James Longstreet, on the other hand, was large, ominous, and a crude man, that led the Confederate Army to Gettysburg to escape being caught off guard by the Union Army. He was also a very stubborn man, always speaking his mind, which often led Longstreet to oppose Lee’s war ideas and strategy. Even before the battle started, Longstreet felt very skeptical about attacking the North, as he thought that General Lee’s aggressive, offensive position against the North was not very wise. "He had never believed in this invasion. Lee and Davis together had overruled him. He did not believe in offensive warfare when the enemy outnumbered you and outgunned you and would come looking for you anyway if you waited somewhere on your own ground" (53). The main theme portrayed by the book from Longstreet’s view was the disagreement between the old conventional warfare versus the new defensive warfare, which is displayed by his continual interference with Lee’s tactics, and offensive strategy, notably on the third day that led to the untimely deaths of many Confederate soldiers. …show more content…
Lee’s offensive strategy, along with Ewell failure to take the hill and the absence of Jeb Stuart’s scouting party further weakened the Confederate army’s position at Gettysburg. On the second day of the battle, Longstreet was informed by Hood, who was charged to assault the Union front lines, about the opening on the right side of the Union line. Although Longstreet agreed that this was a good idea, he could not let Hood attack that side of the Union line because Lee wanted a full-frontal assault at the enemy line who at this point had more reinforcement and had a fortified high ground. Longstreet even warned Lee by saying, “They’ve been heavily reinforced. They’ve had all night to entrench. And my boys…lost many friends yesterday.”