Summary:
In December, 1863, Robert E. Lee ordered Jubal Early to Staunton, VA, to take command of Confederate troops in the Shenandoah Valley. Lee ordered Early to stop a Union advance led by William Averell from West Virginia.

---

December 15, 1863.

XIV. Maj. Gen. J. A. Early, Provisional Army, C. S., will proceed to Staunton, Va., and assume command of the troops there and in the Valley of Virginia, and make the best disposition of the same to resist the advance of the enemy.

By command of Gen. R. E. Lee:

W. H. TAYLOR,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.

---

Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 29, Serial No. 49, Pages 876, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.