Background
He was born on May 28, 1818, on his father's plantation in St. Bernard Parish, near New Orleans, United States. He had three brothers and three sisters.
(Beauregard was a general for the Southern forces during t...)
Beauregard was a general for the Southern forces during the Civil War. This is his first hand account of the the battle, as well as reasons why he felt the South lost the war.
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He was born on May 28, 1818, on his father's plantation in St. Bernard Parish, near New Orleans, United States. He had three brothers and three sisters.
He was graduated second in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1838, and was appointed second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.
When the Mexican War began in 1846, Beauregard helped fortify the captured port of Tampico, Mexico.
When Beauregard resigned from the U. S. Army in February 1861, the Confederate government gave him command of the batteries surrounding Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor.
He began the bombardment on April 12 which led to surrender of the fort the next day.
In June he was sent to Manassas, Va. , to defend it against a Union advance from Washington, D. C.
In January 1862 Beauregard, after months of disagreement with Confederate president Jefferson Davis over strategy and Beauregard's own status as a subordinate under Joseph E. Johnston, agreed to become second in command to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, west of the Appalachians.
Since Union reinforcements had arrived already, his decision did not cost a victory, as some persons later charged.
In January 1863 Beauregard temporarily drove off the blockaders at Charleston and in April defeated an attack on the harbor by Federal ironclads.
His garrison lost Battery Wagner after a lengthy defense but withstood a heavy bombardment and a boat attack on Fort Sumter during the summer and fall.
In April 1864 Beauregard received command of the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia.
He had concentrated his troops by May 16 to drive back a Union force near Richmond, Va. , and trap it between the James and Appomattox rivers.
He participated in an abortive attempt to create a third political party (an alliance of businessmen and African Americans) during Reconstruction in Louisiana and served as state adjutant general from 1879 to 1888.
He tried with little success to gather troops and oppose Gen. William Sherman's advance through Georgia and the Carolinas, until he was replaced by Joseph E. Johnston in February 1865.
(Beauregard was a general for the Southern forces during t...)
His family was Roman Catholic.
He briefly entered politics as a reform candidate for mayor of New Orleans in 1858, where he was promoted by both the Whig and Democratic parties to challenge the Know Nothing party candidate. Beauregard was narrowly defeated.
In 1841, Beauregard married Marie Antoinette Laure Villeré (March 22, 1823 – March 21, 1850), the daughter of Jules Villeré. The couple had three children. Marie died in March 1850, while giving birth to Laure. Ten years later, the widower Beauregard married Marguerite Caroline Deslonde.
Brevet Major (USA), General (CSA)