General James Longstreet had fully recovered psychologically from the disastrous third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He had not been wounded, but he had seen General Pickett’s division torn to shreds. In September 1863, Longstreet was ordered to get 12,000 of the men of the First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia onto railroad cars and on their way to northern Georgia. Because of the loss of Chattanooga, the Confederates had to go the long way around, but Longstreet’s men enjoyed their train trip, and the locals in most villages and towns turned out to cheer them.