Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant

Life Span
to
Full name
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Place of Birth
New Orleans, LA
Burial Place
New Orleans, LA
Birth Date Certainty
Exact
Death Date Certainty
Exact
Gender
Male
Race
White
Sectional choice
South
Origins
Slave State
No. of Spouses
2
No. of Children
2
Family
Jacques Toutant-Beauregard (father), Helene Judith de Reggio (mother), Marie Laure Villere (first wife, 1841), Caroline Deslonde (second wife, 1860)
Education
West Point (US Military Academy)
Occupation
Military
Businessman
Military
US military (Pre-Civil War)
Confederate Army

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (American National Biography)

Scholarship
During the Mexican War, Beauregard served as an engineer in Winfield Scott's army and distinguished himself in several battles, including Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. He received brevets as captain and major for his conduct and was promoted to captain in the regular army on 3 March 1853. Beauregard returned to Louisiana after the war and resumed engineering duties there….On 23 January 1861 he became superintendent of West Point but was ordered to vacate the post two days later. Beauregard left the academy two days after the secession of Louisiana, and he resigned his commission on 20 February 1861. Governor Thomas O. Moore of Louisiana passed over Beauregard for commander of the Louisiana state forces but offered him a commission as colonel of engineers. Beauregard declined the commission and enlisted as a private in a volunteer company.

Jefferson Davis appointed Beauregard a brigadier general in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America on 1 March 1861 and placed him in command of the troops at Charleston, South Carolina. There Beauregard supervised the bombardment of Fort Sumter and received the surrender of its garrison on 14 April. The public acclaim Beauregard received led to his assignment to command Confederate forces near Manassas, Virginia. Though outranked by General Joseph E. Johnston, Beauregard was allowed by the latter to direct the disposition of troops for the battle of First Manassas on 21 July. The Creole general performed bravely in the engagement and had a horse shot from under him.
Arthur W. Bergeron, "Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-01171.html.
Date Event
Louisiana native Major Pierre G.T. Beauregard appointed as the next Superintendent of West Point
Major Pierre Gustave T. Beauregard takes up his appointment as Superintendent of West Point
Major Pierre Gustave T. Beauregard is removed from his post as Superintendent of West Point
Jefferson Davis appoints Pierre G.T. Beauregard commanding general of the troops around Fort Sumter
President Lincoln gives South Carolina notice that he intends to resupply Fort Sumter
From Montgomery, the Confederate secretary of war orders immediate action against Fort Sumter
General Beauregard demands that Major Anderson surrender Fort Sumter immediately
Beauregard again demands that Major Anderson surrender Fort Sumter immediately
General Beauregard attempts to rally Virginians against "the tyrant" Lincoln and his "Abolition hosts"
- The first pitched battle of the war between armies results in a Union disaster at Bull Run
Philip St. George Cocke, Confederate general and veteran of Bull Run, shoots himself dead at his home in Virginia
Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston reorganizes the Army of the Mississippi into three corps
Massed Confederate forces attack the Union's Army of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing
At Pittsburg Landing, Union reinforcements turn the tide on the second day of the Battle of Shiloh
The Confederate garrisons of Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg abandon their defense and slip away in the night
In Charleston Harbor, after months of bloody attacks and meticulous siege, Union troops occupy Fort Wagner
- In Virginia, Union attacks at Chaffin's Farm tighten the ring around Petersburg
Fort Sumter
Mexican War
Date Title
General P. G. T. Beauregard's General Order Number 20, April 14, 1861, Charleston, South Carolina
Date Title
New York Times, “The New Orleans Committee,” June 5, 1858
Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “Regular Officers in the South,” February 22, 1861
Entry by Josie Underwood, April 15, 1861
San Francisco (CA) Evening Bulletin, “Protection of New Orleans,” May 24, 1861
Chicago (IL) Tribune, “An Absurdity Exposed,” July 24, 1861
Timothy Davis to William H. Seward, September 16, 1861
How to Cite This Page: "Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/5069.