Position at Antietam
Commander, Right Wing, Army of Northern Virginia (Age 41 at the battle)
Personal
1821-1904 South Carolina
Nickname: Old Warhorse/Old Pete
Born in Edgefield, South Carolina. Son of James Longstreet, a plantation owner who died of cholera when James was 9. Raised by Uncle Augustus in Augusta, Georgia; first marriage to Louise Garland in 1848 (she died 1889). Ten children; Three died between Jan 25 and Feb 13, 1862 in a scarlet fever epidemic in Richmond. Children: Garland, Augustus, William, Harriet, James, Mary, Robert Lee, James, Fitz-Randolph and Maria Louisa. Second marriage at age 78 to 34-year-old Helen Dortch in 1897. She lived until 1962.
Education
West Point Class of 1842, ranked 53rd of 56; Classmates: William Rosecrans, John Pope, Abner Doubleday, D.H. Hill, George Sykes, Lafayette McLaws. Commissioned in the Eighth Infantry; Lifelong friend of U.S. Grant.
Mexican War
First lieutenant in the Eighth Infantry, brevetted twice for gallantry at Churubusco and Chapultepec where he was severely wounded
Other military career highlights
Served as an infantry officer on outposts in Missouri and Texas; transferred and promoted to Major-Paymaster in 1858; resigned June 1, 1861.
Civilian career highlights
N/A
Civil War
Brigade commander at First Bull Run; Division commander at Fair Oaks and Seven Days; Wing commander at Second Manassas where his flanking attack crushed the Union left; Right wing commander at Antietam; Promoted to Lieutenant General and command of First Corps in October, 1862; Fredericksburg; Gettysburg; Corps transferred to Tennessee where it was instrumental in defeating Rosecrans’s Army at Chickamauga, Sep 1863; East Tennessee Campaign; Returned to Virginia; Severely wounded at the Wilderness, May 1864; Back with Lee in the final days. Surrendered at Appomattox.
Postwar
Joined Republican Party; Numerous political patronage positions including U.S. Surveyor of Customs at New Orleans, Adjutant General of the State of Louisiana, U.S. Minister to Turkey, U.S. Marshal of Georgia, U.S. Railroad Commissioner.
Death
Died of pneumonia in Gainesville, GA, January 2, 1905, age 82. Last words: “Helen, we shall be happier at this post.”
Quotes
“Ah, here is Longstreet; here is my old war horse. Let us hear what he has to say.” Robert E. Lee, September 17, 1862
“In every battle somebody is bound to run, and that if they will only stand their ground long enough like men, the enemy will certainly run.” James Longstreet”
“Longstreet always gets his corps into some comfortable quarters – while Jackson prefers the bleak outdoors.” Tom Carter
“Of all the men living, not excepting our incomparable Lee, himself, I would rather follow James Longstreet in a forlorn hope or desperate encounter against heavy odds. He was our hardest hitter.” John B. Hood after the war
“Hit hard when you start, but don’t start until you have everything ready.” James Longstreet
“General, I wish we could stand still and let the damned Yankees come to us!” James Longstreet, September 11, 1862
“I held the horses for some of my staff who helped to man the guns as cannoneers.” Longstreet near the Sunken Road
“Longstreet’s conduct on this great day of battle was magnificent. 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.” Moxley Sorrel describes Longstreet at Antietam
“I am sending you the guns, my dear General. This is a hard fight and we had all better die than lose it.” James Longstreet to Roger Pryor in the Sunken Road