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Chapter 8 Fighting under Stonewall, 1862–1863 For Dick Ewell the first twelve months of the Civil War had been decidedly uneventful . Except for the skirmish at Fairfax Court House and his undistinguished role at Bull Run, he had had little contact with the enemy. That changed on April 30, 1862, when he led his division across Swift Run Gap into the Shenandoah Valley. There he came under the authority of Major General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Over the next six weeks Jackson and Ewell engaged Union forces on five separate occasions. In each instance they emerged victorious. Jackson, as commander of the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley, quite properly received credit for the campaign’s success. However, Ewell also deserves much credit. His division battled the Federals without material assistance from Jackson’s troops in three of the five battles (Front Royal, Harrisonburg, and Cross Keys) and played a prominent role in the other two (First Winchester and Port Republic). In each contest, Ewell was in the thick of the fighting. His courage, good judgment, and prompt obedience to orders gained him the trust of his men and the approval of his commander. In June, Jackson and Ewell left the Shenandoah Valley and joined General Robert E. Lee’s army outside of Richmond. There, in a week-long series of battles known collectively as the Seven Days, the Confederates succeeded in driving the Army of the Potomac away from Richmond and saving the capital. The campaign again showcased Ewell’s zest for battle. At Gaines’s Mill, the Virginian held his ground under trying circumstances for several hours while Lee struggled to orchestrate a coordinated attack. A few days later, at Malvern Hill, Ewell rallied defeated Confederate troops and led a charge against massed Union batteries. With the Army of the Potomac at bay, Lee turned his attention to Major General John Pope’s Army of Virginia, a hodgepodge force cobbled together from commands defeated by Jackson in the Valley. In July, Pope’s army edged south toward Gordonsville, an important railroad junction near the headwaters of the Rapidan River. Lee sent Jackson north to block Pope’s advance. When the Union general foolishly divided his forces, Jackson lunged across the Rapidan River, striking Pope’s leading corps at Cedar Mountain. Ewell led Jackson’s advance but had only a minor Fighting under Stonewall, 1862–1863 208 role in the engagement itself. As he himself admitted, the battle was Jackson’s and he alone deserved credit for the victory. A few days after Cedar Mountain, Lee arrived at the Rapidan with heavy reinforcements. When an attempt to trap Pope between the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers failed, Lee sent Jackson on a wide turning movement behind Union lines. While Ewell’s division screened the movement at Bristoe Station, Jackson captured Pope’s supply base at Manassas Junction. Pope belatedly realized that Lee had split his army and hurried northward to crush the Confederates menacing his rear. Jackson pounced on a portion of Pope’s passing army at Groveton. In the ensuing battle Ewell was shot in the left knee, an injury that required the amputation of his lower leg and nearly resulted in his death. For nine months he was out of action. He convalesced first at Millborough Springs, a village in the Allegheny Mountains, and then at Richmond. In May 1863 news reached the capital that a battle had been fought at Chancellorsville. The Confederates had won the battle but had lost Jackson, who died after being mistakenly shot by his own men. Lee took the opportunity to reorganize his army into three corps. James Longstreet continued to command the First Corps; Lee appointed Ewell to lead Jackson’s Second Corps; and A. P. Hill headed the newly minted Third Corps. Ewell reported to the army on May 29. Before doing so, he transacted a piece of business that was a quarter-century in the making. On May 26 he married his first cousin, Lizinka Campbell Brown. The love of his youth had finally become his bride. 96. To Lizzie Ewell Valley of Va May 13. 1862 Miss Lizzie Ewell Dear Lizzie; I have just received your letter with your mournful account of the journey from Richmond. It is useless to cry over spilled milk is I believe an old proverb . You omitted to say where you were staying in Richmond, but I take it for granted you are with the Revd Mr Hoge.1 I have spent...

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