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Army and Corps Headquarters Markers

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The marker is a 12-pounder Napoleon forged at the Confederate Columbus Arsenal, Columbus, Georgia in 1863. It was placed in 1920 by the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission.

From the Headquarters Marker

Army of Northern Virginia
1st Corps Headquarters
James Longstreet
Divisions
Major Genl. Lafayette McLaws
Major Genl. George E. Pickett
Major Genl. John B. Hood
July 1, 2 ,3 ,4, 5, 1863

These headquarters were located at a
school-house 900 yards westerly

Location of the Marker

The marker is southwest of Gettysburg on the west side of West Confederate Avenue. It is south of Millerstown Road on the north side of the parking area across from the observation tower. (39° 48′ N, 77° 15.384′ W)

About James Longstreet

Lieutenant General James Longstreet (see equestrian monument with background history) commanded the Confederate 1st Corps at Gettysburg and was the next senior Confederate officer at Gettysburg to Robert E. Lee. Longstreet had commanded the First Corps since it was established in the fall of 1862. He was the only experienced Confederate corps commander at Gettysburg, with both Ewell and Hill having been promoted just a month before the battle.

Longstreet’s role at Gettysburg has been controversial. He made no secret that he disapproved of Lee’s plans to attack the Federal lines on both July 2nd and 3rd, and his foot-dragging bordered on insubordination.

Nevertheless, the attack launched by his First Corps on July 2nd rocked the Army of the Potomac back on its heels and came close to achieving its goals. The attack on July 3rd, of which only a third of the men (Pickett’s Division) belonged to the First Corps, was not as effective as the previous day but was still a dangerous blow.

Despite disagreements, Lee always viewed Longstreet as “his warhorse” and his right hand man. The 1st Corps would always be the sledgehammer of the Army of Northern Virginia.