His Childhood

As with any good story it is sometimes best to start at a beginning, so let us journey back in time to 1657 to the immigrant ancestor of our subject, in a place called Amersfoort, New Netherlands (Flatlands, Long Island, New York), a small new world colony of the Dutch colonial empire. It is not the intention here to give a detailed account of these early ancestors, but to simply paint sufficient background and give point of reference to our narrative.

Dirck Stoffle Langestraet, the 3rd g-grandfather of James Longstreet, emigrated from the Netherlands to the new colony. He later moved to New Jersey and passed his life there. He married 1st Catherine Van Lieuwen, 2nd Johanna Havens, and had a son by the first wife named Stoffle Dircksen.[1] Stoffle D. Langestraet emigrated with his father from Long Island to New Jersey and settled in Monmouth County with his wife, Moica "Mercy" Lanen Van Pelt (aka Mercy Lane). He is most notably remembered for shooting down six swans "flying over a meadow" with one shot. He was a deacon in the Flatlands Dutch Church and a planter by trade. His fourth son, Stoffle changed his name from Langestraet to Longstreet.[2]

Stoffle Longstreet married Abigail Woolley on the 16th of December 1763. The matrimonial bonds were described by Edward Mayes, the eminent chancellor of the University of Mississippi, son-in law of Augustus B. Longstreet, and the first historian of the Southern branch of the Longstreet family, as being "a singular marriage---one of pure Dutch descent and religion, the other pure English and a Quakeress." He settled near Allentown, in Upper Freehold, Monmouth, New Jersey. This county was considered "to be the most wealthy county in the province, paying the greatest amount of taxes. It was easily accessible from New York, and offered a safe anchorage for vessels within Sandy Hook. Here Stoffel Longstreet lived his life, and here he died on August 31, 1782." There were six known children born of this marriage: John, Daniel, Gilbert, Lydia, William, and Mary.[3] The Southern Branch of the Longstreet family descend from this group (i.e., those who emigrated south after the Revolutionary War from New Jersey and settled in South Carolina and Georgia, and who later moved to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas).

Little is known of the oldest son, John, other than he was a Revolutionary War soldier, a private who served in Capt. Waddell's Company of the New Jersey Line. He married Lucy Tapscott and had children. "According to the Family Bible in possession of a descendant, Mrs. Emma Taylor of Allentown, N.J., the children were: Gilbert, b. Dec 11, 1788, Lucy, William, Lydia, and Abigail, b. 1778."[4] As far as can be determined at this point, none in this line of Longstreets ventured south into Georgia or South Carolina.

Gilbert, the second child of Stoffle and Abigail Longstreet, married Helena Hankinson and had one child, Eleanor who married her second cousin, Robert Longstreet. Gilbert was a First Lieutenant in Captain Peter Gordon's Company, Colonel David Forman's Regiment, Brigadier General Nathaniel Heard's Brigade of the New Jersey State Troops in 1776 (these troops were raised under ordinance of June 14, 1776, to serve until December 1, 1776) and were transferred to Captain Peter Wikoff's Company. Gilbert was at the battle of Long Island, New York, in August 27, 1776. He was on the rolls in October 5, 1776 (on furlough-also given sick, absent) and was at the Battle of White Plains, New York in October 28, 1776. He was appointed Recruiting Officer for Monmouth County on October 10, 1777 and designated to recruit men for the Continental service to rendezvous at Monmouth Court House, during the Revolutionary War.[5] There is little evidence at this time that anyone from this line settled in the southern states. Mary Longstreet married Dr. Elisha Wall and probably had issue: Lydia, Deborah, and John.[6] No further data is available concerning Lydia Longstreet.[7] Stoffle's two other sons, Daniel and William, also served as soldiers. Daniel Longstreet, like his brothers, was a Revolutionary War veteran. He served as a 1st Lieutenant of Continental Marines and fought on the western front, along the Mississippi and Gulf Coast in the British Fourteenth Colony of West Florida. Daniel Longstreet is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the modern day United States Marine Corps. After the war he received over 18,000 acres in war bounty grants in Washington and Franklin County, Georgia, for his gallant actions during the war for independence. After the conflict he settled in Augusta and was a signer of the 1789 Georgia Constitution. Daniel never married and died about 1805.[8]

The progenitor of the Southern line of the Longstreet family begins with William Longstreet, born 1759, the youngest son of Stoffle, who married Hannah Randolph in New Jersey, daughter of James Randolph, a Revolutionary War hero, and moved about 1785 to Augusta, Georgia.[9] He served in the Indian Wars after the Revolution and received bounty land for his service.[10] William, an early inventor of the steamboat whose experiments with a navigational steam engine preceded those of Robert Fulton was a member of the Board of Aldermen and city council in Augusta, Ga. As a legislator in the General Assembly in 1794-95, he was deeply involved in the Yazoo Land Frauds which "included about 35,000,000 in land"[11] in the western territory. He was a prolific entrepreneur, active in his community, and a dutiful citizen. William and Hannah had six children: James, Gilbert, Rebecca, Rachel, Augustus Baldwin, and William, five of whom lived to majority.[12]

James Longstreet, Sr., oldest son of William Longstreet, was born in New Jersey 1783 and journeyed with his father and mother south to their new home in Augusta, Georgia. He grew up as a farmer and helped his father in his various enterprises.[13] On December 14, 1814, he married in Augusta, Mary Ann Dent, daughter of Thomas Marshall "Marshall" Dent, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Sarah Marshall of the Maryland "Marshall Hall" family. James and Mary Ann gave birth to eleven children: Anna Randolph, William Dent, Sarah Jane, John, James, Henrietta, Rebecca, Julia, Eliza Parke, Maria Nelson, and Sarah Jane, nine of whom lived to majority.[14]

Gilbert Longstreet, born in Augusta in 1785, married 1st Elizabeth Leigh, who died soon after, probably in childbirth; he married 2nd Martha Henrietta Eve[15], daughter of Oswell Eve and Alphra Ann Pritchard[16] and had ten children: Gilbert, Anderson Paul, William, Gaston, 2d Gilbert, Alphea A., Hannah Bones, Elizabeth E., Sarah, and Emma E.; six of whom lived to majority:[17] Gilbert was a man who, like his father, "was a business man of an almost shocking degree of conformity to the later developments of that genus." He was always in and out of business partnerships with family and kin, wheeling and dealing, in an out of court, buying and selling land, with "his money eye wide open."[18]

The oldest daughter of William and Hannah Longstreet, Rebecca Lewis, born Nov 9, 1786, married Abiel Camfield, May 8, 1809 in Augusta, Ga. During a fifteen year period, from 1810 until 1826, Rebecca gave birth to ten children: Hannah Longstreet, William Augustus, Elizabeth Jones, Mary Eliza, Rebecca Longstreet, John Howard, Lydia Harrison, Octavia Philura, and Sarah Ann Milledge.[19]

Rachel Longstreet, daughter of William and Hannah was born September 12, 1787. She died in childhood. Her headstone reads, "In memory of Rachel, Daughter of Hannah & William Longstreet. Died Jan. 12th, 1790, Aged 2 years & 4 months."[20]

Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, lawyer, judge, legislator, minister, educator, author, president of four colleges, was born September 22, 1790 in Augusta Georgia. He married, in 1817, Miss Frances Eliza Parke, daughter of Emsley Parke and Mary Hawkins. Judge Longstreet and "Fanny" produced eight children: Alfred Emsley, Henrietta Augusta, Frances Eliza, Virginia Lafayette, Ebenezer Torrance, George McDuffie, Fitz Randolph, and Rebecca Lewis, of whom two lived to majority.[21]

William Longstreet, youngest child of William and Hannah, was born in 1798 just before the turn of the century in the city of Augusta. He married Mary Ann Olivia White, daughter of William White and Mary Ann Belinda,[22] on November 13, 1823. William and Mary Ann had five children: Anna White, Elizabeth Ellen, James Carter, Gilbert Augustus, and Mary Ann, three of whom reached majority.[23]

The southern family of Longstreets has produced a cluster of noted Americans--- William, the inventor; his son, Augustus Baldwin, the educator; and his grandson, James, the Confederate general---and a pool of lesser known individuals: Daniel, the Continental Marine; Gilbert, a Son of Texas; James Carter, Jr., chancellor, William and James Carter Sr., pioneers, but none are more controversial or misunderstood than Lt. General James Longstreet of Confederate fame. Although numerous articles and several biographies have been produced about James Longstreet, grandson of William Longstreet, much remains to be discovered concerning this illustrious American.

Numerous inconsistencies in accounts concerning his childhood have prompted a careful re-examination of the records and a new construction of his youth has emerged which is quite different from the one most historians have previously depicted.

Much of the erroneous contemporary image of James Longstreet's boyhood has taken root from three sources: General Longstreet's military memoir, From Manassas To Appomattox;[24] Bishop O. P. Fitzgerald's Judge Longstreet: A Life Sketch;[25] and traditional lore.

We will begin our essay with the brief account by General Longstreet of his early life. In his book, From Manassas to Appomattox, General Longstreet states:

I was born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, on the 8th of January, 1821 . . . My earliest recollections were of the Georgia side of the Savannah River, and my school-days were passed there, but the appointment to West Point Academy was from North Alabama.[26]And on the next page he adds, "My father was a planter. From my early boyhood he conceived that he would send me to West Point for army service, but in my twelfth year he passed away during the cholera epidemic at Augusta. Mother moved to North Alabama with her children, whence in my sixteenth year I made application through a kinsman Congressman Reuben Chapman, for appointment as cadet, received the coveted favor, and entered with the class that was admitted in 1838.[27]

This constitutes the entire description by General Longstreet of his youth up to his entry into West Point. These facts can be listed chronologically as follows:

1. Gen. Longstreet was born in Edgefield District, South Carolina on January 8, 1821.
2. His earliest memories were of attending school on the Georgia side of the Savannah River.
3. His father died from cholera when he was twelve years old.
4. After the death of his father, his mother moved to North Alabama with her children.
5. He made his application to West Point, at age 16, through his kinsman, Reuben Chapman.
6. His appointment to the Military Academy at West Point was made from Northern Alabama.
7. He entered West Point as a member of the Class of 1838.

Many historians have interpreted the statements ". . . he (James Sr.) passed away during the cholera epidemic at Augusta," and "Mother moved to North Alabama with her children." as meaning after the death of her husband, Mary Ann moved immediately to Northern Alabama with her other children leaving him behind to live with Uncle Augustus. Such was not the case.

His manuscript, From Manassas To Appomattox, was a military memoir, not a genealogy, and thus much was left out in the way of family history. Historians have constructed their own timelines based on their misunderstanding of the statements in his text. If we rely on supporting contemporary evidence, General Longstreet's implication becomes clear. He meant that after the death of his father, his mother journeyed from Alabama to Augusta with all of her children to attend to her late husband's estate. After a few years she moved back to Alabama with all of her children, including him, and then later in 1843 to Mississippi.

One thing is certain; General Longstreet is guilty of "omissive rhetoric"[28] in regard to statements made about his early life in his book. It is not surprising that historians have entirely misinterpreted his early youth. But there were other contributing factors to the clouded view of James Longstreet's youth and thus we next turn our attention to the work by O. B. Fitzgerald.

Unfortunately for those historians who have quoted his work, Bishop Fitzgerald committed a very serious factual error in his biography of Augustus B. Longstreet concerning the judge's nephew, James Longstreet, of Confederate fame. In commenting on Judge Longstreet's literary style, Fitzgerald states: "Judge Longstreet was a delightful letter writer --- wise, witty and pathetic by turns. The most of his correspondence perished by the fire of which mention has already been made. Among the letters that survived that catastrophe is one written to Gov. McDuffie, his early friend and school-mate, dated at Oxford, Ga., June 22, 1846, from which a few of the opening sentences are here quoted to indicate to the reader what was his epistolary style, while they reveal something of the heart of the writer. The letter text is quoted here in full:

From Washington to New York, and during my tarry there, I had a dreadful time of it --- sick all the time; and weak as an infant most of the time. In Philadelphia I did gather strength enough to visit your daughter. She's a sweet girl, far handsomer than I expected to find her; for in point of beauty she had nothing to hope for, at least on the paternal side, and yet she is decidedly good-looking. Her voice is enrapturing, and, according to the best judgment that I could form on a half-hour's acquaintance, she has an amiable disposition. Well, this is all that a father could ask in a daughter, and more than a father has a right to expect. May God preserve her to you, and you to her, for many, many years! The sight of her tore open an old wound, but it soon healed again. You remember that we used to talk of a match between her and my dear boy Torrence.

(Bishop continues) "In the same letter there is another paragraph which subsequent events invest with a special interest:"

'My brother William has a son (James) of the brightest promise, whom he wishes to get in at West Point. Now if you can give him any aid in the accomplishment of his wishes, I pray you do it, and please enlist with you as many of your colleagues as you can. Address Mr. Calhoun and Isaac Holmes special in my name upon the subject.'

(Bishop further adds) "This nephew, James Longstreet, whom the reader has already recognized as the renowned Confederate general, spoke of Judge Longstreet in 1889 as being to him 'more than a father'."[29] Regrettably Fitzgerald has misidentified whom Judge Longstreet was referring to in his letter. Augustus was seeking aid in getting his nephew, James Carter Longstreet into West Point . . . son of his brother, William, not James Longstreet, the future general, son of his brother, James. Fitzgerald has confused the two cousins and wrongly identified James Carter Longstreet with General James Longstreet.

The results of this simple error by Fitzgerald and the "omissive rhetoric" by General Longstreet have been profound, beginning with Helen D. Longstreet's book, Lee and Longstreet at High Tide,[30] first published in 1904 soon after the General's death, and continuing with Wade's biography, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet: A Study of the Development of Culture in the South,[31] and then with D. B. Sanger's biography, James Longstreet: I. Soldier.[32] with many proceeding historians and biographers spinning a new tale, unintentionally creating a virtual web of misinformation about his youth with each one expanding and elaborating on earlier misstatements in an effort to fill the dearth of information concerning the General's childhood.

Helen's book, which she termed "this little work,"[33] was originally written while the General was still alive and was primarily a defense of his conduct at Gettysburg. Other chapters in the book were added after his death in 1904 and were strung "together disjointedly a few incidents"[34] at a time. Helen does not use source citations in her book and the reader is left with the impression that her information about the General came directly from him. The difficulty of separating fact from fiction in her book lies in determining her source information. Obviously, in her many conversations with her husband, she must have asked questions about his early life. A brief examination of her statements concerning his youth should reveal the origin of the information and its accuracy. We can safely assume that statements made by the General about his childhood are true with a high degree of certainty. Statements referencing reliable contemporary sources should also be judged as true with a corresponding degree of accuracy since any biographical record of the General before his death in 1904 would most likely reference him before publication. Information provided by descendants as "family tradition" should be viewed with a relative degree of accuracy depending, of course, whether or not they were relying on bible or baptismal records, etc. or whether they were quoting from memory. Information about his boyhood, gleaned from biographical sources after his death, should be judged as less accurate, especially those works which cite questionable secondary sources.

In her book Helen recounts his boyhood days thus: "He had but little schooling before he went to West Point as cadet of the Military Academy . . . . General Longstreet was born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, January 8, 1821. His early years were spent in the country. His father was a planter . . . having died when he was but twelve years old.[35] General Longstreet's mother moved shortly afterwards to Augusta, Georgia, where she resided a few years, after which she moved to Alabama."[36] We can safely assume that the previous statements are factual since they mirror the General's statements in his memoir. (Helen continues) "The education of young Longstreet was then intrusted to his uncle, Judge A. B. Longstreet, for many years president of Emory College, at Oxford, Georgia . . . . Entirely immersed in his college duties, Judge Longstreet had but little time to give to his youthful nephew. Of those early days , it is only known that the boy was not much of a student; that the massive oaks of Oxford appealed to him more than the school-room."[37]

The aforementioned statements should be viewed with a degree of skepticism since they appeal to Fitzgerald and tradition as source material. Of interest here is Helen's statement that the General's education was entrusted to his uncle Augustus after she (Mary Ann Longstreet) moved to Alabama.[38] Although Helen's timeline is correct her assumption that Uncle Augustus was responsible for getting young James into West Point is straight from Fitzgerald's book. A close examination of the records shows that Judge Longstreet was unable to secure a cadetship for either of his nephews.

James Longstreet senior died about June of 1833 as his will was probated on July 1st of that year[39]. According to Helen, Mary Ann then moved "shortly" back to Augusta (from Alabama) "where she resided for a few years." Assuming the words "a few years" to means a minimum of three years, the earliest date of Mary Ann's return to Alabama would have been late 1836 or early 1837. Her signature appears on a ledger for Troup's General Store in Alabama for early 1837 where she bought supplies for her family.[40] Soon after she moved her family to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, "for the better education of her children."[41] Throughout this time her son, James, remained in her care. As a matter of fact, young James left for West Point by stagecoach June of 1838[42] and at that time his education was entrusted to the instructors at the Military Academy, not his uncle Augustus.

Additionally, noted A. B. Longstreet biographer, John Donald Wade, mentions a paragraph about young James Longstreet in his book originally published in 1924. He states:

Among the frequent visitors in Oxford, in this case a regular member of the household, was Longstreet's young nephew, James Longstreet, whose education the boy's widowed mother had turned over to the Judge to do with as he liked. James was in many ways exactly to his uncle's fancy, mischievous, fun loving, lovable in everything, and ambitious enough when you would give him free rein, but withal somewhat incorrigible, refusing to do his work after a fashion to justify his being kept in college. Finally, the judge helped get him into the Military Academy at West Point, writing to McDuffie and sending messages to Calhoun in Washington,--- in general, the nephew said, acting towards him the part of one "more than a father.[43]

Wade cites both Fitzgerald and Helen Longstreet's books as his source of information.[44] Where Helen states that James was "not much of a student," Wade has elaborated and injected the oft used negative personality characteristics used by the "Lee Cult"[45]: unbridled ambition ("ambitious enough when you would give him free rein"); stubbornness ("somewhat incorrigible"); and insubordination ("refusing to do his work")---rhetoric often used by the "anti-Longstreet Cabal"[46] in their effort to convince ordinary citizens that James Longstreet was somehow a severely flawed man and a traitor to the "lost cause."[47]

Although Wade is not a James Longstreet historian, he is cited by later Longstreet biographers and other writers. This is the first appearance of negative characteristics attributed to James Longstreet, the boy. Thus it is an easy leap, for those searching for a fault, to say these are inherent derogatory traits of James Longstreet, the man.

The use of tradition has also played a large part in the misconstruction of General Longstreet's boyhood. James Longstreet biographer, Donald Bridgeman Sanger, stated that "tradition remains today the sole source of information concerning James Longstreet's boyhood, which was spent on a plantation near Gainesville"[48] but gives no concrete source for this information about the Gainesville farm. He further states that "James was born in Edgefield, South Carolina on January 8, 1821, while his mother was visiting her husband's parents." Sanger cites Mayes and Wade as sources but a closer study of their citations reveals nothing to support his statement. His use of traditional sources, and unfortunately those who have relied on his work, has created an even more confusing quagmire of misinformation concerning the General's youth.

Almost without exception historical accounts state that General James Longstreet was born in Edgefield District South Carolina. Chapman, in his History of Edgefield County From The Earliest Settlements to 1897 states that:

. . . Lieutenant General James Longstreet, the right hand of Lee during the great war of Secession, was born in that district. The place of his birth is known as the 'old Dent place,' and is near the line of Aiken and Edgefield, a few hundred yards north of the north prong of a small stream known as Fox Creek, some seven or eight miles from Augusta, and about four miles east of the Savannah River. It is a rough, rugged spot, and has no house there now.[49]

Additionally, early contemporary references, including biographical and U. S. Census records, also corroborate that he was born in Edgefield District, South Carolina.[50]

According to the Superior Court Records of Richmond County, James Longstreet Sr. sold his share in his father's estate on April 10, 1817 to his brother, Gilbert, for $4,000, and earlier Augustus made a similar disclaimer for $3,000 on February 19, 1817 for his share.[51] A. B. Longstreet biographer, Kimball King, makes a similar statement in his account of Judge Longstreet. He further relates that William "had left property to each of his children."[52] Thomas Marshall Dent, the General's maternal grandfather, had sold most of his land by 1820 and had moved in with his daughter and son-in-law. Both Marshall Dent and Sarah Marshall Dent, Mary Ann's sister, can be found in the United States Census for 1820 living with James Longstreet (as head of household) in South Carolina.

A much more likely birth place for the General would be on his father's 770 acre plantation called "Hopewell." This land, purchased by James Longstreet, Sr., on July 9, 1819[53] and then sold by him on October 19, 1824,[54] was located 7 miles from the Augusta bridge along the Five Notch Road. Finally, Ann Magruder, mother of Mary Ann (Dent) Longstreet, was dead by 1821, and her mother-in-law, Hannah, was operating a boarding house in Augusta[55]. It is much more likely that the General's mother, Mary Ann was ministered to by a local midwife[56] and that he was born on his father's plantation, "Hopewell," in Edgefield District, South Carolina.

James Longstreet, Sr. was a planter---a farmer---but he was also a businessman. He bought and sold properties in and around Edgefield as well as properties in Georgia and Alabama. He was also the lucky recipient of Georgia land lottery property. He was a co-partner with his brother, Gilbert, in the hatter business, and even owned an inn in the town of Edgefield itself. In late 1824 he sold his plantation, "Hopewell," and moved his family to a new 128 acre tract of prime, cleared land just one mile north of Augusta on the Savannah River called the old Cobberson Place close to where his brother, Augustus, maintained a residence on his plantation called "Westover." In 1831 he moved his whole family to a plantation just a half mile south outside the city of Somerville, in Morgan County, Alabama, where young James attended the Somerville Male Academy. James Sr. died in Augusta, Georgia in the cholera epidemic of 1833. Gilbert's wife, Martha Henrietta "Henny" Eve[57] also died in 1833, possibly in the same epidemic.

Within a few months, probably by late 1833 or early 1834, Mary Ann moved back to Augusta with all of her children[58] to administer her husband's estate once she had been assured that no traces of the plague remained. She remained in Augusta until late 1836 or early 1837 and then returned, with all of her children, to her plantation in Somerville, Alabama, where her sister, Sarah Marshall Blackwell, and her kinsman, Congressman Reuben Chapman lived. Through her kinsman and powerful family ties, she was able to secure a pledge for James Longstreet, Jr. to enter the Military Academy at West Point in 1838. The application was submitted by Hutchinson Dent, as the representative of young James, and then endorsed by Reuben Chapman.

After a short stay in Somerville, Mary Ann Longstreet moved, with all of her offspring to Tuscaloosa in 1837 for "the better education of her children."[59] She may have stayed with her first cousin, General Dennis Dent, who owned a large plantation in Tuscaloosa at that time. Although he doesn't mention it in his memoirs, it is possible that young James Longstreet attended the newly established University of Alabama for a short period before leaving by stagecoach for West Point at the age of 17.

James Carter Longstreet, son of William, was born on September 25, 1829, probably in Habersham Co., Georgia. Very little is known concerning the life of General Longstreet's cousin at this point. In 1830, as an infant, he was living with his father and mother in Habersham Co., Ga.[60] He is again seen with his father, younger brother and younger sister in 1840 in Richmond Co., Georgia. His mother is not listed as being in the household at that time.[61] His mother died in 1845, and he next appeared, at age 16, in the letter quoted previously by Fitzgerald. For reasons unspecified, he and his brother and sister had become Augustus's wards at this point, and the whereabouts of the father, William, is unknown. In 1850 James Carter Longstreet graduated from Emory at Oxford College[62] and appeared in the household of Aaron and Rebecca Roff in Gordon Co. Ga., as a student-at-law (studying law) along with his brother, William Augustus Longstreet.[63] Aaron Roff was a planter in Gordon Co.[64] and Rebecca Longstreet (Camfield) Roff was James Carter Longstreet's first cousin.[65] James C. Longstreet is listed as an early settler of Gordon County.[66] As prominent lawyer in Calhoun, Gordon Co., Georgia,[67] he was appointed Solicitor General of the Cherokee Circuit in Nov. 15, 1856. He was owner and operator of the Oothcalooga ("Place of the Beaver Dams") mill property, or Longstreet mill as it was called. He died at age 29 on July 5, 1858 in Gordon County, Ga.[68] Thus we can see that it was James Carter Longstreet who lived with Uncle Augustus and attended Emory at Oxford, not James Longstreet, the Confederate general.

It is important to understand at this new point in time that General James Longstreet was a product of his own mother and father's upbringing. The confidence, intelligence, integrity, and imperturbability he exhibited as an adult can be most likely attributed to their parenting skills. After the death of his father, his mother, Mary Ann, remained the most influential person in his life up to the time he left for West Point.

The blending of the lives of these two cousins by historians is unfortunate, but not irreparable. What historians unintentionally did, they can intentionally undo by accuracy in future works, thus can the lives of these two men be untangled and the truth revealed.

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