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getBusyChild t1_iu92w8s wrote

Hopefully it will be answered this time.

Why did Lee not come to the defense of Longstreet after the Civil War, or did he simply allow Longstreet to take the blame for his own tactical mistakes? Especially when it came to Gettysburg.

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TheGreatOneSea t1_iub6ebx wrote

I don't really understand what you mean:

1.Lee was also going to be put on trial in the immediate aftermath of the war, so I'm not sure how Lee was supposed to defend him, exactly.

  1. Lee wrote that he was ill in 1868, and Lee died in 1870, which was the point in time where most of the criticism of Longstreet came to be.
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ycpa68 t1_iu9cun7 wrote

I feel like you answered your question to an extent. It's important to remember, though, that Lee was turned into an almost legendary figure in the south following the war. Longstreet was seen as a villain, supporting Republicans and working with "the enemy". So while Lee may have even defended him in private (I have no evidence he did, this is purely to make a point) those who wrote the histories of the two had motive to not acknowledge it.

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