The Un-repentant Rebel

Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early was born on November 3rd 1816, he established through his writings the Southern view of the Lost Cause.

Jubal Early was born in Franklin County Virginia November 3rd 1816, the son of Joab and Ruth (Hairston) Early. While he was a cadet at West Point he had a disagreement with Lewis Addison Armistead, causing Armistead to break a plate over Early’s head. Early graduated in 1837 from the Military Academy ranking 18th out of a class of 50. He served with the 3rd US Artillery against the Florida Seminoles, before resigning from the military in 1838. He became a lawyer and served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1841 to 1843.

Early politically was a Whig and he opposed secession at the Virginia Convention in April 1861. However, President Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops to put down the rebellion angered Early, and he accepted a Confederate commission in the Virginia Militia. He was promoted after First Manassas to Brigadier General. General Robert E Lee valued Early’s aggressive fighting style and his capacity for independent command. Lee called him, his “Bad Old Man”. His soldiers named him “Old Jubilee”.

After being wounded in 1862 at Williamsburg, he returned to servce under the command of Major General Thomas J Stonewall Jackson. At Fredericksburg Early counterattacked Union General George Gorden Meade troops, plugging a gap in Jackson’s line, for this he was promoted to Major General. At Gettysburg he was in command of a division in Lieutenant General Richard S Ewell’s corp.

Early did not surrender, and he fled to Texas when the Army of Northern Virginia laid down their arms. He was hoping to find a Confederate force holding out there. He excapt to Mexico, and from there sailed to Cuba and finally to Canada. He wrote a memoir about his Valley Campaign while living in Toronto Canada. He was pardoned in 1868 and returned the Virginia where he resumed practicing law. Ever the un-repentant Rebel he strongly promoted the “Lost Cause” movement and was among those who maligned General James Longstreet’s actions at Gettysburg. Early died in 1894 after falling down stairs in Lynchburg Virginia, and is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery.

A Military Man

General Charles Griffin a Union general was born on December 18th 1825 in Granville, Ohio.

He went to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio and graduated 23rd out of a class of 38 from West Point in 1847. He served with the 2nd US Artillery during the Mexican-American War.

General Griffin formed and than led the “West Point Battery”; Battery D of the 5th US Artillery at the First Manassa. He married Sallie Carroll of Maryland in December of 1861. He was leading men during the Peninsula Campaign when he was promoted to Brigadier General. Although he had a hard time getting along with his superiors, his leadership abilities continued to bring him promotions. He was given the honor by Ulysses S Grant to receive the arms and colors of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. After the Civil War was over he commanded the Reconstruction in Texas with headquarters in Galveston. He succumbed to Yellow Fever in Texas September 15th 1867, he is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington DC.

The Gold Took Her Down

Rose Greenhow was a heroin of the Confederacy,  she drowned  October 1st 1864, while trying to get away from a grounded ship with $ 2,000 in gold.

Maria Rosatta O’Neal was born 1817 in Port Tobacco,Maryland. She received the nick name Wild Rose at an early age. Her father John O’Neal was killed by one of his slaves when she was young, leaving her mother Eliza with a cash poor farm to manage. To help with finances, Rose was sent to live in Washington,DC with an Aunt who ran a boarding house. She married Dr Robert Greenhow in 1835, and was the toast of Washington society.  They were blessed with four daughters.

As a member of Washington’s high society Rose traveled in important political, and military circles. These connections allowed her to become a top Confederate Spy. She passed information to General PGT Beauregard regarding the Union plans for the First Battle of Manassas, perhaps changing the out come of the day. She was arrested in Aug of 1861 by Allan Pinkerton, and transferred to the Old Capitol Prison in January. Even while in the prison Rose was able to get and send information to the Confederate government. In May of 1862 Rose and her 8 year old daughter were deported to Richmond,VA.

Rose spent 1863 and 1864 in Europe, traveling through France and Britain raising sympathy for the Confederacy among European aristocrats. While in London Mrs. Greenhow wrote a book about her time in prison, which sold well in England. In September of 1864 she headed home on the “Condor”; a blockade runner, carrying $2,000 in gold sewn into her dress for the Confederacy. The ship was run aground near Wilmington, North Carolina October 1st 1864, and Rose was drowned while trying to escape in a rowboat.