Confederate general (1817-1872) who achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee; his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House have shrouded his legacy in controversy. Scarce Civil War-dated ALS signed "R. S. Ewell," three pages on two adjoining sheets, 6.25 x 8, March 28, 1862. Letter to Lizinka Brown, a widow and close friend. In part: "I write a few lines as movements of troops indicate stirring events and I don't know when I shall have more time…The Yankees seem to be making a general advance. I have one or two of your late letters…I destroy them not to run any risk of their being an annoyance to you." Ewell writes and initials a postscript on the adjoining leaf: "How much I feel for your anxiety! How gladly I would shield your son from any danger that may be in the future!…May be you will not receive this until Providence has helped us & our enemies are discomfited. RSE." In very good to fine condition, with splitting along one fold.
Ewell, a newly promoted major general, wrote this letter just five days after the First Battle of Kernstown, the opening battle of Stonewall Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley. The battle plan—which like most of Jackson's campaign strategies were kept secret, even from his fellow officers—turned out to be ill-advised. Faulty intelligence led Confederate troops to attack a Union infantry division more than twice the size of Jackson's forces. Although the battle was a Confederate tactical defeat—Jackson's only defeat in the war—it represented a strategic victory for the South by preventing the Union from transferring forces from the Shenandoah Valley to strengthen a campaign against Richmond, the Confederate capital. Then a bachelor, General Ewell would ultimately marry this letter's recipient, Lizinka Brown, in 1863.
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