Lieutenant general Jubal Anderson Early |
|
---|---|
Nickname(s) | "Old Jube" "Old Jubilee" "Bad Old Man" |
Born |
Franklin County, Virginia, U.S. |
November 3, 1816
Died | March 2, 1894 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. |
(aged 77)
Allegiance |
United States of America (1837–1838, 1847–1848) Confederate States (1861–1865) |
Service/branch |
U.S. Army Confederate Army |
Years of service | 1837–1838 1847–1848 1861–1865 |
Rank |
Major (U.S.) Major General (C.S.) Lieutenant General (temporary) |
Commands held |
Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Army of the Valley |
Battles/wars | |
Other work | Lawyer |
Seminole Wars
Mexican-American War
American Civil War
Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served in the Eastern Theater of the war for the entire conflict, as a division commander under Stonewall Jackson and Richard Stoddert Ewell, and in later actions commanded a corps. 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 was born in the Red Valley section of Franklin County, Virginia, third of ten children of Ruth (née Hairston) and Joab Early. The Early family was a well-connected old Virginia family. Early's father operated an extensive tobacco 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 and Danville before entering West Point in 1833.
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, although he too would have a storied military career. 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 to 1848. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1841 to 1843.