New-York tribune., 1905-01-15

ne
Author. Gainesville, Ga
Mrs. LOngstreet's volume. in so far as II IA.
undertaken for the purpose of vindicating the
memory Of her brave husband. is largely a work
of supererogatiOn. Severely as General IoDv.
street may have felt the adverse criticism a.
those of his Southern neighbOrs who rnisintar.
preted his motives in aIlyins himself with tha
Republican party at the close Of the Civil War
his consistent life and adherence to principh
had won the respect and admiration OF all but
few irreconcilables. years before his deafb
The tncOnsiGerate reflections Of Gordon and eve,
the direct attack of FendIeton on General Long
street for his alleged dilatOry tactics and dis
obedience of orders at Gettysburg could have
no weight with those who knew that the close
personal relations existing between him and
General Lee had suffered no interruption through
the failure Of P.ckett's charge to accomplish its
impossible task-a task that. according 10 the
testimony of the opposing Union generals. would
have been equally ineffective if undertaken ~
any hour of that July day. No harm. Of course.
is done in bringing together excerpts from the
official records TO show that no earlier attack
was contemplated or could have been made had
one been deemed desirable, and the widow,
marshaIlirg of evidence to that eject viii m
doubte1ly prove a source @ satisfaction to the
generals family and intimate friends But evar1
such ex-parte defence however fortified by Off
ciaI documents and personal testimony. is nee
essariIy discounted by the avOwed partisan bias
of the seIf-appointed advocate, ana is open 10
the charge of special pleading General Long
streets "vindicatiOn" i'm So far as he may
stand in need of one will be found I'm his char
acter as developed in the accounts Of his life a.
a soldier in the Mexican and Civil wars. and
later as a private citizen and public official as
related eIsewhe IN the volume, rather than in
the portion especially devoted 70 refuting the
equally b:assed assertions Of mis- detractors
Longstreet entered the Military Academy al
West Point in 1881 when he was sixteen years
old, and began there his lifelong friendship with
Ulysses S. Grant who was a member Of the
following class. Like Grant, he ranked higher
in the practical duties of a soldier than in
scholarship. He was just O little better student
than his friend" writes Mrs Longstreet which
was poor praise indeed. But their after careers
told different story" On graduation. Long
street was stationed at Jefferson Barracks. near
st. Louis. His cousins. the Dents lived near BY.
and when. a year later. Grant was ordered to
the same post, LOngstreet introduced him to
his favorite cousin. Julia. The marriage which
followed five years later served sttI further to
strengthen the ties of comradeship between the
two young officers Grant and Longstreet
served together during the Mexican War. where
the latter was first brought into association
with Robert f Lee, then a captain of engi-
neers and with George E. Pickett In the al
tack on ChapUltepec LOngstreet was shot
through the thigh while rushing UP the hill
bearing in his hands the regimeHtaI c0lOrs. As
he fell. Pickett seized the standard. and con-
tinuing the advance carried the flag to the TOD
of the castle where it was soon waving from
the staff in place of the Mexican banner
After the Mexican campaign. from which
LOngstreet came out with the rank Of major he
married his first wife Marie Louise Garland the
daughter of his old brigadier commander TO
whom ne had become engaged before the break
ing out of the war. With a lofty difference
his present biOgrapher, he had never kissed his
fancee. In setting out for the Mexican War he
said that ne thought, inasmuch as he might 81
killed and never see her again. il might not BE-
improper. under all the sad circumstances 70
kiss her" Although not in the record it is to be
assumed that she yielded to the exigencies of the
situation Longstreet's subsequent military ser
vice in the United States army was largely in
the West. where he took part in many campaigns
against the Indians. At the outbreak Of the
Civil War he was serving as paymaster. with
the rank of major. in Albuquerque. N NJ F5el-
ing that his allegiance was due to his State, be
resigned his commission, set out for Richmond
and entered the Confederate service as a brig
adler general After Antietam in 1862. he was