In honour, now, our great captain rests;
A bereaved people mourn him.

Three commonwealths proudly claim him;
And history shall cherish him

Among those choicer spirits, who, holding their conscience unmixed with blame,

Have been, in all conjunctures, true to themselves,
their country, and their God.

GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Equivocal reputation of Gen. Bragg in the war.-His services in Mexico.-Offers his sword to Louisiana.-His command at Pensacola.-Gallant participation in the battle of Shiloh.-His reflections upon Gen. Beauregard.-In command of the Western forces.-His Kentucky campaign, as correspondent to the Virginia campaign of 1862.—Battle of Perryville.-Gen. Bragg's retreat through Cumberland Gap.-Criticisms and recriminations touching the campaign.

THE name of Braxton Bragg is connected with so much of recrimination in the late war, and has been bandied so violently between admirers and censors, that it is difficult to balance for history his character and deeds. In a popular biography, however, we have nothing to do with disputed questions of military science, unless to refer to them in a very general way; and with this explanation we shall proceed to give the main events in the military life of Gen. Bragg, and a view of his character, with a sincere effort to do equal justice to the man, and to the cause in which his record was so confused by partisanship, and his reputation so equivocal through constant recrimination.

He is a native of North Carolina; born in Warren County, in 1815. Having graduated at West Point, he received the appointment of second-lieutenant of the Third Artillery, July 1, 1837; engaged in the Seminole war, and in 1838 was promoted to a firstlieutenancy. In the Mexican war he served under Gen. Taylor, and on the 9th May, 1846, was brevetted captain "for gallant and distinguished conduct in the defence of Fort Brown, Texas." His other services in Mexico were meritorious, and he was brevetted major "for gallant conduct in the several conflicts at Monterey, on the 21st, 22d, and 23d of September, 1846." At Buena Vista he commanded a battery, and was conspicuous for his bravery; and it was popularly reported that in the hottest part of the engagement,

Gen. Taylor rode to his battery, and gave his famous nonchalant order: "A little more grape, Capt. Bragg!" The phrase gave a familiar title to Bragg, although the anecdote has been impeached, and is of doubtful authority. For his service on this field, Bragg was brevetted lieutenant-colonel.

A

A singular incident is related of his military life in Mexico, which we give in Col. Bragg's own words. He says, in a letter to a friend, dated August 27, 1847: "An attempt was made, about 2 A.M., night before last, to assassinate me in my bed. I have no clue to the perpetrator, and can suggest no reason for the act. My escape without injury is almost miraculous. As exaggerated accounts may reach the press, the truth may interest you. twelve-pound shell, heavily charged, was placed within two feet of my bed, just outside of my tent, and exploded by a slow match; the fragments literally riddling my tent and bedding, pieces passing above and below me, some through a blanket spread over me, and yet I was untouched. I was not aware that I had an enemy in the world." At the period of the commencement of hostilities between the North and South Col. Bragg, who had resigned from the United States service, was cultivating a plantation in Louisiana. He offered his sword to the cause of the South; he was made Commander-in-chief of the volunteer forces of Louisiana; and on the accession of the Confederate power, his military experience was remembered, and he was appointed a Brigadier-General by President Davis, and put in command of the forces at Pensacola.

The Federals held Fort Pickens, and there was an eager expectation of the public that the drama of Fort Sumter would be repeated here, and an attempt made to take this work, which, situated on the extremity of Santa Rosa Island, commanded the entrance to the harbour. But the events of the siege proved of but little interest. On the 8th October, 1861, Gen. Bragg sent an expedition to break up an encampment of " Billy Wilson" Zouaves on the island, which was of doubtful success; and in the succeeding month the Federal fleet replied by a lame attempt, assisted by the guns of the fort, to bombard and capture the Confederate position. On this event Gen. Bragg published the following congratulatory order:

HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF PENSACOLA,

NEAR PENSACOLA, FLA., Nov. 25, 1861.

The signal success which has crowned our forty hours' conflict

with the arrogant and confident enemy-whose government, it seems, is hourly looking for an announcement of his success in capturing our position-should fill our hearts with gratitude to a merciful Providence. This terrific bombardment of more than a hundred guns of the heaviest calibre, causing the very earth to tremble around us, has, from the wild firing of the enemy, resulted in the loss of only seven lives, with eight wounded; but two of them seriously, five of the deaths from an accident, and but two from the enemy's shot. We have crippled their ships, and driven them off, and forced the garrison of Fort Pickens, in its impotent rage, to slake its revenge by firing on our hospital, and burning the habitations of our innocent women and children, who have been driven therefrom by an unannounced storm of shot and shell. For the coolness, devotion, and conspicuous gallantry of the troops, the General tenders his cordial thanks; but for the precision of their firing, in this their first practice, which would have done credit to veterans, he is unable to express his admiration. Their country and their enemy will both remember the 22d and 23d of November.

By command of Maj.-Gen. BRAGG.

GEO. G. GARNER, Ass't. Adj't.-Gen.

In February, 1862, Gen. Bragg, now made a Major-General, had his headquarters established at Mobile; and shortly afterwards joined his forces with the army of the Mississippi, under command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. His first important field was at Shiloh, where he commanded the Second and largest army corps, consisting of 13,589 troops. In this action, Gen. Bragg made an excellent mark, and answered all the expectations which his reputation had inspired. When the first line of Confederates, driving the enemy through his camps, was found to falter as it came upon the Federal batteries, posted on eminences, with strong infantry supports, Bragg moved up steadily and promptly to its support, developed his whole line, and swept the ground, capturing three large encampments, and three batteries of artillery.

Of the singular close of the day's performances, Gen. Bragg writes as follows: "The troops were soon put in motion, responding with great alacrity to the command of 'Forward! let every order be forward.' It was now probably past four o'clock, the

descending sun warning us to press our advantage, and finish the work before night should compel us to desist. Fairly in motion, these commands again, with a common head, and a common purpose, swept all before them. Neither battery nor battalion could withstand their onslaught. Passing through camp after camp, rich in military spoils of every kind, the enemy was driven headlong from every position, and thrown in confused masses upon the river bank, behind his heavy artillery, and under cover of his gunboats at the landing. He had left nearly the whole of his light artillery in our hands, and some three thousand or more prisoners, who were cut off from their retreat by the closing in of our troops on the left, under Major-Gen. Polk, with a portion of his reserve corps, and Brig.-Gen. Ruggles, with Anderson's and Pond's brigades of his division. The prisoners were dispatched to the rear under a proper guard, all else being left on the field, that we might press our advantage. The enemy had fallen back in much confusion, and was crowded in unorganized masses on the river bank, vainly striving to cross. They were covered by a battery of heavy guns well served, and their two gunboats, which now poured a heavy fire upon our supposed positions, for we were entirely hid by the forest. Their fire, though terrific in sound, and producing some consternation at first, did us no damage, as the shells all passed over, and exploded far beyond our positions. As soon as our troops could be again formed and put in motion, the order was given to move forward at all points, and sweep the enemy from the field. The sun was about disappearing, so that little time was left us to finish the glorious work of the day; a day unsurpassed in the history of warfare for its daring deeds, brilliant achievements, and heavy sacrifices. Our troops, greatly exhausted by twelve hours' incessant fighting, without food, mostly responded to the order with alacrity, and the movement commenced with every prospect of success, though a heavy battery in our front, and the gunboats on our right, seemed determined to dispute every inch of ground. Just at this time, an order was received from the Commanding-General, to withdraw the forces beyond the enemy's fire. As this was communicated in many instances direct to brigade commanders, the troops were soon in motion, and the action ceased. The different commands, mixed and scattered, bivouacked at points most convenient to their positions, and beyond the range of the enemy's