Major-general Robert Emmet Rodes |
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Born |
Lynchburg, Virginia |
March 29, 1829
Died | September 19, 1864† Winchester, Virginia |
(aged 35)
Buried at | Presbyterian Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia |
Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
Service/branch | Confederate States Army |
Years of service | 1861–1864 |
Rank | Major General (CSA) |
Campaigns | |
Relations |
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Robert Emmett (or Emmet) Rodes (March 29, 1829 – September 19, 1864) was one of the youngest Confederate generals in the American Civil War, and the first of Robert E. Lee's divisional commanders not trained at West Point. His division led Stonewall Jackson's devastating surprise attack at the Battle of Chancellorsville; Jackson, on his deathbed, promoted Rodes to major general. Rodes then served in the corps of Richard S. Ewell at the Battle of Gettysburg and in the Overland Campaign, before that corps was sent to the Shenandoah Valley under Jubal Early, where Rodes was killed at the Third Battle of Winchester.
Rodes was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1848. He taught at VMI as an assistant professor until 1851; he left when a promotion he wanted to full professor was given instead to Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, who was years later to become one of his commanders during the Civil War.
Rodes used his civil engineering skills to become chief engineer for the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was chief engineer of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad until the start of the war. Although born a Virginian, he chose to serve his adopted state of Alabama in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America (CSA).