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Adapted from P. G. T. Beauregard, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for audio. This HearLore entry is also licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

— Ch. 1 · Creole Origins And Early Life —

P. G. T. Beauregard.

~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 8
Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard was born on the 28th of May 1818 at the Contreras sugar-cane plantation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. His family spoke French and practiced Catholicism as was typical for Louisiana Creoles. He grew up playing with slave boys his own age including a tall storyteller named Baptiste who became his favorite friend. A nurse from Saint-Domingue named Mamie Françoise Similien raised him and they shared hugs and kisses that were rare for the time. The Beauregard family gave Similien a Creole Cottage in the Faubourg Treme after Pierre's grandfather died. She pointed to a portrait he gave her in 1867 saying it was her son. This close bond between master and servant shaped his early worldview before he ever stepped onto a battlefield.
8 sections
Beauregard enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point New York where he dropped the hyphen from his surname to fit in with classmates. He graduated second in his class in 1838 and earned nicknames like Little Creole and Little Napoleon from fellow officers. After graduation he returned to Louisiana in February 1845 to work on coastal defenses along the Florida coast and Mobile Alabama. He improved Forts St. Philip and Jackson on the Mississippi River below New Orleans. In 1852 President Franklin Pierce appointed him superintending engineer of the U.S. Custom House in New Orleans which was sinking unevenly into moist soil. Beauregard developed a renovation program that stabilized the structure successfully from 1853 until 1860. His engineering skills extended to creating a self-acting bar excavator for ships crossing sandbars.
Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard was born on the 28th of May 1818 at the Contreras sugar-cane plantation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. His family spoke French and practiced Catholicism as was typical for Louisiana Creoles. He grew up playing with slave boys his own age including a tall storyteller named Baptiste who became his favorite friend. A nurse from Saint-Domingue named Mamie Françoise Similien raised him and they shared hugs and kisses that were rare for the time. The Beauregard family gave Similien a Creole Cottage in the Faubourg Treme after Pierre's grandfather died. She pointed to a portrait he gave her in 1867 saying it was her son. This close bond between master and servant shaped his early worldview before he ever stepped onto a battlefield.
8 sections
Beauregard enrolled at the United States Military Academy at West Point New York where he dropped the hyphen from his surname to fit in with classmates. He graduated second in his class in 1838 and earned nicknames like Little Creole and Little Napoleon from fellow officers. After graduation he returned to Louisiana in February 1845 to work on coastal defenses along the Florida coast and Mobile Alabama. He improved Forts St. Philip and Jackson on the Mississippi River below New Orleans. In 1852 President Franklin Pierce appointed him superintending engineer of the U.S. Custom House in New Orleans which was sinking unevenly into moist soil. Beauregard developed a renovation program that stabilized the structure successfully from 1853 until 1860. His engineering skills extended to creating a self-acting bar excavator for ships crossing sandbars.
During the Mexican-American War Beauregard served as an engineer under General Winfield Scott. He received brevet promotions for battles at Contreras Churubusco and Chapultepec where he was wounded in the shoulder and thigh. At Chapultepec he convinced general officers to change their attack plan through eloquent performance. He became one of the first officers to enter Mexico City after the battle concluded on the 13th of September 1847. Despite his contributions in dangerous reconnaissance missions Captain Robert E. Lee received more brevet promotions than Beauregard did. This disparity disappointed him deeply and created early friction between two future rivals. The war established his reputation as a skilled engineer who could think strategically under fire.
Beauregard arrived in Charleston on the 3rd of March 1861 to take command of harbor defenses found in disarray by Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens. Major Robert Anderson wrote to Washington that Beauregard would guarantee South Carolina's actions were exercised with skill and sound judgment. On the 12th of April 1861 negotiations failed and Beauregard ordered the first shots of the Civil War fired from Fort Johnson. The bombardment lasted 34 hours before Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter on April 14. Three months later he helped win the First Battle of Manassas near Bull Run Creek on the 21st of July 1861. President Jefferson Davis approved his promotion to full general based on this victory establishing his date of rank as July 21. Biographer T. Harry Williams described him as the South's first paladin following these events.
In Tennessee Beauregard became second-in-command to General Albert Sidney Johnston effective the 14th of March 1862. They planned a surprise attack against Grant's Army of the Tennessee at Shiloh beginning the 6th of April 1862. Beauregard organized successive attacks in long lines causing intermingling of units and confusion of command. When Johnston was mortally wounded mid-afternoon Beauregard assumed command but chose to call off the attack as darkness fell believing the battle won. Union forces launched a massive counterattack on April 7 overwhelming the Confederates who retreated to Corinth. He withdrew from Corinth on May 29 after losing almost as many men to disease as had been killed in battle. President Davis relieved him of command when he went on medical leave without permission replacing him with Braxton Bragg.
Beauregard commanded coastal defenses in South Carolina Georgia and Florida from the 29th of August 1862 until the 18th of April 1864. On the 7th of April 1863 Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont led an ironclad attack against Fort Sumter repulsed by highly accurate artillery fire. During July through September 1863 Union land forces under Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore attacked Fort Wagner on Morris Island while Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren attempted to destroy Fort Sumter. Beauregard promoted innovative naval strategies including early experimentation with submarines and naval mines called torpedoes. He designed a torpedo-ram that could surprise enemy vessels and impale them underwater. These tactics helped prevent Charleston's capture despite repeated attacks throughout 1863.
On the 15th of June 1864 Beauregard's weak force of 5,400 men resisted an assault by 16,000 Federals at the Second Battle of Petersburg. His gamble succeeded holding the city long enough for Lee's army to arrive proving arguably his finest combat performance. Later he was replaced as commander in Georgia by Joseph E. Johnston after Sherman's March to the Sea began. Beauregard met with Johnston and President Davis on the 13th of April 1865 convincing them the war needed to end. They surrendered to Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman near Durham North Carolina on the 26th of April 1865. The two were paroled in Greensboro on May 2 before Beauregard traveled back to New Orleans.
Beauregard took an oath of loyalty before the mayor of New Orleans on the 16th of September 1865 seeking amnesty from former Confederate service. He declined offers to join Brazilian Romanian or Egyptian armies preferring to live poor and forgotten rather than honored abroad. In October 1865 he became chief engineer of the New Orleans Jackson and Great Northern Railroad later promoted to president until ousted in 1870. He invented a cable-powered street railway system that made financial success before being fired again. From 1877 to 1892 he supervised the Louisiana State Lottery Company making him wealthy through public appearances alongside Jubal Early. His views moderated significantly post-war advocating black civil rights including suffrage to vote out Radical Republicans though his motivations remained pragmatic regarding Southern economic interests.
During the Mexican-American War Beauregard served as an engineer under General Winfield Scott. He received brevet promotions for battles at Contreras Churubusco and Chapultepec where he was wounded in the shoulder and thigh. At Chapultepec he convinced general officers to change their attack plan through eloquent performance. He became one of the first officers to enter Mexico City after the battle concluded on the 13th of September 1847. Despite his contributions in dangerous reconnaissance missions Captain Robert E. Lee received more brevet promotions than Beauregard did. This disparity disappointed him deeply and created early friction between two future rivals. The war established his reputation as a skilled engineer who could think strategically under fire.
Beauregard arrived in Charleston on the 3rd of March 1861 to take command of harbor defenses found in disarray by Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens. Major Robert Anderson wrote to Washington that Beauregard would guarantee South Carolina's actions were exercised with skill and sound judgment. On the 12th of April 1861 negotiations failed and Beauregard ordered the first shots of the Civil War fired from Fort Johnson. The bombardment lasted 34 hours before Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter on April 14. Three months later he helped win the First Battle of Manassas near Bull Run Creek on the 21st of July 1861. President Jefferson Davis approved his promotion to full general based on this victory establishing his date of rank as July 21. Biographer T. Harry Williams described him as the South's first paladin following these events.
In Tennessee Beauregard became second-in-command to General Albert Sidney Johnston effective the 14th of March 1862. They planned a surprise attack against Grant's Army of the Tennessee at Shiloh beginning the 6th of April 1862. Beauregard organized successive attacks in long lines causing intermingling of units and confusion of command. When Johnston was mortally wounded mid-afternoon Beauregard assumed command but chose to call off the attack as darkness fell believing the battle won. Union forces launched a massive counterattack on April 7 overwhelming the Confederates who retreated to Corinth. He withdrew from Corinth on May 29 after losing almost as many men to disease as had been killed in battle. President Davis relieved him of command when he went on medical leave without permission replacing him with Braxton Bragg.
Beauregard commanded coastal defenses in South Carolina Georgia and Florida from the 29th of August 1862 until the 18th of April 1864. On the 7th of April 1863 Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont led an ironclad attack against Fort Sumter repulsed by highly accurate artillery fire. During July through September 1863 Union land forces under Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore attacked Fort Wagner on Morris Island while Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren attempted to destroy Fort Sumter. Beauregard promoted innovative naval strategies including early experimentation with submarines and naval mines called torpedoes. He designed a torpedo-ram that could surprise enemy vessels and impale them underwater. These tactics helped prevent Charleston's capture despite repeated attacks throughout 1863.
On the 15th of June 1864 Beauregard's weak force of 5,400 men resisted an assault by 16,000 Federals at the Second Battle of Petersburg. His gamble succeeded holding the city long enough for Lee's army to arrive proving arguably his finest combat performance. Later he was replaced as commander in Georgia by Joseph E. Johnston after Sherman's March to the Sea began. Beauregard met with Johnston and President Davis on the 13th of April 1865 convincing them the war needed to end. They surrendered to Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman near Durham North Carolina on the 26th of April 1865. The two were paroled in Greensboro on May 2 before Beauregard traveled back to New Orleans.
Beauregard took an oath of loyalty before the mayor of New Orleans on the 16th of September 1865 seeking amnesty from former Confederate service. He declined offers to join Brazilian Romanian or Egyptian armies preferring to live poor and forgotten rather than honored abroad. In October 1865 he became chief engineer of the New Orleans Jackson and Great Northern Railroad later promoted to president until ousted in 1870. He invented a cable-powered street railway system that made financial success before being fired again. From 1877 to 1892 he supervised the Louisiana State Lottery Company making him wealthy through public appearances alongside Jubal Early. His views moderated significantly post-war advocating black civil rights including suffrage to vote out Radical Republicans though his motivations remained pragmatic regarding Southern economic interests.

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1818 births1893 deaths19th-century American engineers19th-century American inventorsActivists for African-American civil rightsAmerican civil rights activistsAmerican military engineersAmerican military personnel of the Mexican–American WarAmerican military writersAmerican people of French descentAmerican people of Italian descentArmy of Northern VirginiaBeauregard Parish, LouisianaBurials at Metairie CemeteryCatholics from LouisianaConfederate States Army full generalsLouisiana Creole peopleLouisiana DemocratsMembers of the Aztec Club of 1847People from St. Bernard Parish, LouisianaPeople of Louisiana in the American Civil WarSlave owners from LouisianaSouthern Historical Society membersSuperintendents of the United States Military AcademyUnited States Army officersUnited States Military Academy alumniWriters from New Orleans

Common questions

When and where was P. G. T. Beauregard born?

Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard was born on the 28th of May 1818 at the Contreras sugar-cane plantation in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

What role did P. G. T. Beauregard play in the First Battle of Manassas?

P. G. T. Beauregard helped win the First Battle of Manassas near Bull Run Creek on the 21st of July 1861. President Jefferson Davis approved his promotion to full general based on this victory establishing his date of rank as July 21.

How did P. G. T. Beauregard die?

The provided script text does not contain information regarding the death or cause of death for P. G. T. Beauregard.

Why did P. G. T. Beauregard leave the Confederate Army?

President Davis relieved him of command when he went on medical leave without permission replacing him with Braxton Bragg. He later met with Johnston and President Davis on the 13th of April 1865 convincing them the war needed to end before surrendering to Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman near Durham North Carolina on the 26th of April 1865.

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