Jubal Early (1816-1894) was an important general for the Confederacy, but his most lasting contribution to the South came after the war. Early served under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, rising from regiment commander to Corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia. Early fought in key battles like Gettysburg and the Shenandoah Valley campaigns, and during his raid toward Washington D.C., his forces nearly killed President Lincoln during a battle at Fort Stevens, making him the only sitting president to come under live fire.
However, it was Early’s writing that truly changed history. Early was one of the writers for the Southern Historical Society during the 1870s that established the Lost Cause, a cultural phenomenon that dominated the writing of Civil War history for a century and is still a widely held view today. His autobiography, Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early , Confederate States of America, is a perfect example of Lost Cause writing, in which the Confederacy is unable to overcome the North’s vast advantage in men and resources. At the same time, the Lost Cause deified Lee, thus looking for others to blame for the South’s loss. For years, Early and James Longstreet argued in writing over who was to blame for the loss at Gettysburg, leading both men to attack each other in print.
Early’s biography is a great read not just for the story it tells but also as one of the best examples of Lost Cause writing, and how the Lost Cause was developed in the years after the war.
