In the summer of 1863 at a little crossroads town in southern Pennsylvania called Gettysburg, two of the largest armies ever assembled on one field at that time clashed in a bloody conflict that would last three horrific days. Out of that battle, names like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and George Pickett would become forever entrenched in the memories of the public mind. Of all the men who took a part in that battle, however, only one would have his worth as a human being judged so completely by his performance there. That man is James Longstreet.
As commander of the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia (ANV), Longstreet was Robert E. Lee’s ranking commander in the field and the highest ranking lieutenant general in the Confederate army, even outranking the honored Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Lee called Longstreet his "old war-horse," "the staff in my right hand," and looked upon him as his most reliable, trusted subordinate. No one in the army was closer to Lee throughout the course of the war; the relationship between the two men was as much friendship as it was commander and subordinate.
Before the three days of Gettysburg were committed to the pages of history, James Longstreet would be directly responsible for leading the main assaults on two of those three days. On July 2nd, nearly 17,000 of his men would face twice their number on the rocks of Devil’s Den, in the Peach Orchard and Wheat Field, and on the slopes of Little Round Top. On the 3rd of July, George Pickett, one of Longstreet’s division commanders, along with the troops under Johnston Pettigrew and Isaac Trimble, would lead their soldiers in a terrifying assault on Cemetery Ridge and be thrown back, bloodied and broken, after attempting a charge that Longstreet had known would fail, but had been compelled to order by Lee. Longstreet would later say, "Never was I so depressed as on that day."
The story of Longstreet’s role at Gettysburg might end there but for future events in his and the Confederacy’s life.
Even before Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, Gettysburg had come to be perceived as the Confederacy’s last, best chance for a victory. The truth of this is debatable; most modern historians reject the notion of the single battle of Gettysburg being the pivotal moment of the war. However, it was the common belief that this was true that would have impact on James Longstreet and his image in history. Many would later look at Gettysburg and call it the turning point in the war and the "High-water mark of the Confederacy." This and the emergence of Robert E. Lee as almost a religious icon would lead many to look for an excuse, a scapegoat, for the loss on that bloody battlefield.
After the war, James Longstreet committed what many Southerners considered three unpardonable sins. First, while visiting Washington D.C., Longstreet gave an interview to William Swinton in which he criticized Lee’s actions at Gettysburg, stating publicly for the first time what he thought would have been a better strategy for the battle, namely attempting to turn the Union Army’s left flank. Second, in 1867 at the request of a newspaper editor, Longstreet gave his opinion that the best course of action with regard to Negro suffrage was to accept that the laws made by Congress were, indeed, the laws of the land. The question had been tested by harsh battle, and the result had been decided. Longstreet felt such an opinion was in keeping with Lee’s address to the troops after the surrender. Third, renewing his longtime friendship with U.S. Grant, Longstreet became a Republican.
Given Longstreet’s perceived indiscretions against the South, he proved a viable target for those searching for a scapegoat. Shortly after Lee’s death, Jubal Early, himself criticized by many for his performance in the Shenandoah Valley against Sheridan in 1864, launched the attacks. Later, William Pendleton, John Gordon, and others continued the assaults on Longstreet’s performance at Gettysburg, accusing him of insubordination and disobeying direct orders. Longstreet was, in their view, responsible for the ANV’s loss at Gettysburg, and by extension, responsible for the Confederacy’s loss of the entire war.
Many years passed before historians began questioning the validity of these assertions, and as a result many historical studies of the war are tainted by what has been shown by more modern researchers to be a lie. Helen Dortch Longstreet, James’ second wife, devoted her entire life to defending her husband’s good honor. She noted that her husband’s final years were filled with bitterness, but that he loved his South up to the last, saddened by the thought that his good deeds and honorable service had been forgotten by those he so dearly loved.
Finally, over 100 years later, we are beginning to look at James Longstreet as the outstanding fighter and commander that he truly was. No commander on either side of the conflict has had his record so closely scrutinized -- up to the minute almost -- as James Longstreet’s has been. This close study has revealed mistakes and insufficiencies under certain circumstances, but then so will similar examinations of Robert E. Lee’s and "Stonewall" Jackson’s war record, two commanders considered by many to have been perfect. The final summation will reveal that James Longstreet was one of Lee’s most reliable soldiers. He deserves his place in history as much as any veteran of that horrible conflict.
Author: Brian Hampton