Effective Monday, the Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville will once again be called Camp Beauregard at the direction of Gov. Jeff Landry, .
Dating back to 1917, the name of the military installation previously honored Confederate Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard. But the name Camp Beauregard was changed in 2023 to Training Center Pineville, following a trend of removing references to Confederate soldiers.
Now, Camp Beauregard will honor Capt. Jacques Toutant Beauregard, a member of the Louisiana Militia who fought in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, the National Guard said.
The name change is in line with federal military installations that are returning to “known names” and is being undertaken at the direction of Landry, the Guard’s commander-in-chief, said National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Collins.
Last month, the administration of President Donald Trump to their original names after they had been changed in 2023 to avoid honoring Confederate leaders.
In a Monday morning, Landry lauded the change with a photo of tombstone inscribed with the term “wokeism.”
“Let this be a lesson that we should always give reverence to history and not be quick to so easily condemn or erase the dead, lest we and our times be judged arbitrary by future generations,” Landry's post said.
Asked if the revival of the Camp Beauregard name is meant to acknowledge P.G.T. Beauregard and how the name change fights “wokeism,” Landry spokesperson Kate Kelly responded by noting that Jacques Toutant Beauregard is the father of P.G.T. Beauregard.
P.G.T Beauregard was a , commanding the troops who opened fire on Fort Sumter at the outset of the Civil War. After the war was over, however, he was part of a coalition that unsuccessfully tried to integrate Black and White Louisianans.
Landry’s approach of returning the Pineville installation to a previous name but recognizing an alternative service member with the same last name mirrors the approach the Trump administration has taken recently.
was among the seven Army bases whose names changed.
For years, it honored Leonidas Polk, a Confederate general, slave owner and Louisiana's first Episcopal bishop. Then in 2023 it was changed to Fort Johnson to commemorate Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black Medal of Honor recipient who fought with French forces on the front lines of World War I.
Now the Army base, again known as Fort Polk, is named after Gen. James H. Polk, who was awarded the Silver Star for service in World War II.
Jacques Toutant Beauregard
The Battle of New Orleans was fought by American forces against the British army and was the last major battle of the War of 1812.
“By restoring the name Camp Beauregard, we honor a legacy of courage and service that dates back over two centuries," Landry said in a statement. "Captain Jacques Toutant Beauregard stood at the front lines in defense of New Orleans during one of our nation’s most defining battles.”
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said, “We’re naming our premier training installation after an American hero and patriot who fought for the freedom of the city of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, and the United States of America against a foreign invader.”
According to the National Guard, Capt. Beauregard was a member of the Third Regiment of the Louisiana Militia, a precursor of the National Guard. That group led the first land engagement in the Battle of New Orleans on Dec. 23, 1814 against Gen. Edward Packenham and the British army, the Guard said.
“We believe that the patriotism and heroism that he showed is something that all of our Louisiana National Guardsmen can and should aspire to,” Collins said.
The Associated Press and staff writers Faimon A. Roberts III and Kristin Askelson contributed to this report.
