Page 48 - Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript Americana - Sale 2310 - April 16, 2013

“GENERAL LEE’S MIND WAS OCCUPIED ALL NIGHT”
95 ● (CIVIL WAR—CONFEDERATE.) [Longstreet, James.] Longstreet’s unpublished
manuscript analysis of two incidents at Gettysburg. Autograph Document, 3 leaves,
each 121/2 x 8 inches; printed clipping pasted to first leaf, repaired separations at folds,
moderate edge wear to final leaf. Not examined outside of frame.
Np, circa 1908 [2,000/3,000]
Lieutenant General James Longstreet was one of the most distinguished officers in the
Confederate army, but has often taken a share of blame for the Confederate loss at Gettysburg.
In this manuscript, Longstreet takes issue with a published Robert E. Lee letter dated 28 June
1863 discussing the final approach to Gettysburg (see the War of the Rebellion series,
XXVII:3, page 943, published in 1889). Longstreet pastes a clipping of the letter to his
notepaper and explains how it could not possibly be accurate: “It seems conclusive that the first
order for change was for concentration at Chambersburg, but when reminded that that concentra-
tion would leave our rearward lines exposed to the enemy troops at the east base of the
mountain, General Lee decided to change direction from Chambersburg eastward to Cashtown.
. . . We conclude that the original draft of the letter was mislaid or lost, and it is easy to see
that the memory was inaccurate, that the 7:30 a.m. order of the 28th should have been dated
the 29th, and that the body of the note called for concentration at Cashtown instead of
Gettysburg.”
The third page discusses the actual Battle of Gettysburg, and particularly the crucial movements
of Generals Ewell and Hill in the battle’s first hours: “General Ewell reported three orders
given during the night of the 1st and early morning of the 2d for his troops to occupy Culp’s
Hill, but they failed to do so. . . . This shows that he had no orders to cooperate in a sunrise
battle for he was in the exact position for that cooperation at daylight, and it shows that
General Lee’s mind was occupied all night of the 1st with the operations of that Corps.”
This manuscript was apparently written as a proposed final insertion to Longstreet’s 1908
book “From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America.” Longstreet
adds notes below both sections asking that they be added as footnotes. However, although the
publishers found room for one sentence about Seminary Ridge in slightly revised form (page
401), the remainder of these passages remained unpublished. They offer a key participant’s
firsthand insight into the Battle of Gettysburg.