Editing James Longstreet (section)

==Reconstruction era==
[[File:JamesLongstreet.jpg|thumb|James Longstreet after the war |alt=Longstreet in civilian dress]]

On June 7, 1865, Lee, Longstreet, and other former Confederate officers were indicted by a grand jury in [[Norfolk, Virginia]] for the high crime of treason against the United States, a [[capital offense]]. Grant objected and went to the White House, telling President [[Andrew Johnson]] that the men were on parole and protected by the surrender terms at Appomattox. When Grant threatened to resign, Johnson backed down, and on June 20, Attorney General [[James Speed]] ordered the [[United States Attorney]] in Norfolk to drop treason proceedings.{{sfn|Smith|2001|pp=416–418}}

Longstreet and his family settled in [[New Orleans]], popular among former Confederate generals. He entered into a cotton-brokerage partnership and became president of the Southern and Western Life and Accident Insurance Company.<ref>{{Cite web|title=General James Longstreet in NO|url=http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/Canzona.htm|access-date=July 3, 2021|website=people.loyno.edu|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183301/http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/Canzona.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> He sought the presidency of the [[Mobile and Ohio Railroad]] but was unsuccessful, and also failed in an attempt to get investors for a proposed railroad from New Orleans to [[Monterrey]], Mexico. With Grant's support, he applied for a pardon from Johnson. Johnson refused, telling Longstreet: "There are three persons of the South who can never receive amnesty: Mr. Davis, General Lee, and yourself. You have given the Union cause too much trouble."{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=407–410}}{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|p=634}}

Longstreet called for Southern acceptance of [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] and acquiescence to federal laws, including those [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|abolishing slavery]] and [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|granting citizenship]] to blacks. He encouraged Southern whites to join the heavily Northern [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]], arguing that if they did not, the Southern wing of the party would be exclusively dominated by blacks, whereas white men joining the party would allow the black vote to be controlled. In June 1868, the [[Radical Republican]]-controlled [[United States Congress]] enacted a law that granted pardons and restored political rights to numerous former Confederate officers, including Longstreet. Longstreet joined the Republicans, or, as Southerners sometimes called them, "Black Republicans". He endorsed Grant for president in the [[1868 United States presidential election|1868 election]], attended his [[First inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant|inauguration]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and six days later was appointed by Grant as surveyor of [[United States Customs Service|customs]] in New Orleans. The post carried an annual salary of $6,000, and Longstreet was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 25–10. For these acts, he lost favor with many white Southerners, who regarded him as a traitor for supporting the people they viewed as oppressive occupiers.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=410–413}} His old friend D.H. Hill wrote to a newspaper: "Our [[scalawag]] is the local leper of the community."{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=413}} In contrast to Northerners who moved South and were sometimes referred to as "[[Carpetbaggers]]", Hill wrote, Longstreet "is a native, which is so much the worse".{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=413}} Longstreet did not retreat in face of the criticism. He actively supported [[Henry C. Warmoth]], the Republican Governor of Louisiana and a former Union officer. In May 1870, Warmoth named him adjutant general of the Louisiana State Militia. About one month later, he was named president of the newly organized [[New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad]]. On January 8, 1872, Longstreet was commissioned a major general in the state militia and assigned to the command of all militia and police forces in New Orleans. Shortly after, he resigned his posts as a collector of customs and as railroad president, followed in April by his position as adjutant general in the militia.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=413–414}}

Authors espousing the [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy|Lost Cause]], a movement that glorified the Southern cause and denounced Reconstruction, attacked Longstreet's war career for years after his death. Modern authors trace that criticism to Longstreet's acceptance of the defeat and accommodations both with the Republican party and freed blacks. The attacks formally began on January 19, 1872, the anniversary of Lee's birth and less than two years after Lee died. Jubal Early, in a speech at [[Washington and Lee University|Washington College]], exonerated Lee for the defeat at Gettysburg. He accused Longstreet of attacking late on the second day and held him accountable for the debacle on the third. The following year, William Pendleton claimed in the same venue that Longstreet disobeyed an explicit order to attack at sunrise on July 2. The so-called sunrise order was a fabrication.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=422–423}}{{sfn|Eckenrode|Conrad|1999|p=376}}

[[File:General James Longstreet.jpg|thumb|left|James Longstreet after the war |alt=Profile view of Longstreet in civilian dress]]
In April 1873, Longstreet dispatched a police force under Colonel Theodore W. DeKlyne to [[Colfax, Louisiana]], to help the local government and its majority-black supporters defend themselves against an insurrection by white supremacists. DeKlyne did not arrive until April 14, one day after the [[Colfax massacre]]. His men's task consisted mainly of burying blacks who had been killed and attempting to arrest the culprits.{{sfn|Lemann|2006|pp= 20–22}} During protests of election irregularities in 1874, referred to as the [[Battle of Liberty Place]], an armed force of 8,400 members of the anti-Reconstructionist [[White League]] advanced on the State House in New Orleans, which was the capitol of Louisiana at the time, after Republican [[William Pitt Kellogg]] was declared the winner of a close and heavily disputed gubernatorial election. Longstreet commanded a force of 3,600 [[New Orleans Metropolitan Police|Metropolitan Police]], city policemen, and African-American militia troops, armed with two [[Gatling gun]]s and a battery of artillery. He rode to meet the protesters but was pulled from his horse, shot by a [[minié ball|spent ball]], and taken prisoner. The White League charged, causing many of Longstreet's men to flee or surrender. Total casualties amounted to 38 killed and 79 wounded. Federal troops sent by President Grant were required to restore order. Longstreet's use of armed black troops during the disturbances increased the denunciations by anti-Reconstructionists.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=413–416}}

In 1875, Longstreet began to challenge the criticisms of his war record, demanding evidence from Pendleton and Lee's staff officers. By then, these charges, alongside anger at him for his use of black troops in Louisiana, had destroyed his reputation. Longstreet published a series of articles defending his war record.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=422–423}} At the same time, he became popular with Northerners, who thought highly of his support for Reconstruction and praise for Grant. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, Longstreet often gave speeches in the North, many of them in the presence of Union veterans, and was received favorably.{{sfn|Piston|1987|pp=159–161}} A large ceremony took place in Atlanta in 1886 to mark the 25th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter. Longstreet was not invited, but he went anyway. He was embraced by Jefferson Davis, and a crowd cheered.<ref name="statue">{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-06-26-1998177002-story.html |title=Longstreet at last is cast as a hero Gettysburg: A statue returns to the ranks of honor a Confederate general reviled by Southerners for more than a century. |last=Lyons |first=Sheridan |date=June 26, 1998 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-date=July 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710145525/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-06-26-1998177002-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1875 the Longstreet family left New Orleans with concerns over health and safety, returning to [[Gainesville, Georgia]]. By this time Louise had given birth to ten children, five of whom lived to adulthood. Longstreet continued to serve on the city school board and as an administrator of the University of Louisiana, later [[Tulane University]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=417}} In March 1877, on one of his frequent trips to New Orleans on business, Longstreet converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] and remained a devout believer until his death.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=James Longstreet}}</ref> Fr. [[Abram Joseph Ryan|Abram J. Ryan]], author of "[[The Conquered Banner]]", encouraged Longstreet to convert, assuring him he would be welcomed with open arms if he came into the Church.<ref name="Catholic Stand">{{Cite news|url=http://www.catholicstand.com/general-longstreet-catholic-convert-husband-fighting-lady/|title=Gen. Longstreet, Convert & Husband of "The Fighting Lady"|date=June 17, 2014|work=Catholic Stand|access-date=August 23, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=August 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823105715/http://www.catholicstand.com/general-longstreet-catholic-convert-husband-fighting-lady/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Burch|Stimpson|2017|p=4}}