James Longstreet had, ever since the death of Stonewall Jackson, been the number-one Confederate in the field: Lee affectionately called him his “Old War Horse.” Longstreet had always been impassive where enemy fire was concerned: he had a fatalistic attitude made even stronger by the death of three of his children, all of whom succumbed to typhoid fever. During the Battle of the Wilderness, Longstreet reconnoitered, and in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Stonewall Jackson, he was wounded by rifle fire from his own men.

Wounded in the hands and the throat, Longstreet was taken to Richmond. He would be out of action for the next six months, depriving Lee of his best field officer.