The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1895-10-31
LoNasTREET ATTAOEs LEE,
CRITICISMS OF CONFEDERATE
GENiElsALS.

Won the Conflict.
Mrs. Virginia Stuart Mosby-Cole-
man, In special correspondence to
the Atlanta journal, writes US follows
from Washington, in which is told the
unsparing criticisms Of General Long
| street against the peerless chieftain Of
the Southern Confrdcracy:
General james L0ngstreet has just
been on visit TO Philadelphia to see
his publishers about his now book
| which will appear in u short time
He expects that the records which he
| has collected will nuke u great deal Of
hard feeling in the South, for he has
criticised with an unsparing hand
| some of tho most famous leaders, mon
whose names ure hold US almost sacred
by the Confederates.
"ln fact" said General Longstrcet,
81 think that some Of tho Virginians
bolieve that when they die they will
go to General Leo, but my book will
| show very plainly that Lee, though now
regarded by al Southorncrs az tho
most able Of leaders. was but u Door
commander and that tho whole OF his
military history is full of mistakes
81 am confident that had the man
agemont OF tho troops been given to
Johnston, the South would have won
the conflict. Ono OF tho greatest
errors that Loo ever made was At tho
battle OF Gettysburg, when Meade out
witted him on cyory side. 1t mas boon
said that Lee had the disadvantage of
being in such a position that his men
had terrible obstacles to overcome, but
if the Union forces possessed such i,
fine position on the heights above,
while Lees men we're below in Devils
Den, it was due to tho fact that Meade
! ~ ,lx,xl Il
advantage by his superior tactics.
Lee had just the same chance to pet
tho heights that Meade had, but he
did not, and his men had to climb
hills and fight in the fucc of what was
| natural citadel, where Meade was
lodged.
Johnston was the superior OF Lee
in every way, but he was hampered by
having Incurred the disploasuro of
President Davis. The iinenoss of
Johnston's judgment is shown by the
TACT that he was anxious to march i'm
mediately on Washington just after
the victory ut Manassas, but the reason
he did not do so, SO Johnston always
5aid. was that he was Obliged to obey
Davis orders which prevented his
making what would have been the
coup d'etat Of the conflict and have
brought'speedy success to the Southern
arms. Had Johnston marched on
Washington, it would have fallen and
the South would thus have secured the
key to the situation.
was with the army when the sur
render took place ut Appomattox and
when Lee found that we were cut Off
he sent for me and told me that he
could not get away. He said that it
was impossible to escape and wanted
to know what plan Of action | would
propose. | told him that, as he stated
the matter, it was its own answer. He
then sent for General Malone and
made the same statements to him, and
Malone advised him to see General
Grant about matters. Lee approved
OF this advice, got on his horse and
rode out to find Grant. While ho was
gone, | hoard report which led me
to believe that 1T WAS possible to cut
our way out of the Union lines that
were hemming US in and decided to
stop Lee on his crrand to Grant. Lee
had considerable start, bat sent for
the ieetcst courier in the army to race
after him and bring him back from his
mission. Yet the condition of the men
ana horses was such that it seemed
impossible to get IL fresh courier for
the orrand. 1t happened that Colonel
",
blooded mare that had been brought
from Petersburg. She was fresh and
spirited and Haskell offered to render
whatever service he could. | told
him at once to get on the mare and
ride after Lee. | told him not to spare
the mare, to kill her if necessary, but
lind Lee ut all events before he reached
General Grant. Haskell set out at O
Numbering rate, but when he got to
Lee it was too late. | afterwards dis
covered that the report which had
reached me was false, SO it was well
enough that Haskell had not succeed
ed in catching Lee before he had com
municated with Grant.
General Malone was good soldier
and good worker. In January, 63 I
was before Petersburg and left to 20
down to Suffolk, but before leaving, |
laid out my lines extending them from
Petersburg almost to Chancellorsv
'lS | supposed that the enemy might
come around and make an attack on
my left. | wished to defend my line
at the crossing Of the river and at the
plank road, hence | put all the troops
TO work. Whenever | made u tour of
inspection | always found Malone at
his post, which is more than | can saw
Tor some of the other officers. Malone
was fine engineer.
While Mahonc was so unpopular
IN Virginia, that fact is due to his
politics. They attacked him in tho
senate because he helped to organize
the senate under the republicans. But
he has done more for the State than
any other man has done for many
day, think he was patriotic and
sincere in all his political life and if
he was disliked at the last, it was be-
cause Virginians did not like his
belonging to the republican party.
commenced to write my book on
the war about seven years ago. At
that time | collected some data and
mad somc maps drawn, but my house
caught on fire and burned to the
ground, destroying good deal of the
material l had collected, and my
health becoming very bad about that
time, | abandoned tho idea of writing
d book. In two or three years from
that time, however, my health became
very much improved and SO took up