Editing James Longstreet (section)

==Subsequent activities==
[[File:Gen. Longstreet LCCN91783856.tif|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Antebellum South|Antebellum]] portrait of Longstreet |alt=Sketch of Longstreet with a dark beard in a blue United States Army uniform with two buttons]]
After the war and his recovery, Longstreet and Louise Garland were officially married on March 8, 1848.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=46}} The marriage produced 10 children.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=47}} Little is known of their courtship or marriage. Longstreet rarely mentions her in his memoirs, and never reveals any personal details. There are no surviving letters between the two. Most anecdotes about their relationship come through the writings of Longstreet's second wife, [[Helen Dortch Longstreet]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=34}} Novelist [[Ben Ames Williams]], a descendant of Longstreet, included Longstreet as a minor character in two novels. Williams questioned Longstreet's surviving children and grandchildren, and depicted him as a devoted family man with an exceptionally happy marriage.{{sfn|Piston|1987|p=4}}

Longstreet next served several months of recruiting duty in [[Poughkeepsie, New York]]. After travelling to St. Louis for the Grant wedding, Longstreet and his wife moved to [[Carlisle Barracks]], Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=46}} On January 1, 1850, he was appointed Chief Commissary for the Department of Texas, responsible for the acquisition and distribution of food to the department's soldiers and animals. The job was complex and consisted mainly of paperwork, although it provided experience in administrative military work.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=47}} 1850 census records show that Longstreet owned two slaves, a 35-year old woman and a 13-year old girl.{{sfn|Varon|2023|p=16}} In June, Longstreet, hoping for promotion and an income above his $40-per-month salary to support his growing family, requested a transfer to the cavalry but was rejected. He resigned as commissary in March 1851 and returned to the Eighth Infantry.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=47–48}} Longstreet served on frontier duty in Texas at [[Fort Martin Scott]] near [[Fredericksburg, Texas|Fredericksburg]]. The primary purpose of the military in Texas was to protect frontier communities against Indians, and Longstreet frequently participated in scouting missions against the [[Comanche]]. His family remained in [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]], and he saw them regularly.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=47–48}} In 1854, he was transferred to [[Fort Bliss]] in [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]], and Louise and the children moved in with him. In 1855, Longstreet was involved in fighting against the [[Mescalero]]. He assumed command of the garrison at Fort Bliss on two occasions between the spring of 1856 and the spring of 1858. The small size of the garrison allowed for easy socialization with the local people, and the fort's location allowed for visits with Louise's parents in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=48–49}} Longstreet performed scouting missions.{{sfn|Eicher|Eicher|2001|p=353}}{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=48–51}}

On March 29, 1858, Longstreet wrote to the adjutant general's office in Washington, D.C. requesting that he be assigned to recruiting duty in the East, which would allow him to better educate his children. He was granted a six-month leave, but the request for assignment in the East was denied, and he was instead directed to serve as major and paymaster for the 8th Infantry in [[Leavenworth, Kansas]]. He left his son Garland in a school at [[Yonkers, New York]], before journeying to Kansas. On the way, Longstreet came across his old friend Grant in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. After about a year in Leavenworth, he was transferred to Colonel Garland's department in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], to serve as paymaster, where he was joined by Louise and their children.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=50–51}}{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|p=29}}

Knowledge of Longstreet's prewar life is extremely limited. His experience resembles that of many Civil War generals insofar as he went to West Point, served with distinction in the War with Mexico, and continued his career in the peacetime army of the 1850s. But beyond that, there are few details. He left no diary, and his lengthy memoirs focus almost entirely on recounting and defending his Civil War military record. They reveal little of his personal side while providing only a very cursory view of his pre-war activities. An 1889 fire destroyed his personal papers, making it so that the number of "[e]xisting antebellum private letters written by Longstreet [could] be counted on one hand".{{sfn|Piston|1987|pp=1–2}}