Editing James Longstreet (section)

===Childhood===
James Longstreet was born on January 8, 1821, in [[Edgefield Historic District (Edgefield, South Carolina)|Edgefield District, South Carolina]],{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=19}} now part of North Augusta, [[Edgefield County, South Carolina|Edgefield County]]. He was the fifth child and third son of James Longstreet, of Dutch descent, and Mary Ann Dent of English descent, originally from New Jersey and Maryland respectively, who owned a cotton plantation close to where the village of [[Gainesville, Georgia|Gainesville]] would be founded in northeastern Georgia. James's ancestor Dirck Stoffels Langestraet immigrated to the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] colony of [[New Netherland]] in 1657, but the name was [[Anglicisation of names|Anglicized]] over the generations.<ref>Longstreet wrote in his memoirs, p. 13, that "It is difficult to determine whether the name sprang from France, Germany, or Holland."</ref> The family was moderately prosperous and held dozens of [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]].{{sfn|Varon|2023|pp=4–5; 369}} James's father was impressed by his son's "rocklike" character, giving him the nickname [[Saint Peter|Peter]], and he was known as Pete or Old Pete for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=19–22}}{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|p=13}}{{sfn|Dickson|2000|p=1213}} Longstreet's father decided on a military career for his son but felt that the available local education would not be adequate preparation. At age nine, James was sent to live with his aunt Frances Eliza and uncle [[Augustus Baldwin Longstreet]] in [[Augusta, Georgia]]. James spent eight years on his uncle's plantation, Westover, just outside the city while he attended the [[Academy of Richmond County]]. His father died from a [[cholera]] epidemic while visiting Augusta in 1833. Although James's mother and the rest of the family moved to [[Somerville, Alabama]], following his father's death, James remained with his uncle.{{sfn|Dickson|2000|p=1213}}{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=22–26}}

As a boy, Longstreet enjoyed swimming, hunting, fishing, and riding horses. He became adept at shooting firearms. Northern Georgia was very rural frontier territory, and [[planter class|Southern aristocratic traditions]] had not yet taken hold. As a result, Longstreet's manners were sometimes rather rough in spite of his plantation background. He dressed unceremoniously and at times used coarse language, although not in the presence of women. In later life, Longstreet described his aunt and uncle as caring and loving.{{sfn|Piston|1987|pp=2–3}} He made no known political statements before the war and appears to have been largely uninterested in politics. But Augustus, as a lawyer, judge, newspaper editor, and [[Methodist]] minister, was a fierce [[states' rights]] partisan who supported South Carolina during the [[Nullification crisis]] (1828–1833), ideas to which Longstreet probably would have been exposed.{{sfn|Piston|1987|p=3}}{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=24–25}} Augustus was also known for drinking whiskey and playing cards at a time when many Americans considered them immoral, habits he passed on to Longstreet.{{sfn|Piston|1987|p=3}}