Fantastic presentation by Professor Varon on Longstreet

A captivating and highly convincing portrayal of General Longstreet, exploring his remarkable “about face” from Robert E. Lee to President Grant. The grand occasion was to award Professor Elizabeth Varon of the University of Virginia, the annual William Henry Seward Award, chosen as the highest quality book on Civil War history among a strong list of contenders. Professor Varon described in detail the transformation of General Longstreet from a die-hard dedicated fighter for victory for the Confederacy, who was highly moved by Grant’s magnanimous peaceful gesture to the Confederate troops at Appomatox, which led Longstreet on a journey of confronting the reality of the defeat of the Confederacy (which he also blamed on weak leadership by Jefferson Davis). This led to Longstreet’s position of “atonement”, to accept the reality of Federal civil rights policies and move forward into a more racially tolerant post-war Southern society. He tried to adopt this view post-war when he settled in New Orleans, and became involved in local Republican politics. Longstreet’s position came under brutal attack by Southern white supremacists beginning in 1867 into the early 1870s. She also went into a clear reply to the Lost Cause attempt to blame the defeat at Gettysburg on Longstreet: his position to Lee was always clear (on the disadvantages and inadequacies of the plan) and Lee himself never raised the ‘traitor’ blame on Longstreet. A fascinating presentation!