Editing P. G. T. Beauregard (section)

===Return to New Orleans===
Beauregard returned from Mexico in 1848. For the next 12 years, he was in charge of what the Engineer Department called "the Mississippi and Lake defenses in Louisiana." Much of his engineering work was done elsewhere, repairing old forts and building new ones on the [[Florida]] coast and in [[Mobile, Alabama]]. He also improved the defenses of [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip|Forts St. Philip and Jackson]] on the Mississippi River below New Orleans. He worked on a board of Army and Navy engineers to improve the navigation of the shipping channels at the mouth of the Mississippi. He created and patented an invention he called a "self-acting bar excavator" to be used by ships in crossing bars of [[sand]] and [[clay]]. While serving in the Army, he actively campaigned for the election of [[Franklin Pierce]], the Democratic presidential candidate in [[1852 United States presidential election|1852]], and a former general in the Mexican War who had been impressed by Beauregard's performance at Mexico City. Pierce appointed Beauregard as superintending engineer of the [[United States Custom House (New Orleans)|U.S. Custom House]] in New Orleans, a huge granite building that had been built in 1848. As it was sinking unevenly in the moist soil of Louisiana, Beauregard had to develop a renovation program. He served in this position from 1853 to 1860 and stabilized the structure successfully.<ref>Williams, pp. 34–41.</ref>

====Peacetime Officer, West Point Superintendent====
During his service in New Orleans, Beauregard became dissatisfied as a peacetime officer. He informed the U.S. Army Engineer Department late in 1856 that he was going to join the [[filibuster (military)|filibuster]] with [[William Walker (filibuster)|William Walker]], who had seized control of [[Nicaragua]]; he had offered Beauregard the rank of second-in-command of his army. Senior officers, including general-in-chief Winfield Scott, convinced Beauregard to stay in the United States.<ref name="Williams pp. 42">Williams, pp. 42–44; Hattaway & Taylor, p. 21.</ref>

Beauregard briefly entered politics as a reform candidate for [[mayor of New Orleans]] in 1858, where he was promoted by both the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] parties to challenge the [[Know Nothing]] party candidate. Beauregard was narrowly defeated.<ref name="Williams pp. 42"/>

Employing the political influence of his brother-in-law, [[John Slidell]], Beauregard obtained an appointment as [[Superintendents of the United States Military Academy|superintendent]] of the U.S. Military Academy on January 23, 1861. However, when [[Louisiana]] [[secession|seceded]] from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]], the [[Federal government of the United States|Federal Government]] immediately revoked his orders and he subsequently relinquished his office after only five days. He protested to the U.S. War Department that they had cast "improper reflection upon [his] reputation or position in the Corps of Engineers" by forcing him out as a Southern officer before any hostilities began.<ref>Williams, pp. 45–47; Hattaway & Taylor, p. 21; Woodworth, pp. 74–75.</ref>