NPS CHAL H 5 PC16720 Wilshin, Francis F. The Rene Beauregard House Bs Francis F. Wilshin, Park Historian Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park December 31, 1952 The Rene Beauregard House w Branois F. Wilshin, Park Historian Frederidssburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park December 31, 1982 History of the Rene Beauregard House With Appendix ~JJTHV~ESTREGIONAL OFFICB ,103~~ PARK SERVICE LIBRARY Index -Index Main Report Page History of the Rene Beauregard House 1 - 21 The Ante Bellurn Years 22 - 28 War Comes Again to the Parish 29 - 34 The Post war Years 35 - 49 Architectural Descriptions of the Rene ~eauregard House 50 - 55 The Legal Chain of Ownership and Property Description 56 - 67 Appendix Correspondence on the Rene Beauregard House from the Files of Mr. Richard Koch, District Offi- cer, Historic American Building Survey in Louisiana (1) - (9) Detailed Inspection of the House (10) - (n) Extracts from the Autobiography of James Gallier (12) - (37) State of Louisiana Purchases Battleground from Pierre Bachelot February 19, 1855 (38) - (4.1) Specifications for Chalmette Monument (42) - (49) Letter of Franklin Marion Gentry to Francis F. Wilshin Relative to Charles Mynn Thruston and William Henry Dangerfield - Plantation Owners of the Battlefield Area (so> - (56) -Index - oontinued Letter from hrl L. Trever, Chief, Interior Beciords Beation, Nabional Arohives tc Super intmndent Rusrnsell A Gibbe, Chal- mette National Historioal Park, Fiegarding Chalmette Monunvant (mn(W) Genealogy of the ae Line ue Chabtte ~aily isgj-i~ej A Briefed Abstract of Title on the Pr erty of New Orleans Terminal Company &or Portion of the Battlefield Area propertg. (63)-&59) Introduction In 1938-1939 the writer, while stationed at Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, 'hEssissippi, spent approximately a year in research on the Battle of New Orleans preparatory to the development of Chalmette National Historical Park, Louisiana. On the basis of this experience Superintendent Russell Gibbs requested through the Region One office that the writer be detailed on a special assignment to Chalmette on a reimbursement basis for the period January 13 - February 22, 1951 for the purpose of: 1. Evaluating and recommending revisions of the present marker system of the park. 2. Conducting research on the Rene Beauregard House for information which muld assist in a re- habilitation of the building for rnuseum and administrative use. 3. Gathering such information as might prove helpful in the writing of a @-page handbook for the area. It was appreciated by Superintendent Gibbs and Regional Historian Appleman that any one of these three subjects might easily employ the full time of the writer. In view of this it was suggested that the chief efforts ofthe historian be directed to the first two. It was generally understood that the work schedule should be so arranged as to permit the final preparation of the report prior to the conclusion of the assignment. However this proved impossible due to the absence of any typist assistance at the park and to unavoidable LIBRAWI CU~IURIIRESOURCE CmlfR NAl UNAC ?AH& SERVla delays encountered in completing special phases of the research such 1. The microfilming of the significant portion of the autobiography of James Gallier by the Howard-Tilton Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, Ia. 2. The photostating of certain documents by the National Archives, New Orleans, La. 3. The photostating of other documents by the Nati-om1 Archives, Washington, D. C. (received May 4). 4. The search of the Beauregard Papers conducted by the staff of Dr. V. L. Bedsole, Head Department-of Archives, Loufsiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. (Completed Aprfl 10.) 5. The examination of the Lossing Papers in the Benson Collection of the Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Mieh. 6. The securing of positive copies of microfilm of abstracts of title of property in and adjacent to the park prepared by the Southern Railroad Company. phis was done by Hall in Richmond, Vir through the cooperation of Region One.f"' The progress of the research was materially assisted by the generous cooperation of old friends and new acquaintances, notable among whom may be listed the following: Mr. Edward Alexander Parsons Prominent attorney of New Orleans, Mr. Parsons owns what is reputed to be one of the four largest private libraries in the United States - 45,000 volumes, many of which are first editions, and 8,000 manu- scripts. His collection of documents relative to the purchase of Louisiana, the Battle of New Orleans, and other phases of early Louisiana history is in- valuable. He has been unfailing in the encouragement and generous support he has given the writer both in early and late research on the area, It was at his invitation last year that the writer addressed the Chalmette National Historical Park Association in New Orleans. It was at his invitation this year that the writer addressed the Louisiana Histori- cal society on ItThe Battle of New Orleans in the Light of Newly Discovered Evidence,f1 (See Appendix - Public Relat&ons. ) It was through the cooperation of Mr. Parsons that the writer secured a photostatic copy of aletter of Jackson to Morgan written on the field of battle, dated January 8, 1815, (See Appendix - Miscellaneous, ) James J. A. Fortier - Mr. Fortier as Assistant Archivist of the Louisiana State Historical Library has offered generous co- operation and valuable assistance in research. Mr. Fortier is a member of a distinguished Louisiana family with a wide circle of acquaintances who were in a position to further the research, It was through Mr. Fortier's invitation that the writer was guest speaker before the Academy of American History, an up and coming historical society. (See Appendix - Public Relations. ) Mr. Sam Wilson Mr. Wilson is now associated with the architectural firm of Richard Koc~, Mr. Wilson is generally recog- nized as probably the foremost historical architect in New Orleans, Since 1934 he has shown increasing interest in studying and preserving important historical land- marks in and about New Orleans, He is now serving as President of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, an active organization in the preservatAon field. In 1935 Mr. Wilson assisted in the preparation of the HABS drawings of the Rene Beauregard House and has conducted further research on the house since that time. His generous cooperation proved of inval- uable assistance to the writer. He very singly made available to the writer such information as he had on file relative to the house. Mr. Wilson has conducted an intensive study of the De La Ronde House which he plans to make available to the National Park Service. He was the first to identify a contemporary photograph of the house, a copy of which is attached to this report. Mr. Wilson has recently edited Latirobe's Diaries and submitted it for publication, probably in the fall under the title "Impressions Respecting New Orleansf'. Latrobe visited the battlefield of New Orleans in 1820 and made a number of sketches of historical interest including the work on the bas- tion on the right of Jackson's line near the river. (See Gallier mibition Catalogue 1950 compiled by Mr. Wilson - Part III, Beauregard House - Photographs and Documents. ) Dr. V. I,. Bedsole While on a trip to Baton Rouge the writer had the pleasure of meeting Dr. V, L, Bedsole, Head Depart ment of Archives, Louisiana State University, Time did not permit the examination of The Pierre G. T. Beaure ard and Fanil Papers by the writer. Eow= +Bxe odrggenerously pffered the ser- vices of his staff to examine them for us. On April 10, it was learned that the examination had been completed without fruitful results. Dr. Garland Taylor Dr. Taylor is Director of Libraries of Tulane Univer- sity. It was through his courtesy that the writer was permitted to examine the two separate collections of manuscripts of the Gallier Collection. He also supervised for the writer the microfilming of the desired portion of Gallierrs Autobiography. He also arranged for the photographing of Laclotte's sketch of the battle of New Orleans. Miss Renshaw The writer first had the pleasure of meeting Miss Renshaw when in 1938 he first began his researches on the Battle of New Orleans. At that time she was Assistant Librarian in the Howard Memorial Library. Since then the Howard and Tilton Libraries have combined and she is serving as assistant to Dr. Taylor. Her thorough knowledge of the library almost removes the necessity of a card catalogue. Mr. Claude C. De Bruyes Mr. De Bruyes, of distinguished Louisiana ancestry on one side of his house, is a descendant of the pirate Beluche on the other. For years he was em- ployed as a photographer for the Cabildo Museum. It was through his cooperation that the writer secured the recent photographs of the exterior and interior of the Beauregard -House. Mr. Dan Leyrer It was through the cooperation of Mr. Dan Leyer that a number of the best photographs of the Beauregard House was obtained. He also furnished us with a copy of the De La Ronde Mouse, the McCarthy House, and the blown up section of the Zimpells map. Dr. George Raffalovich Dr. Raffalovich well deserves the term "gentleman scholar. Formerly a Professor of Dartmouth University, he served for a number of years after lVorldVJar I as foreign correspondent in Italy. Later he returned to this country, taught a while in Georgia and then set- tled in New Orleans. While in Georgia he met Margaret Mitchell and did free lanck research for her. With his ready command of French Dr. Raffalovich was ever willing to assist the writer in the trans- lation of any significant or difficult document in French, whether it was at St.