We Scared Abe

A part of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early’s  Valley Campaign, on July 11^th and 12^th 1864 the Battle of Fort Stevens was fought just outside of Washington, DC with President Abraham Lincoln watching.

Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A Early’s troops arrived on the outskirts of Washington, DC near Sliver Springs on July 11^th 1864.  His men had been on the march since June 13^th 1864.  He sent out a skirmish line about 3 pm to feel out the Union fortifications in his front.  The Fort was being held by Union soldiers who has been convalescing in Washington hospitals, clerks and Home Guard under the command of Union Brigadier General Martin D Hardin.  The Union VI Corps arrived in the city during the night by transport ships.

On the morning of July 12^th 1864 Early had his men in position, but was repulsed by the Veteran Union troops.  That afternoon the VI Corps drove the Confederates from their position in front of Fort Stevens and Fort DeRussy.  President Lincoln was at Fort Stevens watching the battle.  Early withdrew his troop that night giving up any thought of moving on Washington, DC.  Early said of the invasion, “We didn’t take Washington, but we scared Abe Lincoln like Hell.”

A Fight At Fisher's Hill

The Battle of Fisher’s Hill a part of the Valley Campaign was fought September 22^nd 1864 near Strasburg, Virginia.

The Union had about 30,000 men in the Shenandoah Valley under Major General Philip H Sheridan.  They were opposing about 10,000 Confederates fighting under Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early.  After the Third Battle of Winchester the Confederates took up a strong position with their right on the North Branch of the Shenandoah River and left on Fisher’s Hill.  Union Major General George Crook began the attack September 22^nd 1864 at about 4 pm.  The Union infantry pushed Confederate Cavalry causing Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur to refuse his left flank.  With Ramseur’s line pushed in the Confederate’s fell back to Waynesboro, Virginia.

Union Brigadier General Alfred Torbert with 6,000 cavalry then moved against about 1,200 Confederate cavalry under the command of Brigadier General William Wickam.  Torbert was supposed to move behind Early and cut off any retreat of the Fisher’s Hill area.  Torbert was pushed back by the Confederate cavalry and Early go t away.  The battle resulted in 1,235 Confederate casualties and 528 Union.

Second Time's The Charm

The Second Battle of Fredericksburg a part of the Battle of Chancellorsville was fought May 3rd 1863.


Confederate Major General Jubal Anderson Early’s division was left to hold Fredericksburg, when General Robert E Lee marched the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia to Chancellorsville. Union Major General John Sedgwick’s VI Corps moved into the area on May 3rd 1863. Sedgwick moved slowly, as the memory of fighting on this ground in Dec 1862 was fresh. Early’s men were defending Marye’s Height along a reserve artillery and one division from Barkdale’s Brigade, strong out in a thin line north and south of the Heights.

Sedgwick moved through Fredericksburg below the Heights, engaging in artillery fire through out most of the morning. Around noon Sedgwick sent ten Union regiments against the Confederate defenses on the Heights. The lead unit in this assault was the 5th Wisconsin, their Colonel told his men, “When the signal forward is given you will advance at double-quick. You will not fire a gun, and you will not stop until you get the order to halt. You will never get that order.” The 5th charged forward with the other regiments following. The Union troops stalled for a time when they hit a concentrated fire from the Confederates behind a four foot high stonewall. Some of the Union soldiers on the right found a way around the stone wall flanking the Confederate left, placing them under an enfilading fire. Charging with bayonets fixed the Union troops captured several Confederate guns, and forced them to withdraw to the west and southeast of Fredericksburg. Sedgwick captured Marye’s Heights.

End Of Winter Fighting

A battle fought during the Winter Campaign, the Battle of Payne’s Farm occurred on November 27th 1863.

General George Gorden Meade attempted to march through the Wilderness in late November 1863. He planed to hit the right flank of the Confederate army located to the south of the Rapidan River. Confederate Major General Jubal Anderson Early was in command of Ewell’s Corp and he marched his troops east along the Orange Turnpike, where they met the Union III Corp near Payne’s Farm on November 27th 1863.

The Union division attacked twice, the Confederates made a counterattack, but the ruff terrain and heavy Union fire scattered the Rebels. After dark General Robert E Lee pulled back to Mine Run where fortifications were made. The next day there was intense skirmishing, but no major attack. Meade decided on the night of December 2nd that the Confederate line was to strong and left the field, ending the winter campaign for 1863.

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.