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James Longstreet, Lieutenant General, CSA, was born 200 years ago today, on 05-March-2021. He was a West Pointer who served honorably in the Mexican War. Longstreet met Ulysses S Grant at West Point and they remained friends for the rest of their lives. After the attack on Fort Sumter, he joined the Confederate States Army. When Robert E Lee became commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet became one of his corps commanders. Longstreet led his troops to many victories.
After the surrender at Appomatox, Longstreet became a pariah in the south because he supported the Republican Party, supported Reconstruction, and accepted offices from President Grant. Lost Cause advocates attacked Longstreet's record, claiming that the defeat at Gettysburg was his fault.
I need to read his memoirs.
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