Showing results by author "James Longstreet" in All Categories

One of the most studied and written about episodes in US history, the American Civil War remains the subject of cultural and historiographical debate. The conflict was one of the earliest industrial wars in which mass-produced weapons were employed. The mobilization of civilian factories, shipyards, transportation, and food supplies all foreshadowed the impact of industrialization in World War I, World War II, and subsequent conflicts.

The memoirs of Lieutenant-General James Longstreet contains much of historical interest. He provides a personal account of the progress of the Civil War, plus a wealth of anecdotes about Robert E Lee and his officers. Longstreet was the commander of the Confederate Army's First Corps, which fought through most of the major wartime campaigns.

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in December 1862 in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia. The battle, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major General Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee, was part of the Union Army's futile frontal attacks against entrenched Confederate defenders on the heights behind the city. Union casualties were more than twice as heavy as those suffered by the Confederates.

On the 12th of April 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia marched to the field in front of Appomattox Court-House, stacked their arms, folded their colors, and walked off empty handed to find their distant, blighted homes. These are detailed and moving first-hand accounts from a number of prominent witnesses to Robert E. Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.