Confederate general (1816–1894) who led troops at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. Though pardoned by President Johnson in 1868, Early remained unrepentant and was one of the leading supporters of the “Lost Cause” movement, reserving special vitriol for the actions of Confederate General James Longstreet at Gettysburg. ALS signed “J. A. Early,” one page, lightly-lined both sides, 8 x 10.5, July 15, 1889. Letter to General Marcus Wright in the War Records Office. In full: “Some two or three weeks ago I found the enclosed letter in my P.O. box, and, as I know nothing of him, I have been unable to deliver the letter or forward it to his proper address. I have therefore concluded to return it to the War Record Office, as the only thing left for me to do. There was a Col. H. H. French in the Confederate Service who lived in either Giles or Mercer County, but I am inclined to think he is dead. Sometime last summer, when I was absent in the mountains where I remained sometime, a letter came there from you for me inquiring whether I had any maps of the battlefields during the late war. I have enclosed this letter and owe you an apology for not answering sooner, which I assure you was not through discourtesy. I now inform you that I have no such maps, and the only person that I know who has them is Major Jed Hotchkiss of Stanton, Va., who was topographical engineer for General T. J. Jackson, General Ewell, and myself.” In notably fine, clean condition, with pencil docket to bottom of back page, a couple of trivial corner creases, and a light overall shade of toning.
The officer referenced by Early had served on the staff of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and, following Jackson’s death, eventually fell under Early’s command. In fact, many historians credit Early’s Civil War victory at the Battle of Cedar Creek in October 1864 to Hotchkiss’s superior map-making skills. Never wavering from his support of the Confederacy, Early fled to Mexico after the war before making his way to Cuba and Canada, where he wrote his memoirs. He returned to Virginia in 1869, a year after receiving his presidential pardon, but remained an unreconstructed rebel. Interesting content written the year of his return from self-imposed absence “in the mountains.” Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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