“L” is for Longstreet, James Peter (1821-1904)

“L” is for Longstreet, James Peter (1821-1904). Soldier. Born in Edgefield District, Longstreet was a graduate of West Point. His service record—especially during the Mexican American War—was highly commendable. In June 1861 he resigned his U.S. Army commission and entered the Confederate Army. In 1862 Robert E. Lee made Longstreet his second in command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet’s command fought with distinction at Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. At the Battle of the Wilderness, he served brilliantly and sustained a serious wound. After the war Longstreet settled in New Orleans and alienated many postwar White southerners by joining the Republican Party. In his memoir, From Manassas to Appomattox (1896), he criticized Lee’s actions at Gettysburg. James Peter Longstreet’s political decisions and his criticism of Lee effectively eclipsed his standing among surviving Civil War icons.