Editing James Longstreet (section)

===West Point and early military service===
In 1837, Augustus attempted to obtain an appointment for his nephew to the [[United States Military Academy]], but the vacancy for his congressional district had already been filled. Longstreet was appointed the following year by a relative, [[Reuben Chapman]], who represented the First District of Alabama, where Mary Longstreet lived. Longstreet was a poor student.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=26–29}} By his own admission in his memoirs, he "had more interest in the school of the soldier, horsemanship, exercise, and the outside game of foot-ball than in the academic courses".{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|p=15}}

Longstreet ranked in the bottom third of every subject during his four years at the academy. In January of his third year, Longstreet initially failed his mechanics exam, but took a second test two days later and passed. Longstreet's engineering instructor in his fourth year was [[Dennis Hart Mahan]], who stressed swift maneuvering, protection of interior lines, and positioning troops in strategic points rather than attempting to destroy the enemy's army outright. Although Longstreet earned modest grades in the course, he used similar tactics during the Civil War. Longstreet was also a disciplinary problem at West Point. He earned a large number of demerits, especially in his final two years. His offenses included visiting after taps, absence at roll call, an untidy room, long hair, causing a disturbance during study time, and disobeying orders. Biographer [[Jeffry D. Wert]] says, "Longstreet was neither a model student nor a gentleman."{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=30–31}}

Longstreet was popular with his classmates, however, and befriended a number of men who would become prominent during the Civil War, including [[George Henry Thomas]], [[William Rosecrans]] (his roommate), [[John Pope (general)|John Pope]], [[Daniel Harvey Hill]], [[Lafayette McLaws]], [[George Pickett]], and [[Ulysses S. Grant]]. Longstreet ranked 54th out of 56 cadets when he graduated in 1842. He was commissioned a [[brevet (military)|brevet]] [[second lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in the [[United States Army]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=30–32}}{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|pp=16–17}}{{sfn|Eicher|Eicher|2001|p=353}}

After a brief furlough, Longstreet was stationed for two years at the [[4th Infantry Regiment (United States)|4th U.S. Infantry]] at [[Jefferson Barracks Military Post|Jefferson Barracks]], Missouri, under the command of [[Lieutenant colonel]] [[John Garland (general)|John Garland]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=32–33}} In 1843, he was joined by his friend, Lieutenant Ulysses Grant.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=34}} In 1844, Longstreet met Garland's daughter and his future first wife Maria Louisa Garland, called Louise by her family.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=34}} At about the same time as Longstreet began courting Louise, Grant courted Longstreet's fourth cousin, [[Julia Grant|Julia Dent]], and that couple eventually married. Longstreet attended the Grant wedding on August 22, 1848, in St. Louis, but his role at the ceremony remains unclear. Grant biographers [[Jean Edward Smith]] and [[Ron Chernow]] state that Longstreet served as [[Groomsman|best man]].{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=73}}{{sfn|Chernow|2017|p=872}} John Y. Simon, editor of Julia Grant's memoirs, concluded that Longstreet "may have been a groomsman", and Longstreet biographer Donald Brigman Sanger called the role of best man "uncertain" while noting that neither Grant nor Longstreet mentioned such a role in their memoirs.{{sfn|Sanger|Hay|1952|p=13}}

Later in 1844, the regiment, along with the [[3rd Infantry Regiment (United States)|Third Infantry]], was transferred to Camp Salubrity near [[Natchitoches, Louisiana]], as part of the Army of Observation under Major General [[Zachary Taylor]]. On March 8, 1845, Longstreet was promoted to second lieutenant and transferred to the Eighth Infantry, stationed at [[Fort Marion]] in [[St. Augustine, Florida]]. He served for the month of August on [[court-martial]] duty in [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]]. The regiment was then transferred to [[Corpus Christi, Texas]], where he was reunited with the officers of the Third and Fourth Regiments, including Grant. The men passed the winter by staging plays.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=35–36}}