The Daily Dispatch: August 15, 1861., [Electronic resource]

General Beauregard of Canadian descent.

‘ "The grandfather of Gen. Beauregard, Commander of the Southern army, was a Canadian. His name was Pierre Toutan, and he emigrated to New Orleans from Batiscan, in the district of Three Rivers. At N. O he made a fortune, and rapidly acquired considerable influence among the French population of Louisiana. As a reward for his political services, he obtained for his son an admission as a cadet into the Military Academy at West Point. The son figures in the books under the name of Pierre G. Toutan. In the meantime, he purchased an estate near New Orleans, which he called Beauregard.--When his son obtained his commission as an officer in the army, he cast aside the humble name of Toutan, adopted the more aristocratic one of De Beauregard, and thenceforth subscribed himself 'Pierre Toutan de Beauregard.'"

’ The foregoing may be correct, with the exception of the conclusion. He adopted the name of Beauregard because it was the name of his mother, and not from any aristocratic motive.