General Longstreet talks about Stonewall Jackson - 146th Gettysburg

Gen. Longstreet is mistaken about a few things. The battle he refers to is Mechanicsville, which took place on June 26th, 1862, not the 22nd. This was a Thursday, not a Sunday. Jackson was not unwilling to fight on a Sunday, even if he might prefer to do otherwise. The battles he fought on a Sunday include First Manassas (where he received his nickname), Kernstown, Cross Keys, and Winchester. All victories except for Kernstown. After Winchester, Jackson wrote to his wife: ''You appear much concerned at my attacking on a Sunday. I am greatly concerned, too, but I felt it my duty to do it in consideration of the ruinous effects that might result from postponing the battle until the morning. So far as I can see, my course was a wise one - the best that I could do under the circumstances - though very distasteful to my feelings, and I hope and pray to our Heavenly Father that I may never again be circumstanced as on that day.''

Regarding Mechanicsville, which Gen. Longstreet refers to in this video, the meeting at the Widow Dabbs House between Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, and the two Hills took place the afternoon of June 23rd (a Monday, by which we see that Gen. Longstreet is off by a week on his dates). Jackson rode 52 miles in 14 hours to get there. As Lee laid out his plans, Jackson said he could be in position by the 25th. Either Lee or Longstreet (accounts vary) suggested he give himself until the 26th. Jackson agreed. He left the same night and reached his army again on Tuesday the 24th, having ridden 90 miles in the past 33 hours without rest. He found his army in disorganized chaos due to the inept Rev. Dabney who he had left behind to manage things, and it crawled its way to the Peninsula (Lee referred to ''unavoidable delays'' in his report), finally reaching Pole Green Church on Thursday the 26th. So we see that he was not late at this time, in fact he arrived the very day he was supposed to.

Lee's General Orders #75 instructed Jackson to communicate with A.P. Hill and D.H. Hill, then lead a combined movement down the Chickahominy towards Cold Harbor. Jackson's approach to Pole Green Church was supposed to scare FitzJohn Porter into retreating, but Lee's poor maps showed Porters position as being closer to Pole Green Church than it really was, so Porter was not worried and did not fall back.

Meanwhile, Jackson, believing his eventual destination was Cold Harbor, and having received no specific orders to attack, did indeed go into bivouac as Gen. Longstreet says. After waiting for Jackson until midafternoon, A.P. Hill became impatient and went ahead and attacked without orders, losing 1,500 men in the process of being defeated. This took place on a Thursday, June 26th. General Order #75 said Hill was NOT to cross the Chickahominy until Jackson arrived. Jackson could certainly hear the fighting going on, but he had his orders, and in Jackson's mind, Hill jumping the gun was not a reason for Jackson to disobey his own orders as he understood them. Nor would it be the last time Hill moved aggressively in the face of orders to the contrary.

Were the Seven Days Jackson's finest hour? Hardly. On several different occasions he was late, seemed disoriented, misunderstood his orders, and was plagued by unfamiliarity with the ground, poor maps, exhaustion and an unspecified illness. His actions were out of character, and clearly he was not himself. No one is infallible, which of course is the point Gen. Longstreet is making. But it had nothing to do with not liking to fight on a Sunday. Especially when it's only Thursday.

Source: Dr. James I. Robertson's ''Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend,'' pub. 1997

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• Civil
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• Stonewall
• Jackson
• Longstreet
• General
• Lee
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• Rebel

[0BornofDesire0]

epic beard is epic

[eringobragh915]

@0BornofDesire0 And it's HIS beard.

[CaptBeauregards]

Ron Hawkins here is a friend of mine, and appears in my film with me, AVENEL THE MOTION PICTURE, where he meets my (fictional) character, Captain Beauregard, as an old friend from his days as a paymaster in Albuquerque, NM. he is a fantastic general Longstreet, and I am always in awe of his performances!

[eringobragh915]

I agree, he was terrific.

[teenangler1]

A.P hill is my great great great grandpaw

[wvareb1980]

General Longstreet was indeed very upset with Jackson over this but Longstreet had no just finished The Valley Campaign, A campaign that is still studied at west point & other schools around the world. Longstreet had not just defeated 3 union armies with only 17,000 men & then went into a forced march across the state! Jackson & his men were physically & mentally exhausted! Jackson slept in the saddle for most of the forced march from the valley!

[The11BJoe]

Let's also not forget that Jackson marched straight from his Shenandoah Valley Campaign, where he with 17,000 men completely humiliated General Nathaniel Banks' force of over 50,000, directly into the Peninsula Campaign. In the Valley, Jackson's forces marched 646 miles in 48 days then pushed straight towards Richmond. They were undoubtedly exhausted, which would explain why Jackson did not perform to his usual standards.

[MisterGage77]

wow, he actually sounds pissed at jackson. lol