Summary:
Confederate General Jubal Early announces his intentions to move to Staunton in late December, 1863. Early prepared to meet a Union advance, probably in conjunction with Union General William Averell's raid into West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.

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Colonel JACKSON or Colonel ARNETT:

MILLBOROUGH,

December 20, 1863.

I am leaving here for Staunton with General Thomas' brigade. I am compelled to go there to meet a force coming up the valley. I should have been too late to do anything by going to Warm Springs and Gatewood's. I could not cross streams. I could not get a force to you for same reason. Do the best you can. Telegraph to me at Staunton. Fitzhugh Lee encamped near Fincastle last night.

J. A. EARLY,
Major-General.

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Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 29, Serial No. 48, Pages 967, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.