honorific_prefix laterwork death_date death_place module birth_place unit battles birth_date placeofburial signature article_title name
lieutenant general surveyor the ottoman empire u.s. commissioner of railroads u.s. marshal for of northern georgia customs in new orleans u.s. ambassador to 2 january 1904 gainesville , georgia , u.s. yes 1881 horace maynard lew wallace united states minister to the ottoman empire 1880 edgefield district , south carolina , u.s. 4th u.s. infantry 8th u.s. infantry mexican-american war american civil war 8 january 1821 alta vista cemetery james longstreet signature.svg james longstreet
 james longstreet
james longstreet

james longstreet -lrb- january 8 , 1821january 2 , 1904 -rrb- was 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 the finest corps commander in the army of northern virginia ; in fact , he was arguably the best corps commander in the conflict on either side . ''
longstreet 's talents as a general made significant contributions to the confederate victories at second bull run -lrb- second manassas -rrb- , fredericksburg , and chickamauga , in both offensive and defensive roles .
he also performed strongly during the seven days battles , the battle of antietam , and until he was seriously wounded , at the battle of the wilderness .
his performance in semiautonomous command during the knoxville campaign resulted in a confederate defeat .
his most controversial service was at the battle of gettysburg , where he openly disagreed with general lee on the tactics to be employed and reluctantly supervised the disastrous infantry assault known as pickett 's charge .
he enjoyed a successful post-war career working for the u.s. government as a diplomat , civil servant , and administrator .
however , his conversion to the republican party and his cooperation with his old friend , president ulysses s. grant , as well as critical comments he wrote in his memoirs about general lee 's wartime performance , made him anathema to many of his former confederate colleagues .
his reputation in the south further suffered when he led african-american militia against the anti-reconstruction white league at the battle of liberty place in 1874 .
authors of the lost cause movement focused on longstreet 's actions at gettysburg as a primary reason for the confederacy 's loss of the war .
his reputation in the south was damaged for over a century and has only recently begun a slow reassessment .
