66 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
were remarkable. " The iron endurance of General Long- street is most extraordinary : he seems to require neither food nor sleep." ^
As a fighter he was superb, the best fighter in the Army of Northern Virginia, the soldiers called him. This per- haps refers more to character than to brains, as it is admitted that he was no great student at West Point or anywhere else. In Mexico he fought most creditably, side by side with Grant and other contemporaries. From Bull Run to Appomattox he was always where the fight- ing was hottest. His soldiers believed in him and trusted him. He spoke straight out to them, as if he meant it. Sometimes it was with a heavy sarcasm, as at Gettys- burg, to an officer who complained of not being able to bring up his troops: "Very well, never mind, then, Gen- eral ; just let them remain where they are ; the enemy 's going to advance, and will spare you the trouble." ^ More often he gave them sound, direct, practical advice, of the kind to put heart into a man : *' Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self-possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember, while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your comrades may be relied upon to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you." ^
Such advice coming from the War Department might not have amounted to much. Coming from a man who was as cool in battle as in a ballroom, it must have been
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