ROCKINGHAM – Dr. John Stevenson opened the meeting by welcoming all members and guests to the June 18th meeting of the society.
The guest speaker for the evening was Dr. John Peacock from Wilson, N.C.
Dr. Peacock now teaches at Nash Community College and is a renowned historian of American history.
Monday night’s program would be about Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet.
James Longstreet was born in 1821 in Edgefield S.C. He attended West Point along with Ulysses S. Grant and George Pickett.
Longstreet moved through the ranks of the U.S. Army and became a good leader. As the American Civil War loomed, he opposed secession of the union but actually joined the Confederate Army.
In battle, Longstreet never liked to take the enemy head on but preferred to have a strong defense and let his enemy attack him.
At the battle of Gettysburg, Longstreet served directly under General Robert E. Lee. Longstreet’s division fought bravely in the midst of battle. But as the third day of the battle approached Longstreet could not go along with Lee’s plan to attack the center line of the Union Army. Longstreet argued vehemently for his division to go around the enemy and attack on the right flank, but Lee’s plan prevailed.
As the greatest barrage of artillery fire up to that point in history ended on both sides, the Union Army still held the high ground and best defensive position. The Rebel army would have to walk through open fields with no cover to attack the Union centerline. As Longstreet was the highest-ranking Confederate commander on the field that day, the order for the charge would have to come from him. He could not even give George Pickett a verbal order to do so; Longstreet could only bring himself to nod his head for the attack to begin. This would go down in history as “Pickett’s Charge” and would end in tremendous loss of many lives and a significant defeat for the Confederates.
After the battle, Longstreet was overheard saying, “That old man (Lee) murdered my division.” He didn’t mention the fact that Union General Meade and the Union Army had a great deal to do with that.
Future generations of Southerners unfairly blamed Longstreet for losing the Battle of Gettysburg.
After Gettysburg, Longstreet was badly wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness but somehow managed to return to service and finish out the war.
After the war, Longstreet moved to New Orleans and joined the Republican Party (Lincoln’s party). As a result he began receiving and taking federal appointed jobs. He also approved of the new reconstruction plan the North was imposing on the South. In his mind it was the quickest way to get the South back on its feet. He also said that to save what little the South had left, he supported the right for Blacks to vote.
In 1870 Longstreet criticized Robert E. Lee in print. It wasn’t long before Longstreet became known as the “Judas of the South” and it wasn’t until 1998 that a statue of Longstreet was ever erected.
In the end, Longstreet was his own worst enemy. Many an author opposed Longstreet’s anti-Lee strategy of the war.
Dr. Peacock ranked Longstreet high for his service during the Civil War but his post-war politics condemned him.
The Society will not meet in July but will have their next meeting the 3rd Monday night in August (20th) at Rockingham City Hall.
