Jackson at Chattanooga

[Ter61]

I want to thank everybody that responded to my question. I think it is very possible that Jackson would have went after Rosecrans without consulting Bragg. However, things might not have gone better for the Confederates if that had happened. If Jackson had completed the destruction of Rosecran's army that might have meant that Bragg would have remained in command of the Army of the Tennessee longer. Bragg might have screwed up later.

[trice]

Originally Posted by M E Wolf

Dear List Members,

Personally, I do not think General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson would have gotten along with General Bragg. I recall that General Bragg was a favorite of President Jeff. Davis. The friendship with Bragg was 'iron clad' and General Robert E. Lee knew of it and 'manipulated' what he could as to get some harmony with the Generals he had to work with.

I know this is commonly believed, now as it was in the 1860s, but it was not true.

Bragg and Davis were not friends. While both were graduates of West Point, Davis graduated years before Bragg arrived there. In fact Davis resigned from the Army before Bragg graduated West Point, so they never met during their service in the Regular Army.

Davis resigned from Congress to become a Mississippi Militia colonel in July of 1846. Bragg was already down in Mexico fighting at the time. Both were present at the fighting at Monterrey and Buena Vista, but there is no indication they were particularly friendly. By the end of 1847, Jeff Davis was back in Congress, appointed to fill an expiring term in the Senate for the late Senator Speight. From that point on, Davis was involved heavily in politics.

During his tenure as Secretary of War, Davis and Bragg quarreled -- as Bragg tended to do with almost anyone in authority over him, and many others as well. Bragg -- newly married to a rich woman in Louisiana -- quit the Army when Davis tried to appoint him to one of the new Cavalry regiments, a plum position. Bragg then became a very successful planter in Louiiana, as Davis was in Mississippi. Once again, there is no evidence they were particularly friendly.

Davis did support Bragg during the war, but it does not seem to have been from friendship. Both were men of rigid standards for honor and self-discipline. I think Davis simply saw and appreciated Bragg as a soldier, and did not want to lose his ability for the cause -- particularly given the available choices.

Tim