James Longstreet
James Longstreet
James Longstreetwas 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...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWar Hero
Date of Birth8 January 1821
CountryUnited States of America
Before my troops reached the little city, and before the people of Fredericksburg knew that any part of the Confederate army was near, there was great excitement over the demand for surrender.
About the city, here and there, a few soldiers could be seen, but there was no indication of the heavy masses that were concealed by the houses.
Pickett's lines being nearer, the impact was heaviest upon them.
That man will fight us every day and every hour till the end of the war.
In a very short time the army of Northern Virginia was face to face with the Army of the Potomac.
The town caught fire in several places, shells crashed and burst, and solid shot rained like hail.
If the blame (if there is any) can be shifted from him to me, I shall help him and our cause by taking it. I desire, therefore, that all the responsibility that can be put upon me shall go there and shall remain there.
I hope to live long enough to see my surviving comrades march side by side with the Union veterans along Pennsylvania Avenue, and then I will die happy.