General Braxton Bragg C S A

General Braxton Bragg is often described as a despicable, friendless man, the most hated general of the Confederacy. Historians have denigrated Bragg by accepting without challenge the self-serving accusations of prominent, disgruntled subordinates, each of whom sought to explain their own failures by assigning them to Bragg. This biography, without dodging Bragg’s deficiencies, refutes much of this false testimony. The result is a balanced view of this controversial general, from his early rise to power in the Western theater to his subsequent fall from grace in the latter years of the Civil War.

Braxton Bragg progressed through a diverse and demanding career to become a military strategist and ultimately General-in- Chief of Confederate States of America (CSA) Armies. General Braxton Bragg devoted over four years, of his life to senior CSA Army leadership positions, mostly in command. He surpassed every general officer in the CSA and Union in holding such a wide range of senior officer responsibilities. Bragg observed closely and operated in and around the operational and strategic environment for the majority of his life. By virtue of his previous duties, assignments, and experiences, Bragg observed, participated in, and influenced hundreds of meetings and decisions that are best described as "strategic art." He developed his strategic competencies through: civilian and military education; an honorable, diverse, demanding, and rare service and assignment history; and, life-threatening experiences that only a few would ever taste. Braxton Bragg strategized with the best experts of his day.

Braxton Bragg progressed through a diverse and demanding career to become a military strategist and ultimately General-in- Chief of Confederate States of America (CSA) Armies. General Braxton Bragg devoted over four years, of his life to senior CSA Army leadership positions, mostly in command. He surpassed every general officer in the CSA and Union in holding such a wide range of senior officer responsibilities. Bragg observed closely and operated in and around the operational and strategic environment for the majority of his life. By virtue of his previous duties, assignments, and experiences, Bragg observed, participated in, and influenced hundreds of meetings and decisions that are best described as "strategic art." He developed his strategic competencies through: civilian and military education; an honorable, diverse, demanding, and rare service and assignment history; and, life-threatening experiences that only a few would ever taste. Braxton Bragg strategized with the best experts of his day.

As a leading Confederate general, Braxton Bragg (1817–1876) earned a reputation for incompetence, for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles. This public image established him not only as a scapegoat for the South's military failures but also as the chief whipping boy of the Confederacy. The strongly negative opinions of Bragg's contemporaries have continued to color assessments of the general's military career and character by generations of historians. Rather than take these assessments at face value, Earl J. Hess's biography offers a much more balanced account of Bragg, the man and the officer. While Hess analyzes Bragg's many campaigns and battles, he also emphasizes how his contemporaries viewed his successes and failures and how these reactions affected Bragg both personally and professionally. The testimony and opinions of other members of the Confederate army--including Bragg's superiors, his fellow generals, and his subordinates--reveal how the general became a symbol for the larger military failures that undid the Confederacy. By connecting the general's personal life to his military career, Hess positions Bragg as a figure saddled with unwarranted infamy and humanizes him as a flawed yet misunderstood figure in Civil War history.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack – 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. General Boggs was a native of Georgia and after much service as an engineer in the pre-war army resigned his command when his home state succeeded from the Union. He was appointed to organize defences, purchase arms and complete defences, serving in South Carolina, Georgia and Trans-Mississippi theaters. An upright passionate man, his memoirs are peppered with accounts of his forthright disagreements with his superiors. He also comments on his attempts to combat the inertia of the Confederate bureaucracy, which were often in vain, and his opposition to the pilfering and plundering that dogged the war efforts. This book offers a fascinating insight into the disagreements that dogged the Confederate effort in the Western theater of operations during the Civil War. Author — Boggs, William Robertson, 1829-1911. Introduction by — Boyd, William Kenneth, 1879-1938. Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published Durham, N. C., The Seeman printery, 1913. Original Page Count – xxiii and 115 pages.

In the Summer of 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg was commander of the Army of Tennessee, still reeling from its defeat in January at Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Released to mark the 150th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, this book provides general readers with a succinct examination of the Confederacy's last major triumph. There is renewed interest among Civil War historians and history buffs alike about events west of the Appalachian Mountains and their impact on the outcome of the conflict. In examining the Chickamauga campaign, this book provides a fresh analysis of the foremost Confederate victory in the Western theater. The study opens with a discussion of two commanders, William S. Rosecrans and Braxton Bragg, and the forces swirling around them when they clashed in September 1863. Drawing on both primary sources and recent Civil War scholarship, it then follows the specific aspects of the battle, day by day. In addition to interweaving analysis of the Union and Confederate commanders and the tactical situation during the campaign, the book also reveals how the rank and file dealt with the changing fortunes of war. Readers will see how the campaign altered the high commands of both armies, how it impacted the common soldier, and how it affected the strategic situation, North and South.