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| Jamie L. Paterson at Gettysburg in 1998 (Courtesy Dan Paterson) |
Dan Paterson
remembers visiting Civil War battlefields where his famous great-grandfather’s
name might be mentioned, but no monument stood.
Paterson’s
mother, Jamie, also would drive Dan and his younger brother Jimmy to her
hometown of Gainesville, Ga, the home and resting place of Confederate Gen. James Longstreet.
“When I was
kid growing up and visiting that grave site, it was more like a family going to a
family graveyard, not what it is today with the lights and the flagpole,” said
Paterson, 55.
Recognition
for Longstreet was slow in coming. In the latter half of his storied life, the
general became the scapegoat for the South’s defeat. Vindication of the controversial general wouldn’t begin
until several decades after his 1904 death.
The growing
recognition of Longstreet’s contribution to the Southern war effort culminated with
the July 3, 1998, dedication of a monument to the warrior at Pitzer’s Woods at
Gettysburg, the battle in which Longstreet’s conduct was criticized by many historians.
The
dedication was a poignant moment for Jamie Louise Longstreet Paterson, who
proudly carried her grandfather’s name and did her part over the years to help remove
the tarnish off the general who did the unthinkable after the Civil War -- support
the Republican Party, Reconstruction and suffrage for blacks.
Jamie
Paterson died at age 84 on Aug. 5
after an extended illness. She was a resident of Bowie, Md.
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| Fitz Randolph Longstreet in 1929 |
She was born
in Gainesville to Fitz Randolph Longstreet – one of the general’s sons -- and Zelia Stover Longstreet.
Randolph’s first wife, Josie, died in 1904 and he remarried in 1929. Jamie was
born a year later, when her father was 61. He passed away in 1951.
Jamie never
knew James Longstreet, who moved to Gainesville in 1875 and operated a hotel.
Randolph
Longstreet was a farmer and loving father, said Dan Paterson. “My grandfather
was … easy-going, he did not go into the
military.”
Jamie
attended Gainesville Business School and worked for the Gainesville Midland Railway.
In 1957, she married William D. Paterson, a Pennsylvanian who wooed her after
they met at a dance while he was stationed at an Army Ranger camp in north
Georgia. They lived in Washington, D.C. and then Bowie. William Paterson died
in 2006.
As he grew
older, Dan Paterson helped take up the family mantle in educating the public
about Longstreet.
“I made it my
life mission to understand his role,” he said. “After all these years of giving
programs, living in (Centreville) Virginia and hearing about Stonewall, I know
the origin of this.”
Longstreet’s
most masterful moments during the Civil War were at Chickamauga and Second
Manassas.
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| Dan Paterson (right) in 1969 at Longstreet grave. His mother is behind marker. |
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 1863
battle – and perhaps the war.
They said
Lee’s “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.
Paterson said
the claims against his great-grandfather’s conduct at Gettysburg are a lie. “But
now the truth is coming out.”
The
controversy about Longstreet began two years after the war’s end. While his
wife, Louisa, stayed in Lynchburg, Va., with their children, including
Randolph, the former general was a successful businessman in New Orleans. He
kept the family in Virginia because of persistent fears of yellow fever in New
Orleans.
.jpg) |
| Jamie Longstreet (far right) with relatives, circa 1946. |
“The stuff
hit the fan” in 1867 when Longstreet wrote in a newspaper report that he
believed in reconciliation and black suffrage. His business began to fail, said
Paterson, after critics accused him of being a scalawag – a Southern white who
supported Reconstruction.
While living in
Louisiana, Longstreet led a black militia against unruly white supremacists.
Southerners did not forget that affront or his Republican 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.
“All of this anti-Longstreet material was
racially motivated,” said Dan Paterson, adding it’s important that people
understand the timeline of events – that his great-grandfather’s stance on
issues became clear before he joined the Republican Party and served in the
administration of President Ulysses S. Grant.
Paterson
concedes James Longstreet offended many people in some of his answers to
critics.
“He
embittered people when he responded. When he wrote his book, it was like it is
sending an e-mail out when you were angry.”
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| Zelia and F.R. Longstreet, circa 1940. |
Family members portray Longstreet, who was born in South Carolina, as a pragmatist for his support of Reconstruction.
Among those
who promote the general’s legacy is the Longstreet Society, which operates out of the old Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville. The
family asks that donations in Jamie Paterson’s name be made to the
organization.
Dan Paterson
said his mother’s remains will be interred in the Longstreet family plot at
Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville. A date has not yet been set. “I have to
bring her home,” he said. “She requested that.”
Over the
years, Jamie Paterson attended many functions related to the Civil War and her
grandfather. She also spoke highly of the general’s second wife, Helen, whom he
married eight years after Louisa passed away.
Dan Paterson
said he has been treated well at events, including at “the lion’s den” of
Richmond, Va. He met a descendant of Jubal Early and described him as a “real
nice guy.”
The
descendant said the war was about preserving slavery. “I am more intrigued
about the expose of the Lost Cause than I am anything. That is the source for
the negative stuff against Longstreet.”
Paterson continues
to give occasional presentations and feels he has had some part in helping
change the general’s reputation.
He’s been
involved in re-enacting for years, portraying both Confederate and Union soldiers.
It’s not about politics, Paterson said, but about “trying to follow what those
guys did.”
People joke
that Longstreet most be rolling in his grave because Paterson is part of the 7th
Maryland Volunteer Infantry, a re-enacting group that portrays Union soldiers.
“I think he
would be happy with what I am doing,” said Paterson.
