Indeed, if one wishes to forget the general's unami- able peculiarities, one must turn to his relation with his soldiers, and one cannot fail to appreciate what a really great heart he had. He loved his men, sympathized with them, laughed at and understood their failings, saw their needs and strove with all his might to remedy them. When he found troops altering the works for better se- curity, although the engineers objected, he approved, saying, "If you save the finger of a man's hand, that does some good." ^7 When the cavalry leaders were in- clined to scoff at the infantry, he rebukes them: "The commanding general regrets that you entertain the im- pression that your forces are fighting for the bread of the infantry. Your troops are in the service of the Govern- ment, and are battling for a common cause and a com- mon country. The infantry of this army have fought too many battles to be told that their bread is earned by the cavalry." ^^
And better even than Longstreet's love for his men is his men's love for him. The immense collection of testi- monial letters printed in Mrs. Longstreet's book goes far beyond mere conventional eulogy. It shows a devo- tion and a regret which can only have been bred by something great. Concretely these feelings are best illus- trated by the old soldier who brought his gray jacket and his enlistment papers to be buried in his general's grave : " I 've served my time, and the General, he 's served his time, too. And I reckon I won't need my uni-
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