Military officer; horn in
Warren county, N. C., March 22, 1817; was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1837; entered the artillery; and served in the
Seminole War and in the war with
Mexico, receiving for good conduct in the latter several brevets and promotions.
The last brevet was that of lieutenant-colonel, for
Buena Vista.
Feb. 23, 1847.
He was made major in 1855; resigned the next year, and lived (an extensive planter) in
Louisiana until the breaking out of the
Civil War, when (March, 1861) he was made a brigadier-general in the Confederate army.
Made major-general in February, 1862, he took an important part in the
battle of Shiloh in April.
He was made general in place of
A. S. Johnson, killed; and in May succeeded
Beauregard in command.
John H. Morgan, the guerilla chief, and
N. B. Forrest, the leader of a strong cavalry force, had for some time (in 1862) roamed, with very little serious opposition, over
Kentucky and
Tennessee, preparatory to the invasion of the former by a large Confederate force under
General Bragg.
Gen. E. Kirby Smith, a native of
Connecticut, led
Bragg's advance.
He entered
Kentucky from
eastern Tennessee, pushed rapidly to
Lexington, after defeating a National force near
Richmond, in that State, and was warmly welcomed by the
Confederates.
The alarmed legislature, sitting at
Frankfort, fled to
Louisville; while
Smith pressed on towards the
Ohio, where he was confronted by strong fortifications opposite
Cincinnati.
The invader recoiled, and, falling back to
Frankfort, awaited the arrival of
Bragg, who entered
Kentucky (Sept. 5) with forty regiments and as many cannon.
His advance, 8,000 strong, under
General Chalmers, encountered a National force under
Colonel Wilder at Mumfordsville, on the line of the Nashville and Louisville Railway.
The Confederates were repulsed; but
Wilder was compelled to yield to
General Polk a few days later.
Bragg joined
Smith at
Frankfort, where the combined armies numbered about 65,000 effective men. He now expected to make an easy march to
Louisville, but was confronted by
General Buell, who had been marching abreast of
Bragg.
Buell suddenly turned upon
Bragg with about 60,000 troops, and a fierce battle ensued near
Perryville (Oct. 8, 1862), in which the invaders were so roughly handled that they fled in haste towards
eastern Tennessee, followed by their marauding bands, who had plundered the inhabitants in every direction.
Bragg soon afterwards abandoned
Kentucky.
The armies of
Rosecrans and
Bragg confronted each other for several months in
Tennessee after the battle of
Stone River (q. v.).
Rosecrans remained on the scene of the battle;
Bragg was below the
Duck River.
Finally the Army of the Cumberland, in three divisions, commanded respectively by
Generals Thomas,
McCook, and
Crittenden, began its march (June 23, 1863) from
Murfreesboro to
Chattanooga.
General Burnside, in
Kentucky, was ordered to move through the mountains into
eastern Tennessee to co-operate with
Rosecrans.
At that time
Bragg's left wing, under General (
Bishop)
Polk, lay at
Shelbyville, behind formidable intrenchments about 5 miles in length, cast up by legally emancipated slaves drawn from
northern Georgia and
Alabama.
General Hardee, with 12,000 men, was at
[
395]
War Trace, on the railway between
Murfreesboro and
Chattanooga, and holding the front of rugged hills, behind which was a strongly intrenched camp at
Tullahoma.
Bragg had about 40,000 men, and
Rosecrans 60,000.
By skilful movements he manoeuvred
Bragg out of his strong position.
The latter was pressed back to
Tullahoma.
Rosecrans meanwhile had seized mountain passes on
Bragg's front and seriously menaced his flank.
Perceiving this,
Bragg turned and lied without giving a blow, the Nationals pressing hard upon his rear.
Having the advantage of railway communication, the retreating forces very easily kept ahead of their pursuers; and passing rapidly over the
Cumberland Mountains towards the
Tennessee River, they crossed that stream at
Bridgeport, destroying the bridge behind them, and made a rapid march to
Chattanooga.
The expulsion of
Bragg from
Tennessee alarmed and disheartened the
Confederates, and they felt that everything depended upon their holding
Chattanooga, the key to
eastern Tennessee and
northern Georgia.
Towards that point the Army of the Cumberland pressed on slowly; and late in August it had crossed the mountains, and was stretched along
the
Tennessee River from above
Chattanooga many a league westward.
General Bragg was relieved of his command soon after his defeat by
General Grant at
Missionary Ridge in November. He died in
Galveston, Tex., Sept. 27, 1876.
