James Longstreet

I was born on January 8th, 1821 in the Edgefield district of South Carolina. I was the fifth child of James and Mary Ann Dent Longstreet. At the age of nine I was sent to live with my uncle and aunt in order to find adequate preparation for my future military career. I spent eight years living in Augusta, Georgia on my uncle's plantation. During those eight years I went to the Richmond county Academy.

I eventually was recomended to the United states Military Academy. Now I wasn't the best of the students there, considering I was ranked 54th out of 56 cadets, but I made a lot of friends. After I graduated I spent my first two years of service at the Jefferson Brracks in Missouri. This is where I met my friend Grant and my wife Maria Louisa Garland with whom I was married to for 40 years and had 10 children with.

In the first battle of bull I was appointed to the rank of Brigadier General, which was pretty cool. My regiments played a minor role in the actual battle but we endured artillery fire for like nine hours. We eventually had the union on the run, but we didn't pursue them. I was not happy about this at all, but I trusted my commanders enough to hold my tongue. A few months later I was promoted to Major General, which was once again super cool. This was when disaster hit me.

A scarlet fever epidemic took my daughter Mary Anne's life, my son James, and my other son Gus all within a week, bless their souls. My son Garland almost succumbed to this disease but luckily he fought and lived. I was devastated, I became withdrawn from work and began to drink and gamble often. After the funeral though I turned around, I devoted myself to religion and drank far less. The times shortly before and after the battle of bull run were some of my toughest times.