Meadow Farm, Orange Court-House,
July 1, 1879
General James Longstreet :
Dear General,--Your favor of the 30th ultimo is this moment to hand, and I reply at once. I think General Fitzhugh Lee entirely in error as to any engineer or other officer being sent to guide you in the spring of 1864 from your camp near Gordonsville to the Wilderness. I well remember your sending for me, and directing me to procure a guide for you, which I did after some difficulty in the person of Mr. James Robinson, the then sheriff of the county. I saw no such person, nor can I think that any such was at any time at our quarters before we broke camp.
Sincerely yours,
Erasmus Taylor.
Source: Annals of War, essay by Longstreet
Commentary
Another, less well-known, charge leveled against James Longstreet was first promoted by Fitzhugh Lee, who said the story had been related to him by his cousin, G.W.C. Lee. This story suggests that Lee had no confidence in Longstreet, was annoyed at his late arrival on the field, and deemed it necessary to send a guide to Longstreet to make sure he made it to the line of battle. Fitzhugh Lee stated in his biography of Robert E. Lee, that Lee "sent an officer to Longstreet to stay with and show him the roads."
This charge, as with the "daylight order" scenario involved with the Gettysburg campaign, has never been supported by anyone except through rumor, a rumor started by G.W.C. Lee. It was originally told to the public after General Lee's death, too late for him to confirm or deny what he had supposedly said. For his part, Longstreet denies it categorically, and to support his case, he sent requests to both the staffs of Lee and the corps of Engineers for the name of this officer that was supposed to have been sent to him. All were unanimous in their ignorance of such a person. To harden his case, Longstreet then had is requests published in order to the attract attention of the officer who was claimed to be his guide; however, no response came.
Near the beginning of his march, Longstreet had enlisted the efforts of James Robinson, who was the county sheriff and had lived in the Wilderness area his entire life. Colonel Erasmus Taylor, whose house was located near the Wilderness and whom Longstreet had sent to find the guide, related the story in a letter to Longstreet.