Beauregard, P. G. T.
Beauregard, P. G. T. (1818–1893), known as the “Great Creole,” became the Confederacy's first field commander.A Louisianian, he graduated second of forty‐five in the U.S. Military Academy Class of 1838. An engineer, Beauregard was brevetted for gallantry in the Mexican War, and in January 1861 became superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy. Relieved because of Southern sympathies, he accepted a commission as brigadier general in the Confederacy's Provisional army on 1 March 1861.
Beauregard commanded rebel forces at Fort Sumter and at First Manassas. Promoted to full general, he assumed command of the Southern army after Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston's death during the Battle of Shiloh, and had to retreat. He defended Charleston brilliantly from late 1862 to 1864. In May 1864, he defeated Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler in front of...
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