Braxton Bragg was born in 1817 in Warrenton, North Carolina, and
received his early education there. In 1833, he entered West
Point, and was graduated four years later as a second lieutenant
in the 3rd Artillery. He served in the Seminole War before
joining General Zachary Taylor's army in its Texas and Mexican
War campaigns. Distinguishing himself at Buena Vista, Bragg was
brevetted lieutenant colonel. In 1856, Bragg resigned from the
army, purchased a plantation in Louisiana, and became involved
in designing the state's drainage and levee system. Secession
and the outbreak of the Civil War returned Bragg to military
life, as he was commissioned a brigadier general in the
Confederate Army. He was assigned to command the coast between
Pensacola and Mobile. Beginning in 1862, having became a major
general, Bragg moved his operations northward, seeing action in
the Tennessee and Kentucky theaters. Though he fought with great
energy, he earned a reputation for failing to follow through on
initial gains. By the f