An American army officer and Confederate general, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1818-1893) became a hero in the South with his capture of Fort Sumter and his victory at the First Battle of Bull Run. He was one of the Confederacy's eight full generals.

During the Civil War, P. G. T. Beauregard held six independent commands, ranging from Virginia to Tennessee to South Carolina. He proved to be a good but not a great general; his contentious personality brought him into conflict with Jefferson Davis and led to appointments in secondary theaters later in the war, where he failed to develop as a field commander. He won brief praise for his successful defense of Charleston, S. C., from naval assault in 1863 and of Petersburg, Va., from Grant's first attacks in 1864. Beauregard's life involved a series of paradoxes. Although he was considered an ardent Southerner, his Creole appearance and style...