January 2: A General Maligned

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is January 2nd, and our story is A General Maligned. General James Longstreet was not popular with the Episcopalians in New Orleans. On Sundays, when the former Confederate commander entered his pew, his fellow worshipers routinely rose and walked out. To them, honoring God mattered less than dishonoring Longstreet. It wasn't just the Episcopalians, however, who had it in for Longstreet. By 1877, most everyone in the former Confederate States of America loathed General Robert E.

Lee's one-time second-in-command. Many blamed the South Carolina native for the Confederacy's devastating loss at Gettysburg, and blamed him even more for his support of President Ulysses S. Grant's Republican administration. The value of the services rendered by Longstreet's old warhorse at the battles of Fredericksburg, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Chickamauga, as well as in the Wilderness Campaign, was lost on his contemporaries, or at least most of his contemporaries. Hearing of the Episcopalian's scorn for Longstreet, Father Abram Ryan, a former Confederate chaplain, paid the general a visit.

Catholics, Father Ryan informed him, didn't care who worshipped in their midst, and if Longstreet ever decided to convert, they would welcome him with open arms. Longstreet took Ryan up on his offer. He entered the Catholic Church in 1877 and remained a devout communicant to the end of his life. Over the course of the next 27 years, Longstreet would go on to serve his country as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, a U.S. Marshal, and U.S. Railroad Commissioner. History would clear Longstreet's reputation.

He had adamantly opposed Lee's battle plan at Gettysburg, ordering the infamous Pickett's Charge only under protest. Longstreet had also been close friends with Grant since their days at West Point, but Longstreet never lived long enough to see his good name restored in the South. He died of pneumonia on January 2nd, 1904, at the age of 82.

James Longstreet's story reminds us that true conversion demands courage, not just in facing enemies, but in the face of the world. In standing firm when others turn away. In the church, he found mercy where the world offered rejection. And through Father Abram Ryan's welcome, we see the heart of Christian charity.

Seeing not scandal or reputation, but a soul ready for grace. Today, think of someone you've quietly judged or kept at a distance. Pray for them by name, ask God to bless them, and, if possible, offer kindness where there's been division. Longstreet's redemption began with one act of welcome. Maybe someone else's story could begin with yours. Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, January 3rd, for another story of faith and courage in America.