' s Division . When Lee was able to reorganize his army after finishing battles with Union Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan on the peninsula , he created this corps under the command of Lieutenant General Jackson , along with a sister corps under Lt . Gen . James Longstreet . Lee ' s reorganization was based on his evaluation of the performance of his division commanders during the Seven Days Campaign . Command under Lt . Gen . T . J . Jackson . General Jackson commanded what became the Second Corps from the end of the Seven Days Campaign on July 13 , 1862 , until his death after the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 . Jackson ' s official promotion to lieutenant general was made on October 10 , 1862 , and " Jackson ' s Corps " began going by the title Second Corp about 6 November . Jackson simultaneously commanded the " Valley District " of the Department of Northern Virginia , and operated his corps near Winchester , Virginia , guarding the lower Shenandoah Valley when not fully needed by Lee to be close at hand to the main army . Jackson commanded the corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg and in the subsequent series of engagements along the Rappahannock River . The corps ' finest moment came during the Battle of Chancellorsville when Jackson led the famous enveloping left flank attack that routed much of Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker ' s Federal Army of the Potomac . However , the subsequent loss of Jackson was devastating to Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia , and is considered to be a turning point for Lee ' s ability to command the army without occasionally needing to personally see to the details of corps command . Temporary commands under Maj . Generals A . P . Hill and J . E . B . Stuart . From May 2 to May 30 , 1863 , the Second Corps was commanded temporarily by Maj . Gen . A . P . Hill , with the exception of one day under Maj . Gen . J . E . B . Stuart on 2 May , during the crucial loss of the mortally wounded Jackson . Command under Lt . Gen . R . S . Ewell . Following the mop up actions and temporary commands after the Battle of Chancellorsville , General Lee formally assigned the Second Corps to Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell , who had recently recovered from a previous amputation of his leg after the Second Battle of Manassas . Ewell had commanded a division and worked under Jackson , and was native to this organization . Jackson had recommended Ewell for the command to Lee before he died . However , the Second Corps was reduced in size when Ewell took command , because General Lee favored creating a Third Corps under A . P . Hill . Ewell led the Second Corps through the Gettysburg Campaign , after smashing the Union VIII Corps and decimating Maj . Gen . Robert H . Milroy ' s command at the Second Battle of Winchester . Ewell continued to command the corps through the opening campaigning of 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania . However , Ewell ' s ability as a corps commander waned , and Lee felt it was necessary to reassign Ewell to the Department of Richmond on May 29 , 1864 . Command under Lt . Gen . J . A . Early . 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 . The Second Corps , in this final campaign , fought to the death , expending itself battle by battle until practically the entire corps was gone , and the remnants were routed in the Battle of Belle Grove ( also Cedar Creek ) . Defenseless now , the citizens and communities of the Shenandoah Valley were subject to unhindered devastation from General Sheridan . Although Early was one of Lee ' s most highly regarded division commanders , and had successfully created a large diversion , Lee chose to officially " relieve " Early of command , rather than let the Union gather the intelligence that the Second Corps had become so expended . Command under Maj . Gen . J . B . Gordon . What little that was left of the Second Corps was reconstituted and rejoined the main body of the Army of Northern Virginia , and Maj . Gen . John B . Gordon was placed in command on December 20 , 1864 . Gordon commanded the corps , the " left wing " of Lee ' s depleted army , until it was surrendered at Appomattox Court House , Virginia , on April 9 , 1865 . A significant action conducted while Gordon was in command was the Battle of Fort Stedman , which began with a surprise attack by the corps , which achieved some success before it was repulsed by Union reserves . Gordon ' s command also was in the van of the army during its last combat near Appomatox Court House . Gordon and Second Corps led the surrender parade of Confederate infantry .