Beauregard, Pierre Gustave

bo'reh-gard', Pierre Gustave (1818-1893), an American soldier. He was a native of New Orleans and a graduate of West Point. He distinguished himself in the Mexican War, but resigned from the Union Army to enter the Confederate service. He is noted as the commander who gave orders for the reducing of Fort Sumter, which was accomplished April 12, 1861, and may be said to have precipitated the Civil War beyond all hope of recall. He led the victorious Confederates at the battle of Bull Run in the same year, and was with Johnston at Shiloh. After the close of the war, he engaged in various commercial enterprises. He accepted at one time the management of the nefarious Louisiana lottery, a course which occasioned his friends much regret. See Sumter; Civil War