Dreams of Victory: General P. G. T. Beauregard in the Civil War

by Sean Michael Chick

Overview

Few Civil War generals attracted as much debate and controversy as Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard. P. G. T. combined brilliance and charisma with arrogance and histrionics. He was a Catholic Creole in a society dominated by white Protestants, which made him appear exotic next to the likes of Albert Sidney Johnston and Robert E. Lee.

He was reviled by Jefferson Davis and often mocked by Mary Chesnut in her diary. Yet, he was popular with his soldiers and subordinates. Outside of Lee, he was the South’s most consistently successful commander, winning at Bull Run, defending Charleston in 1863, and defeating Benjamin Butler at Bermuda Hundred and Ulysses Grant and George Meade at Petersburg. Yet, he lived his life in the shadow of his one major defeat: Shiloh.

Beauregard’s career before and after the war was no less tumultuous than his Civil War record. He was born among the Creole elite of Louisiana, but rejected the life of a planter in favor of the military, inspired by tales of Napoléon. He was considered a shining light of the antebellum army and performed superbly in the Mexican-American War. Yet, he complained about a lack of promotion and made a frustrating stab at being mayor of New Orleans in 1858.

After the war, he was a successful railroad executive and took a stand against racism, violence, and corruption during the Reconstruction. Yet, he was ousted from both railroads he oversaw and his foray into Reconstruction politics came to naught. Although he provided for his family and left them a hefty sum after his death, the money was mostly gained by working for the corrupt Louisiana Lottery.

In Dreams of Victory: General P. G. T. Beauregard in the Civil War, Sean Michael Chick explores a life of contradictions and dreams unrealized—the first real hero of the Confederacy who sometimes proved to be his own worst enemy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611215212
Publisher:	Savas Beatie
Publication date:	05/17/2022
Series:	Emerging Civil War Series
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	532,436
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sean Michael Chick has a Master’s Degree in history from Southeastern Louisiana University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

Foreword Frank J. Wetta xi

Prologue xix

Chapter 1 Born Among the Creoles 1

Chapter 2 The Young Lieutenant 7

Chapter 3 The Road to Resignation 15

Chapter 4 The Hero of Fort Sumter 25

Chapter 5 The Manassas Quick Step 35

Chapter 6 Under Two Johnstons 49

Chapter 7 Shiloh Church 59

Chapter 8 The Defense of Charleston 73

Chapter 9 The Beast at Bermuda Hundred 87

Chapter 10 Triumph at Petersburg 95

Chapter 11 The Final Useless Act 105

Chapter 12 Reconstructing Life and Louisiana 117

Chapter 13 The Old Man of New Orleans 127

Epilogue: A Fading Legacy 141

Appendix A René Beauregard in War and Peace Sean Michael Chick Christopher D. Rucker 149

Appendix B A History of the Beauregard Statue in New Orleans Jordan Grove 157

Appendix C Last Tribute Victor E. Rillieux Transcribed Robert Ford. Translated Sean Michael Chick 166

Suggested Reading 168

About the Author 170

Editorial Reviews

"Sean Chick hits on all the important aspects of Beauregard’s military career and then follows his postwar career until his death in 1893. Chick even gifts us a wonderful history of the P.G.T. Beauregard statue in New Orleans and its recent controversies. I highly recommend this volume as a super introduction the Louisiana’s Creole general..."

HISTORYNET

…a well-written introduction to the life and career of Louisiana’s general. Dreams of Victory asks some interesting questions and brings to life the old controversies.

Civil War Monitor

Chick does a good job of portraying the general as the first real hero of the Confederacy, who at times proved his own worst enemy.

The NYMAS Review