“The highest of human laws is the law that is established by appeal to arms. The sword has decided in favor of the North, and what they claimed as principles cease to be principles, and are become law. The views that we hold cease to be principles because they are opposed to law. It is our duty to abandon ideas that are obsolete and conform to the requirements of law.”

Letter to the New Orleans Times http://civilwartalk.com/threads/im-a-good-ole-rebel.34939/page-2#post-352510 (8 June 1867)

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James Longstreet 5
Confederate Army general 1821–1904

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