March 23, 1861; The Charleston Mercury
In the year 1858, when rowdyism ruled supreme in New Orleans elections, General (then Major) BEAUREGARD was nominated by the order loving citizens of that place for the Mayoralty. We find in a New Orleans paper of that time the following interesting sketch of his previous career:
Major Beauregard, then, the independent candidate of the intelligence, enterprise, industry and wealth of New Orleans for the Chief Magistracy of their city, is a native of this State, born, of Creole parents, in the year 1815, and is, consequently, now in his forty third year. At the early age of sixteen he entered the United States Military Academy, where, having stood next to head in all his classes, he graduated second of his date in 1838. He was then commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Corps of United States Engineers, to which he has ever since remained attached, serving the principal portion of the twenty years in the Gulf of Mexico, constructing or repairing the different forts for the protection of the coast.
When the war with Mexico occurred in 1846, he made three successive applications to be employed in its prosecution, and at last had the great satisfaction of being ordered to Tampico, which had just fallen into the possession of our arms, where, in conjunction with Major J. G. Barnard, of the same corps, an officer of great merit, were planned and constructed the defences which at this moment have served to keep Gen. Garza force so long and successfully at bay. In 1847 he joined Gen. Scott, as a member of his staff, before Vera Cruz, in the reduction of which, like all his brother engineer officers, he took an active and most serviceable part. The honor of selecting three of the sites of the five batteries which reduced the city of the Holy Cross to capitulate on the 19th of March, devolved upon him. In the following April, before the battle of Cerro Gordo, the reconnoisance, under the orders of General Twiggs, of the mule path which turned the left of the Mexican position, was entrusted to, and performed satisfactorily by him, he, two other officers and handful of daring men, going over one mile in rear of the advanced positions of the Mexican army, afterwards unsuccessfully attacked by General Pillow. He shared prominently in the brilliant action of Cerro Gordo, and subsequently took position with the heads of columns on the advance to the Halls of the Montezumas. In September, the battle of Contreras was fought by the advancing columns of our victorious army, when Major Beauregard had the distinction of being the ranking engineer officer of his friend our late and much lamented fellow citizen, Gen. P. F. Smith. Besides the professional reconnoisance made at the battle by Major Beauregard, he led our glorious rifle regiment into a position under the very guns of the fort, whence with unerring procession of deadly aim, the enemies’ gunners were shot down as fast as they showed themselves at their pieces, which contributed greatly to the success of that brief but ever memorable affair. He also, on that occasion, was one of those who captured one of two guns which the American army under Gen. Taylor, had gloriously lost at Buena Vista, and received, in the name of Gen. Smith, the surrender of Gen. Salas, now in this city. He was complimented by his General in being selected to convey the first tidings of the victory to Gen. Scott, then at San Augustin de las Cuevas. He was breveted Captain for meritorious service in that battle.
On the 11th of September, in the small village of Piedad, near the very gates of the city of Mexico, a council of general officers was convened by the commander in chief to determine upon the best point of attack on the capital of the enemy. After a long and interesting discussion, all the general officers present, with the exception of Generals Scott, Twiggs and Riley, as well as the five engineer officers present, Major Beauregard excepted, expressed themselves in favor of attacking the southern gates of the city, but Major B. argued energetically in favor of a sudden attack on the Chepultepec and the western gates of the city, which view commended itself to the acceptance and approval of the commander in chief, was adopted, and finally resulted in the glorious victories of Chepultepec and the Garitas of Belen and San Cozino. At the subsequent storming of Chepultepec, a few days afterwards, Major Beauregard was Gen. Pillow’s engineer officer, and after having spent all night in repairing some American batteries, led the storming column across the ditches and over the parapets of the work being one of the first to enter, cheering his companions to follow him into the citadel, which soon after fell into their hands. During the storming of the work around the latter, while exposed to a shower of grape, canister and musketry, the Major noticing a group of Mexicans more daring than the others, who were doing their best to shoot down our men, borrowed a rifle from one of the voltigeurs near him, and turning with the utmost sang froid to one of his brother officers, Lieut. Col. Johnston, of that regiment, now of the 1st cavalry, said to him, while preparing to take aim, “What will you bet on this shot?” Col. Johnston coolly replied, “A picayune, payable in the city of Mexico.” The Major fired and won his bet, which was subsequently claimed and paid as agreed in the capital of the conquered foe. After the fall of Chepultepec, Major Beauregard joined Gen. Quitman’s columns, which were advancing on the city of Mexico by the Belen causeway, and having ascertained that the latter’s engineer officer had been severely wounded and disabled in the attack on the work at the foot of the Hill of Chepaltepec, he tendered his services in place of the wounded officer telling the General he would like to remain with him, provided he would give him orders to do so, which the General handsomely and gratefully did. He immediately took an active part in the storming of a battery halfway on the Belen causeway, where he was twice wounded, being momentarily disabled, but recovering himself he again joined the storming party, and shared in the charge on the Garita battery. He there had, notwithstanding his sufferings, to sit up all night to turn two of the enemies’ batteries against the strong citadel of the city of Mexico, only about three hundred yards distant, and which had been playing all the afternoon upon those who held the Garita. At the break of day, on the 14th, the citadel and palace, which had been abandoned a short time before, were taken possession of by the forces under Gen. Quitman’s command. Again Major B. Was complimented in being selected by Gen. Quitman to carry to Gen. Scott, then at Chepultepec, the news of our successes; and the latter paid Major B. a very laudatory compliment for having so warmly and properly, as the result proved, advocated the attack on the city of Mexico by the western instead of the southern gate, which would, probably had the latter been referred, cost the American forces a much greater loss of officers and men. For his heroic and great services at Chepultepec, his brevet of Major was obtained, but for his subsequent services under Quitman on the Belen road, which deserved a higher reward, he never received any recompense.
At the close of the war, in the summer of 1846, having been absent nearly two years, he returned home to resume his accustomed professional duties. In 1852 he was offered by Mr. Fillmore’s administration the superintendency of the new Custom House building here, which he then declined, but having in the subsequent year been appointed to it by his friend Franklin Pierce, he accepted, and has held it since.
In the twenty years’s ervice to his country, he has never had in all more than about twelve months’ leave of absence, the rest of the time being spent in active service. In that period he has disbursed over three millions of dollars, without given any security–engineer officers not being required by law to give any–and every cent has been scrupulously accounted for, and not the shadow of an imputation rests, or ever has rested, upon his spotless reputation.