- Joined
- Nov 26, 2016
- Location
- central NC
"That any subject involving the possession and exercise of intellect should be clear to Longstreet and concealed from Lee, is a startling proposition to those having knowledge of the two men." [Richard Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Civil War, p. 231]
I'm not trying to start an argument , but it should be noted that the author of this quote had no personal knowledge of either man. As William Piston pointed out in his book, Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History, Richard Taylor had served under Jackson before transferring out west in 1862. That was the extent of his knowledge of General Lee. Taylor wasn't present at Gettysburg and only knew what he had read about it. This quote "sharply illustrates the success of Early and his supporters in enshrining Lee's memory." Like many "Lost Causers," Richard Taylor was angry at General Longstreet.