Commentary by McLaws - Personalities

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Commentary by McLaws — Personalities Davis, Lee & Grant

Lafayette McLaws offered numerous views and opinions in his letters and papers. The following are representative comments he penned during and after the War.

	Jefferson Davis
	Confederate President Jefferson Davis traveled to Tennessee to quiet a rebellion among his general officers opposed to General Braxton Bragg's command of the Army of Tennessee. McLaws, who did not join the revolt, observed,
	"the President has been here some time endeavoring to settle difficulties among the generals. . . .He is not despotic enough for the times. His authority is not sufficiently felt to correct existing evils and his manners are cold and repelling. I hope he may be able to settle the difficulties so as to make the army homogeneous, but I doubt it very much..." ⁽¹⁾

Robert E. Lee
McLaws still held his former commander, General Robert E. Lee, in high regard even during the final years of his life. In a lengthy address to Savannah Confederate veterans in 1890, he noted,
"the evidences I have given seems to show that it was not Gen. Lee, but his leading lieutenants, [who] were off their balance, either that or had never possessed that capacity to determine the most salient points in the positions to be attacked. . . .So that now, as in the past, and as I believe will be done in the future, we can, with sentiments of profound admiration and respect, [say] 'Hurrah for Gen. Lee.'" ⁽²⁾

	Ulysses S. Grant
	The McLaws family was in desperate financial straights when Lafayette journeyed to Washington City in 1875. He remembered the beginning of his meeting in the White House as,
	". . .sent in my card after waiting some time I heard Genl Grants voice, he said - 'Tell Gen McLaws not to go, as I wish to see him,' - before that moment I had been stared at as an intruder, as one who had no business so near the President. But when the Genl gave his directive, I could see a relaxation in the looks of those around - and when the general afterwards came out and shook me warmly by the hand, and expressed great pleasure in seeing me..." ⁽³⁾

⁽¹⁾ LM to Emily, October 14, 1863, Camp near Chattanooga, Tennessee. ASG-LM, 206-207.
⁽²⁾ LM in an address to the Confederate Veterans Association of Savannah entitled, "The Battle of Gettysburg", April 27, 1896. ASG-LM, 58-59.
⁽³⁾LM, undated manuscript on meeting with President U. S. Grant in Washington City. GHS-LM.

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