ColorizedPast
Corporal
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2016
- Location
- Hangzhou, China (Wisconsin, USA)
General Braxton Bragg (CSA)
Braxton Bragg was born in Warrenton, North Carolina on 22 March 1817. He graduated from the United States Military Academy fifth of fifty cadets in 1837 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery. He served in the Second Seminole War in Florida. Bragg was argumentative, hardworking, and a strict disciplinarian adhering to regulations literally.
There is a famous, apocryphal story, included in Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, about Bragg as a company commander at a frontier post where he also served as quartermaster. He submitted a requisition for supplies for his company, then as quartermaster declined to fill it. As company commander, he resubmitted the requisition, giving additional reasons for his requirements, but as the quartermaster he denied the request again. Realizing that he was at a personal impasse, he referred the matter to the post commandant, who exclaimed, "My God, Mr. Bragg, you have quarreled with every officer in the army, and now you are quarreling with yourself!" It is alleged that some of his troops attempted to assassinate him on two occasions in 1847.
In 1843, Bragg was stationed at Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina with three future Union Army generals he came to consider close friends: George H. Thomas, John F. Reynolds, and William T. Sherman. He continued to criticize superiors including general-in-chief Winfield Scott. Bragg was called to Washington to testify before the House Committee on Public Expenditures in 1844, but Scott ordered him not to testify. He was found guilty of disobeying his superior officer, but Bragg was undeterred from future criticisms of his superiors.
During the Mexican-American War, he served under General Zachary Taylor in the defense of Texas. He earned brevet promotions to captain for the Battle of Fort Brown (May 1846), to major for the Battle of Monterrey (September 1846), and to lieutenant colonel for the Battle of Buena Vista (February 1847). Bragg was widely admired professionally for the discipline and drill of his men and newly tried tactics of light artillery. At Buena Vista, his timely placement of artillery into a gap in the line helped repulse a superior Mexican attack. He fought in support of Col. Jefferson Davis and the Mississippi Rifles, earning him the admiration of Davis.
On 31 December 1855, he resigned from the Army and purchased a sugar plantation near Thibodaux, Louisiana and enslaved 105 Africans. He became active in local politics and was elected to the Board of Public Works in 1860. He opposed the concept of secession. He was a colonel in the Louisiana Militia.
On 12 December 1860, the governor appointed him to the state military board charged with creating a 5,000-man army. He was appointed major general of the Louisiana state army and commanded forces around New Orleans until 16 April. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army in March. He then commanded forces around Pensacola, Florida, and was promoted to major general in September.
Bragg transported 10,000 men to Corinth, Mississippi in February 1862, and was charged with improving the discipline of the Albert Sidney Johnston's troops. He commanded a corps and served as chief of staff at the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862. His men were bogged down against the Union's Hornet's Nest. Bragg was upset when P.G.T. Beauregard called off a late afternoon assault against the Union's final position on the first day. The next day, the Union counterattack and drove the Confederates off the field.
On 12 April 1862, Davis appointed Bragg full general. When Beauregard went on sick leave without informing Davis, Bragg permanently replaced him as commanded of Department Number Two (Western Department) on 17 June 1862.
In August, Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith and Bragg invaded Kentucky. On 8 October, Don Carlos Buell's Union Army collided with the Confederates at the Battle of Perryville. Despite some success, Bragg realized he was only fighting less than half of Buell's army and the remainder was arriving quickly, so he ordered his army to withdraw irritating his subordinates Smith, William Hardee, and Leonidas Polk.
Renaming his force as the Army of Tennessee, Bragg launched a strong attack against William S. Rosecran's Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Stones River on 31 December 1862. He had some success, but Rosecrans remained in place. Recognizing his lack of progress, the severe winter weather, the arrival of supplies and reinforcements for Rosecrans, and heeding the recommendations of corps commanders Hardee and Polk, Bragg withdrew his army from the field to Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Davis dispatched General Joseph E. Johnston to investigate the condition of Bragg's disgruntled army. Davis assumed Johnston would take command of the army, but Johnston found the men in good condition and didn't want to take advantage of Bragg's problems with his subordinates to further his career.
During the summer, Bragg was given more responsibility over eastern Tennessee. Hardee transferred to Mississippi and Lt. Gen. D. H. Hill replace him. However, he had gained another subordinate in Simon B. Buckner who had little to no respect for him. Rosecrans forced Bragg out of Chattanooga on 8 September, while Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside threatened Knoxville.
Bragg's subordinates refused orders to attack Rosecrans. Finally, on 19-20 September 1863, Bragg, reinforced by two divisions from Mississippi, a division and several brigades from East Tennessee, and two divisions under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, turned on the pursuing Rosecrans and defeated him at the Battle of Chickamauga, the greatest Confederate victory in the West. The victory was not complete and Bragg laid siege to Chattanooga. He relieved Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman and Polk for ignoring his commands. An attempted mutiny of his subordinates in early October resulted in D.H. Hill's relief and Longstreet was sent to Knoxville against Burnside. President Davis finally travelled to Chattanooga to assess the situation, ultimately leaving Bragg in command despite his subordinates' open contempt.
In November, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated Bragg at Chattanooga. Bragg resigned on 29 November turning command over to Hardee. In February 1864, Bragg became Davis' military adviser. He reduced corruption and improved the supply system. He quarreled with the Secretary of War, the Commissary General, members of Congress, the press, and many of his fellow generals, except for Robert E. Lee.
On 9 July, Bragg was sent to Georgia to investigate Joseph E. Johnston's tactical situation against Sherman's offensive. Bragg hoped he might regain his field command but suggest Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood rather than his old enemy Hardee for the position. Hood replaced Johnston.
In October, Bragg assumed temporary command of the defenses of Wilmington, North Carolina and soon commanded the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia. Bragg was ordered to various posts along the coast during Sherman's March to the Sea. He ultimately failed to assist Fort Fisher and the Confederates were forced to abandon Wilmington.
Bragg's career began to collapse. Johnston returned to command the remnants of the Army of Tennessee in North Carolina against Sherman. Bragg lost his position as military adviser when Lee was promoted to general in chief. And John C. Breckinridge, who hated Bragg since the debacle at Perryville, was named Secretary of War. Bragg was relegated to a small corps commander under Johnston. He won a minor victory at the Second Battle of Kinston, 7-10 March 1865, and fought unsuccessfully at the Battle of Bentonville, 19-21 March. After Richmond fell, Davis and the remnants of the Confederate government fled to the southwest. Bragg caught up with Davis near Abbeville, South Carolina on 1 May. He attended the final cabinet meeting and was instrumental in convincing Davis that the cause was lost. Bragg and his staff were captured and paroled in Monticello, Georgia, on 9 May 1865.
His plantation served as a shelter for freed slaves under the control of the Freemen's Bureau. In 1867, Bragg became the superintendent of the New Orleans waterworks, but he was soon replaced by a force slave as Reconstructionists came to power. In late 1869, Davis offered Bragg a job as an agent for the Carolina Life Insurance Company. He considered a position in the Egyptian Army. In August 1871, he was employed by Mobile, Alabama, to improve the river, harbor, and bay, but left after quarreling with a "combination of capitalists". Moving to Texas, he was appointed chief engineer of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway in July 1874, but resigned after disagreements over his compensation.
On 27 September 1876, Bragg fell dead while walking down a street in Galveston, Texas.
Braxton Bragg was born in Warrenton, North Carolina on 22 March 1817. He graduated from the United States Military Academy fifth of fifty cadets in 1837 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery. He served in the Second Seminole War in Florida. Bragg was argumentative, hardworking, and a strict disciplinarian adhering to regulations literally.
There is a famous, apocryphal story, included in Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, about Bragg as a company commander at a frontier post where he also served as quartermaster. He submitted a requisition for supplies for his company, then as quartermaster declined to fill it. As company commander, he resubmitted the requisition, giving additional reasons for his requirements, but as the quartermaster he denied the request again. Realizing that he was at a personal impasse, he referred the matter to the post commandant, who exclaimed, "My God, Mr. Bragg, you have quarreled with every officer in the army, and now you are quarreling with yourself!" It is alleged that some of his troops attempted to assassinate him on two occasions in 1847.
In 1843, Bragg was stationed at Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina with three future Union Army generals he came to consider close friends: George H. Thomas, John F. Reynolds, and William T. Sherman. He continued to criticize superiors including general-in-chief Winfield Scott. Bragg was called to Washington to testify before the House Committee on Public Expenditures in 1844, but Scott ordered him not to testify. He was found guilty of disobeying his superior officer, but Bragg was undeterred from future criticisms of his superiors.
During the Mexican-American War, he served under General Zachary Taylor in the defense of Texas. He earned brevet promotions to captain for the Battle of Fort Brown (May 1846), to major for the Battle of Monterrey (September 1846), and to lieutenant colonel for the Battle of Buena Vista (February 1847). Bragg was widely admired professionally for the discipline and drill of his men and newly tried tactics of light artillery. At Buena Vista, his timely placement of artillery into a gap in the line helped repulse a superior Mexican attack. He fought in support of Col. Jefferson Davis and the Mississippi Rifles, earning him the admiration of Davis.
On 31 December 1855, he resigned from the Army and purchased a sugar plantation near Thibodaux, Louisiana and enslaved 105 Africans. He became active in local politics and was elected to the Board of Public Works in 1860. He opposed the concept of secession. He was a colonel in the Louisiana Militia.
On 12 December 1860, the governor appointed him to the state military board charged with creating a 5,000-man army. He was appointed major general of the Louisiana state army and commanded forces around New Orleans until 16 April. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army in March. He then commanded forces around Pensacola, Florida, and was promoted to major general in September.
Bragg transported 10,000 men to Corinth, Mississippi in February 1862, and was charged with improving the discipline of the Albert Sidney Johnston's troops. He commanded a corps and served as chief of staff at the Battle of Shiloh, 6-7 April 1862. His men were bogged down against the Union's Hornet's Nest. Bragg was upset when P.G.T. Beauregard called off a late afternoon assault against the Union's final position on the first day. The next day, the Union counterattack and drove the Confederates off the field.
On 12 April 1862, Davis appointed Bragg full general. When Beauregard went on sick leave without informing Davis, Bragg permanently replaced him as commanded of Department Number Two (Western Department) on 17 June 1862.
In August, Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith and Bragg invaded Kentucky. On 8 October, Don Carlos Buell's Union Army collided with the Confederates at the Battle of Perryville. Despite some success, Bragg realized he was only fighting less than half of Buell's army and the remainder was arriving quickly, so he ordered his army to withdraw irritating his subordinates Smith, William Hardee, and Leonidas Polk.
Renaming his force as the Army of Tennessee, Bragg launched a strong attack against William S. Rosecran's Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Stones River on 31 December 1862. He had some success, but Rosecrans remained in place. Recognizing his lack of progress, the severe winter weather, the arrival of supplies and reinforcements for Rosecrans, and heeding the recommendations of corps commanders Hardee and Polk, Bragg withdrew his army from the field to Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Davis dispatched General Joseph E. Johnston to investigate the condition of Bragg's disgruntled army. Davis assumed Johnston would take command of the army, but Johnston found the men in good condition and didn't want to take advantage of Bragg's problems with his subordinates to further his career.
During the summer, Bragg was given more responsibility over eastern Tennessee. Hardee transferred to Mississippi and Lt. Gen. D. H. Hill replace him. However, he had gained another subordinate in Simon B. Buckner who had little to no respect for him. Rosecrans forced Bragg out of Chattanooga on 8 September, while Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside threatened Knoxville.
Bragg's subordinates refused orders to attack Rosecrans. Finally, on 19-20 September 1863, Bragg, reinforced by two divisions from Mississippi, a division and several brigades from East Tennessee, and two divisions under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, turned on the pursuing Rosecrans and defeated him at the Battle of Chickamauga, the greatest Confederate victory in the West. The victory was not complete and Bragg laid siege to Chattanooga. He relieved Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman and Polk for ignoring his commands. An attempted mutiny of his subordinates in early October resulted in D.H. Hill's relief and Longstreet was sent to Knoxville against Burnside. President Davis finally travelled to Chattanooga to assess the situation, ultimately leaving Bragg in command despite his subordinates' open contempt.
In November, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated Bragg at Chattanooga. Bragg resigned on 29 November turning command over to Hardee. In February 1864, Bragg became Davis' military adviser. He reduced corruption and improved the supply system. He quarreled with the Secretary of War, the Commissary General, members of Congress, the press, and many of his fellow generals, except for Robert E. Lee.
On 9 July, Bragg was sent to Georgia to investigate Joseph E. Johnston's tactical situation against Sherman's offensive. Bragg hoped he might regain his field command but suggest Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood rather than his old enemy Hardee for the position. Hood replaced Johnston.
In October, Bragg assumed temporary command of the defenses of Wilmington, North Carolina and soon commanded the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia. Bragg was ordered to various posts along the coast during Sherman's March to the Sea. He ultimately failed to assist Fort Fisher and the Confederates were forced to abandon Wilmington.
Bragg's career began to collapse. Johnston returned to command the remnants of the Army of Tennessee in North Carolina against Sherman. Bragg lost his position as military adviser when Lee was promoted to general in chief. And John C. Breckinridge, who hated Bragg since the debacle at Perryville, was named Secretary of War. Bragg was relegated to a small corps commander under Johnston. He won a minor victory at the Second Battle of Kinston, 7-10 March 1865, and fought unsuccessfully at the Battle of Bentonville, 19-21 March. After Richmond fell, Davis and the remnants of the Confederate government fled to the southwest. Bragg caught up with Davis near Abbeville, South Carolina on 1 May. He attended the final cabinet meeting and was instrumental in convincing Davis that the cause was lost. Bragg and his staff were captured and paroled in Monticello, Georgia, on 9 May 1865.
His plantation served as a shelter for freed slaves under the control of the Freemen's Bureau. In 1867, Bragg became the superintendent of the New Orleans waterworks, but he was soon replaced by a force slave as Reconstructionists came to power. In late 1869, Davis offered Bragg a job as an agent for the Carolina Life Insurance Company. He considered a position in the Egyptian Army. In August 1871, he was employed by Mobile, Alabama, to improve the river, harbor, and bay, but left after quarreling with a "combination of capitalists". Moving to Texas, he was appointed chief engineer of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway in July 1874, but resigned after disagreements over his compensation.
On 27 September 1876, Bragg fell dead while walking down a street in Galveston, Texas.
Bringing the