05516 - Gen. Pierre Beauregard, CSA; Commander of Confederate forces in the West [LC-DIG-cwpb-05516]
"We have always been enemies. I cannot pretend I am sorry he is gone. I am no hypocrite." Beauregard on declining to head the funeral procession of Jefferson Davis Within two weeks of the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard and President Davis became bitter enemies. After Fort Sumter and the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) he was a lionized in the South. Beauregard's image was everywhere. A song, the "Manassas Quick Step", was composed in his honor. Beauregard was charismatic, dashing and even in battle maintained the polished appearance that distinguished him. The Louisiana French Creole was also contentious. Beauregard believed that his success warranted a promotion in rank. Davis, who attended West Point, felt Beauregard won the First Battle of Manassas despite major mistakes. Their relationship went downhill from there. After the war, Beauregard pursued a position in the Brazilian army (1865) and contemplated offers to command the armies of Romania (1866) and Egypt (1869). He did become the chief engineer and superintendent of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad. Beauregard did have a positive post-war relationships with other high ranking Confederates. In 1877, Beauregard became a supervisor of the Louisiana Lottery. Along with former Confederate general Jubal Early, Beauregard presided over the lottery drawings. He was the grand marshal of the festivities to lay the cornerstone of Robert E. Lee's statue in Richmond. When John Bell Hood and his wife died in 1879, leaving ten destitute orphans, Beauregard used his influence to get Hood's memoirs published, with all proceeds going to the children. This image of him in civilian clothes was probably taken shortly after the war.
![05516 - Gen. Pierre Beauregard, CSA; Commander of Confederate forces in the West [LC-DIG-cwpb-05516]](/img/s/v-10/p1324059862-3.jpg)