James Longstreet, worried Confederate service might disqualify him, sought a federal pension based on his Mexican-American War wound. A namesake society now has his letter

James Longstreet is at center at 1888 Gettysburg reunion (NPS photo)

The Longstreet Society recently acquired a brief but fascinating letter from the legendary Confederate general seeking a federal pension 20 years after the Civil War’s end.

In an Oct. 2, 1885, letter from Gainesville, Ga., where he lived the last 25 years of his life, James Longstreet expresses guarded hope that his valiant service in the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War will outweigh any concerns about him later fighting for the Confederacy against the Union.

Here’s the transcription of his correspondence to officials in Washington, D.C.

The general's pension request (click to enlarge, courtesy of The Longstreet Society)

“I beg your indulgence to inquire if I am entitled to a pension for a severe wound received in storming Chapultepec in Mexico on the 13th of September 1847.

“At the same time I will ask that the matter be so investigated that it shall not reach the newspapers, unless the decision should be favorable as an advance discussion will put me in position not very pleasant.

“I have frequently been told by surgeons who examine applicants that my claims is a just one, but the fact of being in the Confederate Army since the war casts a doubt in my mind, as to (the) law in this case.

“I remain Respectfully +
truly your obt servant

James Longstreet”

The Longstreet Society, based in Gainesville, said it believes the letter was successful but it wants to verify that.

Jeffry D. Wert, author of the 1993 book “General James Longstreet: The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier,” told the Picket he was reasonably certain Longstreet (left) did not receive the federal pension, “which was the case for high ranking Confederate officers.”

But it is difficult to know for sure.

“When the general's house burned to the ground, history lost much, if not nearly all, of his personal papers,” Wert wrote in an email.

Interestingly, the U.S. Pension Bureau worked to provide benefits for Union – not Confederate – veterans. The latter usually turned to their states for pensions and other relief. The Clara Barton Museum says the agency distributed about $138 million to nearly 1 million Union veterans and surviving relatives.

Longstreet, a West Point graduate, served in several battles during the Mexican-American War and suffered a thigh wound while carrying the flag for the 8^th US Infantry at Chapultepec. He handed the flag to George E. Pickett, who would also gain fame during the Civil War as Longstreet’s subordinate at Gettysburg. Longstreet continued serving in the U.S. Army until the Civil War.

Dan Paterson, great-grandson of the general, said he did not know whether Longstreet got the federal pension. Helen Dortch Longstreet, the general’s second wife, apparently did receive a stipend for his service in Mexico, Paterson said.

A pension card on Ancestry.com notes an 1887 application from the general for the "Mexican War" and another for Helen in 1904, after his death. James was married to his first wife, Maria Louisa, until her death in 1889.

James and Helen Longstreet in 1900 (courtesy of Dan Paterson)

“The pension was not something I recollect coming up in discussion when my grandmother was still around in the 70's when we were kids,” Paterson wrote in an email.

A search of the Georgia Archives shows Helen applied in 1937 – 33 years after the general’s death – for a pension from the state as a widow of a Confederate veteran. Helen, 69, indicated James had received a state pension while living in Gainesville.

A letter, in approving Helen’s pension request, said the general “performed actual military service as a Confederate soldier and was honorably separated from such service.”

The letter did not indicate what amount the widow would receive.

Helen Longstreet's pension request (click to enlarge, Georgia Archives)

Maria Lagonia, vice president of the Longstreet Society, said the group spent less than $1,000 to purchase the letter from a seller on eBay.

The individual “worked with us on the price because he felt (and so did we) that the James Longstreet Museum was a good safe home for the letter and because we could share it with our visitors.”

In 1885, when he wrote the letter, Longstreet was both famous and infamous in the South, depending on one’s point of view. He remained immensely popular with the Confederate veterans he once led. His most masterful moments during the Civil War were at Chickamauga, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg and Antietam.

The veteran of Indian wars and the Mexican-American War was devoted and loyal to Gen. Robert E. Lee, who leaned heavily on Longstreet and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The latter was killed at Chancellorsville only a few months before Gettysburg.

A cabal, which included former generals Jubal Early and John Gordon, claimed Longstreet stubbornly resisted Lee’s plans at Gettysburg, resulting in the loss of the July 1863 battle – and perhaps the war.

They said Lee’s “Old War Horse”, his principal subordinate, was insubordinate at Gettysburg. That he wouldn’t support the attacks. That he moved his 14,000 troops in a slow manner.

Longstreet’s supporters and some scholars counter this. Although Gettysburg may not have been his best effort, they say, the general fought effectively on Days 2 and 3. The veteran, however, earned enmity when he dared to criticize Lee’s actions at Gettysburg publicly, and he spent the rest of his life trying to restore his reputation.

Two years after war’s end, Longstreet said that he believed in reconciliation and black suffrage. His business in New Orleans began to fail after critics accused him of being a scalawag – a Southern white who supported Reconstruction.

After the war, Longstreet held several federal offices and was a friend of President Ulysses S. Grant and Dan Sickles, former foes on the battlefield. While living in Louisiana, Longstreet led a black militia against unruly white supremacists.

Old Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville is home to The Longstreet Society (Picket photo)

Southerners did not forget that affront or his Republican Party loyalties. While there is no evidence he was progressive on race, Longstreet thought giving blacks full citizenship and voting rights was the practical thing to do.

Besides defending himself, the aging warrior also contended with the effects of a grievous wound to his throat, the result of friendly fire during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864.

Longstreet moved to Gainesville in the late 1870s. He bought the 120-acre farm near downtown and pruned muscadine vines on property that featured an old colonial-style home.

The home burned in April 1889, and the general’s wife, Maria Louisa, died in December. (photo at right, courtesy of Dan Paterson). The fire destroyed the home, Longstreet's uniform, sword, a sash given to him by J.E.B. Stuart, relics, papers and more.

He held other offices, wrote his memoirs, “From Manassas to Appomattox,” and ran a hotel, which today is the home of the Longstreet Society.

In 1897, The “Old War Horse” at age 76 married Helen, 34, at the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta. “She would live until 1962, spending many of those years defending Longstreet against his many harsh critics,” the society says.

James Longstreet, 82, died in January 1904. He is buried at Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville.

Richard Pilcher, president of the Longstreet Society, said the organization has few items directly related to the general. Among the documents are those related to promotions and civilian and political appointments.

Lagonia said the society will display the pension request letter on special occasions. It is seeking donations to help with the purchase.

“We like to study Longstreet's non-military life as well as his military and political life. The letter was very personal and allowed us a glimpse into his thoughts and circumstances,” she wrote in an email.

The Atlanta Journal article about 1897 wedding (courtesy of Dan Paterson)