num_pages: 320
description:  Draws a balanced picture of Bragg and of his important role in the Confederacy beginning in 1863 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 Tennessee. Failing to establish a strong defensive position at either Tullahoma or Chattanooga Bragg saw the heartland of the South gradually slip away from him. Victory at Chickamauga Creek in SeptemberBraggs last military successwas followed by disaster at Missionary Ridge and shortly thereafter his removal from army command. Within three months however President Jefferson Davis had restored Bragg to active military involvement naming him military adviser for the Confederacy. Here finally Braggs skills as an administrator and organizer bore fruitas did his penchant for provoking quarrels and disunity within the military establishment. Reassigned to field command in late 1864 Bragg concluded his army service with defeats at Wilmington and Bentonville North Carolina. The prevailing view of Braggs is a false one. Rather he was a valuable asset to the Confederacy a talented organizer whose gifts were misused by the nation he served. For the first time Braggs tenure in Richmond is examined carefully and evaluated. Contrary to the common view that Bragg was nothing more than a sycophant to President Davis this study shows that he and Davis often disagreed on policy. Much of Braggs present reputation among civil war scholars is based upon how contemporaries viewed him. Despite Braggs determined devotion to the Confederacy his frailties have shaped the literature to such an extent that his real accomplishments have been distorted or ignored. In this study the author has tried as General Joseph E. Johnston once advised to have a little charity for Bragg. Judith Lee Hallock draws a balanced picture of Bragg and of his important role in the Confederacy beginning in 1863. Her volume continues and completes the biography of Bragg published in Volume I by Grady McWhiney in 1969. Along with the military details the author provides a full accounting of Braggs fractious relationships with other members of the military a critical factor in this period for the entire Confederate command. This sympathetic biography of Bragg gives valuable insight into the workings of the Confederacy in the last two years of its struggle for independence. 
language: English
title: Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Volume II
publisher: University Alabama Press