My Old War Horse

"Error lives but a day, truth is eternal."--Lt. General James Longstreet, CSA.

As the evening hours draw near, the bugle calls of the eternal years sound clearer to my understanding than when drowned in the hiss of musketry and the roar of cannon. By memory of battlefields and prophecy of coming events, I declare the hope that the present generation may witness the disbandment of standing armies, the reign of natural justice, the ushering in of the brotherhood of man. If I could recall one hour of my distant but glorious command, I would say, on the eve of battle with a foreign foe, little children, love one another.--Lt. General James Longstreet, CSA. (On the eve of the Spanish-American War, the old General wrote this simple prayer which defined his post-war years.)

Lt. General James Longstreet served with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from Manassas to Appomattox. James Longstreet served with great distinction as the army's senior corps commander and as friend, confidante and second in command to General Lee, who referred to him affectionately as "my old war horse" and "the staff of my right hand." The battlefield command combination of Lee, Longstreet, Jackson and Stuart is often referred to as the finest ever assembled on the field of battle.

After the war, General Longstreet moved to New Orleans where he went into business and began a long political career. He joined the Republican party reasoning that being the party in power, they controlled the destiny of the former Confederate states. He further reasoned that Southerners could hasten the end of reconstruction by joining the Republican party in great numbers and seize some degree of control of the South's future. To that end, he advised Southerners to cooperate with Reconstruction efforts and voluntarily grant former slaves full citizenship rights. Of course, many Southerners were appalled at these suggestions, many seeing them as treasonous, and the General's wartime reputation suffered greatly for it.

On the advise of his brother William, Longstreet moved to Gainesville, Georgia in 1875 seeking a friendlier environment than New Orleans and other places around the south. About this time is when many Dunagans in the Gainesville, Hall county area befriended the General and many of them joined the Republican party. I found a copy of minutes of the Hall County Republican Party chapter showing election of officers in 1878. Benjamin Black Dunagan, brother of my 3rd. great grandfather, Joseph Ellis Dunagan, was elected Vice-President.

I have seen written reference to this period of history in the deep south, and the only people joining the Republican party back then in Georgia were freed black men and a few crazy, bullheaded white men like my relatives must have been. Benjamin and Joseph Ellis's brother, James Reid Dunagan, was so opposed to slavery and to Georgia's secession from the union that he insisted that his Methodist Church affiliate with the United Methodist of the North versus the Southern State Association. I'm sure this really ticked off a lot of local people. Today the church, Dunagan Chapel UMC, still stands and is an active fellowship apart of the United Methodist Churches. James Reid Dunagan is buried in the church cemetery.

I have always admired that kind of stubbornness in people, making them unafraid to stand up for what they believe, to be willing to break away from the herd, swim against the strong currents or stand against popular sentiment and the demagoguery of the day. James Longstreet was this type of man and apparently so were many of my relatives of that generation. Longstreet, during his declining years became a champion for peace and reconciliation, but being the pragmatic bulldog that he was, he stubbornly held to his political beliefs until the day he died in January of 1904. He was the last of the Confederate high command to pass away and is buried in Alta Vista Cemetery, Gainesville, Georgia.