Jubal Early

Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his U.S. Army commission after the Second Seminole War and his Virginia military commission after the Mexican-American War, in both cases to practice law and participate in politics. Accepting a Virginia and later Confederate military commission as the American Civil War began, Early fought in the Eastern Theater throughout the conflict. He commanded a division under Generals Stonewall Jackson and Richard Ewell, and later commanded a corps. A key Confederate defender of the Shenandoah Valley, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, Early made daring raids to the outskirts of Washington, D.C. as well as far as York, Pennsylvania, securing money and supplies which delayed the Confederate surrender for several months. After the war, Early fled to Mexico, then Cuba and Canada, and upon returning to the United States took pride as "unrepentant rebel". Particularly after the death of Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1870, Early delivered speeches establishing the Lost Cause, as well as helped found the Southern Historical Society and memorial associations. 2Early and family life Early was born on November 3, 1816 in the Red Valley section of Franklin County, Virginia, third of ten children of Ruth (née Hairston) (1794-1832) and Joab Early (1791-1870). The Early family was well-established and well-connected in the area, either one of the First Families of Virginia, or linked to them by marriage as they moved westward toward the Blue Ridge Mountains from Virginia's Eastern Shor