Lieutenant General James Longstreet
Probably the best known soldier who fought in the civil war and was from Dutch descent was Lieutenant General James Longstreet. The first relative from Longstreet who came to the New World was Dirck Stoffels Langestraet. In 1657 he left the province of Noord Brabant at the age of 17 to find a new home in the Dutch colony of "Nieuw Nederland" Dirck settled on "Lange Eylandt" (long Island) in the village of Amersfoort. It was there that he met and married Katerina van Lieuwen. They had at least three children, two boys and one daughter. Dirck moved his family to Monmouth in the Province of East Jersey, and bought land at Shrewsbury. The family stayed there for nearly a century. It was William Longstreet - the name Langestraet had been Anglicized by then to Longstreet - who first moved. He took his family from Allentown, in Monmouth County to Edgefield District of South Carolina in 1784. In this new home in 1821, one of the major characters of the American Civil War was born: William's grandson James Longstreet.
In 1838 Longstreet entered the United States Military Academy. In 1842 he graduated 54th of 56. Longstreet was in good company in the class of 1842. Its ranks held ten future Confederate generals and seven Union commanders. In the Mexican war Longstreet fought with distinction which resulted in a promotion to brevet major. He was severely wounded at Chapultepec. When he was hit by a musket ball in his tigh he handed the regiment's colors to Lieutenant George E. Pickett who carried it over the walls of Chapultepec. After the Mexican war he married Maria Louisa Garland. The couple lived at Fort Bliss. In 1858 he was promoted to major and appointed as a paymaster. He received order to report to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. From there he traveled to the military post in the departments to pay the officers and men. When in april 1861 the Civil war started Longstreet already had made up his mind. After the election of Lincoln Longstreet decided that his allegiance was with the south. On may 9 he submitted his letter of resignation and was appointed lieutenant colonel of infantry in the Confederate States Army.
His career in the Confederate Army was prosperous. On june 17, 1861 he was appointed brigadier general. His first action was at Manassas. Then he fought on during the Seven Days. He already was promoted to major general. At second Manassas he faced his West POint classmate John Pope. At the second day of that battle Longstreet men battered into the flank of the federals who fled from the field. Then Lee took the Army of Northern Virginia for its first invasion of the north. Longstreet's performance at the battle of Sharpsburg was brilliant. An aide of D.R. Jones wrote in his diary: "Gen. Longstreet working like a man god in center". Moxley Sorrel Longstreet's chief of staff wrote: "Longstreet's conduct on this great day of battle was magnificent. He seemed everywhere along his extended lines, and his tenacity and deep-set resolution, his inmost courage, which appeared to swell with the growing peril to the army undoubtedly stimulated the troops to greater action, and held them in place despite all weakness." A Virginia captain claimed simply that the general was "one of the bravest men I ever saw on the field of battle."
After Sharpsburg Lee had to reorganize his army. One of these changes was the organization of Jackson's and Longstreet's commands into official corps and the promotion of these two officers to lieutenant general. The first battle for Longstreet I Corps was Fredericksburg. The Union commander Burnside repeatedly assaulted Longstreet's position. The result of these charges were the numerous dead bodies in front of the stone wall which was held by brigadier general Cobb's Georgians. After the complete success at Fredericksburg Longstreet missed the battle of Chancellorsville because of an independent mission in Southeastern Virginia. When he returned Lee was ready for a second thrust into federal territory. This resulted in the climax of Longstreet's career: The battle of Gettysburg. On the early morning of 2 july, 1863 it seemed that the Federal left did not extend as far south as Little Round Top. Lee orders to Longstreet were to march his men and a division of A.P. Hill's Corps to the flank of the Army of the Potomac. Longstreet argued with Lee about these orders. He wanted to march his men around the federal left and thereby maneuver Meade out of position. But Lee insisted and after he got his men in place Longstreet's forces soon broke the advanced positions of Sickles' III Corps in the peach orchard. At the base of Little Round Top and Devil's Den the advance was stopped. Meade had sent reinforcements to these positions. During the attack on Devil's Longstreet's best division commander general Hood was severely wounded. This advance to break the Federal left would produce one of the greatest heroes of the war: Joshua L. Chamberlain. On the third day at Gettysburg Lee wanted to attack the federal center. Again Longstreet argued with his commander because he believed such an assault could never be made by the men assigned for this duty. It proved that he was right. Pickett's charge as it was called was failed completely. After a march through open ground and pounded by cannon fire some regiments broke the Union line but were soon repulsed.
After Gettysburg Longstreet was sent to the west. He commanded a wing at the battle of Chicamauga. There his troops broke the line of his former roommate at West Point William S. Rosecrans. After he criticized general Bragg for not following up this victory Longstreet was detached to East Tennessee. Here he again showed his incapacity for independent command especially during the siege of Knoxville. In 1864 he rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia. At the battle of the Wilderness he was shot by his own troops. After his recovery he took commanded on the north side of the James during the Petersburg siege. He stayed with Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia through the surrender at Appomattox.
After the war he became a republican. He served as Grant's minister to Turkey and was a railroad commissioner. The criticism of Lee at Gettysburg and becoming a Republican gave a group of men, under the leadership of Jubal Early, the opportunity to make him a scapegoat for losing the war. He defended himself in the book he wrote "From Manassas to Appomattox". He died on january 2, 1904 outliving most of his critics and the last of the Confederate high-command
Some of the information on this page is taken from the book "General James Longstreet. The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier." by Jeffry D. Wert.
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