The Intent of the Beauregard Art

The intent of the Beauregard art was to commemorate “the patriotic deeds and noble achievements” of PGT Beauregard.

As Mayor, Mitch Landrieu was using his personal email to email Deputy Mayor Ryan Berni regarding getting placements in The Advocate and Nola.com by Opinion-Editorials from supporters such as Walter Isaacson.

Walter Isaacson omitted discussing the PGT Beauregard statue in his Monument Opinion Piece in The Advocate.

Isaacson’s Opinion-Editorial focused on Lee Memorial with errors rather than facts.

Isaacson’s piece falsely stated that there at Tivoli Circle (which means Carousel) there had once been a permanent carousel, with people meeting to ride and socialize. That never happened.

Isaacson wrote: “The monument to Robert E. Lee was erected in 1884 in what had been known for almost a century as the Place du Tivoli and then, after its corners had been rounded off, Tivoli Circle. It was a beloved gathering spot so named because its centerpiece was a carousel of flying horses. In many ways, it was an expression of the city: playful, a bit whimsical, with a whiff of European style. The decision to change it into Lee Circle came soon after the end of Reconstruction.”

However that was not the case, Although planned for in the early 1800s, it never was built. There are no pictures and no articles about it ever happening.

Isaacson is uncertain or errs knowingly about Lee and the Lee statue.

Isaacson wrote: “Unlike Jackson, Lee had no direct connection to New Orleans. As far as I can tell, he never even visited the city. He is memorialized not because of his contributions to the city’s history nor as a way to send a message about our shared values.”

Isaacson probably wrote his opinion-editorial to not undermine Mitch Landrieu who had been on MSNBC and other media falsely claiming Lee had never been to New Orleans.

A simple Google of “Robert E. Lee New Orleans” produces that Lee was stationed at Jackson Barracks before shipping out to the Mexican-American War. Lee began as a Calvary subaltern ended up being a major hero of war based on the battle plans and troop movements he designed. Lee bought a horse named Creole in New Orleans before leaving for Texas.

From 1856-1861, Lee was assigned to Texas by the U S Army. When Texas voted to secede from the Union in February 1861, Lee was in Texas and his commanding General Twiggs switched to the Confederacy. Lee refused and was allowed to leave Texas rather than become a POW.

Lee left Texas and traveled on a boat to New Orleans to return to Virginia. That made Robert E. Lee the first Union Officer to arrive in New Orleans after Louisiana had seceded.

Lee was known as the man who tamed the Mississippi River and expanded commerce to New Orleans as did the land result of the Mexican-American War.

Lee was the General that over 10,000 Louisianans, some known as the Louisiana Tigers were under. Many are buried in Virginia with Lee Circle having served as a memorial to them.