General Longstreet at Gettysburg

Name GOGGIN, James Monroe
Born October 23 1820, Bedford Cty VA
Died October 10 1889, Austin TX
Pre-War Profession West Point class of 1842, but did not graduate, Texas army, established mail routes in California, cotton broker.
War Service 1861 Maj. in 32nd Virginia, Peninsula campaign, staff of McLaws, staff of Kershaw, at Cedar Creek commanded Conner's brigade, December 1864 Brig. Gen. - later cancelled, Sayler's Creek (c).
Post War Career
Notes
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Name KEMPER, James Lawson
BornJune 11 1823, Madison Cty VA
Died April 7 1895, Orange Cty VA
Pre-War Profession Mexican War, lawyer, politician.
War Service 1861 Col. of 7th Virginia, First Manassas, June 1862 Brig. Gen. (in Longstreet's division), Seven Pines, Seven Days, Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg (w,c), exchanged in 1864, staff duty in Richmond, September 1864 Maj. Gen., defense of Richmond.
Post War Career Lawyer, politician, governor.
Notes As a result of his pre-war efforts, Virginia was well prepared militarily.
Further reading
Woodward, Harold R Major General James Lawson Kemper, C.S.A. : the Confederacy's forgotten son Natural Bridge Station VA, Rockbridge Pub. Co. 1993
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Name KERSHAW, Joseph Brevard
Born January 5 1822, Camden SC
Died April 13 1894, Camden SC
Pre-War Profession Lawyer, Mexican War, politician.
War Service 1861 raised 2nd South Carolina - Col., commanded at Morris Island during the Fort Sumter bombardment, First Manassas, February 1862 Brig. Gen., commanded a brigade in McLaws' division, Peninsula campaign, Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, May 1864 Maj. Gen., commanded a division in Longstreet's corps, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Sayler's Creek (s).
Post War Career Lawyer, politician, judge, postmaster.
Notes A dependable commander.
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Name LAW, Evander McIvor
Born August 7 1836, Darlington SC
Died October 31 1920, Bartow FL
Pre-War Profession Graduated The Citadel 1856, teacher in military academy.
War Service 1861 Capt. in 4th Alabama, Pensacola, Lt. Col., First Manassas (w), October 1861 Col., Peninsula campaign, Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, October 1862 Brig. Gen., commanded Law’s Bde/Hood's Divn at Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, not chosen by Longstreet to command Hood's division, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, resigned December 1863 following argument with division commander Micah Jenkins, not court martial despite Longstreet's urging, returned to command, commanded Law’s Bde/Field's Divn at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor (w), Carolinas campaign.
Post War Career Educator, newspaperman.
Notes A great fighter, who feuded with Longstreet.
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Name PICKETT, George Edward
Born January 28 1825, Richmond VA
Died July 30 1875, Norfolk VA
Pre-War Profession West Point 1846, Mexican War, frontier duty, defied the British at San Juan Is. WA, resigned 1861.
War Service 1861 Col., January 1862 Brig. Gen., commanded 3rd Bde/Longstreet’s Divn in the Seven Days, Gaines' Mill (w), October 1862 Maj. Gen., commanded Pickett’s Divn/Longstreet’s Corps at Fredericksburg, Suffolk, Gettysburg, commanded Dept of Virginia and North Carolina, New Berne, Petersburg, Five Forks, Sayler's Creek, relieved of command, Appomattox.
Post War Career Insurance agent.
Notes
Further reading
Bond, W R Pickett or Pettigrew? : an historical essay Gaithersburg MD, Butternut Press 1984
Pickett, La Salle (Corbell) Pickett and his men, by La Salle Corbell Pickett (Mrs. G. E. Pickett) with sixteen illustrations Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Company 1913
Stewart, George Rippey Pickett's charge : a microhistory of the final attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863Dayton OH, Press of Morningside Bookshop 1980
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Name ROBERTSON, Jerome Bonaparte "Polly"
Born March 14 1815, Woodford Cty KY
Died January 7 1891, Waco TX
Pre-War Profession Apprentice hatter, soldier in Texas Republic, doctor, politician.
War Service 1861 Capt. in 5th Texas, Lt. Col., June 1862 Col., Seven Days, Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg campaign, November 1862 Brig. Gen., commanded Hood's Bde/Hood's Divn at Fredericksburg, Gettysburg (w), Chickamauga, Knoxville campaign, court-martial charges preferred by Longstreet (not carried out), transferred to Texas to command reserve forces.
Post War Career Doctor, superintendent of state bureau of immigration, railroad builder.
Notes Father of Gen F H Robertson

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Name SORREL, Gilbert Moxley
Born February 23 1838, Savannah GA
Died August 10 1901, Roanoke VA
Pre-War Profession Bank clerk, private in state militia.
War Service 1861 took part in capture of Ft Pulaski, Capt. on Longstreet's staff, First Manassas, was present at all of Longstreet's battles, led 4 brigades at the Wilderness, October 1864 Brig. Gen., commanded Sorrel’s Bde/Mahone's Divn at Petersburg (w), Hatcher's Run (w).
Post War Career Merchant, steamship executive, wrote memoirs.
Notes
Further reading
Sorrel, Gilbert M Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer 1905
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Name WILCOX, Cadmus Marcellus
Born May 29 1824, Wayne Cty NC
Died December 2 1890, Washington DC
Pre-War Profession Graduated West Point 1846, Mexican War, frontier duty, instructor at West Point, resigned June 1861.
War Service June 1861 Col. of 9th Alabama, First Manassas, October 1861 Brig. Gen., commanded Wilcox’s Bde/Longstreet's Divn at Seven Pines, Seven Days, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville campaign, Salem Church, Gettysburg, August 1863 Maj. Gen., commanded Wilcox’s Divn/III Corps at Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, Fort Gregg, Appomattox.
Post War Career Chief of railroad division in US Land Office
--------------------------------------
Name WOFFORD, William Tatum
Born June 28 1824, Habersham Cty GA
Died May 22 1884, nr Cass Station GA
Pre-War Profession Lawyer, Mexican War, planter, politician, newspaper editor.
War Service June 1861 Col. of 18th Georgia, served in North Carolina, Peninsula campaign, Seven Pines, Seven Days, temporarily commanded Hood's Texas Brigade at Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, commanded Cobb's Bde/McLaws’ Divn at Fredericksburg, January 1863 Brig. Gen., commanded Wofford’s Bde/McLaws' Divn at Salem Church, Gettysburg, commanded Wofford’s Bde/Kershaw's Divn at the Wilderness (w), Spotsylvania (w), Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Cedar Creek, requested by Governor Brown to command the Dept of North Georgia.
Post War Career Elected US congressman but refused his seat by Republican radicals, politician.
Notes
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There are probably many others that served in various commands at Gettysburg under Longstreet.

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M. E. Wolf
 
Thanks Mr. Wolf for the post:
Name PICKETT, George Edward
Born January 28 1825, Richmond VA
Died July 30 1875, Norfolk VA

I didn't know that Pickett was only 50 when he died. By today's standards that's middle-aged, certainly nowhere near elderly. Wow.


Lee
 
Charging through an open field in daylight with guns pointed at you from an elevated position makes no sense no matter how you spin it
It was clearly the choice of someone not thinking clearly.
 
Charging through an open field in daylight with guns pointed at you from an elevated position makes no sense no matter how you spin it
It was clearly the choice of someone not thinking clearly.

So what you are implying is; Robert E. Lee was a fool that didn't know what he was doing?
 
As I understand it, athelevy meant simply that Lee (from either a surplus of confidence in what his men could do or scorn for the enemy or both) made an extremely ill advised attack.

Not that he was a fool in general.

If I may use a phrase from the game Dungeons and Dragons, he rolled a natural 1 (for those not familiar with D&D, a 1 on a twenty sided dice roll, aka a d20 roll, is automatically a failure).
 
Ed Hill, sir;

Many a general have historically had miss steps in the battle plan.

The situation was nearly identicial to First Battle of Fredericksburg, where General Burnside sent his troops forward across the open field like Lee would send across Gettysburg's field.

Swapping places per se; the high ground in both battles determined the winner. There was nowhere the soldier could attack without high casualties and total failure when exposed to a very open and for a very long time in the open to attack a well defended position behind a stone wall.

Many of the troops that survived Burnside's foolish attack, which he meant to be a diversion, didn't have the experience like others before him, he had 'scripted' the battle as if a rehearsed act at a theater. War and battles can't be fought that way--and, with the ground in the reverse for the Unions, this time having the advantage of the stone wall, height to see over the natural waves of the farming fields, the difference for the Union was they could see the Confederates approach just like the CSA forces saw it at Mayre's Heights. After the major contest at the group of trees as Lee designated as the target --the Union veterans shouted "Mayre's Heights" (if memory serves me correct when talking to a Military Historian)--not Fredericksburg, in the movie "Gettysburg"

There were three days of many things not working in cooperation. General Robert E. Lee was dealing with a lot of things on his plate. His son captured. Other sons in the military, lack of supplies from Richmond, Jeff Davis wasn't willing to send additional troops from Richmond or Vicksburg vicinity to join in Lee's march to Washington. General J.E.B. Stuart taking much longer than he expected and or Lee expected to give intelligence on where the Union army was headed. General Early not putting someone where General Ewell wanted an officer to meet Stuart, as to redirect him to Gettysburg. General Early moved a few times and Stuart lost time finding Early and give new directions, as the march was interrupted by the confrontation with General John Buford (US Cavalry) then General John F. Reynold...and more coming. Ewell not taking the Round Tops, were quickly held by Union forces. The heights to aim cannons to the CSA marching across the field in Pickett's Charge. With General Lee riding "Lucy Long" and General Longstreet not riding "Hero" --they went as far as they could to check out the stretch of field the soldiers had to march but--couldn't see the natural dips of the farm field closer to Emmittsburg Road. That would slow up marches like a bad snag, will ripple affect the ranks behind those files. The fence posts were also a known barrier that would slow the troops, this is where the series of left obliques would have reduced the time to attack the group of trees General Lee determined as being the target and weakest point. This would have created the spear-point to which would (if it had worked), part the Union forces-dividing them as to fight a three sided attack, from the front, and both flanks and push out as they separated the Union units and thus cripple Union cooperation.

Unknown to Generals Lee and Longstreet, the natural rolling in the land, would dip again as to hide from view the Union strength and artillery reserves in back of the front artillery line. Pulling them off by General Hunt, as well as not ordering all to fire was a fantastic strategy/tactic. His hidden reserves were ready and elevated to shoot closer in.

Lee had to know the dangers of the Union cannons on the heights. General Longstreet's scouts gave worthy intelligence that caused Longstreet to resist and heap many cautions on Lee. It isn't known what Stuart's report had to offer in addition to what Lee had before him. But, so many things went wrong for three days that it was a pure mess.

Hind sight is twenty/twenty sir. What we know now, we (in a general sense) can say what was foolish and what could have been done better, etc.

Both sides have had many examples of foolishness by generals. However, to get to the rank of General, results are usually what promotes them after the initial 90 days of the ACW. Political generals and prancing generals in for the uniform beauty and showing off didn't last long. When it got serious--it got very serious.
Just took longer for the Union fluff to be skimmed off and serious generals put into command positions.

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
 
Lee was riding Lucy Long at Gettysburg? All the paintings show him on Traveller. Why is Lucy Long never in a painting, anyway? Kinda unfair...

Lee was not a fool, but he did a foolish thing on 7/3/63. Even smart people do dumb things from time to time.
 
http://www.civilwarhome.com/leeshorses.htm

I'd forgotten reading this...JEB Stuart got her for Lee after Traveller injured him, during the Sharpsburg campaign; he rode her for two years until she was "with foal" (naughty girl...when did she find the time or energy?) during Petersburg, then Lee began riding Traveller again. Wonder if her bloodline still exists?
 
Yeah, I like how she just magically turns out to be in foal. Hey, it was a siege, right? Everyone just sitting around. What else was there to do?

Lee made an effort to find Lucy Long after the war; he followed up a lead and wrote to somebody that he wanted her back because she was given to him by Stuart.
 
Ha! I had a gelding once who was definitely NOT of the other persuasion, if a friendly mare came around. You can perform whatever operation you want, but sometimes they don't get the memo, you know?
 
We've had a couple of those, too...and frankly it sounds like Traveller might have been one of those. I wish we had more info on whether she had the foal, it lived, and whether there are horses today related to Lucy. I'm just obsessed that way!
 
Recollections And Letters Of General Robert E. Lee
Chapter XIII—Family Affairs
[excerpt]
"LEXINGTON, Virginia, December 21, 1866.
My Precious Life: I was very glad to receive your letter of the I5th inst., and to learn that you were well and happy. May you be always as much so as is consistent with your welfare here and hereafter, is my daily prayer.
[excerpt]
Our feline companions are flourishing. Young Baxter is growing in gracefulness and favour, and gives cat-like evidences of future worth. He possesses the fashionable colour of 'moonlight on the water,' apparently a dingy line of the kitchen, and is strictly aristocratic in appearance and conduct. Tom, surnamed 'The Nipper,' from the manner in which he slaughters our enemies, the rats and the mice, is admired for his gravity and sobriety, as well as for his strict attention to the pursuits of his race. They both feel your absence sorely. Traveller and Custis are both well, and pursue their usual dignified gait and habits, and are not led away by the frivolous entertainments of lectures and concerts.
[excerpt]
I am glad to hear that you are fattening, and I hope you will reach 125 lbs. Think always of your father, who loves you dearly.
"R. E. LEE.
"P. S., 22d.—Rob arrived last night with 'Lucy Long.' He thinks it too bad you are away. He has not seen you for two years.
"R. E. LEE."
--------------------------------
"Baxter" and "Tom, the Nipper" were Mildred's pets. All of us had a fondness for cats, inherited from my mother and her father, Mr. Custis. My father was very fond of them in his way and in their place, and was kind to them and considerate of their feelings. My mother told of his hearing one of the house-pets, possibly Baxter or the Nipper, crying and lamenting under his window one stormy night. The General got out of bed, opened the window, and called ***** to come in. The window was so high that the animal could not jump up to it. My father then stepped softly across the room, took one of my mother's crutches, and held it so far out of the window that he became wet from the falling rain; but he persuaded the cat to climb up along the crutch, and into the window, before he thought of dry clothing for himself. "Lucy Long" was my father's mare, which had been lost or stolen at the end of the war, and which I had just brought back to him. I will give in the following letter his account of her:

"LEXINGTON, Virginia, September 4, 1866.
"DR. C. S. GARNETT.
"Dear Sir: I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 23d ult. and the information it contained. The mare about which my son wrote you was bred by Mr. Stephen Dandridge, of 'The Bower,' Berkeley County, Virginia, and was purchased from him for me by General J. E. B. Stuart in the fall of 1862—after the return of the army from Maryland. She is nine or ten years old, about fifteen hands high, square built, sorrel (not chestnut) colour, has,a fast walk, easy pace, and short canter. When I parted with her she had a full long mane and tail. I rode her in conjunction with my gray horse from the fall of '62 to the spring of '64, when she was sent back for refreshment;and it was in recalling her in the spring of '65 from Mr. Hairston's, in Henry County, that she got into Major Paxton's stables of public horses and went to Danville with them. I think she might be recognised by any member of the Army of Northern Virginia, in Essex, unless much changed. I now recollect no distinctive marks about her except a blaze in her forehead and white hind-legs. My son, General W. H. F. Lee, residing at the White House, in New Kent, might recognise her, and also my son Robert, who resides near West Point, in King William. Captain Hopkins, to whom you refer in your letter, is dead, but Major Paxton, who had general charge of the public stables, and to whom I referred your letter, has sent me the accompanying affidavits of two of the men employed by him. Should their evidence not be satisfactory, he will procure statements from some of the officers, which probably may be more definite. I should be obliged to you, if the mare in question is the one I am seeking for, that you would take steps to recover her, as I am desirous of reclaiming her in consideration of the donor, General Stuart.
"Your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE."


It was proved to the satisfaction of all parties that the mare in question was "Lucy Long," and my father reimbursed the man who had bought her from some one who had no right to her. She was brought to my place and I recognised her at once. She stayed with me until I was ready to pay my Christmas visit to Lexington. She then was put on the train and sent to Staunton, where I met her. I found there Colonel William Allan, a professor of Washington College, who had a buggy and no horse, and as I had a horse and no buggy, we joined forces and I drove him over to Lexington, "Lucy Long" carrying us with great ease to herself and comfort to us. My father was glad to get her, as he was very fond of her. When he heard how she came over, he was really shocked, as he thought she had never been broken to harness. She lived to be thirty-three years old, and was then chloroformed, because my brother thought she had ceased to enjoy life. For the last ten years of her life she was boarded out in the country, where she did nothing but rest, and until about a year before her death she seemed in good health and spirits.
 
Recollections And Letters Of General Robert E. Lee
Chapter XV—Mountain Rides
AN INCIDENT ABOUT "TRAVELLER"—THE GENERAL'S LOVE FOR CHILDREN—HIS FRIENDSHIP FOR EX-PRESIDENT DAVIS—A RIDE WITH HIS DAUGHTER TO THE PEAKS OF OTTER—MILDRED LEE'S NARRATIVE—MRS. LEE AT THE WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS—THE GREAT ATTENTION PAID HER HUSBAND THERE—HIS IDEA OF LIFE
SINCE the arrival of "Lucy Long" my father was generally accompanied by one of my sisters in his rides, whenever the weather and the condition of the roads admitted of their going. It took very severe weather to keep him in, though often he could not spare the time, for during the winter months the days were very short. Every Monday afternoon there was a faculty meeting, and the vestry meetings of his church were held two or three times a month. Whenever I was in Lexington I rode with him, and when he was prevented by any of the above-mentioned causes he would ask me to take Traveller out and give him a gallop, which I was delighted to do, and I think I had my revenge for his treatment of me on that ride from Orange to Fredericksburg in the winter of 1862. My father's affection for his horses was very deep and strong. In a letter written from the Springs one summer, to his clerk in Lexington, he says:

"How is Traveller ? Tell him I miss him dreadfully, and have repented of our separation but once—and that is the whole time since we parted."
I think Traveller appreciated his love and sympathy, and returned it as much as was in a horse's nature to do. As illustrative of this bond between them, a very pretty story was told me by Mrs. S. P. Lee(*):

"One afternoon in July of this year, the General rode down to the canal-boat landing to put on board a young lady who had been visiting his daughters and was returning home. He dismounted, tied Traveller to a post, and was standing on the boat making his adieux, when some one called out that Traveller was loose. Sure enough, the gallant gray was making his way up the road, increasing his speed as a number of boys and men tried to stop him. My father immediately stepped ashore, called to the crowd to stand still, and advancing a few steps gave a peculiar low whistle. At the first sound, Traveller stopped and *****ed up his ears. The General whistled a second time, and the horse with a glad whinny turned and trotted quietly back to his master, who patted and coaxed him before tying him up again. To a bystander expressing surprise at the creature's docility the General observed that he did not see how any man could ride a horse for any length of time without a perfect understanding being established between them. My sister Mildred, who rode with him constantly this summer, tells me of his enjoyment of their long fides out into the beautiful, restful country. Nothing seemed to delight him so much.

"I have often known him to give rein to Traveller and go at full speed to the top of some long hill, then turn and wait for me jogging along on Lucy, calling out with merry voice, 'Come along, Miss Lucy, Miss Lucy, Lucy Long !' He would question the country people about the roads, where they came from, where they led to, and soon knew every farmer's name and every homestead in the county. He often said:

"'I wish I had a little farm of my own, where we could live in peace to the end of our days. You girls could attend to the dairy and the cows and the sheep and wait on your mother and me, for it is time now for us old people to rest and for the young people to work.'"

All the children in the country around were devoted to him, and felt no hesitation in approaching him, after they once knew him. He used to meet his favourites among the little ones on the street, and would sometimes lift them up in front of him to give them a ride on Traveller. That was the greatest treat he could provide. There is a very pretty story told of Virginia Lee Letcher, his god. daughter, and her baby sister, Fannie, which is yet remembered among the Lexington people. Jennie had been followed by her persistent sister, and all the coaxing and the commanding of the six-year-old failed to make the younger return home. Fannie had sat down by the roadside to pout, when General Lee came riding by. Jennie at once appealed to him:

"General Lee, won't you please make this child go home to her mother ?"

The General immediately rode over to where Fannie sat, leaned over from his saddle and drew her up into his lap. There she sat in royal contentment, and was thus grandly escorted home. When Mrs. Letcher inquired of Jennie why she had given General Lee so much trouble, she received the naive reply:

"I couldn't make Fan go home, and I thought he could do anything."(*)

There was a little boy living with his mother, who had come from New York. His father had been killed in our army. The little fellow, now Colonel Grier Monroe, of New York city, was much teased at his playmates calling him "Yankee" when he knew he was not one. One day he marched into my father's office in the college, stated his case, and asked for redress.

"The next boy that calls you' Yankee' send him to me," said the General, which, when reported, struck such terror into the hearts of his small comrades that the offense was never repeated.

There was another little boy who was accustomed to clamber up by the side of my father at the morning chapel exercises, and was so kindly treated that, whenever he saw his distinguished friend, he straightway assumed a position beside him. At the college commencement, which was held in the chapel, the little fellow glided from his mother's side and quietly stole up to the platform. Soon he was nestled at the feet of the dignified president, and, resting his head upon his knees, dropped asleep. General Lee tenderly remained without moving, preferring to suffer from the constrained position rather than disturb the innocent slumberer. This boy is now the Reverend Carter Jones of the Baptist Church.
 
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