James Longstreet
Soldier and Catholic convert. Born 8 January, 1821, at Edgefield,
South Carolina, U.S.A.; died at Gainesville, Georgia, 2 January,
1904. In 1831 he moved to Alabama with his parents, and was thence
appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he
graduated in 1842. For his services in the Mexican War he was
brevetted major and in 1852 was commissioned captain. At the
outbreak of the Civil War he resigned his commission in June,
1861, and entered the Confederate service, in which he afterwards
attained the distinction of being one of its greatest fighters and
of winning the unbounded confidence and affection of his soldiers.
He received at once the rank of brigadier general, and
participated with distinction in the first battle of Bull Run,
after which he was made a major general in 1862. At Antietam (17
September, 1862) he commanded the right wing of Lee's army, and
with the rank of lieutenant general he was at the head of a corps
at Gettysburg (2-3 July, 1863). In the battle of the Wilderness on
6 May, 1864, he was severely wounded, but resumed his command
during the siege of Petersburg. At the close of the war he engaged
in business in New Orleans, and accepted the political situation,
becoming a Republican in politics. President Grant appointed him
surveyor of customs at New Orleans, and later he was made
supervisor of internal revenue and postmaster. In 1875 he removed
to Georgia, and in 1880-81 was sent as U.S. Minister to Turkey. In
1898 he was appointed U.S. railway commissionaer. He left a
valuable chapter of war history in "From Manasses to Appomattox"
(Philadelphia, 1904). He became a Catholic in New Orleans, 7
March, 1877.
THOMAS F. MEEHAN
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.
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