a historical fact about James Longstreet that they attempted to erase from history: he didn't attend Robert Edward Lee's funeral; Here's why he didn't attend: Longstreet had accepted the reality that the war was over. He joined the Republican Party and took a federal job under President Ulysses S. Grant. The Backlash: Because he supported Reconstruction, Southern society branded him a "Scalawag" and a traitor to the South. Attending a public funeral populated by unrepentant Confederate veterans would have been a massive security and political flashpoint.
