Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was one of the Confederate army's best officers and one of its first heroes, but a rancorous relationship with President Davis kept him from achieving the fame — and commands — that went to many of his associates. Beauregard was born in Louisiana in 1818 to a wealthy and prosperous Creole family. A gifted student, he attended West Point and graduated second in his class. Like most of his contemporaries, he honed his military skills during the Mexican War and spent many years with the corps of engineers. As the army's chief engineer in New Orleans, he supervised the dredging of the mouth of the Mississippi.

Beauregard commanded the Confederate troops that captured Fort Sumter and, as a result, became the South's first war hero. He was also a commander at the First Battle of Manassas and helped achieve the Confederate army's first battlefield victory, though Jefferson Davis berated Beauregard for not pursuing the panic-stricken Union soldiers all the way into Washington. He would go on to command assignments at Shiloh and Corinth, but the cantankerous Davis accused Beauregard of being too elaborate in his military strategy and relieved him of duty.

Beauregard was reassigned to Charleston, South Carolina, where Jefferson felt he could do no harm. However, Charleston became a frequent target of attack by Union forces, and Beauregard fought valiantly to protect it. In April 1864, Beauregard was sent back to Virginia, where he played a crucial role in stopping two potentially devastating Union attacks around Richmond.