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Details
LEE, ROBERT E. Letter signed ("R.E. Lee, Genl") TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET, Headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia, 14 May 1863. 1 page, 4to, lined paper, minor spotting slightly affecting text, small chip at upper left not affecting text.
PRELUDE TO GETTYSBURG: LEE TELLS LONGSTREET TO BE IN READINESS "TO MOVE AT ANY TIME"
Lee to "Old Pete," writes: "I desire you to use every exertion to have your corps put in condition to move at any time it may be called upon. Please have the horses grazed constantly and your transportation put in the most efficient condition possible. I send several copies of a General Order issued on the subject of transportation, not knowing whether this order has yet been issued to the two divisions of your corps which have been detached from the Army. It is very important to our future movements that this order should be strictly enforced and our transportation reduced to its minimum."
Written two months before Lee again audaciously moved to invade the north--a plan that appalled Longstreet--culminatating in the carnage at Gettysburg. After Fredericksburg, Longstreet had assumed command of the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virigina, based in Suffolk, Va. As is well known, the relationship between the two soldiers was complex. Although Longstreet was known as Lee's "Old War Horse", the latter had reason to question the younger man's tactical judgement (indeed this would again be the case during Gettysburg). Longstreet's two divisions, McLaws' at Fredericksburg and Hood's on the Rapidan, began to move north to support Lee on June 3. The key role played by Longstreet's command at Gettysburg, and his disagreement with Lee over the tactics of that battle, are well documented: "Longstreet opposed the invasion on the premise that the Army...should take strong defensive positions and force the enemy to attack...After the war Longstreet admitted that he had failed to win Lee over to his own conception of the strategic defense..." (E. Stackpole, They Met At Gettysburg, pp.77-78).
PRELUDE TO GETTYSBURG: LEE TELLS LONGSTREET TO BE IN READINESS "TO MOVE AT ANY TIME"
Lee to "Old Pete," writes: "I desire you to use every exertion to have your corps put in condition to move at any time it may be called upon. Please have the horses grazed constantly and your transportation put in the most efficient condition possible. I send several copies of a General Order issued on the subject of transportation, not knowing whether this order has yet been issued to the two divisions of your corps which have been detached from the Army. It is very important to our future movements that this order should be strictly enforced and our transportation reduced to its minimum."
Written two months before Lee again audaciously moved to invade the north--a plan that appalled Longstreet--culminatating in the carnage at Gettysburg. After Fredericksburg, Longstreet had assumed command of the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virigina, based in Suffolk, Va. As is well known, the relationship between the two soldiers was complex. Although Longstreet was known as Lee's "Old War Horse", the latter had reason to question the younger man's tactical judgement (indeed this would again be the case during Gettysburg). Longstreet's two divisions, McLaws' at Fredericksburg and Hood's on the Rapidan, began to move north to support Lee on June 3. The key role played by Longstreet's command at Gettysburg, and his disagreement with Lee over the tactics of that battle, are well documented: "Longstreet opposed the invasion on the premise that the Army...should take strong defensive positions and force the enemy to attack...After the war Longstreet admitted that he had failed to win Lee over to his own conception of the strategic defense..." (E. Stackpole, They Met At Gettysburg, pp.77-78).