25. James Longstreet and Ulysses Grant
Other than to Civil War buffs, James Longstreet is one of the lesser-known Confederate generals of the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee considered him an essential lieutenant, calling him his Old Warhorse. But Longstreet’s reputation suffered, especially in the old South, after the war. He was not a proponent of the Lost Cause mythology which made the war a noble defense of state’s rights, rather than a conflict over the issue of slavery. Southern writers and historians placed much of the blame for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg on Longstreet, exonerating Robert E, Lee, helping to keep the latter’s myth untarnished. In many areas of the defeated south, Longstreet became a pariah.
But he retained one friend from his military days, one which went back all the way to his student days at West Point. Longstreet and Grant remained friends after the Southern surrender, a well-known fact that did nothing to further endear Longstreet to society in the defeated South. The former Confederate became a fervent and active supporter of Reconstruction, and he and Grant maintained a relationship through correspondence for years, a strange relationship given the fervency with which they had fought against each other during the Civil War. In fact, they opposed each other on battlefields on few occasions, though Longstreet was present at the surrender at Appomattox. Together they represented the reconciliation of the country, maybe not such an odd couple after all.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
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“Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock: The Unsung Partner”. Nisha Lilia Diu, The Telegraph. February 8, 2013
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“TV Comedy Writer Danny Simon Dies”. Adam Bernstein, The Washington Post. July 28, 2005
“Sir Arthur Conan Doyle”. Entry, History, BBC Online.
“Why DID the Everly Brothers hate each other?” Ray Connolly, Daily Mail. January 5, 2014
“The Shortest Celebrity Marriages of All Time”. Nana Callaway, The Spruce. July 28, 2019
“Did Bogie Destroy Lauren Bacall?” Nina Caplan, The Guardian. January 1, 1999
