PERSONAL LETTERS
“Every inch a man.”
New York, January 12, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
My Dear Mrs. Longstreet,—Permit me to offer my sympathies in your great bereavement, and to add my tears to yours. I have always loved and admired General Longstreet, and considered him one of the greatest general officers in the Confederacy. He was indeed every inch a man.
With kindest regards I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Edward Owen.
*****
“His great heart had nothing but kindness for all that was American.”
Nicholasville, Kentucky, January 22, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Washington, D. C.:
Dear Madam,—Personally, I am an entire stranger to you, but I have long been interested in the story of your brave husband, and especially in that part bearing on the battle of Gettysburg. I am a Canadian by birth, though a naturalized American citizen, and pastor of the Christian Church in this place. I had no interest in the matter at issue save to know the truth and give honor where honor is justly due. I had read General Gordon’s strictures, and was anxious to see what could be said in reply. After reading your article in the Courier Journal with great care, I want to say that General Gordon is completely and fully answered and his statements of fact absolutely refuted.
The man who would find the Rev. Mr. Pendleton after the facts you have covered him with, would need a divining rod or a diving-bell. He is disposed of forever.
Your illustrious husband belonged to the class of Southern men which I have always honored and venerated. With him the war was over and the great heart which never knew fear had in it nothing but kindness for all that was American. I feel that I have suffered a great loss in not knowing him personally. I drop a tear of sympathy with you in his memory. I think the following lines on “Gettysburg” most fitting now:
“The brave went down without disgrace,
They leaped to ruin’s red embrace;
They never heard Fame’s thunders wake
Nor saw the dazzling sunburst break
In smiles on Glory’s bloody face.”
“Fold up the banners, melt the guns,
Love rules, a gentler purpose runs;
A grateful mother turns in tears,
The pages of the battle years;
Lamenting all her fallen sons.”
Please accept my thanks for the white light which your splendid, your unanswerable, letter casts on the whole question, and try to realize that I am only one of thousands who are equally indebted and correspondingly grateful.
With greatest respect,
Yours most sincerely,
James Vernon.
*****
“Has taken his place with the great soldiers of all times.”
Raleigh, N. C., January 17, 1904.
My Dear Mrs. Longstreet,—I send you a copy of the Post by this mail, containing article on your late husband and great soldier.
The conduct of some of our people is a brutality. But I beg to assure you that it is the result of ignorance. General Longstreet has taken his place beside the great soldiers of all times, and malice cannot reach him. I hope some soldier of his old corps will take up the question of these attacks. They can be answered and reputed. You will pardon this intrusion upon you, a sense of duty to the truth of history and love for the memory of your great husband is my excuse.
Truly,
W. H. Day.
*****
Fac-simile of Letter from Archbishop John Ireland
St. Paul, Jan. 8, 1903
My Dear Mrs. Longstreet
Permit me to offer you the tribute of my deep and sincere sympathy in the great sorrow which has come to you in the death of your beloved husband, Gen. Longstreet.
To none is the sad occurrence the bearer of so pain & grief, as it is to you.
I pray God to console you, & to lead you more & more to see in the departure of your husband from earth the will of Heaven, & the passage of a christian Soul from the land of trials to the final home of rest and peace.
Truly a great man has passed away. The whole country mourns. He was a noble American. In war he obeyed what he believed to be his duty, in peace he followed loyally and courageously what he again thought his duty dictated. The South found in him a defender on the field of battle, & its truest friend & counsellor when the field of battle had spoken its verdict. The North, forced at one time to admire his skill and bravery, willingly at later date, admired his magnanimity & his high minded patriotism.
It has been a great privilege of mine to have met Gen. Longstreet, & to have been able to know more intimately than otherwise would have been possible to me.
Since then he was a proud Servant of the Lord—always ready to hearken to the voice of Conscience, always prompt to obey it.
I am, my dear Mrs. Longstreet with sentiments of highest esteem,
Very Sincerely,
John Ireland
Mrs. E. D. Longstreet
*****
“General Lee’s bull-dog fighter.”
Comanche, Texas, February 1, 1904.
Mrs. General James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
Dear Madam,—Enclosed please find resolutions of respect passed by John Pelham Camp, U. C. V., No. 565, Comanche, Texas, to your husband.
As a Confederate soldier who followed the banner of the lost cause for four years I desire to extend to you personally my heartfelt sympathy in this great loss to you. I was in the Army of Tennessee, but a great admirer of General Longstreet. I had a brother in his command under General Hood. The Southern people never treated General Longstreet with that respect that was due him. He was General Lee’s bull-dog fighter during the war, and remained true to the cause until all was lost. I read with great interest your defence of your husband in the Gettysburg affair, and you show to any fair-minded people that he was not in any way responsible for the loss of the battle. I greatly admire your courage and fidelity in this matter. General Longstreet has many strong friends in Texas. Please pardon me for the liberty I have taken in writing you. I have two letters from General Longstreet which I value highly.
With kindest regards and best wishes, I am truly your friend,
T. O. Moore,
Late Company F, Seventh Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861 to 1865; Colonel First Regiment, Third Brigade, Texas Division, U. C. V.
*****
“When war compelled surrender, I accepted the situation in good faith.”
San Francisco Law Library,
San Francisco, January 6, 1904.
Dear Madam,—Learning of the recent death of General Longstreet, I felt compelled to address to you an expression of sympathy.
It so happened that soon after the close of the Civil War, he and I were for a time guests at the same hotel in Washington.
I then formed his acquaintance and had a series of conversations with him, which constitute pleasing recollections to me.
Although of Northern lineage and sentiment, I learned to admire a personality that seemed so charming in civil life, and which I had learned to dread in war.
I am aware that later he fell under the severe displeasure of many Southern people.
I know nothing of that for which he was blamed, but it would make too heavy draft on my credulity to believe that he ever departed from what he believed to be just and honorable.
I well remember an expression he made to me. He said, “I conscientiously did what I deemed my duty while the controversy lasted, and when the fate of war compelled surrender, I accepted the situation in good faith.”
His widow must greatly feel the loss of one who was great as a soldier and so lovable as a man.
Allow me, a Northern man and a stranger, to condole with you, and again express the high appreciation I entertained for your illustrious husband.
Very respectfully,
Geo. W. Chamberlain.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia.
*****
“He taught peace and conservatism.”
United States Circuit Court of Appeals,
New Orleans, Louisiana, January 5, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
My dear Madam,—I beg to offer you my sincere sympathy. I greatly honored General Longstreet for his distinguished career as a soldier, and for his wise and patriotic course, teaching peace and conservatism, when war was ended. When history is written after time has modified all passions and prejudices, his career will stand in honorable and distinguished contrast with those of his critics who were “invisible in war and invincible in peace.”
I shall always honor his memory as soldier and citizen.
Yours sincerely and respectfully,
David D. Shelby.
*****
Fac-simile of Letter from General Frederick D. Grant
HEADQUARTERS
DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS
SAN ANTONIO.
Jan’y 7th 1903
My Dear Mrs Longstreet,
I was greatly shocked to see the enclosed article in this mornings paper. Tho’ I had learned sometime ago through friends, that General Longstreet was not in good health, I had no idea that the end was so near. The dear old General was one of the earliest and most cherished friends of my father and mother, and has always held a warm place in the hearts of the children of Julia Dent and Lieutenant (later, General & President of the United States) U. S. Grant. Be assured, my dear Madam, that I join with you in mourning the passing of the good friend, the brilliant soldier and the noble man, General James Longstreet
Sincerely & Faithfully Yours
Frederick D Grant
*****
Tecumseh, Michigan, January 16, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet:
Gainesville, Georgia:
Dear Madam,—Trusting you will pardon the intrusion, I desire to thank you kindly for the pleasure derived from your article so conclusively refuting the charges against General James Longstreet, unhappily revived in General Gordon’s book. Although a Federal soldier during the last two years of the Civil War, its ending, with me, was the close of the unhappy strife.
The admiration I held for James Longstreet was sincere and well founded, and one of the mementoes I much treasure is an autograph letter from him, generously written to me December 18, 1893.
The news of your husband’s death was to me a personal grief. He was the one remaining conspicuous figure in the great conflict which those who participated in will remember while life remains.
Very respectfully,
John D. Shull.
*****
“He performed every duty faithfully and conscientiously.”
Ivanhoe, Virginia, January 23, 1904.
My Dear Mrs. Longstreet,—As commander of the Ivanhoe Camp, United Confederate Veterans, and as perhaps the youngest Confederate veteran, “who enlisted as a private,” I desire to express to you the sympathy of myself and of the Camp which I have the honor to command. While we mourn with you in this your sad hour of bereavement, it is gratifying to know that General Longstreet performed his every duty faithfully and conscientiously, and that his many virtues will entitle him to a high seat in that better world above, where we hope, when our mission on earth is finished, we shall be permitted to meet him in all the glory which his many virtues here below so justly entitles him. Hoping that the Good Lord, the Grand Commander and Ruler of the Universe, will comfort you in your sad trials, and with best wishes, I am most sincerely yours,
M. W. Jewett,
Commander Ivanhoe Camp, U. C. V.
*****
“Lamented by the nation.”
Minneapolis, January 3, 1904.
Dear Mrs. Longstreet,—With thousands of my countrymen I sincerely lament the death of your illustrious husband, the great soldier and citizen, and extend to you, most bereaved of all, my sincere sympathy.
Mrs. Torrance shares these sentiments with me, and wishes to be remembered to you in love and sympathy.
Sincerely yours,
Ell Torrance.
To Mrs. James Longstreet,
Washington, D. C.
*****
“His name and fame among the priceless treasures of all Americans.”
Monroe, Georgia, January 4, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
My Dear Mrs. Longstreet,—I have noticed with great regret and with great sympathy for you, the news of the death of General Longstreet.
All who are familiar with his great career will be sorrowed at his passing. His place in history is secure. And his name and fame are among the priceless treasures of all Americans.
I understand the depth of the sorrow in which you stand now, and sorrow with you.
In deepest sympathy, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Geo. M. Napier.
*****
“His greatness of character won the respect of his own and other lands.”
Washington, D. C., January 3, 1904.
Dear Mrs. Longstreet,—The morning paper brings the sad announcement of the passing away of the last survivor of the brave sons of the South who made her name glorious in the annals of the world. The nation mourns the loss of a noble man whose greatness of character won the respect not only of his own country but of other lands. The South weeps for a son who has conferred distinction upon her by a life of stainless integrity.
Still greater is the sorrow of a host of personal friends whose love he won by the most lofty characteristics and a friendship which failed not through the years.
Greatest of all is the grief of his family in the loss of his loving companionship and tender care. Especially heavy is that loss to you, the companion of his later years whose devotion has smoothed the road for his weary feet to the end of life’s way. I send you my heartfelt sympathy in your sorrow.
My love and sympathy go out to the dear children whose mother was my beloved friend, whom I have held in my arms in childhood, and whose little brothers and sisters faded away before my loving eyes when their flower of life had not yet unfolded from the bud of their sweet infancy and the mortal casket was intrusted to General Pickett and myself to be laid away among the church-yard lilies when the jewel of the pure soul had been taken beyond.
To the many to whom the new year brings mourning for the great one gone I would send sincere sympathy, trusting that the Father of all will comfort them in their deep sorrow.
Sincerely yours
Mrs. Geo. E. Pickett.
*****
“His great fame is fixed.”
Cincinnati, Ohio, January 9, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
Dear Madam,—You need fear no slurs on the reputation of General Longstreet. His great fame is fixed.
All over this country wherever you find the old boys who wore the blue in the sixties, and who had to fight Longstreet’s corps, you will get the same opinion.
He was a hard fighter, a tireless general who was always ready for a battle, and who believed that hitting hard, never giving up, and following up every advantage was the right way to obey orders.
Our regiment, the Sixth Ohio, met General Longstreet many times. And whenever he was reported as coming we got ready for hard, stubborn fighting, and we were never disappointed in that direction.
He was a brave enemy, and we respected his great qualities.
We are going to have a “Longstreet night” at our G. A. R. Post here this month (open meeting), and have invited all the Confederates near here to meet with us and talk over old days and hard fights.
Sympathizing with you in your loss, I remain,
Yours obediently,
Geo. C. James.
*****
“If Longstreet was disobedient, Lee was a traitor.”
Waco, Texas, January 12, 1904.
Mrs. Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
Dear Madam,—Enclosed I send you a brief tribute that I paid to General Longstreet.
General Longstreet’s fame is safe with all fair-minded men, but it is the duty of us, who knew him and served under him, to raise our voices in his defence, now that he cannot do so, as he formerly so ably and conclusively did, and I here make my defence of the charge that he failed to do his duty at Gettysburg.
If it is true that General Longstreet betrayed General Lee at Gettysburg, and that General Lee knew it, the legitimate and logical conclusions are that General Lee was a traitor, not only to the Confederacy, but to every man who served under him. All know that at Gettysburg Lee staked an empire on Longstreet’s corps, and all know that when it rolled back from those bloody heights, leaving its bravest and its best cold in death upon its grassy slopes, that the sun of the Confederacy, with battle target red, slowly sank into the bosom of eternal night. And to say that General Lee knew that General Longstreet was responsible for the loss of the battle, responsible for the death of so many brave men who had there died in vain, responsible for the ruin of a cause dear to so many hearts, and then permit the man who had brought all this about, to remain as the commander of the First Corps of his army, to lovingly speak of him as he did as his right arm, to send him in two months after the battle of Gettysburg in command of his corps to save the Army of Tennessee from the ruin brought upon it by the inefficiency of Bragg, to permit him to remain throughout that long and dreary winter that he spent in East Tennessee, to bring him back to Virginia and be his chosen lieutenant from the Wilderness to the banks of the James, and from the James to Appomattox, is to convict General Lee of a treason to both himself and his country, more damnable than that which so-called admirers of General Lee charge upon Longstreet.
I remain, very truly yours,
G. B. Gerald.
*****
“Denounced with bitterness the statement of Pendleton.”
Corsicana, Texas, January 8, 1904.
Mrs. James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
Madam,—Your noble defence of your great husband places beyond cavil or controversy the fame of an illustrious career.
Yesterday, as I finished reading it, the bent form of one who had followed him everywhere, “amid the fiery pang of shells,” passed, and I called him and read him the charge. “Liars! Liars!” and the light of battle passed once more into his eyes as he defended General Longstreet. Then I read him your letter, and then he cried.
You will pardon me for this intrusion on your sorrow. My father was a cavalry officer in the volunteers in Scott’s campaign in Mexico. He there formed the acquaintance of General Longstreet, and none denounced with more bitterness the statement of Pendleton.
With a sincere wish for your future happiness,
I am most respectfully,
J. C. Gaither.
*****
“He was too big a man for his day.”
New Orleans, Louisiana, January 4, 1904.
Mrs. General James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
Dear Madam,—Enclosed I send you the Picayune comment on the death of your distinguished husband and my honored commander.
General Longstreet is blamed for the mistake of General Lee in charging the heights of Gettysburg. The same mistake was made by General Burnside at Fredericksburg; which clearly proves that American soldiers can not successfully charge heights guarded by Americans. That is settled.
Why should General Lee send General Longstreet to Chickamauga immediately after Gettysburg, if Longstreet had been guilty of anything that his enemies so persistently accuse.
The only thing that General Longstreet was guilty of was the acceptance of office under the United States government after the war. Now suppose all the Confederate generals had accepted office as he did, would it not have effectively kept the office-holders placed here by the carpet-bag government out of power? And also, how many ex-Confederates refuse office under the United States government to-day, is a question I would like to have answered. Longstreet was too big a man for his day, that was all.
The scribbling of unscrupulous parties can not dim his fame. He was the hardest fighter of the Civil War, participant in all the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, and victor on the only great field won by the Confederates in the West, Chickamauga.
I deeply sympathize with you, as I know all of Longstreet’s corps do.
Yours truly,
Geo. W. Weir,
Company A, Hampton Legion, Hood’s Brigade, Longstreet’s Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
*****
“He stood the brunt of the battle at Gettysburg.”
Krumdale, Texas, January 3, 1904.
Mrs. General James Longstreet,
Gainesville, Georgia:
My Dear Madam,—As an old Confederate soldier of the Eighteenth Virginia Regiment, Pickett’s division, General James Longstreet’s corps, I wish to extend to you my heartfelt sympathy and condolence in your sad affliction in the death of your gallant and illustrious husband. His old comrades will never for a moment believe the calumny that has been thrust against him. A pure, true soldier, a good, noble, and loyal citizen. He rests now over the river under the shades of the beautiful heavenly trees, the peer of Hon. Jeff. Davis, General R. E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others. May his ashes rest in peace. When I read the announcement of his death in the papers and your letter it made my heart bleed, and the only comfort I could find was to weep like a child. I congratulate you on your well-written defence and complete vindication of my old comrade and general. I loved him so much, and so long as life shall last I will cherish a lively recollection of his many noble and gallant deeds. I was with him on that memorable day, and can testify that he stood the brunt of the battle on the 3d of July at Gettysburg. I cannot understand how any pure or noble or brave man could circulate such false statements against one of the best and bravest men in our army. But envy is a malicious foe, always ready to destroy that which it cannot imitate or surpass. May God comfort and his blessings abide with you and yours is the prayer of one that entertains the highest respect for you and the memory of your husband.
R. P. Goodman.
*****
“One of the greatest military men of the age.”
Mrs. Longstreet:
Dear Madam,—I had not the honor of a personal acquaintance with your illustrious husband, nor was I with him in the war on his side of the question, in any sense. But I believe him to have been one of the greatest military men of the age, and with no superior on the Southern side. His course since the war has inspired the highest respect and esteem of every patriotic and intelligent lover of the Union.
At Gettysburg, in my opinion, he was the one sure-footed counsellor of Lee’s many advisers.
One of our papers, recently commenting on his life, took occasion to refer to the old charges of delay at Gettysburg. I expect to answer these charges in a lengthy article.
Yours sincerely,
H. W. Harmon.
*****
“Always present at the critical and dangerous point.”
Athens, January 4, 1904.
My dear Mrs. Longstreet,—I write to assure you of my heartfelt sympathy with you in your great bereavement.
I mourn with deep sorrow the death of General Longstreet. I have witnessed many times his valor and devotion. He seemed to me to be absolutely ubiquitous on the battle-field—always present at the critical and dangerous point.
The proudest recollections of my life are associated with the glorious First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia and its heroic commander.
With renewed assurance of my sympathy, I am,
Yours very sincerely,
Alex. T. Erwin.
*****
“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.