Confederate G.T. Beauregard Started The Civil War, Ended It And Became An Abolitionist

PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT-BEAUREGARD (May 28, 1818-February 20, 1893) was a Confederate general officer of Louisiana Creole Descent who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.

Offering his signature G.T. Beauregard and dated card, “1883,” 2 1/4 x 4 1/4.

Trained in military and civil engineering at the United States Military Academy, West Point, Beauregard served with distinction as an engineer officer in the Mexican-American War. Following a brief appointment as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy in 1861, and after Louisiana seceded, he resigned from the United States Army and became the first brigadier general in the Confederate States Army.  He commanded the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, at the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Three months later he won the First Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, VA.  He held several key commands in the Western Theater, including control of armies at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, and the Siege of Corinth in northern Mississippi, both in 1862. He returned to Charleston and defended it in 1863 from repeated naval and land attacks from Union troops in June 1864, which delayed the eventual fall of the Confederate capital of Richmond.

In April 1865, Beauregard and his commander, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, convinced President Jefferson Davis that the remaining cabinet members that the war needed to end.  Johnston surrendered most of the remaining armies of the Confederacy, including Beauregard and his men, to Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman.

After his military career, Beauregard returned to Louisiana, where he advocated for Black civil rights, including suffrage, served as a railroad executive, and became wealthy as a promoter of the Louisiana Lottery.

Light toning but overall excellent signature.

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