What he said in criticism of
General Longstreet was contained in the following sentences.
After speaking of a conference
General Lee had with
Rodes,
Ewell, and himself, held on the evening of the first day,
General Early says: ‘
General Lee then determined to make the attack from our right on the enemy's left, and left us for the purpose of ordering up
Longstreet's Corps in time to begin the attack at dawn the next morning.
That corps was not in readiness to make the attack until 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the next day. By that time
Meade's whole army had arrived on the field, and taken its position.
Had the attack been made at daylight, as contemplated, it must have resulted in a brilliant and decisive victory, as all of
Meade's army had not then arrived, and a very small portion of it was in position.
A considerable portion of his army did not get up until after sunrise, one corps not arriving until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and a prompt advance to the attack must have resulted in his defeat in detail.
The position which
Longstreet attacked at 4 was not occupied by the enemy until late in the afternoon, and
Round Top Hill, which commanded the enemy's position, could have been taken in the morning without a struggle.’
Speaking of the fight the next day, of the impossibility of
General Lee's doing ‘the actual marching and fighting of his army,’ and the necessity of the prompt and cheerful execution of his orders
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by his subordinates,
General Early said: ‘If
Mr. Swinton has told the truth in repeating in his book what is alleged to have been said to him by
General Longstreet, there was at least one of
General Lee's corps commanders at
Gettysburg who did not enter upon the execution of his plans with that confidence and faith necessary to success, and hence, perhaps, it was that it was not achieved.’
These were all of
General Early's criticisms upon
General Longstreet, and it is obvious that, under the provocation of
General Longstreet's previously published criticisms of
General Lee, they were very mild for
General Early.
