State

General Braxton Bragg ■!«» was Norlli Carolina's only main during |1н» War Rptwccn tlic States with the full rank of Generali. Many controversies have faikckn place in coiincM'tion with the cam- paiigus he waiged. FORT BRAGG is the largest artillery post in the world, a place where thousands of the sons of Carolina have received their training and instruction in the armed forces of the nation, and it is well to consider the character and military career of General Braxton Bragg, from whom the great post has taken its name. Our State furnished to the Con¬ federate service two Lieutenant Generals in the persons of Theophi- lus H. Holmes and Daniel Harvey Hill; it furnished eight Major Gen¬ erals of whom three were killed; it furnished twenty-six Brigadier Generals, of whom five were killed and 12 wounded; but Bragg was the only son of our State to attain the rank of full General. The name of Bragg is further distinguished in our history in that Thomas Bragg served in the cabinet of Jefferson Davis as Attorney General. The name of Braxton Bragg is associated with one great victory; it is linked with several crushing defeats; his career in the Confed¬ erate army was marked by bitter controversy; indeed he may well be said to' have been the "stormy petrel" of the Civil War. Born in Warrenton The General was born in 1817 at Warrenton. and was appointed as a cadet at West Point in 1833. from which he was graduated four years later, when he became a 2nd Lieu¬ tenant in the 3rd Artillery. He par¬ ticipated in the war against the Scminoles in Florida; and in 1845 he joined the army of General (later President) Zachary Taylor in Texas. The following year he took part in the battles of Fort Brown and Monterey, receiving brevets for gallant conduct during each engagement. Promoted Captain in 1847 he won renown at the battle of Buena Vista in February 1847, when the activity of his battery attracted the attention of the American com¬ mander, General Winfield Scott, whose instructions to his doughty Captain has become a classic in American military history: "Give By П. C. LAWRENCE them a little more grape. Captain Bragg." The Captain did: his bat¬ tery tore great holes in the Mexi¬ can line; and utterly broke up the attack of a vastly superior force in his immediate front. For his ex¬ traordinary heroism displayed in this engagement, he was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel. In 1856 he resigned his commis¬ sion in the army, and became Com¬ missioner of Public Works in Louisiana, where he displayed great ability as an engineer in de¬ signing the drainage and levee sys¬ tem of that State. In February 1861. he was com¬ missioned as Brigadier General in the Confederate service, and was assigned to command the coast from Pensacola to Mobile, where his service was so satisfactory that it brought to him promotion as Ma¬ jor General in January of the en¬ suing year. He immediately pro¬ posed to Secretary of War Seddon that his command be sent to operate in Kentucky, and the Secretary adopted his suggestion and ordered him North. At Corinth, Mississippi, he assisted the commander of the western army, General Albert Sid¬ ney Johnston to organize his army, and was assigned to command the second corps, being also designated as chief of staff. In April, at the first battle of Shiloh, his corps was in the second line of battle, but it was soon merged into the first and Bragg was entrusted with the com¬ mand of the Confederate right. Des¬ perate fighting ensued, the corps of Bragg fiercely assaulting the Fed¬ eral lines, capturing thousands of prisoners and many guns. A large part of the Southern success of that day must be attributed to the skill and energy displayed by him. The Fedcrals, reinforced by a fresh army under Buell, again at¬ tacked the exhausted Confederates who, fighting rear guard actions, slowly retreated until the order was given to retire to Corinth; and they had used the Fcderals so roughly that they were not pursued. It was while endeavoring to rally his re¬ treating troops at Shiloh that Gen¬ eral Albert Sidney Johnston fell mortally wounded. Full General in 1862 The personal bravery shown by Bragg during this campaign brought to him his commission as full General in April 1862. and in June he was assigned to command the Army of Tennessee, relieving Beauregard. Being advised that the Federals were about to capture Chattanooga, he marched to that point and reached the scene with most of his army before the arrival of the Federals. Here he planned a strategy under which General Kirby Smith with twenty thousand troops should undertake to turn the Federal (lank at Cumberland Gap, while Bragg himself with thirty thousand men was to march upon Munfordsville, Kentucky, and then Йп forces with those under Smith. is plan of campaign was largely political, as it was hoped that the Eresence of a Confederate army in entucky would induce that bor¬ der State to join the Confederacy. From a military viewpoint, the op¬ eration was fatally defective in that it failed to provide for the defeat of the Federal army then in front of Chattanooga. Delayed for a full month by lack of transportation. Bragg finally moved rapidly and captured Mun¬ fordsville in September. His army was now between Buell at Chatta'- nooga and its base at Louisville; and Bragg was in position to have either attacked the Federal army or to have captured its base. But Bragg did not feel strong enough to attack Buell, and the political nature of his mission led him to the folly of failing to undertake the capture of the Federal base of sup¬ plies. Instead he went to Frankfort to install a Confederate Governor. This was an idle gesture, and it permitted Buell to reach his Louis- vill base, unite his forces, and ( Continued on page IS) 9 THE STATE. January 4. 1947