Word: longstreets
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General James Longstreet has always been a question mark in the history of the American Civil War. For years he was blamed by his former Confederate associates for the South's decisive defeat at the battle of Gettysburg. Historians have debated whether his impressive victories throughout the war were due to his skill as military leader or his luck. And though he was the Army of Northern Virginia's top lieutenant, Longstreet failed to become a Civil War legend like his commander, Robert E. Lee, or his subordinates, Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stuart...
...General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier, author Jeffry Wert attempts to resolve the dispute which surrounds Longstreet and to reveal why such an important figure in one of the most studied periods of American history receives so little recognition today. Drawing on both Longstreet's supporters and critics, Wert creates a fair and insightful narrative of Longstreet's Civil War experience. In the process, Wert establishes an image of Longstreet as a complex man whose intricacies have often been lost in the rush to historical judgment...
...Longstreet's life paralleled the lives of many of his more famous Civil War associates. Born in South Carolina and raised in rural Georgia, Longstreet was taught a deep respect for Southern political and social life. At 17, he enrolled at West Point where he studied military leadership with many other future generals of the Civil War, including both Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. With a number of his former classmates, Longstreet gained real battlefield experience in the Mexican War during the 1840s. As the Civil War broke out in 1861, Longstreet, like Lee and other Southern officers, recognized...
...Longstreet won victories and recognition quickly during the Civl War. Although he left the U.S. Army as a major, he was soon made a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. After his success at the first major battle of the war, Manassas, Longstreet was promoted again to major general. He became close to Lee, who named Longstreet his senior subordinate when he assumed cammand of the Army of Northern Virgina, calling Longstreet "the staff in my right hand. " He became Lee's most reliable general and "handled his command with the confidence and calmness that became a hallmark...
Wert present Longstreet as an extremely skillful military leader. He describes Longstreet as a general who sought to win through superior organization and the conservation of his own troops. In contrast to stonewall Jackson, Longstreet did not usually attempt bold and daring attacks. While not achieving stunning victories like Jackson, he did not put his army in as much danger and still was extremely successful in battle...