Longstreet Longstreet in Suffolk: Failure or Success?

Pete Longstreet

2nd Lieutenant
Forum Host
Joined
Mar 3, 2020
Location
Hartford, CT
In February of 1863 Longstreet receives orders from the War Department to command the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Longstreet is given a series of objectives:

- Protect Richmond from the southeast
- Drive out the garrison at Suffolk, Va, if possible
- Forage for food and supplies

Longstreet as an independent commander is often criticized. Is this campaign considered a failure? Or success?

Thoughts...
 
Foraging for food and supplies was a clear success of Longstreet's campaign, while the siege and attempt to drive out or capture the federal garrison at Suffolk was not successful. Longstreet's operations in the Suffolk area certainly distracted any federal threat against Richmond, but I'm not sure if there was any realistic threat to begin with. The federal foothold along the North Carolina coastline that was gained in 1862 could have served as a springboard for interior movements to menace Richmond from the southeast (possibly in coordination with successive attempts that were made from the Peninsula and the Rappahannock line), but there did not seem to be any real effort on the part of the Union to do so.
 
Foraging for food and supplies was a clear success of Longstreet's campaign, while the siege and attempt to drive out or capture the federal garrison at Suffolk was not successful. Longstreet's operations in the Suffolk area certainly distracted any federal threat against Richmond, but I'm not sure if there was any realistic threat to begin with. The federal foothold along the North Carolina coastline that was gained in 1862 could have served as a springboard for interior movements to menace Richmond from the southeast (possibly in coordination with successive attempts that were made from the Peninsula and the Rappahannock line), but there did not seem to be any real effort on the part of the Union to do so.

Pickett enjoyed his stay in the Suffolk area. Longstreet's QM was Raphael Moses -perhaps the best in the ANV. His accumulation of supplies at Suffolk and during other campaigns was outstanding
 
Pickett enjoyed his stay in the Suffolk area. Longstreet's QM was Raphael Moses -perhaps the best in the ANV. His accumulation of supplies at Suffolk and during other campaigns was outstanding
I actually forgot about Pickett and his "distraction" in Suffolk... it slipped my mind. Thanks for reminding me!
 
In retrospect, it might have been a wiser decision for Lee to keep Longstreet and his divisions intact with the ANV instead of sending them off to North Carolina. The additional firepower might have made a bigger difference at Chancellorsville.
I've thought about that as well... kinda like the "what if" Jackson was at Gettysburg... what if Longstreet was at Chancelllorsville...
 
Longstreet didn't have the strength to realistically accomplish the goal of pushing the Federal forces out of Suffolk but he did manage to gather the supplies that helped keep the army in good shape for the foray into Pennsylvania so, in that respect, it was a success.

Ryan
 
Foraging for food and supplies was a clear success of Longstreet's campaign, while the siege and attempt to drive out or capture the federal garrison at Suffolk was not successful. Longstreet's operations in the Suffolk area certainly distracted any federal threat against Richmond, but I'm not sure if there was any realistic threat to begin with. The federal foothold along the North Carolina coastline that was gained in 1862 could have served as a springboard for interior movements to menace Richmond from the southeast (possibly in coordination with successive attempts that were made from the Peninsula and the Rappahannock line), but there did not seem to be any real effort on the part of the Union to do so.
Well stated. I agree totally
 
Why not? At the time... Lee had his army divided into two corps. So it was either Longstreet or Jackson...
Great point and another “what if”
What if Jackson was sent and Longstreet stayed for Chancellorville? Wow! Don’t think I ever thought about that scenario
 
Stonewall had just had a daughter born in November 1862. Would it be reasonable that Lee let him stay with the main army and have Mrs. Jackson and the family come visit for the winter? Therefore Longstreet goes.

Also, Longstreet completely looking the other way when Pickett goes AWOL to chase his future wife over and over I have always had a problem with. He was way too protective of Pickett in this situation. He had only recently been promoted and put in division command.
 
In retrospect, it might have been a wiser decision for Lee to keep Longstreet and his divisions intact with the ANV instead of sending them off to North Carolina. The additional firepower might have made a bigger difference at Chancellorsville.

Longstreet might have made a hasty return by rail if he wasn't bogged down in a siege.

My understanding is the top reason to send Longstreet away from the ANV for the winter was logistics. It meant two less divisions to feed on the Rappahannock line. Perhaps if those two divisions aren't away the whole ANV is not as well-fed for a couple months and overall weaker.

Hooker surely knew of Longstreet's absence. If Longstreet and two more divisions were present does Hooker still launch the same attack?
 
Last edited:
Hooker surely knew of Longstreet's absence. If Longstreet and two more divisions were present does Hooker still launch the same attack?
Makes one think... if Longstreet is never sent to Suffolk, does the addition of his 12,000 men drastically change the outcome of Chancellorsville. I would say probably yes. Although during the winter of 62-63, the lack of supplies and food available to Lee's army was a significant problem.
 
Makes one think... if Longstreet is never sent to Suffolk, does the addition of his 12,000 men drastically change the outcome of Chancellorsville. I would say probably yes. Although during the winter of 62-63, the lack of supplies and food available to Lee's army was a significant problem.
I love speculating on "what if" scenarios, but I've come to the conclusion that if you do that, you have to also accept chaos theory and the "butterfly effect"...that the change in outcomes by varying even slightly the historical initial conditions can diverge exponentially and not just linearly. That's one of the things that makes reading forays into historical fiction interesting. It can basically go anywhere and still ring true within that constraint...
 
I've thought about that as well... kinda like the "what if" Jackson was at Gettysburg... what if Longstreet was at Chancelllorsville...
Probably the flank march never happens. Lee had to have remembered what Jackson was able to accomplish the previous August by getting in the rear of Pope at Manassas and it must have given him some confidence Stonewall could pull it off.
 
Back
Top