The Washington herald., 1914-07-06
HISTORY BUILDERS.
A Civil War Opinion Of the Great
Confederate Leaders.
~ DIN. (. ). EDWARDS.

ny DR. e. ,. EDWARDS.
or the great mIiItary leaders who were
in command Of the armies OF the ccnfed.
,eracy there was none. not even Gen. Lee
around whom greater interest. sort OF
romantic interest centered in New York
and in New England than around Gen
James Longstreet. Not even did the dar-
ing and dazzling exploits Of stonewaIl
jackson so strongly Identify any Con-
federate commander as did the reports
OF the great achievements OF Gen. Long
stfeet.
In this interest shared in boyhood
days and often hoped that 1t would be
my good fortune at some time to see Gen.
Longstreet The opportunity came in the
spring of lSs3. Gen. Longstreet had two
years earlier returned from CONSTANT
nople. having been appointed minister-to
Turkey by President Hayes.
one of the early acts OF President
James A. Garfield was the appointment
OF Gen. Longstreet as United States mar
shal for the Georgia district. and 1t was
an open secret at the time that President
Garfield made the appointment that II
gave him especial gratifcation to do that.
since Longstree. was Confederate COM
mander for whom Gen. Garfield. when he
was himself in command In Tennessee.
entertained great admiration and for
whom he had later the highest personal
respect.
/ was invited. while on a visit to At
lanta In the spring OF 1883. to call upon
Gen. Longstreet a personal friend OF
both of US having arranged the inter-
view
was somewhat astonished when ! met
Gen. Longstreet. In the war days what
purported TO be iilxenesses OF Gen. Long
street were frequently printed in the IL
lustrated papers of the North, and l
gained my impression of his personal ap-
pesrance through these. He was always
pictured with a ong. heavy beard, so
heavy that IL seemed to cover almost all
of his face excepting his nose. eyes. and
forehead. But when / met him there was
nothing of that kind. He wore beard
only on his cheeks, and observed that II
was iron gray in color. His complexion
was ruddy. although l had heard that II
war days he was of sallow complexion.
There was an unmistakable CLEAN Of in
telligence. the reflection OF an acute in
tellect. in his eyes and his smile was as
charming as any that / have ever seen
upon the lips OF man.
Gen. Longstreet seemed TO be much in
terested when told him that certainly in
New England. and very likely in other
parts OF the North. he was esteemed
greatly for his soldierly achievements at
the time OF the civil war, and that my
recollection of those days embraced much
that had heard said of him.
Finding that he was interested in these
references TO the war days, I ventured
to tell him that Gen. Joseph z. Johnston
had said TO me a year or two earlier at
a time when he was a member Of Con-
Gress. that he was convinced after Vicks-
burg and Gettysburg that those battles
had determined the issue Of the war. at
least from the military point OF view. and
that Gen. Johnston also said that he be-
lieyed that almost all of the abler mill
tary leaders of the South were privately
of that opinion.
II think Gen. Johnston was well with
in the truth when he made that statement
TO you" Gen. LOngstreet replied. He
was speaking as a military man. and
from that point of view Vicksburg-which
opened the Mississippi River to unre-
stricted Federal operations-and Gettys-
burE-which shattered the supreme ag-
gressive movement of the Confederate
armies Of the East. foreshadowed the
of the war from the point of
view OF military science After the close
Of the war / am certain that there was
Informal personal and almost tacit agree
ment among the military leaders of the
South that Vicksburg and Gettysburg
marked the beginning Of the end. Yes,
Gen. Johnston was right"
CoTy1Eht. Isli. By L. J Edwards. All nights ~
serTedl
Tomorrow Or. Edwards will tell Of "A
Curious Banking Mystery"