Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant definition of Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant (bō`rĭgärd), 1818–93, Confederate general, b. St. Bernard parish, La., grad. West Point, 1838. As engineer on the staff of Winfield Scott in the Mexican War, he figured prominently in the taking of Mexico City. He later did engineering work in Louisiana, and for five days in Jan., 1861, he was superintendent of West Point. Beauregard, resigning from the army in February, was soon made a Confederate brigadier general and was given command at Charleston, where he ordered the firing on Fort Sumter Fort Sumter, fortification, built 1829–60, on a shoal at the entrance to the harbor of Charleston, S.C., and named for Gen. Thomas Sumter ; scene of the opening engagement of the Civil War. Upon passing the Ordinance of Secession (Dec.
..... Click the link for more information. . Assuming command of the army in NE Virginia (June), he was second in command to J. E. Johnston Johnston, Joseph Eggleston, 1807–91, Confederate general, b. Prince Edward co., Va., grad. West Point, 1829. He served against the Seminole in Florida and with distinction under Winfield Scott in the Mexican War.
..... Click the link for more information. at the first battle of Bull Run Bull Run, small stream, NE Va., c.30 mi (50 km) SW of Washington, D.C. Two important battles of the Civil War were fought there: the first on July 21, 1861, and the second Aug. 29–30, 1862.
..... Click the link for more information. (July 16, 1861) and was promoted to full general. He was sent to the West in 1862 and succeeded to the command of the Army of Tennessee upon the death of A. S. Johnston at the battle of Shiloh Shiloh, battle of, Apr. 6–7, 1862, one of the great battles of the American Civil War. The battle took its name from Shiloh Church, a meetinghouse c.3 mi (5 km) SSW of Pittsburg Landing, which was a community in Hardin co., Tenn., 9 mi (14.
..... Click the link for more information. . Ill health and friction with Jefferson Davis, whom he had criticized after Bull Run, resulted in his removal from command. After a rest he was charged with the defense of the South Carolina and Georgia coast, which he ably held against Union attacks, particularly those on Charleston in 1863. In May, 1864, Beauregard reinforced Lee in Virginia. He defeated B. F. Butler at Drewry's Bluff Drewry's Bluff (dr
..... Click the link for more information. and held Petersburg against Grant until Lee arrived. In the closing months of the war he was in the Carolinas with J. E. Johnston. After the war Beauregard was a railroad president, manager of the Louisiana state lottery, and for many years adjutant general of that state. His superior engineering abilities overshadowed his deficiencies as a field commander.

Bibliography

See his Mexican War reminiscences ed. by T. H. Williams (1956, repr. 1969); A. Roman, Military Operations of General Beauregard (1884); biographies by H. Basso (1933) and T. H. Williams (1955).