Who is longstreet

His controversial performance there cannot be denied, nor can his failures at Seven Pines and Knoxville be dismissed. Longstreet was 42 years old in the summer of A West Pointer, class of , he had suffered a wound in the Mexican War and spent the remaining antebellum years on the frontiers of Texas and New Mexico Territory, attaining the rank of major. When he joined the Confederacy, he was appointed a brigadier general and assigned to the army at Manassas, Va.

Three days later, his troops maintained a reserve position during the First Battle of Manassas. The duty required him to maintain constant vigilance to prevent an enemy surprise attack and to gather intelligence on Union movements. He had authority over seven infantry brigades and cavalry units and daily control over their operations.

Longstreet worked closely with Colonel J. Stuart, who was commanding the cavalry. Beauregard and Joseph E. Longstreet received command of a division, while Jackson was appointed commander of the Valley District, with headquarters in Winchester.

Johnston, who now held command of the army, withdrew it into lines around Centreville, where the troops spent the late fall and winter. During these months, Longstreet demonstrated the characteristics that would mark his generalship. He attended to details, conferred with and lectured to his brigade commanders and maintained strict discipline.

He was the only major general to conduct drills with his division at Centreville. If he is ever excited, he has a way of concealing it, and always appears as if he had the utmost confidence in his own ability to command and in that of his troops to execute. Fellow generals and aides enjoyed dinners, music, poker games and whiskey. Frequently, he and former Regular Army comrades reminisced about their youthful days in Mexico and on the frontier. In January , however, he and his wife, Louise, suffered a terrible tragedy when three of their four children died of scarlet fever within eight days.

He sought solace in religion and gave up gambling. By late spring, operations in Virginia had shifted to the Peninsula and Richmond. As Maj. George B. Johnston committed to an offensive strike against the Federals and assigned Longstreet to command of the main attack force of 30, troops. He misunderstood orders and misdirected units onto the wrong road, resulting in an hours-long delay. The muddy roads and wooded terrain hampered the attackers, and Longstreet relinquished control of the fighting to subordinates.

It was a bungled assault, with Longstreet and Johnston bearing primary responsibility. Both commanders, however, shifted the blame onto Maj. Benjamin Huger in their reports, an act unworthy of either man. Lee to temporary command of the soon-to-be designated Army of Northern Virginia. From the Peninsula, Lee moved the army into central Virginia to confront Maj. The collision occurred on August , on the old killing ground at Manassas.

Lee had divided the army into two wings, under Jackson and Longstreet. Longstreet sent his units forward en echelon, in a series of hammerlike blows that nearly routed the Federals. Second Manassas was a stunning Confederate victory. Lee seized the initiative after the victory at Manassas and crossed his army into Maryland. September 17, , became the bloodiest single day of the war.

Time and again Confederate reserves plugged gaps in the beleaguered lines. At one point Longstreet personally directed the fire of a cannon, manned by his staff officers, slowing the enemy until infantry units re-formed.

He seemed everywhere along his extended lines, and his tenacity and deep-set resolution, his inmost courage, which appeared to swell with the growing peril to the army undoubtedly stimulated the troops to greater action, and held them in place despite all weakness. Let us hear what he has to say. On September 18, President Davis signed into law an act that provided for the creation of army corps and for the appointment of lieutenant generals. Both men received promotion to the new rank — Longstreet to rank from October 9, Jackson from October Longstreet became the senior subordinate in the army.

While watching the attacks, Lee expressed some concern. Beside their services in the field — which every battle of the campaign from Richmond to Fredericksburg has served to illustrate — I am also indebted to them for valuable counsel, both as regards the general operations of the army and the execution of the particular measures adopted.

Lee detached Longstreet and two infantry divisions to southeastern Virginia during the winter and spring of to garner badly needed supplies and to oppose a Union force at Suffolk.

Detachments of Confederate troops, meanwhile, roamed the countryside, gathering foodstuffs and supplies. From the Peninsula to Maryland: Longstreet's role in the summer of In the Northern Virginia Campaign of August , Longstreet did not play his customary defensive role he is most well known for. While "Stonewall" Jackson held a strong defensive line Longstreet played Jackson's usual role of maneuvering quickly in order to unexpectedly attack the Union army.

Following the successful execution of a sweeping flanking maneuver that placed his command in the rear of John Pope's Army of Virginia, Jackson took up a defensive position and effectively invited Pope to assault him. Pope obliged and beginning the evening of August 28 Pope pounded Jackson as Longstreet and the remainder of the army marched north to reach the battlefield.

Postwar criticism of Longstreet claimed that he marched his men too slowly, leaving Jackson to bear the brunt of the fighting for two days, but Longstreet's men moved very quickly covering roughly 30 miles in a little more than 24 hours, arriving on the field of the Second Battle of Manassas around midday on August Longstreet's actions after his arrival are significantly more controversial.

Despite three separate suggestions from Lee urging him to attack, Longstreet demurred, recommending instead that a reconnaissance in force be conducted to survey the ground in front of him. It was not until p. Although this delay earned Longstreet significant criticism, his careful preparations of the afternoon of August 29 paid dividends the following morning. Longstreet's artillery proved to be of great assistance to Jackson's resistance of the Union attack that morning.

Then, as Pope pushed Jackson, believing he was starting to retreat, Longstreet capitalized on Federal confusion and launched his own attack on the Union army's left flank with over 28, men, anticipating an order from Lee that had not yet arrived. This attack is regarded as "the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war," and changed the tide of battle. Longstreet's success on the fields of Manassas established a strategic model he believed to be ideal--the use of defensive tactics within a strategic offensive.

Although the two men differed fundamentally in their philosophy on how the war should be conducted, General Lee valued Longstreet as the strategist he was. When both Longstreet and Jackson were promoted to lieutenant generals in the fall of , Longstreet was the first one to get the promotion. The climax of the war was the battle of Gettysburg. During the battle, there was considerable disagreement between Longstreet and Lee about the strategy and tactics.

After the war, Longstreet became a Republican. This decision was not well received by many of his Confederate colleagues, but his friendship with Ulysses Grant had probably a considerable influence on that decision. The criticism of Lee by Longstreet, about the way the battle of Gettysburg was executed, did not help Longstreet to endear himself with his former Confederate colleagues either. They actually went so far as to blame Longstreet for losing the war for the Confederate side.

Following that assignment, Longstreet also served as U. Railroad Commissioner. James Longstreet married Louise Garland, who he had first met in , when she was only The couple eventually married, six years later, in Louise was the daughter of a regimental commander.

The couple had ten children, but not all survived. Tragedy struck the Longstreet family in A scarlet fever epidemic in Richmond, Virginia claimed the life of their one year old daughter Mary Anne, their four year old son James, and their six year old son Augustus. Their 13 year old son Garland nearly succumbed but fortunately was able to survive the disease. These devastating losses caused Longstreet to become withdrawn, and it changed his personality from the outgoing, and partying type to a more somber person.

He became a devout Episcopalian, and rarely drank after the tragedy. In the book he defended himself against some of the accusations that had been hurled at him by his critics about his conduct during the war.