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Braxton Bragg Facts

Braxton Bragg Facts
Braxton Bragg was a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, who is best remembered for his caustic, polarizing personality than for any victories he won. Bragg led forces primarily in the Western Theater of operations and although he had numerical superiority in virtually every battle he fought, most ended in losses or were inconclusive. He was born in Warrenton, North Carolina in 1817 to Thomas and Margaret Bragg. Like most high-ranking officers on both sides of the Civil War, Bragg attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1837. Bragg married wealthy Louisiana plantation heiress Eliza Brooks Ellis in 1849.
Interesting Braxton Bragg Facts:
Bragg was intellectually gifted, graduating fifth in his West Point class out of fifty students despite rarely studying.
Bragg's specialty in school was engineering, which led to his serving in artillery units early in his military career.
In 1847, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Bragg saw action in the Mexican-American War at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847.
After the Mexican-American War, Bragg was stationed in what were at the time frontier forts in Missouri and Indian Territory (Oklahoma).
Bragg was given the rank of brigadier general in the Confederate Army in January 1861 and major general a month later.
During the Battle of Shiloh in western Tennessee (April 6-7, 1862), Bragg ordered a costly frontal assault on the Union position known as the "Hornet's Nest," leading to high Confederate casualties, which allowed the Union forces time to regroup.
Despite winning a tactical victory at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky (October 8, 1862), Bragg ordered a general retreat of the Confederate forces back into Tennessee.
At the Battle of Chickamauga in northwest Georgia (September 18-20, 1863), several of Bragg's subordinate officers refused his orders.
Although the Battle of Chickamauga was a Confederate victory, the Confederate forces outnumbered the Union forces at the start of the battle (approximately 65,000 to 60,000) and suffered more casualties (approximately 18,500 to 16,000), leading many generals and later historians to consider it a Pyrrhic victory.
Bragg was relieved from command by Confederate President Jefferson Davis after the overall disastrous Chattanooga Campaign in the fall of 1863.
He served as Jefferson Davis' military advisor for most of 1864.
Bragg returned to active duty in October 1864 when he was assigned the defense of Wilmington, North Carolina and to defend the coastal Carolinas.
Bragg and his wife lost their Louisiana plantation during the war.
After working a series of low paying an unrewarding job after the war, he moved to Texas and worked as a railroad inspector.
Bragg died on September 27, 1876 at the age of fifty-nine, possibly from a stroke in Galveston, Texas.
Despite having a mixed at best military reputation, the United States Army base Fort Bragg in North Carolina is named for him.


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