Darling; I never wanted to gow home as bad in my life as I doo now and if they don’t give mee a furlow I am going any how. Written in December 1862 by Private Wright Vinson in Tennessee to his wife; Christiana; in Georgia; these lines go to the heart of why Scott Walker wrote this history of the Fifty-seventh Georgia Infantry; a unit of the famed Mercer’s Brigade.All but a few members of the Fifty-seventh lived within a close radius of eighty miles from each other. More than just an account of their military engagements; this is a collective biography of a close-knit group. Relatives and neighbors served and died side by side in the Fifty-seventh; and Walker excels at showing how family ties; friendships; and other intimate dynamics played out in wartime settings. Humane but not sentimental; the history abounds in episodes of real feeling: a starving soldier’s theft of a pie; another’s open confession; in a letter to his wife; that he may desert; a slave’s travails as a camp orderly.Drawing on memoirs and a trove of unpublished letters and diaries; Walker follows the soldiers of the Fifty-seventh as they push far into Unionist Kentucky; starve at the siege of Vicksburg; guard Union prisoners at the Andersonville stockade; defend Atlanta from Sherman; and more. Hardened fighters who would wish hell on an incompetent superior but break down at the sight of a dying Yankee; these are real people; as rarely seen in other Civil War histories.
#1316504 in Books William Garrett Piston 1990-03-01 1990-03-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .80 x 6.00l; .97 #File Name: 0820312290272 pagesLee s Tarnished Lieutenant James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Putting General Longstreet in Proper Historical PerspectiveBy StudgeIn "Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant;" Author William Garret Piston examines how the reputation of Lieutenant General James Longstreet has been unfairly besmirched by Lost Cause proponents; such as Jubal Early and William Nelson Pendleton; following the death of their beloved commander; General Robert E. Lee; in 1870. Facts were distorted and the truth obscured in an effort by Lost Cause proponents to create an historical record for future generations that would justify the vast bloodshed; sacrifice and deaths of all the brave Southern soldiers who fought and lost the War Between the States. A further motivation on the part of Early and Pendleton was to distract attention from their own wartime failures at Gettysburg. With an eye towards convincing the public and future generations that the Southern war effort was not in vain; Lost Cause proponents found it necessary to deify Lee; while casting Longstreet in role of the scapegoat for the South's defeat at Gettysburg and consequently the war itself.Piston attempts to do what he can to set the record straight about Longstreet. He shows that Longstreet and Lee mutually respected each other and had a close relationship during the war. Lee relied upon Longstreet for his military advice and enjoyed keeping company with him. Although Longstreet considered it his duty as second in command to give Lee advice even if it ran counter to what Lee believed to be the best course of action; for example; employing the strategic offense but the tactical defensive at Gettysburg; Longstreet would always defer to Lee in the end as a trusted and loyal subordinate; never hesitant to obey his commander's orders on the battlefield.For Piston; Longstreet became an easy target for Lost Cause proponents to blame for the South's loss of the war; because he became a Republican in postbellum years; which represented the political party of Lincoln and the North. Longstreet's attempt to refute the Lost Causers on the printed page did not help much; because he came off as being jealous and concerned with his own self-advancement. In this sense; Piston felt Longstreet proved to be his own worst enemy.Although some revisionist historians; such as Glenn Tucker and Donald Bridgmen Sanger; have attempted to set the record straight; there are other historians who have extolled the virtues of Lee at the expense of Longstreet. Was Longstreet a misunderstood and unappreciated hero of the Southern war effort; or was he the cause of the South's defeat at Gettysburg and the Civil War as a whole? Piston makes a convincing case for the former.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Learning to be Graceful in Defeat.By James T. DavisThis is a more important book than it seems because it describes how Longstreet; an talented and loyal Confederate General; responded to the defeat; especially when many were blaming it unfairly on him. Longstreet's if-you-can't-beat-them-then-join-them strategy triggered a very hostile reaction from those who advocated if-you-can't-beat-them-then-keep-on-fighting-anyway. Longstreet should have anticipated that and taken precautions (good commanders do that); but he apparently neither expected it nor responded constructively; and that was his greatest post-war blunder.National defeat is not something the USA has needed to deal with (except for the former Confederate States). Vietnam may be the closest analogue; and our excessively emotional and clumsy responses there confirms my point: we do not know how to lose gracefully and we need to learn before our poor reactions to a defeat cause more damage than the defeat itself.Longstreet is a good example of how not to do it. He should have tried to set the record straight without the appearance of waging a personal vendetta (not easy here); and we are indebted to Prof. Piston for clearly showing that to us.James T. Davis.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A good brief history of not only LongstreetBy BobvinylA good brief history of not only Longstreet; but the intellectual dishonesty of the Lost Cause. This book does a nice job of being balanced in terms of Longstreet's strengths and weaknesses and shows rather than just tells how the lies of the Lost Cause affected Longstreet and the view of the slave-based South for over a century after the war.
