Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1912-07-17
Lieut.. General James Long
street.

Shout loud through ages hoary,
Give echo to the song that sweils,
Edgeield's boasted glory.
Among the first men whose name
should be mentioned as adding to
the fame of Edgefeld and magni-
flying her glory is that of James
I4ongstreet, who occupied position
4econd only to Lee in the command
oif the Confederate forces during
our war between the States.
About eight or ten miles from
Edgefeld Court House on Horns
creek, near the junction of Horn
and Cedar creeks, there stood as
late as 1917, an old mill called
Longstreet's mill. A little lower
down and to the southwest, is a
small stream aoging into the Sa-
vannah liyer ahoac eight miles
from Augusta, scar what Ii 'low tte
line between Aiken and Mdgcfeld,
called Foxes creek. y few hun
dred yards north Of the north prong
of the stream, about four miles east
of the Savannah river. is what is
known as the Dent Place. On
this place, on the Sth of January
1921, the subject of this sketch was
born. No house now stands to
mark the spot. Its \ rough, rug
eed spot calculated TO bring out the
strongest, best, natural impulses of
q man.
Longstreet graduated at West
Point in 1912. He served with dis
inction in the Mexican War, par
lcipatiug in the battles OF del Rey
and the assault on Chapultapec,
where he was severely wounded.
After serving for some time in Tex
as, Longstreet was appointed Pay
Master in the United States Army
.Ialy 1858. He held this position
until the breakin. out Of tie war
between the States, then his heart
Icing with his beloved South he re-
signed his commission and Joined
the Confederates, June lst 1861.
Longstreet was appointed to the
command of the fourth brigade of
Gen. Beauregard's lst corps, near
-Centersville, and was present at
Manassas July 2lst. Durirg the
early part of 1862, he was made
Major General, and earned great
celebrity under General Lee, in the
campaigns against Generals Pope,
Mcclellan, ana Burnside. After
the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec.
IS, 1852, Longstreet was given
command of a corps, with the rank
of Lieutenant General.
With this force he took an ac-
tive partin the battle of Chancel-
lorsyille and Gettysburg. pr. Nc
Cfaelksen Of the University of New
York, speaking of him in this con-
nection says: The gallantry and
skiilful generalship he displayed on
all occasions caused him to be re-
garded as one of the leading gen
erals in the Confederate army"
In the battle of the Wilderness,
May 5th and 9th 1854 General
Longstreet was dangerously wound
ed, occasioning his retirement for
some months from, active service.
1t may not be amiss to mention
here that Longstreet's most trusted
Scout was an Edgeield man
Charles NJ. Gray, Jr., better known
among us as Scout Gray" While
we keep green in the memories of
our children, the deeds of our hero
ic generals, it no less behooves us
10 honor the names of the men in
the ranks.
After the fall of Richmond,
Longstreet surrendered and lived in
comparative retirement until 1859
when he was appointed collector Of
Customs in New Orleans. Later he
was made Minister to Turkey, and
United States Marshal for Georgia.
In 1897 he was appointed c. S.
Commissioner Of the Pacific rail
roads and made his home in Michi-
gan.
''Longstreet in his younger days,
possessed a figure remarkable for
manly beauty, which in maturer
years, though much expanded, was
still commanding and graceful, and
his person was further rendered
agreeable by social and genial
manner. TO his superior physical
qualities was added mental ability
of considerable scope"
/ forgot to mention, in speaking
oF J.op0strapt's Mexican camDaion