Eliza Brooks Ellis Bragg

donna

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
Eliza Brooks Ellis was born on October 27, 1825 in Adams County, Mississippi to Richard and Jane Ellis. Her father was a wealthy plantation owner. When Braxton Bragg made a tour of Evergreen Plantation in Thibodaux, Louisiana, he met the 23 year old Eliza. They were married on June 7, 1849.

The newlyweds moved to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri in September of 1849. This was a comfortable assignment. But then they were transferred to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory in October 1853. Eight months later they were transferred to Fort Washita near the Texas border. This was a very primitive fort and Braxton moved Eliza back to Thibodaux. He traveled to Washington to request a reassignment but was denied.

On Jan. 3, 1856, Bragg resigned from the military and he and Eliza purchased a sugar plantation of 1600 acres, 3 miles north of Thibodaux. Both his father and his wife's father were slave owners and Braxton was not opposed to slavery. His plantation used 105 slaves in the production of sugar. There is no evidence that the Braggs were cruel owners. He did continued to uphold his reputation as a stern disciplinarian and an advocate of military efficiency. His methods resulted in almost immediate profitability despite the large mortgage on the property.

The Braggs opposed the concept of session, believing that in a republic no majority could set aside a written constitution. However, he was a colonel in the Louisiana Militia and was promoted to major general of the militia in 1861. On March 7th, his commission was transferred to a brigadier general of the Confederate Army.

Eliza and Braxton Bragg had no children. It was known her life centered on her husband. He died in 1876. Eliza died on Sept. 25, 1908. She is buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama.

Eliza Bragg has memorial on find a grave. It is at:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=30683880

Bio information from program, "Women of the Civil War, The Officers Wives", presented at Ohio Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
 
It was supposedly at Fort Washita that Bragg was left in temporary command, and famously wrote a requisition for something or other for his battery of 6 pounders; then as acting post commandant, refused his own request, which decision he then promptly appealed. When the commandant returned and reviewed the correspondence, he allegedly replied, "My God, Mr. Bragg - you have argued with every man in the army, and now you are arguing with yourself!"

It's little wonder he was so despised.
 
Oh no! That's one of those stories you always wonder whether or not it was true- it's so amazing. Have to wonder what on earth was in his head, you know, refusing his own request then appealing it? Almost sounds like sheer boredom, some weird form of solitaire. :smile:

Thanks Donna- the women who were ( mostly, some were unmarried ) attached to the men of the war tend to be misty mysteries, when some were forces to be reckoned with in their careers. Not all and some more than others- and some stories tug at you more than others, too. Maybe for all the sad stories we know, like Jackson's wife just having been able to spend a last idyllic time with him, there were many others like that which were never recorded. It's just nice to be able to add form to one, more name.
 
Oh no! That's one of those stories you always wonder whether or not it was true- it's so amazing. Have to wonder what on earth was in his head, you know, refusing his own request then appealing it? Almost sounds like sheer boredom, some weird form of solitaire. :smile:

Thanks Donna- the women who were ( mostly, some were unmarried ) attached to the men of the war tend to be misty mysteries, when some were forces to be reckoned with in their careers. Not all and some more than others- and some stories tug at you more than others, too. Maybe for all the sad stories we know, like Jackson's wife just having been able to spend a last idyllic time with him, there were many others like that which were never recorded. It's just nice to be able to add form to one, more name.
Thanks for posting this. It is always nice to find out something about the women who had to wave goodbye! Although, in Bragg's case, maybe she was relieved to see him go!:giggle:

There is a site on the internet that refers to itself as Women of the Civil War or something like that. It irritates me greatly because you start to read about the wife of a general or whatever and there is a paragraph or maybe two about her and then a lengthy rehash of her husband's career. I realize that there is not a lot of information of some of these but I see no need to include his career. It is almost as if she has no importance, except as his wife. If they feel that way, why write about them at all!:furious:
 
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