Robert Emmet Rodes | |
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| Born | (1829-03-29)March 29, 1829 Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 19, 1864(1864-09-19) (aged 35) Winchester, Virginia, C.S. |
| Buried | Presbyterian Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States of America |
| Branch |  Confederate States Army |
| Service years | 1861–1864 |
| Rank |  Major General (CSA) |
| Campaigns | American Civil War |
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Robert Emmett (orEmmet)Rodes[1] (March 29, 1829 – September 19, 1864) was aConfederategeneral in theAmerican Civil War, and the first ofRobert E. Lee's divisional commanders not trained atWest Point. His division ledStonewall Jackson's devastating surprise attack at theBattle of Chancellorsville; Jackson, on his deathbed, recommended that Rodes be promoted tomajor general. Rodes then served in the corps ofRichard S. Ewell at theBattle of Gettysburg and in theOverland Campaign, before that corps was sent to theShenandoah Valley underJubal Early, where Rodes was killed at theThird Battle of Winchester.
Rodes was born inLynchburg, Virginia, and graduated fromVirginia Military Institute in 1848.[2] He taught at VMI as an assistant professor until 1851; he left when a promotion he wanted to full professor was given instead toThomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, who was years later to become one of his commanders during the Civil War.
Rodes used hiscivil engineering skills to become chief engineer for theAlabama and Chattanooga Railroad inTuscaloosa, Alabama. He was chief engineer of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad until the start of the war. Although born a Virginian, he chose to serve his adopted state ofAlabama in the armed forces of theConfederate States of America (CSA).
Rodes started his Confederate service as acolonel in command of the 5th Alabama Infantryregiment.[3] Rodes went toFirst Bull Run as part of Brigader GeneralRichard Ewell's brigade, but did not see any action. In October 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned as part of Major GeneralD.H. Hill's division.
Rodes's first combat experience happened at theBattle of Seven Pines, where he was badly wounded. A few weeks later, he returned to brigade command just prior to the start of the Seven Days Battles. He led his brigade atGaines Mill, but two days later had to step down due to fever and the lingering effects of his wound and was subsequently assigned to light duty in the defenses ofRichmond, Virginia while he recuperated. He recovered in time for GeneralRobert E. Lee's first invasion of the Union, in September 1862, fighting atSouth Mountain andAntietam. At Antietam, he commanded one of two brigades that held out so long against theUnion assault on the sunken road, or "Bloody Lane", at the center of the Confederate line, suffering heavy casualties. Rodes was lightly wounded by shell fragments.
In theBattle of Chancellorsville, Rodes was a division commander in Stonewall Jackson's corps. He was the first division-level commander in Lee's army who had not graduated fromWest Point.[4] Rodes led Jackson's devastating flank attack against the UnionXI Corps on May 2, 1863. He was temporarily placed in command of the corps that night when Jackson was mortally wounded and Maj. Gen.A.P. Hill was also wounded. Hill immediately summoned the more senior officer Maj. Gen.J.E.B. Stuart, and minutes later Rodes graciously ceded his battlefield command to him. Jackson on his deathbed recommended that Rodes be promoted to major general and this promotion be back-dated to be effective May 2.
When Lee reorganized theArmy of Northern Virginia to compensate for the loss of Jackson, Rodes joined the Second Corps under Richard Ewell. In theBattle of Gettysburg, on July 1, 1863, Rodes led the assault from Oak Hill against the right flank of the UnionI Corps. Although his initial attacks were poorly coordinated and casualties high, he eventually routed the division of Maj. Gen.John C. Robinson and drove it back through the town. His division sat idle for the remaining two days of the battle.
Rodes continued to fight with Ewell's corps through the 1864Overland Campaign ofLt. Gen.Ulysses S. Grant. Ewell was replaced by Lt. Gen.Jubal Early, and the corps was sent by Lee to theShenandoah Valley to draw Union forces away fromPetersburg, in theValley Campaigns of 1864. Early conducted a long and successful raid down the Valley, intoMaryland, and reached the outskirts ofWashington, D.C., before turning back. Maj. Gen.Philip Sheridan was sent by Grant to drive Early from the Valley once and for all.
On September 19, 1864, Sheridan attacked the Confederates at theBattle of Opequon, also known as the Third Battle of Winchester. Several wives of Confederate officers were chased from town during the attack and Rodes managed to save Maj. Gen.John B. Gordon's wife from capture. Rodes and Gordon prepared to attack Sheridan's forces when Rodes was struck in the back of his head by a Union shell fragment. He died on the field outsideWinchester.
Rodes was mourned by the Confederacy as a promising, brave, and aggressive officer killed before he could achieve greatness. Robert E. Lee and other high-ranking officers wrote sympathetic statements. Rodes is buried beside his brother, Virginius Hudson Rodes, who had been his adjutant throughout the War, in Presbyterian Cemetery,Lynchburg, Virginia.[5][6] He and his wife, Virginia Hortense Woodruff (1833–1907), had two children, Robert Emmet Rodes, Jr. (1863–1925) and Bell Yancey Rodes (1865–1931).
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