Jubal Anderson Early

author

Jubal Anderson Early

1816–1894

A sharp-tongued lawyer turned Confederate general, he became one of Robert E. Lee’s most trusted field commanders and played a leading role in the Shenandoah Valley campaigns. After the Civil War, he became one of the most outspoken defenders of the Confederate cause and helped shape the Lost Cause memory of the conflict.

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The Heritage of The South A History of the Introduction of Slavery; Its Establishment From Colonial Times and Final Effect Upon the Politics of the United States

The Heritage of The South A History of the Introduction of Slavery; Its Establishment From Colonial Times and Final Effect Upon the Politics of the United States

by Jubal Anderson Early

About the author

Born in Franklin County, Virginia, on November 3, 1816, he studied at the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1837. He served briefly in the Seminole War, left the army to practice law, and also took part in Virginia politics before returning to military service during the Civil War.

During the war, he rose from brigade command to lieutenant general in the Confederate army, serving under Stonewall Jackson and later Robert E. Lee. He fought in major campaigns in the Eastern Theater and is especially remembered for his 1864 advance toward Washington and for his later defeats in the Shenandoah Valley at the hands of Union forces under Philip Sheridan.

After the Confederacy collapsed, he spent time in exile in Mexico and Canada before returning to Virginia. In his later years he wrote and spoke vigorously in defense of Lee and the Confederate cause, becoming an important early voice in the movement that came to be known as the Lost Cause. He died in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 2, 1894.