When Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, Jackson volunteered to serve his state and quickly organized a group of amateur soldiers into an effective army brigade. By July of that year, Jackson’s men, fighting in the army of Joseph E. Johnston, moved to meet the federal invasion of Virginia at Bull Run. Here, Jackson earned the admiration of fellow soldiers for standing “like a stone wall” in the face of enemy fire. Jackson, in response, is reported to have said, “Let my men have the name, it belongs more to them than to me.” Read more about Jackson at Virginia Military Institute, where he taught until the beginning of the Civil War.

On 20 January 1863, Union General Ambrose Burnside’s Army of the Potomac began an offensive against General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia that quickly bogged down as several days of heavy rain turned Virginia’s roads into a muddy quagmire. The campaign was abandoned three days later. In one day, the 5th New York moved only a mile and a half. The roads became unnavigable, and conflicting orders caused two corps to march across each others’ paths. Horses, wagons, and cannon were stuck in mud, and the element of surprise was lost. Jeering Confederates taunted the Yankees with shouts and signs that read “Burnside’s Army Stuck in the Mud.”

Burnside tried to lift spirits by issuing liquor to the soldiers on January 22, but this only compounded the problems. Drunken troops began brawling, and entire regiments fought one another. The operation was a complete fiasco, and on January 23 Burnside gave up his attempt to, in his words, “strike a great and mortal blow to the rebellion.” The campaign was considered so disastrous that Burnside was removed as commander of the army on January 25.

Robert Edward Lee, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies, was born in Stratford, Virginia on 19 January 1807, the fifth child born to Revolutionary War Hero Henry Lee (”Light Horse Harry”) and Anne Carter Hill. Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His great-great maternal grandfather was Robert “King” Carter, the wealthiest man in the colonies when he died in 1732. But, Lee’s father died when he was age eleven, leaving the family deeply in debt. The family lost their home to creditors and Lee grew up in a series of houses in Alexandria, Virginia. He attended Alexandria Academy, where he was considered a top student and excelled at mathematics. His mother, a devout Christian, oversaw his religious instruction at Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria. Read more about Lee at the “From Revolution to Reconstruction” website.

At Right: Old Stone House in Richmond in 1865 that now houses the Poe Museum.

Edgar Allen Poe was also born this day in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Orphaned at age two, Poe grew up in the Richmond, Virginia home of a childless couple, merchant John Allan and his wife Frances. His foster parents treated him with affection and provided him with an excellent education at schools in England and in Virginia. Allan recognized Poe’s intellectual promise and sought to assist him further, enrolling him in the University of Virginia in February 1826. Read more at The Library of Congress.

Longstreet fought at the First Battle of Bull Run and within a year was commander of corps in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. Upon the death of General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Longstreet was considered the most effective corps commander in Lee’s army. He served with Lee for the rest of the war–except for the fall of 1863, when he took his force to aid the Confederate effort in Tennessee.

Longstreet was severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, and he did not return to service for six months. He resumed service and fought with Lee until the surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. After the war, Longstreet engaged in a number of businesses and held several governmental posts, most notably U.S. Minister to Turkey. Although successful, he made two moves that greatly tarnished his reputation among his fellow southerners. He joined the despised Republican Party and publicly questioned Lee’s strategy at the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg. His fellow officers considered these sins to be unforgivable, and former comrades such as Generals Jubal Early and John Gordon attacked Longstreet as a traitor. They asserted that, in fact, Longstreet was responsible for the errors that lost Gettysburg.

Longstreet outlived most of his comrades and detractors but died on January 2, 1904. His second wife, Helen Dortch, lived until 1962.

Information from the History Channel online.