Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-01-19
HIS FRIEND-THE ENEMY.
A Romantic Story Of Generals Grant
and Longstreet.


The death of Gen. Longstreet, the
last but one Of the great Confederate
generals during the ''late unpleasant
ness" recalls the remarkable manner
in which his life was linked to that
of Gen. Grant-cousins by marriage,
friends by fellowship at West Point
and service on battlef1elds and In camp
together, yet enemies In the last great
struggle. The Longstreet- Grant en-
tente finds few parallels in history.
One of the minor parallels Is the asso-
citation of Abraham Lincoln and Jeffer-
son Davis in the Black Hawk cam
paign which SO involved Iowa and
Iowa's interests.
Grant and Longstreet were togeth-
er at West Point, where each formed
a high opinion Of the other. Long
street reports that in the bitter hour
of defeat and despair at Appomattox
Grant sent the clouds scudding across
the horizon by linking his arm with
that of Longstreet and saying In the
old tone Of camaraderie: Come on
Pete, let's. go back to the good old
tirnes and play a game Of bragg as
We used to- That word bragg Will
bring back memories to the veterans
Of '61, for in those days bragg meant
all that poker, whist, cinch or euchre
can mean nowadays. It was Long
street who welcomed Grant at Jefferson
barracks, where he had preceded Grant
by a year, and who took him out to
visit his uncle, Frederick Grant, where
Ulysses met Julia Dent, whom he sub
sequently married, thus making Grant
and Longstreet cousins. The parallel
ism, continues through the Mexican
war, in which both served, and In
which both won captaincies. After
wards, however, the men drifted apart:
Grant to be the great hero Of the north
and Longstreet to be "the grand old
man Of the Confederacy." When the
struggle was over and Grant became
president he appointed Longstreet sur
veyor Of customs at New Orleans
When Grant died there was no more
stricken heart than that Of his comrade
and friend, Longstreet.
1t was General Longstreet~ who sent
the flower of the southern soldiery to
death with a simple nod. Of his head
Pickett's gallant brigade was sent to
its annihilation at Gettysburg by or
ders given through General Longstreet
by Lee. Longstreet knew 1t meant
death. When Pickett asked for the
word "Old Pete" nodded; he could not
voice his emotions, and Pickett swept
into the awful charge which annihi-
lated his corps.
The friendship and relationship OF
Grant and Longstreet was unique, de-
spite the divisions that the civil war
made. 1t was romantic as we'll. Stu
dents of romantic history find many
possibilities In it. The story Of the
association Of Abraham Lincoln and
Jefferson Davis in early days is fully as
interesting. Lincoln volunteered In the
Black Hawk war and re-enlisted when
the demand for Illinois troops was
made. He served in the campaign
| which terminated with Black Hawks
treacherous capture at Bad Axe. Da-
Wis was in the same campaign. 1t was
Davis who conveyed Black Hawk from
Fort Atkinson to st. Louis. Thirty
years later the two men. Lincoln and
Davis, were the opposing heads Of q
divided nation.
History Is filled with such curious
and interesting studies. Such history
Is more valuable and permanent than
the history which includes only the
dates Of the Norman conquest, the
crusades and the Magma Charta--Iowa
Register and Leader.