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General Beauregard was a member of a prominent
Louisiana family, and graduated (1838) from West Point and fought
in the Mexican War as an engineer officer. In April 1861, Beauregard
commanded Confederate troops at Charleston, where he initiated
the bombardment of Fort Sumter. He
also played a major role in the first Battle
of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.
At Shiloh (April 1862) he took command when his superior,
General Albert S. Johnston, was killed, and he led the Confederate
withdrawal from the field. In 1863 he defended Charleston from
attack by the Union navy, and in May 1864 he defeated a Union
army under General Benjamin F. Butler at Drury's Bluff, Virginia,
and then commanded troops in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
After 1865, Beauregard was active in the railroad
industry, managed the Louisiana state lottery, and defended his
military reputation. Historians describe him as an able general. |
Pierre Gustave
Toutant Beauregard