Person:Braxton Bragg (1)

     
Gen. Braxton Bragg
m. 20 Dec 1803
  1. John Bragg1806 - 1876
  2. Catherine BraggAbt 1810 -
  3. Thomas Bragg, Jr1810 - 1872
  4. Alexander J. BraggAbt 1815 -
  5. Gen. Braxton Bragg1817 - 1876
m. 7 Jun 1849
Facts and Events
Name Gen. Braxton Bragg
Gender Male
Birth[1] 22 Mar 1817 Warrenton, Warren County, North Carolina
Marriage 7 Jun 1849 Magnolia Manor Plantation, Terrebonne Parish, Louisianato Eliza Brooks Ellis
Military[4] 23 Aug 1862 Madison County, KentuckyBig Hill Skirmish
Death[1][3] 27 Sep 1876 Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Burial[1][2] Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama
Reference Number? Q380562?


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate army officer who served as a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Western Theater. His most important role was as commander of the Army of Mississippi, later renamed the Army of Tennessee, from June 1862 until December 1863.

Bragg, a native of Warrenton, North Carolina, was educated at West Point and became an artillery officer. He served in Florida and then received three brevet promotions for distinguished service in the Mexican–American War, most notably the Battle of Buena Vista. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1856 to become a sugar plantation owner in Louisiana. At the start of the Civil War, Bragg trained soldiers in the Gulf Coast region. He was a corps commander at the Battle of Shiloh, where he launched several costly and unsuccessful frontal assaults but nonetheless was commended for his conduct and bravery.

In June 1862, Bragg was elevated to command the Army of Mississippi (later known as the Army of Tennessee). He and Brigadier General Edmund Kirby Smith attempted an invasion of Kentucky in 1862, but Bragg retreated following the Battle of Perryville in October. In December, he fought another battle at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Battle of Stones River, against the Army of the Cumberland under Major General William Rosecrans, which ended with his retreat. After months without significant fighting, Bragg was outmaneuvered by Rosecrans in the Tullahoma Campaign in June 1863, causing him to surrender Middle Tennessee to the Union. Bragg retreated to Chattanooga but evacuated it in September as Rosecrans' troops entered Georgia. Later that month, with the assistance of Confederate forces from the Eastern Theater under James Longstreet, Bragg was able to defeat Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga, the bloodiest battle in the Western Theater, and the only major Confederate victory therein. Bragg forced Rosecrans back into Tennessee, but was criticized for not mounting an effective pursuit. In November, Bragg's army was routed by Major General Ulysses S. Grant in the Battles for Chattanooga and pushed back to Georgia. Confederate President Jefferson Davis subsequently relieved Bragg of command, recalling him to Richmond to serve as his chief military advisor. Bragg briefly returned to the field as a corps commander near the end of the war during the Campaign of the Carolinas.

Bragg is generally considered among the worst generals of the Civil War. Most of the battles he engaged in ended in defeat. Bragg was extremely unpopular with both the officers and ordinary men under his command, who criticized him for numerous perceived faults, including poor battlefield strategy, a quick temper, and overzealous discipline. Bragg has a generally poor reputation with historians, though some point towards the failures of Bragg's subordinates, especially Major General and former Bishop Leonidas Polk—a close ally of Davis and known enemy of Bragg—as more significant factors in the many Confederate defeats under Bragg's command. The losses suffered by Bragg's forces are cited as highly consequential to the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy.

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References
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Braxton Bragg, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
  2. Grave Recorded, in Find A Grave.

    [Includes photos.]

  3. The Times-Picayune. (New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States)
    p. 1, 28 Sep 1876.

    New Orleans Times Picayune, 28 Sep 1876, p. 1

  4. Historical Marker, in Kentucky Historical Society. Historical Marker Database [1].

    Big Hill Skirmish
    Marker Number 1124
    County Madison
    Location N. of US 421, near Jct. of Madison, Jackson & Rockcastle Counties
    Description Aug. 23, 1862, 650 cavalry of Gen. E. Kirby Smith's invading CSA army routed small Federal force under Col. Leonidas Metcalfe here on way to seize Ky., cooperating with CSA army under Gen. Braxton Bragg. Central Ky. captured, but plans to take Cincinnati and Louisville failed. CSA retired from Kentucky after Battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862.