James was the fifth child and third son of James and Mary Ann Longstreet. He was born 8 January 1821 on his grandfather’s cotton plantation in the Edgefield District of South Carolina. He spent his first 8 years, however, on his father’s farm outside Gainsville, Georgia. He then moved to Augusta to attend preparatory school with hopes of going to West Point. In 1833 his father died and mother moved to Alabama, so he moved to Westover, and considered Augustus and Frances Longstreet his de facto parents. He entered West Point in 1838, graduated in 1842 and served in the United States Army until he resigned as a Major in 1861 to join the Confederate Army. On 1 July 1861 Longstreet received a commission as a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. By mid July 1862 he was second in command under General Lee. ®4061 As a Lieutenant General he commanded the First Corps of the Army of Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. ®2699 However, he and Lee chose not to attend the surrender ceremony at Apomattox on 12 April 1864. After the War he moved with his family to New Orleans where he became a cotton factor in partnership with a wartime friend, William Miller Owen of the Washington Artillery and Owen’s brother Edward. Within two years he was a successful businessman and a respected figure in financial circles. During the summer of 1867 he sold his interests in New Orleans and moved his family to Lynchburg, Virginia. He continued working in New Orleans, with the family moving to Lynchburg during the summers to avoid the yellow fever season in New Orlean. In 1870 he was appointed adjutant-general of Louisiana. In 1872 he was commissioned brigadier general in the Louisiana militia with responsibility for all the militia units and police forces in the city of New Orleans. From May 1880 to June 1881 he was United States Minister to Turkey and resigned to return to Gainesville, Georgia, to become Federal Marshall of Georgia which he held until 1884. He purchased the Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville for the winter family home as well as a farm in the nearby countryside where he built a large two story home. The farm home burned in 1889. In January 1890 his wife, Louise. died. On 8 November 1897 he remarried to Helen Dortch. He died on 2 January 1904, laid in state in the Gainesville courthouse for two days, and was buried in the Gainesville Cemetery on 6 January 1904. ®4061
“James Longstreet (January 8, 1821 – January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Eastern Theater, but also with Gen. Braxton Bragg in the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater. Biographer and historian Jeffry D. Wert wrote that "Longstreet ... was the finest corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia; in fact, he was arguably the best corps commander in the conflict on either side."
Longstreet's talents as a general made significant contributions to the Confederate victories at Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chickamauga, in both offensive and defensive roles. He also performed strongly during the Seven Days Battles, the Battle of Antietam, and until he was seriously wounded, at the Battle of the Wilderness. His performance in semiautonomous command during the Knoxville Campaign resulted in a Confederate defeat. His most controversial service was at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he disagreed with General Lee on the tactics to be employed and reluctantly supervised the disastrous infantry assault known as Pickett's Charge. He enjoyed a successful post-war career working for the U.S. government as a diplomat, civil servant, and administrator. However, his conversion to the Republican Party and his cooperation with his old friend, President Ulysses S. Grant, as well as critical comments he wrote in his memoirs about General Lee's wartime performance, made him anathema to many of his former Confederate colleagues. Authors of the Lost Cause movement focused on Longstreet's actions at Gettysburg as a primary reason for the Confederacy's loss of the war. His reputation in the South was damaged for over a century and has only recently begun a slow reassessment.” ®11694