Florida Rebel
Corporal
- Joined
- May 31, 2019
It's sure fun to keep talking about this! But for all the Longstreet lovers out there, where are the statues? I wish Monument Ave in Richmond had never been destroyed Edited. but there was NEVER a statue there of Longstreet. And if you go to the Gettysburg park, as I am going to do again next month, the only statue of Longstreet that you will see is hardly as large as a human being is today. "Pete" didn't like the way Lee fought a battle - any battle, and it clearly showed those 3 days.
It always amazes me how Lee continues to be second guessed by some people for being too aggressive and offensively minded. When you're "outgunned" in manpower and materials, as Lee and his army was, what the heck should you be trying to do? If you don't win the war quick, you don't win at all! Longstreet didn't agree, he was in favor of most always fighting on defense and again, being like his idol, Joe Johnston. It's all there for us to see and read about! Did Lee make a mistake when he promoted Ewell and Hill to corp command following Jackson's death? Hindsight says Ewell was not up to the job. Lee fired him later in the war. Anyone who has ever managed people knows it's impossible to know for sure what a person is capable of doing or not. You make a decision and hope it works out. What were his other options? Jeb Stuart would have been his best choice for an infantry command. Either Wade Hampton or Fitzhugh Lee could have taken over the cavalry. Stuart, so much like his close buddy, Jackson, would have fought a battle like Jackson and not been extra cautious and tentative. But Longstreet would not have liked that choice....
It always amazes me how Lee continues to be second guessed by some people for being too aggressive and offensively minded. When you're "outgunned" in manpower and materials, as Lee and his army was, what the heck should you be trying to do? If you don't win the war quick, you don't win at all! Longstreet didn't agree, he was in favor of most always fighting on defense and again, being like his idol, Joe Johnston. It's all there for us to see and read about! Did Lee make a mistake when he promoted Ewell and Hill to corp command following Jackson's death? Hindsight says Ewell was not up to the job. Lee fired him later in the war. Anyone who has ever managed people knows it's impossible to know for sure what a person is capable of doing or not. You make a decision and hope it works out. What were his other options? Jeb Stuart would have been his best choice for an infantry command. Either Wade Hampton or Fitzhugh Lee could have taken over the cavalry. Stuart, so much like his close buddy, Jackson, would have fought a battle like Jackson and not been extra cautious and tentative. But Longstreet would not have liked that choice....
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