Richard Stoddert Ewell (February 8, 1817 – January 25, 1872) was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia, and fought effectively through much of the war, even losing his leg below the knee after he was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run, but his legacy has been clouded by controversies over his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg and at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. His decision not to take Cemetery Hill at the former is often cited as a reason for the Confederate defeat. He received several injuries throughout the remainder of the war. He taken prisoner in 1865, just prior to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He was held as a POW until July of that year. He settled down as a planter until he died of pneumonia in 1872.
In February, 1864, General Richard Ewell was warned by America Will Break's Andries Rhoodie of a sneak attack from Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry. Thus, when John Sedgwick moved west and George Custer headed towards Charlottesville, Ewell notified Fitzhugh Lee, who met and defeated Kilpatrick in short order. Ewell wondered how Rhoodie knew of Kilpatrick's plans when none of Ewell's own spies or agents had uncovered any such thing.[1]
