James Longstreet was here: Civil War veterans often mailed or gave out calling cards at reunions and meetings. Manassas has one that belonged to the general

One of the general's calling (visiting) cards (Manassas National Battlefield Park)

William Adams Longstreet was born in 1897 to a family noted for its celebrity -- and controversy. His grandfather, Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, was in his final years, bloodied but unbowed after decades of defying the South, as a biography describes him.

William was just 6 when his grandfather, 82, died in January 1904 in Gainesville, Ga. Like others related to the general, William grew up in the town with a purpose.

“He was a jovial man who was dedicated to clearing the general’s name,” nephew Dan Paterson said of William.

James Longstreet was pilloried by foes for his performance at Gettysburg and, later, support for Reconstruction, black suffrage and the Republican Party. Recent books, however, have brought him a good measure of vindication.

William (second from left), half-sister Jamie (behind stone) and Dan Paterson at Alta Vista Cemetery in 1969

As the last direct descendant with the surname Longstreet, William felt an extra obligation by taking up the mantle and defending “OId Pete” whenever he could. William – who worked for the U.S. Postal Service and lived in Washington, D.C. -- made appearances at battlefields and joined a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp named for his grandfather.

The descendant in 1959 donated a Gen. Longstreet calling card and an unframed print of a painting of the general to Manassas National Battlefield Park. Park museum specialist Jim Burgess told me the painting was made by renowned artist Howard Chandler Christy.

I learned of the calling card after a recent visit to the park, and I decided to delve into the topic. Such cards were the equivalent of today’s business cards, though most did not include contact information.

That’s because they were often mailed or given out, such as the likely case with Longstreet, at battlefields, veteran reunions and public events. The general (right) dispensed them as a sign of goodwill, rather than the pursuit of business.

Calling cards (or visiting cards) were popular with members of the Grand Army of the Republic (Union), United Confederate Veterans and other organizations.

“The heyday was in in the 1880s and 1890s during their highest membership,” said Everitt Bowles, who sells calling cards on his “Civil War Badges” website. “They’re not hard to find if you're involved with Civil War events. The higher prices are usually because of the elite regiments or for how famous the soldier was. Of course, there were a lot more common soldiers in the war versus the generals.”

Such cards can go for as little as $10 to several hundred dollars.

“Longstreet was such a famous person. He would give them out at reunions,” said Vann Martin of the online shop “The Veteran’s Attic.”

General was warmly welcomed at reunions

Longstreet was all about national reconciliation after the Civil War and he famously traveled to Gettysburg and to all manner of meetings and reunions.

His card simply read “James Longstreet, First Corps Army of Northern Virginia, ’61-’65. The top left featured the third national flag of the Confederate States of America.

“I am not familiar with how extensive James Longstreet calling cards might be. Given his longevity, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't use several different styles over the years,” said Jim Ogden, historian at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. “I'd say this definitely has to be postwar, probably, given the stylized Third National, very postwar.”

The original Christy painting of the general hangs in Chickamauga and Chattanooga visitor center (Picket photo, left).

Longstreet’s widow, Helen Dortch Longstreet, a tireless advocate, commissioned the painting. A second version of the subject is on loan from Gettysburg National Military Park to the Longstreet Society, based in Gainesville.

Ogden cites Longstreet as an example of recent interest in Civil War memory.

Scholars and authors in recent decades have brought new interpretations of the man, finding he was not the “Southern Judas” he came to be called.

Many collectors love postwar reunion items and calling cards

Dan Paterson (right), William’s nephew and a great-grandson of James, said the general made numerous postwar journeys, including Fredericksburg in 1884; Knoxville, Tenn., circa 1893; Chickamauga for the 1899 dedication of the Georgia monument; Chicago; Gettysburg twice; and Richmond, Va., for the 1890 unveiling of its Lee monument

The general must have carried his calling cards to these and reunions.

Martin, with “The Veteran’s Attic,” said he has collected a few calling cards bearing a photograph, but they are somewhat unusual.

Longstreet’s card, he said, would have been treasured by those who received one. “He had people writing him all the time. They wanted his signature.”

Union veterans were more likely to have them printed “because they had more money. The South had to go through Reconstruction,” said Martin.

T.J. Jones of the 41st Tennessee (The Veteran's Attic)

Calling cards draw some interest, but they are not a priority, said Martin.

His website includes a card made for T.J. Jones of the 41^st Tennessee Infantry (above). The private was wounded captured twice during the war. He later worked for the railroad. He died in 1910. The card includes a photo of the bearded Jones as a veteran. The card is on sale for $335.

Some collectors focus on pennants, badges and pins from Civil War reunions. A more unusual item was one made of seashells in the 1890s for a GAR post in Buffalo, N.Y., Martin said.

Cards and portraits of Bowley, Lord and Wolff, click to enlarge (Library of Congress)

The Library of Congress has a few online images of Civil War calling cards, among them one for nurse Helena E. Miller Wolff, 1^st Lt. Charles P. Lord of the 6^th Massachusetts Infantry and 1^st Lt. Freeman Sparks Bowley of the 30^th U.S. Colored Troops.

Bowley, a white officer, is remembered for a vivid account of the battle of the Crater at Petersburg and its aftermath and his memoir.

Hated by many in the South, beloved at Gettysburg meeting

When I visited and interviewed people about Longstreet some 15 years ago, his story was little-known to most Americans. The novel “The Killer Angels” and the film “Gettysburg,” coupled with scholarship by historians, helped to usher in a reassessment of the general. More favorable books have followed.

At the Longstreet Society’s annual memorial at the general's grave at Alta Vista Cemetery this year, president Richard Pilcher gave a brief summary of the general’s life, mentioning his military prowess, public service and courage away from the battlefield – working for reconciliation after the war. “Many Southerners considered him a traitor to the cause, and blamed him for the Confederacy’s defeat,” he said.

Longstreet in postwar years voiced his opinion that Gen. Robert E. Lee should not have launched the disastrous Day Three attack at Gettysburg. Advocates of the romantic Lost Cause myth lashed out at him, and said he failed Lee at Gettysburg by delaying the execution of orders. Some of the general's writings in various newspapers often backfired on him.

Many Confederate veterans lionized him and he was popular at reunions, including a notable gathering at Gettysburg in 1888.

Civil War blogger John Banks has written about Longstreet’s trip to Pennsylvania and the general’s friendship with former foe Dan Sickles and other Union luminaries.

“The most celebrated man at the event sported massive, white whiskers and a cleanly shaven chin: James Longstreet, who commanded the Confederates’ First Corps at Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863. Nearly everywhere Robert E. Lee’s ‘Old War Horse’ went he drew appreciative, and often awestruck, crowds,” Banks wrote a few years back.

Longstreet (center) and Sickles (right) during the 1888 reunion (Gettysburg NMP)

As the blogger points out, the general was more popular in the North than the South because of his alignment with President Ulysses S. Grant and the Republican Party. Former colleagues in gray savaged him for daring to criticize Lee’s decisions at Gettysburg.

The main hallway at the Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville, home to the Longstreet Society, has copies of documents on his appointment to federal offices, including postmaster, U.S. marshal and minister to Turkey. He also served as a railroad commissioner.

I recently asked Banks to describe Longstreet’s personality.

“Seems like guy I’d want to have a beer with -- good dude. Not a loudmouth.”

As for Sickles?

“Loudmouth”

William A. Longstreet was an ambassador for his grandfather

Dan Paterson’s late mother, Jamie Louise Longstreet Paterson (left), was crucial in the fight to vindicate the general’s conduct, during and after the Civil War.

Jamie was born 25 years after the death of James Longstreet, who had moved to Gainesville in 1875 and operated a hotel.

She was born in Gainesville to Fitz Randolph “Ranny” Longstreet – one of the general’s sons -- and Zelia Stover Longstreet.

Randolph’s first wife, Josie, died in 1904 and he remarried in 1929. William A. Longstreet’s mother was Josie and Jamie was his much younger half-sister.

Jamie grew up in Gainesville, married the late William D. Paterson and they lived in Washington and Bowie, Md.

Dan Paterson, now in his mid-60s and living in Centreville, Va., said the calling cards were passed on to Ranny, who kept them in a metal box. That container survives today and remains in the family.

Dan used the card as a template for his own business card.

Ranny Longstreet was a farmer and loving father, said Dan Paterson. “My grandfather was  … easy-going, he did not go into the military.”

William with book by James Longstreet, with Herman Leonard and in 1969 (Courtesy of Dan Paterson)

Paterson recalls his time with William in Georgia and elsewhere. They joined the same Richmond-based SCV chapter that was named for James Longstreet.

Paterson, a member of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table, has defended James his entire life. So did Herman Leonard, a family friend who gave talks about the general.

Paterson keeps a copy of a photo  (below) of William Longstreet and Leonard taken at Gettysburg in 1965. They stand in front of a shack that was labeled as Longstreet’s headquarters, which actually was a short distance away.

William A Longstreet and Herman Leonard (Courtesy of Dan Paterson)

“It was a tourist attraction from a leftover bunch of buildings in the area that were vendors.  I have the sign hanging in my basement,” said Paterson. The building no longer stands.

“That shack, much like that portrait, were my landmarks at Gettysburg when we were kids.”

William Adams Longstreet died in 1973 at age 76. He and his wife Gladys left behind no children.

He rests near Jamie, his parents and the general in the family plot at Alta Vista.

A U.S. flag flutters above them.