Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard was an American military officer known as being the Confederate General who started the American Civil War at the battle of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is commonly referred to as P. G. T. Beauregard, but he rarely used his first name as an adult. He signed correspondence as G. T. Beauregard.
Portrait by Mathew Brady, c. 1860–1865
Pierre G. T. Beauregard as a young man, painting by Richard Clague
The Battle of Chapultepec, September 13, 1847
U.S. Army Major P.G.T. Beauregard
General officers in the Confederate States Army
The general officers of the Confederate States Army (CSA) were the senior military leaders of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War of 1861–1865. They were often former officers from the United States Army before the Civil War, while others were given the rank based on merit or when necessity demanded. Most Confederate generals needed confirmation from the Confederate States Congress, much like prospective generals in the modern U.S. armed forces.
Robert E. Lee, the best known CSA general. Lee is shown with the insignia of a Confederate colonel, which he chose to wear throughout the war.
P. G. T. Beauregard, the Confederacy's first brigadier general, later the fifth-ranking general
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Huger, CSA
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, CSA