Norfolk, VA
April 28, 1875
Dear Genl.
I have received your letter of the 20th inst. I have not read the article of which you speak nor have I ever seen any copy of Genl Pendleton’s address: indeed I have read little or nothing of what has been written since the war: in the first place because I couldnt spare the time, and in the second, because, of those of whose writings I have heard, I deem but very few entitled to any attention whatever. I can only say that I never before heard of the “sunrise attack” you were to have made as charged by Genl Pendleton. If such an order was given you I never knew it, or it has strangely escaped my memory. I think [continued below]
I remain
Very respectfully & c[ourteously]
W. H. Taylor
Genl J. Longstreet
New Orleans
it more than probable that if Genl Lee had had your troops available the evening previous to the day of which you speak, he wd have ad an early attack: but this does not touch the point at issue. I regard it as a best mistake on the part of those who, perhaps because of political differences, now undertake to criticize & attack your war record: such conduct is most ungenerous & I am sure meets the disappointment of all good Confederates with whom I have the pleasure of associating in the daily walks of life.1
Yrs very resp[ectfull]y,
W. H. Taylor
Source: The Archives of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, Papers of the Lee Family, Box 8, M2009.416
Transcribed by Caitlin Connelly, 2016 July 18
1. After the war, Longstreet joined the Republican Party, the only senior Confederate officer to do so, and endorsed his old friend Ulysses Grant for President in 1868. These actions, among others, turned many Southerners against him.
