In part or as a whole, the corps fought in nearly all of the major battles in the Eastern Theater, such as Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg.

At this time, Longstreet's corps contained twenty-one brigades organized into five divisions under major generals Lafayette McLaws, Richard H. Anderson, George E. Pickett, and John B.

Hood, and Brigadier General Robert Ransom, Jr.[3] Note: see Fredericksburg order of battle for the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia at this time.

[5] When Burnside's army started bridging the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg in the early morning of December 11, their crossing was contested by William Barksdale's brigade, which was scattered along the city's riverfront.

Barksdale withdrew to the main Confederate positions shortly after 7 p.m.[7] In January 1863, Ransom's division was transferred to North Carolina.

[9] Starting on April 11, Longstreet used his two divisions to lay siege to Suffolk, in order to better collect supplies in the area near the city.

After three weeks he was ordered to abandon the siege and return to Lee's main army but the Battle of Chancellorsville ended before Longstreet arrived.

[11] Nearing the end of June 1863 the Army of Northern Virginia had passed up the Shenandoah Valley, crossed through Maryland and entered Pennsylvania, using the Blue Ridge Mountains to hide their movements from Union cavalry patrols.

As the rest of the Union army came up it joined the two battered corps on the defensive line being constructed along much of Cemetery Ridge.

This round-about route was necessary due to the different gauges of the surviving Southern rail system between the forces, and would take three weeks to complete.

[21] About an hour after the failed attack on Fort Sanders on November 29, a telegram from President Jefferson Davis arrived, informing Longstreet of Bragg's defeat at Chattanooga and directing the First Corps to rejoin the Army of Tennessee.

At first Longstreet decided to leave the Knoxville area immediately, so he directed the wagon train to move rearward at once.

Then two messages from Bragg came in, suggesting the First Corps should cross the mountain ranges into Georgia to reach the army retreating there.

As Longstreet held councils of war with his senior officers, the logistical problems of crossing the mountains came to light, and it was decided to stay at Knoxville until Union reinforcements arrived then go into winter quarters near Bristol, Virginia.

[22] On December 1 Confederate cavalry patrols captured an enemy courier, carrying a message for Burnside stating three columns had been sent to his aid.

Over the next four days the First Corps retreated toward Virginia, passing through Bean's Station and heading for Rogersville in Hawkins County, Tennessee, where Longstreet halted on December 9.

The following day he received discretionary authority from Davis covering all soldiers in his region, and with this he recalled the cavalry units that had been ordered to Bragg in Georgia.

Longstreet rested his command at Rogersville until December 13, when he learned of pursuing Union infantry and cavalry back at Bean's Station; he then decided to turn and attack them the next day.

- January 27, 1864 Note: see Wilderness order of battle for the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia at this time.

On the evening of May 7, Lee ordered Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson to move his corps to Spotsylvania Court House, believing that Grant was headed to the same place.

Stuart was holding off Grant's infantry (elements of Warren's V Corps) on Brock Road and needed reinforcements.

He sent the brigades of Henegan and Humphreys to his aid, and upon their arrival, Stuart deployed them along the crest of Laurel Hill, where they successfully held off the Federal advance.

No sooner had Anderson sent his first two brigades off when he was approached by a courier from Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who was engaged with Federal cavalry units of Brig.

Note: see Cold Harbor order of battle for the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia at this time.