James Longstreet was born January 8, 1821 in Edgefield County, South Carolina. Like many of his later peers, Longstreet graduated from West Point, but poor grades and disciplinary problems resulted in his graduated 54th in a class of 56. However, he was well liked by his classmates and had many friends including Ulysses S. Grant. Upon graduation, Longstreet was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant and was stationed his first two years in the service at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri along with Lt. Grant.
In 1846, Longstreet fought in the Mexican-American War under General, later President Zachary Taylor. In 1848, he married his wife of 40 years, Louise. Together they had ten children.
In June 1861, Longstreet resigned from the U.S. Army. He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army. On June 22, in Richmond, Longstreet met Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who retroactively appointed him a brigadier general. General Longstreet was ordered to Manassas, where he took command of three Virginia regiments: the 1st, 11th, and 17th Virginia Infantries.
During the Battle of Seven Pines, General Robert E. Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia, of which Longstreet was a part. During the Seven Days Battles, Longstreet had command of fifteen brigades, nearly half of Lee’s army. Longstreet outperformed other generals in the army, whose weak performances left them unable to destroy the Union army. Lee said that Longstreet was “the staff in my right hand,” during the battles.
Controversy surrounding Longstreet’s performance at the Battle of Gettysburg continues to this day. A decisive Confederate victory on the first day, July 1, 1863, led to two Union corps being driven back into defensive positions. Longstreet was concerned about the Union’s defensive strength and advocated coming around behind the enemy’s left flank, forcing the Union troops to attack waiting Confederate defenses. Lee decided to attack the enemy head-on instead, ordering Longstreet’s men to attack the left flank.
Lee intended for Longstreet to attack early that morning, but Longstreet asked permission to wait until General Evander Law’s brigade had reached the field before advancing his other brigades. Law’s men did not arrive until noon, and Longstreet’s men were forced to take a detour while approaching the enemy due to poor reconnaissance and lack of a completely concealed route. Longstreet did not attack until nearly 4:00 in the afternoon. Some historians blame Longstreet’s failure to attack early on as a significant contributor to the Confederates’ eventual loss at Gettysburg. The delay allowed Union reinforcements to arrive, giving them numerical superiority and a well-guarded left flank. Longstreet led a competent but largely unsuccessful assault, resulting in numerous casualties.
On the third day of the battle, what came to be called Pickett’s Charge was the decisive point in the Confederates’ loss in the battle. Longstreet believed that the headlong assault with the Confederates having to cover almost a mile of open ground would lead to massive casualties, and he advised Lee against this course of action. When the time came to order General George Pickett and his men forward, Longstreet was unable to force himself to voice the order and could only nod. His prediction of heavy losses came true, and, despite Lee having ordered the advance, Longstreet was blamed for the loss for years afterward.
Longstreet was the only senior Confederate to later join the Republican Party. He endorsed Ulysses S. Grant for president in 1868, actions resented by many fellow Southerners. In 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Longstreet as U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. From 1881 to 1884, he was a United States Marshal, and from 1897 to 1904, he served as U.S. Commissioner of Railroads under President William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
One of the few Civil War generals to live into the Twentieth Century, James Longstreet died of pneumonia in Gainesville, Georgia on January 2, 1904, six days before his eighty-third birthday.
This is a variation of a road sign cache.