Editing James Longstreet (section)

===Joining the Confederacy and initial hostilities===
At the beginning of the [[American Civil War]], Longstreet was paymaster for the United States Army and stationed in Albuquerque. After news of the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]], he joined his fellow Southerners in leaving the post. In his memoirs, Longstreet calls it a "sad day", and records that a number of Northern officers attempted to persuade him not to go. He writes that he asked one of them "what course he would pursue if his State should pass ordinances of secession and call him to its defence. He confessed that he would obey the call."{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|pp=29–30}}

Longstreet was not enthusiastic about [[secession]] from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]], but he had long been infused with the concept of states' rights and felt he could not go against his homeland.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=51–52}} Although he was born in South Carolina and brought up in Georgia, he offered his services to Alabama, which had appointed him to West Point and where his mother still lived. He was the senior West Point graduate from that state, which meant that he could potentially be placed in command of that state's soldiers.{{sfn|Wert|1993|p=52}} After settling his accounts, he submitted his resignation letter from the United States Army on May 9, 1861, intending to join the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. He had already accepted a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the [[Confederate States Army]] on May 1. His resignation from the United States Army was accepted on June 1.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=53–53}}

[[File:Gen. Longstreet, C.S.A. LCCN2004678555.jpg|thumb|left|Sketch of Longstreet as a Confederate |alt=Longstreet as a Confederate, wearing a gray army coat partially unbuttoned]]
Longstreet arrived in [[Richmond, Virginia]], with his new commission. He met with [[President of the Confederate States|Confederate President]] [[Jefferson Davis]] at the executive mansion on June 22, 1861, where he was informed that he had been appointed a [[Brigadier General (CSA)|brigadier general]] with the date of rank on June 17, a commission he accepted on June 25. He was ordered to report to Brigadier General [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] at [[Manassas, Virginia|Manassas]], where he was given command of a brigade of three Virginia regiments—the [[1st Virginia Infantry|1st]], [[11th Virginia Infantry|11th]], and [[17th Virginia Infantry]]—in the [[Confederate Army of the Potomac]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=58–61}}<ref>Longstreet, pp. 32–33, claimed that he sought only appointment as a paymaster, but Wert believes this was falsely modest and that he sought the glory of infantry command from the earliest days. See Wert 1993 pp. 58–61.</ref>

Longstreet assembled his staff and trained his brigade incessantly. On July 16, Union Brigadier General [[Irvin McDowell]] began marching his army toward Manassas Junction. Longstreet's brigade first saw action at [[Battle of Blackburn's Ford|Blackburn's Ford]] on July 18, when it collided with McDowell's advance division under Brigadier General [[Daniel Tyler]], clashing heavily with the brigade of [[Israel B. Richardson]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=64–70}}{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|pp=37–39}} An infantry charge pushed Longstreet's men back, and in his own words, Longstreet "rode with [[sabre]] in hand for the leading files, determined to give them all that was in the sword and my horse's heels, or stop the break".{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|p=39}} Colonel [[Jubal Early]]'s brigade arrived to reinforce Longstreet. One of Early's regiments, the [[7th Virginia Infantry Regiment|7th Virginia]], fired a volley while Longstreet was still in front of its position, forcing him to dive off of his horse. Under the renewed Confederate strength, the Union left wavered. Tyler withdrew, as he had orders not to bring on a general engagement.{{sfn|Longstreet|1991|pp=37–41}}{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=70–71}}

The battle preceded the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] (First Manassas). When the main attack came at the opposite end of the line on July 21, Longstreet's brigade endured artillery fire for nine hours but played a minor role in the fighting.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=62–67}}{{sfn|Tagg|1998|p=204}} Between 5 and 6 in the evening, Longstreet received an order from Brigadier General [[Joseph E. Johnston]] instructing him to take part in the pursuit of the Federal troops, who had been defeated and were fleeing the battlefield. He obeyed, but when he met Brigadier General [[Milledge Bonham]]'s brigade, Bonham, who outranked Longstreet, ordered him to retreat. The same order soon arrived from Johnston. Longstreet was infuriated that his commanders would not allow a vigorous pursuit of the defeated Union Army.{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=76–77}} His Chief of Staff, [[Moxley Sorrel]], recorded that he was "in a fine rage. He dashed his hat furiously to the ground, stamped, and bitter words escaped him."{{sfn|Sorrel|1905|p=9}} He quoted Longstreet as saying afterward, "Retreat! Hell, the Federal army has broken to pieces."{{sfn|Sorrel|1905|p=9}}

On October 7, Longstreet was promoted to [[Major General (CSA)|major general]] and assumed command of a division in the newly reorganized and renamed Confederate [[Army of Northern Virginia]] under Johnston (formed from the previous Army of the Potomac and the [[Confederate Army of the Shenandoah|Army of the Shenandoah]]) – with four infantry brigades commanded by Generals D.H. Hill, [[David Rumph Jones|David R. Jones]], Bonham, and [[Louis Wigfall]], as well as [[Hampton's Legion]] commanded by [[Wade Hampton III]].{{sfn|Wert|1993|pp=90–91}}