Chapter XXVI: Appendix: Longstreet (6)

“He died as he had lived, a model to mankind.”

METROPOLITAN CLUB,
NEW YORK CITY, January 3, 1904.

DEAR MRS. LONGSTREET,--I can not express to you the regret I felt when I read to-day of the death of my noble chief, your dear husband. A flood of vivid recollections overwhelmed me. It was no surprise to me, as I knew the nature of the ill he suffered under; still he was dead, and a blank left in my life which no time can heal. He was so much to me. For four years I had ridden at his side, and shared his confidence, and had learned to love him well. No unkind word or look stands between us, and my sorrow is that of one of his sons.

To you he has owed many happy years, and his old comrades will always bear you in tender thought.

In your last letter to me you wrote that the doctors had said he had “a fighting chance.” But alas! his time had come, and it found him ready I am sure. His life was blameless as it was brave, and he died as he had lived, a model to mankind.

To you and his children I offer my heartfelt sympathy. I can say no more, as my heart is very full. As I see that he is to be buried to-morrow I can not be present, but my heart will be with you at his grave.

Always most warmly yours,
OSMAN LATROBE.

* * * * *

“The country had no more devoted patriot.”

MY DEAR MRS. LONGSTREET,--Please accept my profound sympathy in your great bereavement.

While as a member of his corps from the time of its organization to the end, I knew General Longstreet only as a subordinate knows his superior officer, after the struggle was over I met him frequently and conversed with him on many subjects, and to my admiration and devotion to the soldier and general was superadded esteem for him as a citizen and a high regard and fondness for him as a friend.

If some critics had known his methods as a commander, and witnessed his powers in battle, as we of his corps did on many hard-fought fields, and understood his course and motives as a civilian as his friends did, they would bestow upon him nothing but words of praise and gratitude. The ranking lieutenant-general of Lee’s great army, he always had the confidence of the commander-in-chief and the respect and admiration of all, and the “lost cause” had no braver or truer defender and the country no more devoted patriot.

But I only intended to write a line of sympathy, hoping to meet you again some time when we can talk of him and his career.

With kind regards, I am,
Very sincerely,
N. L. HUTCHENS.

LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA.

* * * * *

“The brilliant leader of gallant armies, but greater in peace as
the patriotic citizen.”

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 5, 1904.

MY DEAR MRS. LONGSTREET,--My heart was very deeply touched by the news of General Longstreet’s death, and I write to assure you of my profound sorrow over the event and of my warm sympathy for you in the unspeakable loss which you sustain.

General Longstreet will always live in the great and ennobling example which he set before his fellow-men. He was truly great in war as the brilliant leader of gallant armies, but he was greater in peace as the patriotic citizen loyally dedicating his splendid fame to the cause of his country’s restoration to an harmonious brotherhood.

His conduct since the termination of the mighty struggle in which he bore a distinguished part was prompted by the highest wisdom and by the purest love of country. And his fame can never be dimmed by the failure of the narrow-minded few to appreciate his great qualities of heart and of brain. I rejoice in the fact that he lived to a ripe old age, and was thereby blessed with the privilege of witnessing the good fruits of his noble career.

With profound respect,
I am truly yours,
GEORGE BABER.

* * * * *

“His surpassing ability won him admiration as an American
soldier.”

PHILADELPHIA, January 3, 1904.

DEAR MRS. LONGSTREET,--Permit me to express my heartfelt sympathy in your sad loss and unexpected bereavement.

It had never been my good fortune to meet the general, but his surpassing ability and great and earnest devotion to the South won him, as an American soldier, _our_ admiration, and entitled him to the love and thanks of those whose cause was, for so long, the object of his sacrifices.

We in the North, or many of us, rate General Longstreet as among the ablest of those who fought against us, and it was fortunate for us that he did not have command at some critical moments, when his superior judgment would have directed other movements than those which were made.

I am, madam,
Very respectfully yours,
H. S. HUIDEKOPER.

* * * * *

“Soldiers who served on the firing line knew the leaders.”

MY DEAR MRS. LONGSTREET,--We soldiers who served four years on the firing line know who were the leaders; and Longstreet is held in high esteem as a broad-guage man in the North.

Yours truly,
J. L. SMITH.

PHILADELPHIA, January 5, 1904.

TRIBUTE FROM THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

That splendid soldier and generous gentleman, Major-General Oliver Otis Howard, sent the following letter to the Grand Army Encampment, assembled in thirty-eighth annual session at Boston, Massachusetts, August 15 to 20, 1904:

“BURLINGTON, VERMONT, August 10, 1904.

“_To the G. A. R. assembled at Boston_:

“COMRADES,--Our Commander-in-Chief having already sent his
subscription to the Memorial Volume to General Longstreet,
written by his widow, I wish to join a list of subscribers to be
forwarded from this encampment to Mrs. Longstreet, which we will
request General Black to transmit with assurances of our regard
and admiration for her great husband, whom we learned to fear on
so many brilliant fields, and in a later day to admire for his
noble qualities as citizen of the reunited nation.”

This tribute came to me accompanied by a delightfully long list of subscribers to this little volume. I would be pleased to print the list, but want of space forbids.

THE SONS FOLLOW THE FATHERS

The twenty-third Annual Encampment of the Commandery-in-Chief of the Sons of Veterans, U. S. A., was in session at Boston, August 17 to 19, 1904.

At their closing session, E. R. Campbell, of Washington, D. C., Past Commander-in-Chief, acting under unanimous consent, brought the above tribute from the Veterans to the attention of the Sons of Veterans.

In a graceful speech he referred to this beautiful testimonial from the Grand Army of the Republic to the memory of a gallant opponent; asserted that the sons should follow in the footsteps of the fathers in all things attesting the spirit of a reunited nation; that it was the pleasure of the sons on their own account and in the light of history to testify to their enthusiastic appreciation of the valorous deeds of General Longstreet on the battle-field, and his equally commendable services to his country when the war was over; and asked that the matter be referred for further official action and endorsement to the incoming commander-in-chief, General William G. Dustin, of Dwight, Illinois.

The sentiment was applauded, the action asked was granted, and the tokens of individual approval and appreciation are continuing to gladden my heart as I write these closing words of grateful thanks to the fathers, the sons, and all who have so generously united in appreciation of the name and fame of General Longstreet.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Hood says, “As soon as I arrived upon the Emmitsburg road I placed one or two batteries in position and opened fire. A reply from the enemy’s guns soon developed his lines. His left rested on or near Round Top, with line bending back and again forward, forming, as it were, a concave line, as approached by the Emmitsburg road. A considerable body of troops was posted in front of their main line, between the Emmitsburg road and Round Top Mountain. This force was in line of battle upon an eminence near a peach-orchard.

“I found that in making the attack according to orders,--viz., up the Emmitsburg road,--I should have first to encounter and drive off this advanced line of battle; secondly, at the base and along the slope of the mountain, to confront immense boulders of stone, so massed together as to form narrow openings, which would break our ranks and cause the men to scatter whilst climbing up the rocky precipice. I found, moreover, that my division would be exposed to a heavy fire from the main line of the enemy in position on the crest of the high range, of which Round Top was the extreme left, and, by reason of the concavity of the enemy’s main line, that we would be subject to a destructive fire in flank and rear, as well as in the front; and deemed it almost an impossibility to clamber along the boulders up this steep and rugged mountain, and, under this number of cross fires, put the enemy to flight. I knew that if the feat was accomplished, it must be at a most fearful sacrifice of as brave and gallant soldiers as ever engaged in battle.

“I considered it my duty to report to you at once my opinion that it was unwise to attack up the Emmitsburg road, as ordered, and to urge that you allow me to turn Round Top and attack the enemy in flank and rear. Accordingly, I despatched a staff-officer, bearing to you my request to be allowed to make the proposed movement on account of the above stated reasons. Your reply was quickly received: ‘General Lee’s orders are to attack up the Emmitsburg road.’ I sent another officer to say that I feared nothing could be accomplished by such an attack, and renewed my request to turn Round Top. Again your answer was, ‘General Lee’s orders are to attack up the Emmitsburg road.’ During this interim I had continued the use of the batteries upon the enemy, and had become more and more convinced that the Federal line extended to Round Top, and that I could not reasonably hope to accomplish much by the attack as ordered. In fact, it seemed to me the enemy occupied a position by nature so strong--I may say impregnable--that, independently of their flank fire, they could easily repel our attack by merely throwing and rolling stones down the mountain-side, as we approached.

“A third time I despatched one of my staff to explain fully in regard to the situation, and suggest that you had better come and look for yourself. I selected, in this instance, my adjutant-general, Colonel Harry Sellers, whom you know to be not only an officer of great courage, but also of marked ability. Colonel Sellers returned with the same message: ‘General Lee’s orders are to attack up the Emmitsburg road.’ Almost simultaneously, Colonel Fairfax, of your staff, rode up and repeated the above orders.

“After this urgent protest against entering the battle of Gettysburg, according to my instructions,--which protest is the first and only one I ever made during my entire military career,--I ordered my line to advance and make the assault.

“As my troops were moving forward, you rode up in person; a brief conversation passed between us, during which I again expressed the fears above mentioned, and regret at not being allowed to attack in flank around Round Top. You answered to this effect: ‘We must obey the orders of General Lee.’ I then rode forward with my line under a heavy fire. In about twenty minutes after reaching the Peach-Orchard I was severely wounded in the arm and borne from the field.

“With this wound terminated my participation in this great battle. As I was borne off on a litter to the rear, I could but experience deep distress of mind and heart at the thought of the inevitable fate of my brave fellow-soldiers, who formed one of the grandest divisions of that world-renowned army; and I shall ever believe that had I been permitted to turn Round Top Mountain, we would not only have gained that position, but have been able finally to rout the enemy.”

[B] “The Campaign of Gettysburg,” by Lieutenant-General James Longstreet. One of a series of papers on the Civil War by different distinguished participants, both Union and Confederate, in Colonel A. K. McClure’s Philadelphia _Weekly Times_, 1877.

[C] “From Manassas to Appomattox,” by James Longstreet, Lieutenant-General Confederate Army. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1896. Revised, 1903.

[D] See “Advance and Retreat,” General J. B. Hood’s Biography, page 55. It is from this letter that I obtain the information concerning Hood’s proposed flank movement on Round Top. It was General Hood’s letter which informed historians that “General Lee’s orders are to attack up the Emmitsburg road.” See Hood’s letter as to this; also that of Colonel Fairfax at page 63 of this work.

[E] For General Pendleton’s official report, see Part II., Vol. XXVII., War Records, pp. 346-354. That is the volume in which will be found all the other Confederate reports referred to in the text.

[F] Several years ago General Longstreet hastily prepared in the rough quite an elaborate history of the Mexican War, the publication of which was forestalled by the book of a brother officer in that war, of which he had no hint. The incidents and historical data of this short story are from that unpublished history, with the addition of General Longstreet’s comments on the official _personnel_ of the armies of Taylor and Scott, and their subsequent careers in the Union and Confederate armies.

[G] This brief review of a few of Longstreet’s famous engagements before and after Gettysburg has been compiled chiefly from his war history and his war papers published a few years since by the Century Company.

[H] Swinton, Decisive Battles of the War, p. 378.

Transcriber’s Notes:

Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained.

Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.

Page 336: The letter from Mrs. Geo. E. Pickett was mis-dated “1903” but is correctly dated here as “1904”.

Portions of the handwritten letters were difficult to read and the transcriptions here may contain errors; known difficulties are noted below.

Page 82: “Viga” is uncertain in this handwritten letter. The letter is not included in the book’s List of Illustrations.

Page 82: “always born for” may be a misprint for “borne”.

Page 165: “The march was quite” probably should be “quiet”.

Page 280: The spellings of “Pendor” and “Heath” in this letter have been retained, but elsewhere are correctly spelled as “Pender” and “Heth”.

Page 332: “Since” at the beginning of the next-to-last paragraph (“Since then”) of this handwritten letter is uncertain. On the last line, it appears to be addressed to “Mrs. E. D. Longstreet” but her initials were “H. D.” The spelling of the writer of the letter was taken from the printed Table of Contents of the book.