North Carolina Office of Archives and History

James Longstreet. I, Soldier. II, Politician, Officeholder, and Writer by Donald BridgmanSanger; Thomas Robson HayReview by: George V. IronsThe North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 30, No. 3 (July, 1953), pp. 444-445Published by: North Carolina Office of Archives and HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23516247 .

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444 The North Carolina Historical Review

James Longstreet. I, Soldier. By Donald Bridgman Sanger. II, Politician,

Officeholder, and Writer. By Thomas Robson Hay. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana

State University Press. 1952. Pp. viii, 460. $6.50.)

General James Longstreet was Lee's mainstay in the great tactical operations of the Civil War and, after Appomattox, was

one of the most prominent confederate officers to hold appoint ments under Republican administration. Relative to both his

military and political experiences and contributions there has à raged a bitter and often intemperate controversy. Now in this

new and important biography two highly qualified writers have

restored a sorely needed balance in the sound appraisal of a man

concerning whom there has been too much intense heat and not

enough clear light. The longer portion of the book, concerning "Old Pete's" mili

tary career, was written by Colonel Sanger. On his death in 1947, the study was continued by Thomas Robson Hay, author of the

prize-winning Hood's Tennessee Campaign. Both historians have

based their narrative on impressive materials, largely unpub lished documents and printed official records.

Colonel Sanger maintains that General Longstreet was the

most competent defensive commander on the Confederate side and the best corps commander in the war. Yet the author reveals

in his careful accounts of such engagements as those of Seven

Pines, Second Manassas, Suffolk, Knoxville, and Gettysburg a

certain immobility of mind on the part of Longstreet—a mental

inertia which prevented his vigorous execution of audacious and dangerous strategic plans which he may have opposed. At

Gettysburg Longstreet's performance as a corps commander in the first assault was unpardonable, but he moved his troops to the battle position as rapidly as time, distance, and road con ditions permitted. Lee's plan for frontal assault was impossible, and he was primarily responsible for the critical defeat.

In Reconstruction days Longstreet threw in his lot with the

Republicans in Louisiana and Georgia in a belief that he might sway the Republican political leaders into his own way of think

ing and acting. In this role he allowed himself to become the tool of designing men, and he remained in office for the pay and

privileges he could obtain. For his action he suffered social

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Book Reviews 445

ostracism, but to the end he retained the loyalty of the veterans

of the old First Corps.

Howard College,

Birmingham. George V. Irons.

The World of Eli Whitney. By Jeannette Mirsky and Allan Nevins. (New York: The Macmillan Company. 1952. Pp. xviii, 346. Illustrations. $5.75.)

One of the better known names in American history is that of

Eli Whitney, who through his cotton gin and the introduction in

this country of the principle of standardization of parts in manu

facturing has had tremendous influence on agriculture and indus

try. We know something of his works, but the man himself has

to a great extent remained in the shadows. In this book Jeannette

Mirsky and Allan Nevins bring him into the light and at the

same time place his activities in their proper historical setting.

Earlier writers, say the authors, "have indicated Whitney's

place in the development of the United States, depriving us of

the excitement of unknown surprises ; it has remained our task

to try to give the full texture and minor relevant facets of

Whitney's life and work." They perform their task well, hamper ed somewhat by the fact that sources of information, extensive

though they are, are not as nearly complete as one could wish.

Whitney's widow, realizing the greatness of her husband, pre

served his business letters and papers, but documents of a more

personal nature are scarce.

The book unfolds in readable style the career of the mechanical

genius who was born in the year of the Stamp Act and who lived

his sixty years during a period of great political and economic

change. His own role in the events of that era looms much larger to us than it did to his contemporaries. His cotton gin transform

ed the South, yet it brought him more troubles than profits. He

became a successful manufacturer of arms, yet he suffered dis

appointments in this endeavor. During most of his career he had

to fight to protect the business interests which were his chief

concern in life. Not until he was past fifty years old did he know

the happiness which a wife and children can bring.

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