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pangaia

(24,324 posts)
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 10:50 AM Nov 2017

The Confederate General Who Became a Race Traitor

The Confederate General Who Became a ‘Race Traitor’ (JAMES LONGSTREET)

THE DAILY BEAST
GIL TROY
11.04.17 12:00 AM ET

I used to be something of a Revolutionary War and Civil War buff, not so much any more. I have forgotten more than I ever knew. (Is that possible?)
I just found this OPINION in the DAILY BEAST interesting.. My very small contribution on a partially sunny Saturday morning...

In May 1864, during the Battle of the Wilderness, an errant Confederate bullet hit his neck and shoulder, paralyzing his right arm. Nevertheless, Longstreet remained Lee’s “old war horse.” Longstreet reassured Lee that Grant would treat them honorably when they surrendered. Recalling Grant’s elegance then—and a few weeks later when meeting Longstreet with other defeated Confederate officers, Longstreet would think: “Great God! … how my heart swells out to such magnanimous touch of humanity. Why do men fight who were born to be brothers?”


Unlike many comrades, Longstreet accepted defeat. He moved with his family to New Orleans, becoming a cotton broker. In 1867, the New Orleans Times asked former Confederate generals to react to the tough Military Reconstruction Act. Longstreet sounded resigned yet magnanimous—infuriating Southerners unwilling to be either. “The decision was in favor of the North, so that her construction becomes the law, and should be so accepted,” Longstreet acknowledged. He dreamed: “If every one will meet the crisis with proper appreciation of our condition and obligations, the sun will rise to-morrow on a happy people.”


Longstreet warned Southerners not to conclude that “we cannot do no wrong and that Northerners cannot do right.” He said: “I hope to live long enough to see my surviving comrades march side by side with the Union veterans along Pennsylvania Avenue, and then I will die happy.”

Snip

Unbowed, Longstreet became ever more unpopular. In 1874, the White Leaguers in New Orleans sought to impose a Democratic mayor. Longstreet led black troops against these violent sore losers. Now, he was a “race traitor.” too. In a bloody battle the racists won Longstreet was wounded by real blowback—a spent bullet, a casing fired from his gun or from a nearby comrade’s weapon. President Grant then mobilized enough federal troops to restore order—and avert a second Civil War. Still, in 1891 the South’s mythomaniacs placed a monument hailing this “Battle of Liberty Place,” perpetuating the white supremacist spin. The monument stood in New Orleans until April 24, 2017.



https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-confederate-general-who-became-a-race-traitor

ON EDIT/ Please don't alert on this post just because it is about a Confederate General OR because said general did NOT support a Democratic candidate for Mayor of New Orleans - in.... 1874.
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The Confederate General Who Became a Race Traitor (Original Post) pangaia Nov 2017 OP
Thanks for the post SCantiGOP Nov 2017 #1
Thank you for the thank you. pangaia Nov 2017 #2
Thanks for posting real Civil War History. sagesnow Nov 2017 #3
I have a different opinion of 'war memorials.' pangaia Nov 2017 #4
You are right sagesnow Nov 2017 #5
+++++++++++++++ + pangaia Nov 2017 #7
If you want to know who deserves a Civil War memorial: SCantiGOP Nov 2017 #6
As you would expect, I knew nothing about him. pangaia Nov 2017 #8
One of the best memes I saw on Facebook was re Smalls. Lucky Luciano Nov 2017 #9
Amazing story. thucythucy Mar 2018 #11
Good reading. nt oasis Dec 2017 #10

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
2. Thank you for the thank you.
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 11:09 AM
Nov 2017

Posting something like this COULD be a bit risky here in 'these times.'


sagesnow

(2,871 posts)
3. Thanks for posting real Civil War History.
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 11:29 AM
Nov 2017

Sounds like this is a Southern General who deserves a war memorial. Too bad so much of this history is swept under the rug in our schools.

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
4. I have a different opinion of 'war memorials.'
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 11:33 AM
Nov 2017

I think I am against them all.. well.. almost all...

As usual, I am inconsistent in my opinions.. for instance I would leave the Vietnam memorial.. because it does not, in my opinion, glorify war.
It reminds us of the insanity and suffering of human beings killing each other.

SCantiGOP

(14,248 posts)
6. If you want to know who deserves a Civil War memorial:
Sat Nov 4, 2017, 11:44 AM
Nov 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls

Read about Robert Smalls. There is a movement now to erect a statue to him in Charleston, but of course the right-wingers have hijacked the effort by linking efforts to save memorials to John C Calhoun, Pitchfork Ben Tillman and other deplorable racist terrorists.

He was a slave who stole a Confederate ship in the Charleston harbor (he was a trained harbor pilot) and delivered it and his family and crew and weapons to the Northern ships blockading the harbor, sailing past several CSA forts. His deed and his meeting with the President led to black troops being allowed to fight for the North. He returned to SC and became a legislator and US Congressman. He also was instrumental in SC becoming the first state in the nation to have universal free public education (an accomplishment that didn't last long after Jim Crow and the KKK took over SC politics).

I am really surprised this has not found its way to Hollywood yet. I can see Denzel Washington as Smalls.
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