Ewell << YOO uhl >>, Richard Stoddert (1817-1872), was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He led a division under General Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, distinguishing himself in battles at Winchester, Strasburg, and Cross Keys. That same year, he aided Jackson in the defense of Richmond, Virginia, and fought in the Battles of the Seven Days. Ewell participated in the Battle of Cedar Mountain and in the Second Bull Run campaign (also called Manassas).
At Groveton, Virginia, on Aug. 28, 1862, Ewell was wounded and lost a leg. Ewell returned to duty as a lieutenant general in May 1863, though he had to be lifted to his horse and strapped in the saddle.
Ewell then commanded the Second Corps, formerly led by Jackson. Ewell took the corps through the Pennsylvania campaign and played a controversial role in the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in July 1863. Several of his subordinate officers thought he should occupy Cemetery Ridge. Ewell, apparently taking literally General Robert E. Lee’s orders to occupy Gettysburg, refused to seize Culp’s Hill (near Cemetery Ridge) on the first day. As a result, Union troops took the hill and used it to anchor the right end of their line. Ewell finally tried to capture the hill but failed.
In 1864, Ewell led his corps in the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. Later that year, he commanded the Richmond defenses. When Lee gave up the defense of Petersburg, Virginia, and Richmond in 1865, Ewell took command of the remnant of a corps. That year, during the retreat toward Appomattox, Virginia, Ewell’s corps was captured at Sayler’s Creek, Virginia.
Ewell was born on Feb. 8, 1817, in Washington, D.C., of Virginia parents. He graduated from the United States Military Academy and fought gallantly in the Mexican War (1846-1848). Although he favored the Union, Ewell went with the South when Virginia withdrew from the United States in 1861. He died on Jan. 5, 1872.
