Lieutenant General James Longstreet: Innovative Military Strategist: The Most Misunderstood Civil War General

273 Pages·2022·3.035 MB·English

by  F. Gregory Toretta

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET:
INNOVATIVE MILITARY STRATEGIST

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAMES
LONGSTREET: INNOVATIVE
MILITARY STRATEGIST
Th e Most Misunderstood Civil War General
F. GREGORY TORETTA
Philadelphia & Oxford
Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2022 by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
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Copyright 2022 © F. Gregory Toretta
Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-117-3
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-118-0
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All maps provided by Library of Congress
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Civil War Timeline ix
Introduction 1
1 Technological Changes and Comparison of the
Antagonists—Advantage North 5
2 “To Stand Behind Our Intrenched Lines”—Chancellorsville 11
3 “Skillful Use of Our Interior Lines”—Prelude to Gettysburg 15
4 Harrison the Spy—Advance to Gettysburg 23
5 “Here’s the Old Bulldog”—Gettysburg, Day One 35
6 “Up the Emmitsburg Road”—Gettysburg, Day Two 41
7 “We Gained Nothing but Glory”—Gettysburg, Day Three 69
8 “A Very Taciturn and Undemonstrative Man”—Gettysburg,
Day Four 87
9 Lee’s Old War Horse—Gettysburg Reconsidered 93
10 Precursor to Chickamauga—Western Concentration 107
11 Bull of the Woods—Chickamauga 119
12 “Longstreet Is the Man”—Chickamauga’s Aftermath 133
13 “They Had Few Equals and … No Superiors”—Knoxville 149
14 “Strategic Importance of the Field”—East Tennessee 165
15 The Old Warhorse Is Up at Last!—The Wilderness 185
Epilogue: General Longstreet’s Strategy and Tactics 213
Notes 219
Bibliography 231
Index 235

Acknowledgments
I wish to thank my editors, Michael D. Lewis and Stephen Spagnesi, who were very
supportive with their knowledge, ability and experience and helped me write and
organize this manuscript. I would also like to thank Roger Williams, who advised me
and provided me with a list of good editors for historical works. My special thanks
to Shelley Glick in the research department of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library
for her tireless efforts to obtain material to help me write the book. I want to thank
Kelly Wooten of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library of Duke
University for providing me copies of the Longstreet Papers. Thanks to my wife,
Joan, who encouraged me with her love and devotion in my many hours of writing.
I wish to acknowledge my sons, Philip, George, and Stephen, who helped me with
computer problems and purchased a new computer when the old one crashed so
I could finish the manuscript. I also wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the
Library of Congress for obtaining copies of the Wigfall Papers.

Civil War Timeline
November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th president of the
United States, the first Republican president in the
nation who represents a party that opposes the spread
of slavery in the territories of the United States.
December 17, 1860 Th e first Secession convention meets in Columbia,
South Carolina.
December 20, 1860 S outh Carolina secedes from the Union.
January, 1861 Six additional southern states secede from the Union.
February 8−9, 1861 Th e southern states that seceded create a government
at Montgomery, Alabama, and the Confederate States
of America are formed.
February 18, 1861 Jefferson Davis is appointed the first president of
the Confederate States of America at Montgomery,
Alabama, a position he will hold until elections can
be arranged.
March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th president
of the United States in Washington, D.C.
April 12, 1861 Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter, South
Carolina. The Civil War has formally begun.
April 15, 1861 President Lincoln issues a public declaration that an
insurrection exists and calls for 75,000 militia to stop
the rebellion. As a result of this call for volunteers, four
additional southern states secede from the Union in
the following weeks. Lincoln will respond on May 3
with an additional call for 43,000+ volunteers to serve
for three years, expanding the size of the Regular army.
May 8, 1861 James Longstreet resigns his U.S. Army commission
and joins the Confederate army, with the rank of
Brigadier-General.
July 21, 1861 The battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas) is fought
near Manassas, Virginia. The Union army under
General Irwin McDowell initially succeeds in driving