The American Civil War discussion

Hi All,

Just wanted to tip you to my forthcoming book, "Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment," to be published by McFarland in Spring 2019. It has been a 4+ year project.

Description: This is the first book-length, critical analysis of Lieutenant General James Longstreet's actions at the Battle of Gettysburg. The author argues that Longstreet's record has been discredited unfairly, beginning with character assassination by his contemporaries after the war and, persistently, by historians in the decades since. By closely studying the three-day battle, and conducting an incisive historiographical inquiry into Longstreet's treatment by scholars, this book presents an alternative view of Longstreet as an effective military leader, and refutes over a century of negative evaluations of his performance.

Advance Reviews:

"Cory M. Pfarr is a worthy successor to Glenn Tucker, providing the most detailed analysis to date of James Longstreet's actions at Gettysburg, the motivations of his postwar critics, and the manner in which bias against Longstreet has influenced histories of the battle down to the present day. This is a welcome addition to the historiography of the most studied military engagement in American history." - William Garrett Piston, author of Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and his Place in Southern History

"General James Longstreet remains the most controversial Confederate officer to fight at Gettysburg. Surprisingly, no full-length assessment of Longstreet’s Gettysburg record has been produced until now. Cory Pfarr methodically analyzes many of the myths and controversies that surround Lee’s ‘Old War Horse.’ His results challenge popular interpretations that were created by ‘Lost Cause’ advocates and continue among historians to this day. Pfarr’s provocative work will be required reading for all subsequent treatments of Longstreet at Gettysburg." -James A. Hessler, Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide and author of Sickles at Gettysburg and Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard

"About once each decade an honest work concerning James Longstreet is published. Cory Pfarr has this decade covered. This is the book so many of us have been waiting for. It is certified 'Lost Cause mythology'-free and is the first thoroughly honest account of General James Longstreet's generalship during the Gettysburg Campaign. This book is the long missing piece of the Gettysburg story." -Richard Pilcher, a past president of The Longstreet Society

"'Longstreet at Gettysburg' is a superb counter-stroke to the century-and-a-half of Lost Cause propaganda leveled at General Longstreet over Gettysburg. By confronting and refuting each and every false claim, Cory Pfarr has set the record straight and affirms the tremendous competence Longstreet employed to try and win a battle where the circumstances were stacked against the Confederates. He shows Longstreet’s efforts and results were impressive in the face of difficult odds, and proves Longstreet is one of America’s best war leaders and fighting generals. A tour de force." -Harold M. Knudsen, LTC (Ret.) US Army and author of General James Longstreet: The Confederacy’s Most Modern General

Thanks very much for your time and consideration.

-Cory

Sounds interesting... a couple of questions:

1) Who is the publisher?
2) How long is the book?
3) How much is it?

And finally, I'd be interested in hearing a little about the 4+ year project? What made you interested in it? How did you research it? Do you rely primarily on primary sources or secondary? What makes you/this project different?

Porter wrote: "Sounds interesting... a couple of questions:

1) Who is the publisher?
2) How long is the book?
3) How much is it?

And finally, I'd be interested in hearing a little about the 4+ year project? Wha..."


Hi Porter,

Thanks for your interest and the questions. The publisher is McFarland. The book will be between 200-250 pages including endnotes and bibliography. It's currently listed at $39.95 regular price.

I've always been interested in Longstreet and the controversy surrounding his performance at the Battle of Gettysburg. After so many years of never seeing a book specifically dedicated to his actions at the battle, I decided to write it myself. William Garrett Piston’s "Lee’s Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History," published 35 years ago remains an exemplary, erudite work largely focused on Longstreet’s postwar life and his frequent squabbles with the Lost Cause Group in the years after Robert E. Lee’s death. Though Piston’s analysis of these postwar arguments often touch on specific Confederate actions at Gettysburg and he devotes a sound, but limited chapter exclusively to Longstreet’s actions at the battle, suffice to say that the heart of the book lies elsewhere and is broader in focus. The last major biography of Longstreet by Jeffry Wert, now over twenty years old, allotted several chapters to Longstreet’s actions at the battle and sought to be the definitive account of his conduct there – though I often found Wert’s analysis pandering and wanting. I go into specific examples in my book.

In addition to these accounts are decades upon decades of historical scholarship that deal with Longstreet’s actions at Gettysburg, to include: the Lost Cause Group of the postwar years, mostly made up of ex-Confederate soldiers; the twentieth-century giants of Douglas Southall Freeman, Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote, Edwin Coddington, and Clifford Dowdey; and, the modern well-knowns, such as Glenn Tucker, Gary Gallagher, Robert Krick, Stephen Sears, Allen Guelzo, Harry Phanz, and Earl Hess.

With limited exception, the majority of works from these groups and historians still, either knowingly or unknowingly, perpetuate a false narrative of Longstreet’s actions at Gettysburg tainted by Lost Cause ideology (almost synonymous with anti-Longstreet ideology), which was in full bloom between the years of Lee’s and Longstreet’s deaths. Narratives of Longstreet’s actions at Gettysburg since have almost always projected a deep-rooted cognizance of Lost Cause source material, which is mammoth in size. As a result, to differing degrees, narratives of the Battle of Gettysburg and full length studies of Longstreet that touch on his actions there range in reliability from imprecise to inaccurate, and from pedantic to insufferable.

Examining numerous primary sources to write this book, to include the enormous Southern Historical Society Papers and The War of the Rebellion, I found that incorporating significant additional or new source material is not what has been deficient in Gettysburg-related Longstreet studies. Indeed, historians have amassed a great wealth of primary sources to create their works. Rather, what is consistently lacking, as put in the book, is "a fresh reading of the source material versed in, but liberated from, previous academic interpretation." That's largely what makes this book/project different. In short, I analyzed many of the same sources other historians readily have at their fingertips digitally, in print, or in private collections; however, on numerous occasions, I found these sources were misread, misrepresented, or deliberately spun, perhaps in some cases to serve some partial purpose. Additionally, I looked at many secondary sources because a significant portion of the book is historiographical in nature and examines and analyzes what other historians have written about Longstreet at Gettysburg over the years.

Hopefully that gives you a better sense of the book/project's scope. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards, Cory

Thanks

I just finished one of the books you mentioned, Allen Guelzo's Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, and I thought he was very fair with Longstreet. Guelzo explained that many of these so-called eye witness accounts surfaced years after the war, in many and should be treated with suspicion because the CFA veterans saw Longstreet as a traitor during reconstruction. So the criticism was exaggerated and snowballed for several years after the war and for some time until they were accepted as gospel. Guelzo maintains that it was Lee’s battle to lose and he did so. I also remember that Guelzo mentioned that Longstreet had attempted to be transferred to the Western theater of war prior to Gettysburg. I remember it struck me as odd that Lee’s Old Warhorse wanted out of the Army of Northern Virginia.

None of this should surprise me though. The other key learning was that the rift in the Army of the Potomac's Officer Corp between the McClellanites and the Republican officers was so great it almost led to the loss of the battle in my opinion and several of these officers like Doubleday and Howard were treated rather unfairly for their part in the battle as well.

Thanks for the notice. I will have to put this one in my queue. I think that the timing for your book is perfect for me as I was intrigued by Guelzo's analysis and I would like to delve deeper.