Beauregard

[atlantis]

Why wasn't Beauregard kept on as army of Mississippi commander? I believe he could have done no worse than Bragg. The stories of illness seems too convenient to me.

 

[scooter748driver]

I was under the impression that Davis and he didn't get along and that moving him to Charleston was based at least partly on that. But I'm a novice so I could easily be wrong. But I agree, he probably wouldn't have done any worse than Bragg.

 

[Pollaco]

I think what pushed Davis too far was Beauregard's taking sick leave without getting it okayed by Davis first.It simplifies things but the incident was probably a complicated matter. Not simply sick leave but doing anything without clearing it with Davis first was more than likely serious.

 

[Jamieva]

He basically went awol from the army he commanded and didn't tell Davis. He left Bragg in charge and thought that was sufficient. When Davis found out he thought differently and he relieved Beauregard and promoted Bragg.

 

[jackt62]

The stories of illness seems too convenient to me.

It would appear that Davis used Beauregard's absence due to illness without permission as a pretext for relieving him from western command. There was little love lost between the 2 men, from the time of 1st Manassas onward. And Davis could certainly scapegoat Beauregard for the utter reversal in fortune on the 2nd day of Shiloh, after Beauregard had reported that a Confederate victory had been won orginally. But Beauregard was successful in subsequently extracting his army from the Corinth lines through subterfuge and leaving them to fight under Bragg as the reconstituted AoT.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

The primary reason that Beauregard was not retained as head of the Army of Mississippi derived from Davis's deep personal dislike (which some have described as a hatred) of him.

Although Beauregard was a capable combat commander and engineer, his strongly expressed contrary opinions often clashed with Davis, resulting in poor relations between the pair, which can be traced back to the fall of 1861.

Beauregard's controversial decisions to retreat from Shiloh, and later Corinth, all fed into Davis's animus towards him. Think the final straw came when Corinth was abandoned, and Beauregard took medical leave without seeking permission beforehand, causing Davis to remove him from command when the Army retreated to Tupelo. Davis's explanation for the removal was that Beauregard had technically deserted his post while on an unauthorized sick leave. Beauregard's supporters claimed this was a guise for Davis's hatred of Beauregard (see 'Autumn of Glory' by Thomas Connelly, at page 33).

Despite an ensuing petition presented to Davis by some Richmond politicians to reinstate him in Sept. of that same year, Davis had no intention of re-appointing Beauregard to Army command.

 

[breckod]

Davis was willing to turn to Joe Johnston before Beauregard again, which says a lot about how Davis felt about PGT.

 

[jackt62]

Think the final straw came when Corinth was abandoned, and Beauregard took medical leave without seeking permission beforehand, causing Davis to remove him from command when the Army retreated to Tupelo.

And retreating to Tupelo and abandoning Corinth was probably the best decision that Beauregard or any other commander could have made. Despite Halleck's snail-like movement towards Corinth, had Beauregard chosen to remain in the Corinth perimeter, the end result would likely have still been the loss of the Corinth rail junction to the Union and a severe derangement of Beauregard's AoM.

 

[bdtex]

One author has suggested that his Creole lineage might've also played a part in his limited command appointments/promotions in the Confederate Army.