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...You invaded our country, raped our women, looted & burned our homes, and stole our sovereignty... and some of us don't choose to forget it. We even want to continue honoring the men and women who fought so gallantly to defend our homeland. Well, imagine that.
Aw right, let's get a few things straight:
Longstreet was considered a Georgian because that's where his home was when the recent unpleasantness broke out. He first became unpopular with Southerners because he joined the Republicans, but he really earned his opprobrium when he dared to criticize Lee, shortly after Lee's death. Many military historians hold Longstreet accountable for the failure to secure the Round Tops at Gettysburg (in which case, the 3d day would never have been fought). Apparently Longstreet was in a snit because Lee didn't accord him the same attention he had extended to Jackson, and Longstreet was even slower to move than usual. He was great on defense, but he had none of Jackson's flair for rapid movement and offensive tactics.
Jackson was extremely popular with his soldiers because he knew how to fight to win. He was very unpopular with his subordinate officers because he never shared plans and he never accepted any deviation from orders. He was not a fruitcake; like many men (on both sides), he had strong idiosyncracies. He deserves our respect, as does A.P. Hill, Longstreet and many, many others.
As for this dim-witted twit of a governor, he has fallen into the same ignorant mistake that otherwise intelligent people are also making, which is thinking that anyone who reveres the soldiers of the "Lost Cause" is a pickup truck- driving, flag-waving, tobacco-chewing, gun-waving lunatic. Tain't so, and it's a shame to see fine people who cherish their heritage stereotyped so ignorantly.
This is no way a defense of slavery and the Sons (and Daughters) of the Confederacy offer none. But before you climb onto the high moral ground, remember this: Illinois, the "Land of Lincoln," passed a law prohibiting freed slaves from relocating there. And Lincoln, the "Great Emancipator," asked Congress for a requisition of $50,000 to study the feasibility of shipping freed slaves to the gold mines of Central America or Liberia.
And I still say "Lil Round Top" refers to the size & shape of his head...
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