James Longstreet

Born in South Carolina in 1821 and raised partly in Georgia and Alabama, James Longstreet graduated from West Point in 1842 and served in the U.S. Army before the Civil War. He fought in the Mexican-American War, where he was wounded, and built a reputation as a steady professional officer.

During the Civil War, he became one of Robert E. Lee’s most trusted corps commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia. He played major roles in campaigns including Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga, and historians still debate some of his decisions—especially his part in the Gettysburg campaign.

After the war, Longstreet settled in Georgia and took a path that set him apart from many ex-Confederate leaders. He supported Reconstruction, joined the Republican Party, held several public posts, and later wrote From Manassas to Appomattox, a memoir defending his record and reflecting on the conflict. He died in 1904, one of the last senior Confederate commanders still living.