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Lt. Gen. Jubal Early

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:52 am
by jkBluesman
Lt. Gen. Jubal Anderson Early (b.1816, d. 1894). The Virginian after opposing secession before the war became one of the first advocating the Lost Cause Myth. He had graduated from West Point in 1837 and served against the Seminoles in Florida. He resigned from the army in 1838 to become a lawyer in his home state. As a volunteer in the Mexican-American War Early saw his first fighting. As a member of the Whig party he opposed secession. But when Pres. Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers in the Fort Sumter crisis, Early voted in favour of secession. He became a brigadier general of the militia and a colonel of the newly formed Confederate army. In the days before the battle of First Manassas Early and his brigade supported Gen. James Longstreet in fighting back the Federals in a skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford. In the actual battle (July 21, 1861), Early helped to stabilize the Confederate left and beat back the Union attack. This earned him promotion to Brig. Gen. shortly after the battle. On the Peninsula the general was wounded in the Battle of Williamsburg (May 1862) while leading a charge. He recovered in time to tack part in the last battle of the Seven Days: Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862). However, Early and his men got lost and saw no fighting that day. “Old Jube” performed better at Cedar Mountain as part of Gen. Richard Ewell’s division and at Second Manassas (August 29-30, 1862). When Gen. Alexander Lawton, who had replaced the wounded Ewell, was himself wounded at Antietam (September 17, 1862), Early rose to division command. At Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862) Early’s men arrived just in time to thwart the only Federal chance of success in that battle by closing the wide gap in Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s lines. This earned Early the promotion to Maj. Gen. (January 1863). His division stayed in the trenches at Fredericksburg when the Army of Northern Virginia marched to Chancellorsville. At first he could hold back Gen. George Sedgwick’s opposing corps. But then he fell back though by mistake away from the battle. He joined his comrades in time for the last attacks on May 4, 1863 that did not accomplish much. During the invasion of Pennsylvania Early became known in the North for his ruthless behaviour towards raided towns. At the Battle of Gettysburg his division captured thousands of prisoners on the first day but was not able to support any attack on Culp’s or Cemetery Hill. Early persuaded Ewell, his new corps commander, to not shift the troops from the Confederate left to the right, thus making them almost useless for the rest of the battle. When Ewell got sick during the campaign in 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee made Early commander of the second corps and recommended his promotion to Lt. Gen. (effective May, 1864). To relief the pressure on Petersburg, Lee sent Early and his corps to the Shenandoah Valley. From there Lee’s “Bad Old Man” started a raid north till the fortifications of Washington, D.C., which he shelled, during Pres. Abraham Lincoln presence. Too weak to really threaten the city, Early fall back to the Valley and was defeated several times by Gen. Philip Sheridan, soundly at Cedar Creek (October 19, 1864). The campaign prolonged the war but did not achieve its goal as the siege at Petersburg continued. Lee relieved Early from command and the Virginian went into exile to avoid capture and trial for the burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in 1864. Early was pardoned by Pres. Andrew Johnson in 1868 and returned to Virginia to practise law again. He founded the Lee Memorial Association and was responsible for the Lee Cult together with William N. Pendleton and J. William Jones. With his friends he started a campaign to make Longstreet, by then a Republican, the scapegoat for the lost battle of Gettysburg and the Cause as a whole. Thus Early influenced the Confederate picture in history for decades after his own death.

In the vote he got 5-6-6-5-0. I would reduce tactics to 5 and command to 4. One could even reduce initiative to 5 as Early was aggressive but sometimes did not move as at Gettysburg.

Teaches: Chargers and Wild and if you need a third Independent or Foragers

Gil, I will be on vacation for the next ten days and rarely online. Grant will follow then...

RE: Lt. Gen. Jubal Early

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 2:20 pm
by Gil R.
Thanks for the bio -- looking good.

Enjoy your vacation!

RE: Lt. Gen. Jubal Early

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:47 pm
by Gil R.
Here’s Early, all ready to go. This, too, had to be shortened a bit. The main change I made involved rewriting the part on Chancellorsville, which wasn’t completely clear

Lt. Gen. Jubal Anderson Early (b. 1816, d. 1894). This Virginian who opposed secession before the war became one of the first advocating the Lost Cause Myth afterwards. Early graduated from West Point in 1837 and served in the Second Seminole War before resigning from the army in 1838 to become a lawyer in his home state. As a volunteer in the Mexican-American War, Early saw his first fighting. A member of the Whig party, he opposed secession, but when Pres. Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers in the Fort Sumter crisis, Early supported leaving the Union. He became a brigadier general of the militia and a colonel of the newly formed Confederate army. In the days before the Battle of First Bull Run, Early’s brigade supported Gen. James Longstreet the skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford. In the actual battle (July 21, 1861), Early helped to stabilize the Confederate left and beat back the Union attack, which earned him promotion to brigadier general. On the Peninsula, Early was wounded in the Battle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862) while leading a charge. He recovered in time for the Battle of Malvern Hill (July 1), but got his brigade lost in the woods and saw no fighting that day. “Old Jube” performed better at Cedar Mountain and at Second Bull Run (August 29-30). When Gen. Alexander Lawton, who had replaced the wounded division commander Gen. Richard Ewell, was himself wounded at Antietam (September 17, 1862), Early rose to take his place. At Fredericksburg (December 13), Early’s men arrived just in time to thwart the Union’s only chance of success by closing the wide gap in Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson’s lines. This earned Early a promotion to major general in January 1863. Early’s division stayed in the trenches at Fredericksburg to protect the rear when the army headed off to fight the Battle of Chancellorsville, but was pushed back by two opposing corps under Gen. George Sedgwick in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg (May 3), only to regain a position cutting off Sedgwick because of the latter’s carelessness the next day. During the invasion of Pennsylvania, Early became known in the North for his ruthless behavior towards raided towns. At Gettysburg his division captured thousands of prisoners on the first day but was not able to support any attack on Culp’s or Cemetery Hill. Early persuaded Ewell, now his corps commander, not to shift the troops from the Confederate left to the right, thus making them almost useless for the rest of the battle. When Ewell got sick in 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee made Early commander of II Corps and recommended his promotion to lieutenant general that May. To relieve the pressure on Petersburg, Lee sent Early’s corps to the Shenandoah Valley, from which Lee’s “Bad Old Man” started a raid that reached the fortifications of Washington, D.C., shelling them in Lincoln’s presence. Unable to threaten the city, but having had a major impact on public opinion in the North, Early fell back to the Valley, where he was later soundly defeated by Gen. Philip Sheridan at Cedar Creek (October 19). The Valley Campaign prolonged the war but did not achieve its goal, as the siege at Petersburg continued. Lee relieved Early from command in March 1865, and he went into exile to avoid capture and trial for the burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in retaliation for Union Gen. David Hunter’s destructive actions at Lexington and elsewhere in the Valley. Early was pardoned by Pres. Andrew Johnson in 1868 and returned to Virginia to practice law again. He founded the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association and was partly responsible for the “Lee Cult.” With his friends he started a campaign to make Longstreet, by then a Republican, the scapegoat for the lost battle of Gettysburg and the Cause as a whole – thus Early influenced perceptions of the conflict for decades after his own death. (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

In response to jkBluesman’s suggestions I’ll add Independent to his abilities, which are already Fast, Wild and Flankers. Also, I agree that Command should be lowered to 4 and Initiative to 5, making his ratings 5-6-5-4