James Longstreet

James Longstreet (January 8, 1821 – January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War, and later enjoyed a successful post-war career working for the government of his former enemies, as a diplomat and administrator.

Postbellum career

After the war, Longstreet renewed his friendship with his old friend and adversary, Lieut. Gen. and future President Ulysses S. Grant, and became the only senior Confederate officer to join the postwar Republican party. For this, he lost favor with many Southerners, but nevertheless enjoyed a successful second career. He also converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife, which also made him less popular in the more Protestant South. President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Longstreet as his ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and later, he served from 1897 to 1904, under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, as U.S. Commissioner of Railroads.

Related Topics:
President - Ulysses S. Grant - Republican party - Catholicism - Protestant - Rutherford B. Hayes - Ottoman Empire - 1897 - 1904 - William McKinley - Theodore Roosevelt

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Late in life, after bearing criticism of his war record from other Confederates for decades, he refuted most of their arguments in his memoirs entitled From Manassas to Appomattox. He outlived most of his detractors, and died in Gainesville, Georgia, where he is buried in Alta Vista Cemetery. He was one of only a few general officers from the Civil War to live into the 20th century.

Related Topics:
Gainesville, Georgia - 20th century

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