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When Robert E. Lee took command of the Confederate army then entrenched around Richmond, he and James Longstreet had little knowledge of one another. Before the month was out, however, the two had already begun to form the close relationship that would bring them so much success on so many battlefields. In a dispatch to Richmond officials commenting on his subordinates, Lee praised Longstreet for his sound advice, something Lee would learn to appreciate even more as the war progressed.
Their service together was not always smooth sailing. The effective communication that had marked their relationship broke down at Gettysburg, this fact in itself being as much the cause for the ANV's failure at that battle as any specific mistake in planning and execution. However, their respect for one another and, indeed, their friendship did not suffer. Even after the war, Lee referred to Longstreet always in warm terms and never directly criticized his most valuable subordinate. |
| Photo courtesy Library of Congress. |
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