Born January 8, 1821
Edgefield District, South Carolina
Died January 2, 1904
Gainesville, Georgia

Confederate general

Controversial military leader whose reputation as
General Robert E. Lee's "old war horse" was
shaken at Gettysburg

"James Longstreet made three mistakes that have denied him his deserved place in Southern posterity: He argued with Lee at Gettysburg, he was right, and he became a Republican."

Writer Stewart Sifakis

James Longstreet. (Courtesy of the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery, Library of Congress.)

James Longstreet is perhaps the most controversial of the generals who served the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Longstreet's supporters point out that he fought courageously at many of the war's biggest battles, and that General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see entry) had such high regard for Longstreet that he affectionately referred to him as the Confederacy's "Old War Horse." But Longstreet's critics argue that he devoted too much time and energy...