LemmySuxNow

Dude was a far better strategist than Lee.

Absolutely. People are complex and capable of change. I’m not saying we should be building statues of Longstreet or honoring him, but we should remember him more kindly than we do.

I could see him being much more pragmatic like that after the dream of southern independence was shattered.

Lee died shortly after the war which helps. The south needed a scapegoat and Longstreet was it.

Lost Cause types blame Longstreet for the loss at Gettysburg and therefore the entire war. Even though he tried to tell Lee that his plan of “send my entire army across a giant open field directly into enemy artillery” was shit and suggested the far more reasonable plan of moving toward DC and entrenching themselves to scare the congress into peace talks which may have actually worked.