Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/United States/Bragg, Braxton

Bragg, Braxton (c. 1815-1876), American officer and general in the Confederate service, was born in Warren County, N. C., about 1815. He graduated at West Point in 1837, served in Florida and elsewhere for several years, and so distinguished himself in the Mexican war, particularly at Bueua Vista, as to reach the rank of lieutenant-colonel by brevet. He resigned and retired to private life in 1856, but entered the Confederate service at the outbreak of the civil war with the rank of brigadier-general. He commanded at Pensacola, but was transferred to the west in 1862, soon reaching the full grade of general in command of the department of Mississippi. Just after Lee had begun his first attempt to invade the North in the east, Bragg began a similar attempt in the west. Passing to the east of the Union line in southern Tennessee, he moved northward into Kentucky, threatening Cincinnati, and remaining in Kentucky from August until October. The battle of Perryville (Oct. 8) forced him to retreat into Tennessee, but he carried off enormous trains of captured property and booty. Returning late in the year towards Nashville, he met Rosecrans in the battle of Murfreesboro or Stone River (Dec. 31, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863). It was very nearly a drawn battle, but Rosecrans held the ground, and slowly gained possession of the important point of Chattanooga during 1863. Following Bragg beyond it into Georgia, he was met and beaten in the battle of Chickamauga (Sept. 19-20, 1863), and Bragg, pursuing in his turn, formed the siege of Chattanooga. Grant replaced Rosecrans, and beat Bragg in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge (Nov. 23-25, 1863), relieving the Union army. Bragg was then succeeded by Johnston, and took little further active part in the war. The Confederate president, Davis, retained Bragg at Richmond as military adviser. He died at Galveston, Texas, Sept. 27, 1876.