— Ch. 1 · Childhood And West Point —
James Longstreet.
~11 min read · Ch. 1 of 8
James Longstreet was born on the 8th of January 1821 in Edgefield District, South Carolina. His father James owned a cotton plantation near where Gainesville would later be founded in northeastern Georgia. The family held dozens of slaves and enjoyed moderate prosperity. Young James spent eight years living with his aunt Frances Eliza and uncle Augustus Baldwin Longstreet at their Westover plantation outside Augusta, Georgia. He attended the Academy of Richmond County during this time while his mother moved to Alabama after his father died from cholera in 1833.
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet served as a lawyer, judge, newspaper editor, and Methodist minister who supported states' rights ideas during the Nullification crisis. He passed habits like drinking whiskey and playing cards to his nephew despite many Americans considering them immoral. James became known as Pete or Old Pete because his father called him Peter due to his rocklike character. As a boy he enjoyed swimming, hunting, fishing, and riding horses while becoming adept at shooting firearms. Northern Georgia remained rural frontier territory where Southern aristocratic traditions had not yet taken hold so his manners were sometimes rough.
In 1837 Augustus attempted to obtain an appointment for his nephew to the United States Military Academy but the vacancy had already been filled. Longstreet was appointed the following year by Reuben Chapman who represented the First District of Alabama. He ranked in the bottom third of every subject during four years at the academy. By his own admission in memoirs he had more interest in horsemanship and foot-ball than academic courses. His engineering instructor Dennis Hart Mahan stressed swift maneuvering and positioning troops strategically rather than destroying enemy armies outright.
Longstreet earned a large number of demerits especially during his final two years. Offenses included visiting after taps, absence at roll call, untidy rooms, long hair, causing disturbances during study time, and disobeying orders. Biographer Jeffry D. Wert states that Longstreet was neither a model student nor a gentleman. He befriended classmates including George Henry Thomas, William Rosecrans, John Pope, Daniel Harvey Hill, Lafayette McLaws, George Pickett, and Ulysses S. Grant. He graduated 54th out of 56 cadets in 1842 as a brevet second lieutenant.