Page:War and its Heroes.djvu/51

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

THE WAR AND ITS HEROES. 53 and subsequently at the battle of Manassas, July 21st, 1861, in which he commanded a brigade under General Beauregard. JIc va.s afterwards male a major-general under General Joseph E. Johnston. After the battles around Richmond, in which General Longstreet bore a prominent part, he was made lieutenant-general under General Lee, who assumed command of the army after the battle of Seven Pines, General John- ston having been woundod in that engagement. General Longstreet continued with the army of the Potomac until after the battle of Gettysburg, when he wai transferred to the command of a separate army, which, at the present writing, (February, l s ^4,) is successfully engaged in the defence of East Tennessee. As a "fighter" General Longstreet stands second to no officer in the army, and it is said that, during his connection with the army of the Potomac, General Lee reposed the most unbounded confidence in his coolness, skill and courage. General Longstreet combines, in an eminent degree, the qualities of a great soldier, viz : the spirit and dash to storm a formidable position; the Stubborn courage and cool judgment to maintain his ground against superior numbers, and thesflfcill and ability to control and direct an army, cither for offensive or defensive operations. General Longstreet is about six feet high, weighs at least two hundred pounds, and, as will be seen by his portrait, wears a heavy, flowing brown justly rej one of the finest looking men in the army