About this episode

The episode discusses James Longstreet's unusual post-Civil War trajectory as a Confederate general turned diplomat in the Ottoman Empire, featuring insights from Elizabeth Varon.

with Elizabeth Varon hosted by Chris Gratien | After the US Civil War, some leaders of the defeated Confederacy followed unusual trajectories, perhaps none more so than James Longstreet, who joined the Republican party to become a proponent of Southern Reconstruction and for a brief period, the Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire. In this episode, we talk to Elizabeth Varon, author of a new biography of Longstreet, about the rebel-turned-diplomat's brief tenure in the Ottoman capital during the early years of Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign, and we discuss what Longstreet's experiences reveal about America on the world stage in the shadow of the Civil War and Reconstruction. We also discuss Prof. Varon's personal connection to post-Ottoman Istanbul, as well as her new research about Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, who followed in Longstreet's footsteps some years later on a humanitarian mission to the Ottoman Armenians in Anatolia. « Click for More »

People in this episode

Host: Chris Gratien

Guest: Elizabeth Varon

Topics covered

• US Civil War
• Ottoman Empire
• Southern Reconstruction
• diplomacy
• humanitarian missions
• biography

Keywords

• James Longstreet
• Elizabeth Varon
• Ottoman capital
• Sultan Abdul Hamid II
• Clara Barton
• American Red Cross
• Civil War
• Reconstruction
• diplomat
• humanitarian mission

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American Red Cross

Places: Ottoman Empire, Anatolia, Istanbul, United States

More episodes of Ottoman History Podcast

• Film Diplomacy in Turkey-US Relations · June 4, 2026
• The Ottoman Genizah · May 23, 2026
• Soykırımın Bürokrasisi · May 16, 2026
• Architecture and Environment in the Medieval Maghreb · April 24, 2026
• Osmanlı ve Türkiye Sanayileşme Tarihi · April 15, 2026
• The Turkishness Contract · March 16, 2026

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Ottoman History Podcast podcast page.