The Terrible General

Born This Day Series, Social Media Content

General Braxton Bragg

Braxton Bragg had a rep problem from childhood—his family was considered declasse, and it was widely believed that his mother had murdered a freed slave. His father chose military service for him and his family manoeuvred him into West Point. He excelled, not because he was smart or hard-working, but because he had an extraordinary memory.

At the beginning of his career, all was fine. He distinguished himself in the Second Seminole War and Mexican-American War. But personality problems started to come out. One issue was his blind adherence to regulations. Ulysses Grant wrote about an incident where Bragg was both commander of a post, and its quartermaster. As commander, he submitted a requisition for supplies, then as quartermaster declined to fill it. As commander, he resubmitted the requisition, giving additional reasons for his requirements, but as quartermaster he again denied the request.

He quickly became known for his quick temper, poor battlefield strategy, overzealous discipline and withering denigration of his subordinates. His reluctance to praise was exceeded only by the tenacity with which he clung to negative impressions, and his powerful memory never let him forget, or forgive, a perceived slight. There were attempts on his life—at one point, someone exploded a 12-pound artillery shell under his cot. And he started attacking his superiors, using a nom de plume in newspaper articles to criticize the army and launch personal attacks on its generals.

As a Civil War general, he organized the most disciplined troops in the Confederate army. He did well at the Battle of Shiloh. But he took forever to make decisions; his vacillation turned Perryville into a debacle. It was the same during the Kentucky Campaign and Stones River. He stopped communicating his intentions to his superiors; his subordinates started ignoring his orders. He lost at Tullahoma, again at Chickamauga. He could have won at Chattanooga, but he refused to pursue the Union army.

By this time, the Army of Tennessee was on the verge of mutiny; a petition for his removal was sent to Jefferson Davis, with one officer writing that "nothing but the hand of God can save us or help us as long as we have our present commander." Davis left Bragg in place. Failures followed at the Battle of Missionary Ridge and the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, which cost the Confederates Wilmington and their last Atlantic port.

Bragg owned a highly-profitable sugar plantation, run with precision by 105 slaves. After the war, this plantation was confiscated and turned into the Bragg Home Colony for freed slaves. Bragg became the superintendent of the New Orleans waterworks, but was soon replaced—by a freed slave. The Egyptian Army offered him a job; he turned it down in favor of the post as chief engineer of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. He quarreled with the board and didn’t last a year. His final post was as Inspector of Railroads in Galveston. Where on September 27, 1876, he was walking down the street and dropped dead.

Bragg is considered among the worst of Civil War generals; his losses are cited as principal factors in the Confederacy defeat.