Braxton Bragg: Exactly what was that guy's problem?

General Braxton Bragg

       My old military history professor in college was a guy named Doctor Ikerman. He was the first to explain the difference in an art and a science when it comes to warfare. In science, you can repeat an experiment and it always has the same result. In art, you can get a different result each time. I still use some of his analogies when I give talks today. Historians have spent decades trying to understand the problem with Braxton Bragg's generalship. I think they too often become overly focused on his argumentative personality. While that is a big part of him becoming such a failure, that's not his greatest downfall. The man didn't understand that war was an art. 

       When he planned a battle, he planned it from A to Z. In other words, he figured he would make the first move, his enemy would react a certain way and Bragg would react to that in a sequence. He planned his battle all the way through. When his opponent didn't react as expected, it threw General Bragg into a quandary. An example is the quote Major General Breckinridge made in regard to Bragg's battle planning. He claimed that when Bragg was planning a battle, he would take no advice from his top subordinates, but when things went awry, he would accept the advice of a drummer boy. 

       Historians look at the Battle of Chickamauga and attempt to understand what Bragg was thinking. He'd won the battle, and was informed of the victory by several of his subordinates, yet he refused to believe he'd won. The main question here is why? Bragg had spent days attempting to cut Federal General Rosecrans off from Chattanooga and his base of supplies. On the night of September 18th, he went to bed thinking he'd finally gotten his army beyond Rosecrans's right flank. Rosecrans expected Bragg to do this very thing and during the night extended his left flank beyond the Confederate right. Bragg was surprised in the morning when his flank attack turned into a very costly frontal assault. 

Bragg's frontal assault on the morning of September 19, 1863

       When Rosecrans began to shift more troops from his right to the heavily engaged left, Bragg had an opportunity to strike these forces in the flank, but it went against how he had planned the battle and three of his divisions sat idly by as the opportunity was lost. Once the day was finished, he made another blunder. He changed the order of battle. To completely change the order of battle in the midst of a battle is just asking for mass confusion and that's exactly what he got. In most Confederate armies, a general was in command, lieutenant generals commanding corps' answered directly to the general. Bragg decided to mix matters up by having Lieutenant General D.H. Hill report to Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk who he made the right wing commander. He had Lieutenant General James Longstreet command the left wing and placed Major General John Bell Hood in command of Longstreet's Corps. Are you confused yet, because D.H. Hill and Leonidas Polk certainly were. 

       The blunders didn't end there. The next day, the frontal assault continued, Polk's right wing lost heavily. Luckily for Bragg's army, Rosecrans committed a blunder by creating a gap in front of Longstreet's left wing. Hood managed to attack at the right moment and break the Federal army. Once the Federal army began to retreat, Longstreet begged Bragg for reinforcements from the right wing to help him finish the enemy forces off. Bragg, far to the rear at his headquarters at Reed's Bridge refused to believe he'd won the battle. Without riding forward and observing for himself, he simply refused to send Longstreet any troops. 

       There is a comical story told about a Confederate private who'd been captured by the Federals and then escaped when their army retreated. He made his way to Bragg's headquarters and insisted on seeing the general in person. When he was brought into the presence of General Bragg, he told his commander that he'd won a great victory and that the Federal army was in full retreat. "How would you know what a retreat looks like?" snapped Bragg. "I should know," the ragged private replied, "I've been in your army almost two years."

       Even Bedford Forrest was frustrated with Bragg asking what the man fought battles for anyway. Mary Chesnut said of Bragg when he laid siege to Chattanooga: "Bragg, thanks to Longstreet and Hood, won at Chickamauga. So we looked for results that would pay for our losses in battle, at least. Certainly, they would capture Rosecrans. No! There sits Bragg--a good dog howling on his hind legs before Chattanooga, a fortified town--and some Yankee Holdfast grinning at him from his impregnable heights. Waste of time. How? He always stops to quarrel with his generals."

       That brings us to the second problem General Bragg had. He could never take the blame. At each failure or setback, his first reaction was to find someone to blame. When the repulse of Pickett's Charge occurred at Gettysburg, the first words out of General Lee's mouth was, "It's all my fault." As one historian once wrote, "Bragg would have choked on those words." I give two examples of great leaders. One is Robert E. Lee and the other is former Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Coach Bryant always took the blame for the losses and gave the players credit for the wins. Robert E. Lee praised his soldiers in victory and took the blame in defeat. Braxton Bragg wasn't capable of this at all. It was always someone else's fault. 

       At Shiloh, he blamed Randal Gibson and the Confederate soldiers. At Murfreesboro, it was General McCown and Cheatham. At Chickamauga, he blamed Polk, D.H. Hill, and Hindman. It was always someone else's fault. A leader like Lee had no problem motivating his men to fight. They knew he was there to accept fault for failures even when they weren't his fault. Bragg never!

James Edward Rains: Knightly Soul

James Edward Rains

       James Edward Rains was born on April 10, 1833 in Nashville, Tennessee. His father was a Methodist minister. He spent his youth making saddle tack in his fathers saddle shop. He attended college at Yale and graduated in 1854. He then studied law and became the associate editor of the Daily Republican Banner under future Confederate Brigadier General Feliz Kirk Zollicoffer. 

       Rains became an attorney in Nashville in 1858. He soon married Ida Yeatman and they had a daughter in 1859. Though opposed to secession, Rains joined a company in Nashville when the war began and was quickly elected lieutenant. It wasn't long before he was made a Captain and then colonel of the 11th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. 

       The ladies of Nashville presented the regiment with a nice flag before they departed. Colonel Rains made a short speech in which he promised they would bring the flag back or not come back at all. Rains and his regiment would see most of their action in east Tennessee serving around Cumberland Gap. He would soon be promoted to Brigadier General by President Jefferson Davis.

       They were attached to Bragg's army following the Kentucky invasion in 1862. He would fight on the extreme left flank on the opening day of the Battle of Murfreesboro. Their job was to sweep north and then turn right toward the pike and cut off Rosecrans' supply line to Nashville. 

Rains in Confederate Uniform

       One soldier noted how the sounds of cannon and rifle fire seemed to inspire General Rains as ballroom music to a dance lover. He led his brigade forward and made the right wheel. They ran into stiff resistance in a cedar thicket. Colonel Vance latter reported that this was the worst fire they would encounter all day. The brigade suffered from intense artillery and infantry fire. 

       General Rains was out front leading his men forward. He shouted, Forward, my brave men, forward!" At that moment a bullet struck him in the chest, pierced his heart and he fell dead. One of his men stated that Rains was pierced by a bullet that sent that knightly soul back to the God who gave it. 

       The brigade soon ran out of ammunition and was forced to fall back. The pike was never taken. One soldier wrote that they watched a long black casket being carried back to Murfreesboro which contained General Rains remains. He talked about what a gloom it cast on the army. Most men believed that James Edward Rains was worth a thousand men in battle. 

       Soon after the battle, a minister approached Rosecrans about carrying Rains body back through Federal lines to be buried in his home town at Nashville. Rosecrans allowed the body to be carried back, but refused the fallen officer to be buried with military honors. 

Grave of James Edward Rains

       Today, General James Edward Rains rests in Nashville's Mount Olivet Cemetery. He was twenty-nine years old. His daughter was only three at the time of his death. He is still remembered as a knightly soul. Prior to the war, there was nothing in Rains life to make one believe he would make such a great military leader. 

An Ohio General Loses His Coat

Joshua Woodrow Sill

       Joshua Woodrow Sill was born in 1831 in Chillicothe, Ohio. His father was an attorney who obtained the young Sill and appointment to West Point. He was quite an academic student, managing to finish third in a class of 52 cadets. Because of his high rank, he was able to earn an assignment in the ordnance department and was stationed in New York. Later, he was assigned an instructor at the United States Military Academy. 

       Just as the Civil War was breaking out, he resigned his commission to become a college professor. When the South opened fire on Fort Sumter, Sill resigned his position and offered his services to the state of Ohio. He was commissioned colonel of the 33rd Ohio Infantry Regiment. 

       He saw little action before being promoted to brigadier general in Phil Sheridan’s division. He and Sheridan became best friends during the time he commanded the brigade. His first major engagement was at the Battle of Stones’ River, called the Battle of Murfreesboro by the Confederate troops. 

Philip Sheridan

       The day before the battle opened, Sheridan called a conference with his brigade commanders. When the conference ended, Sill mistakenly put on Sheridan’s coat and Sheridan put on Sill’s coat. Thus during the battle of the next day, both men were wearing the others coat. 

       The Confederates struck Sheridan’s part of the battle line about 7:15 the next morning. The Southern troops charged right up to the muzzles of the Federal guns before breaking. Sill’s men in turn charged the retreating Confederate troops. Sill charged forward with his men and fell dead, a bullet passing through his upper lip and lodging somewhere in his brain. He was wearing Sheridan’s coat at the time of his death.

       The Confederate troops were extremely proud of having killed Joshua Sill. He had allegedly committed numerous acts of cruelty on the women, children and old men behind Federal lines just days before the battle. Confederate General Braxton Bragg stated that Sill’s body was captured and decently buried in the town of Murfreesboro which was more than the man deserved. 

       According to Federal soldiers, Joshua Sill was loved, admired, and respected more than any other officer in the army. Sheridan later named a fort in Oklahoma after Joshua Sill. Fort Sill is still the largest Artillery depot in the world. 

Monument to Sill located at Fort Sill in Oklahoma

       Joshua Sill was later removed from Murfreesboro and today rests in Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe, Ohio. He was thirty-one years old. 

Joshua Sill's gravesite

Old Bench-leg

Roger Weightman Hanson

       Roger Weightman Hanson was born in Winchester, Kentucky in 1827. After finishing school, he volunteered for the Mexican War. He was made a 1st lieutenant in John Williams Kentucky company and earned a reputation for his fearlessness in combat. Despite his reckless actions in battle, he came home without a scratch. 

       That would change in Lexington, Kentucky when he and a fellow law student had a disagreement they decided to settle by dueling. In this duel, Hanson would be shot in the leg just above the knee causing him to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. It would also earn him the nickname “Bench-leg”. 

       Roger Hanson decided to travel to California during the gold rush. En route, his horse died and he was forced to limp the last 200 miles on foot. The “gold fever” didn’t last a year and he returned to Lexington, Kentucky. There he earned another reputation for his defense in criminal cases as an attorney. 

       When the Civil War began, he agreed with Kentucky about remaining neutral. He changed his mind soon after the war began because he believed a Union victory would greatly reduce the power of the state governments. 

       He was commissioned a colonel in the Confederate army and took command of the 2nd Kentucky Mounted Infantry. Hanson was a strict commander who insisted his regiment have discipline and lots of drill. Most men would despise a commander like Hanson, but he had a great sense of humor and his men loved him. 

       His regiment was soon sent to Fort Donelson where they fought well but became prisoners when the fort fell. Called “the best colonel in our service”, the Confederates worked hard for Hanson’s exchange. He was exchanged too late to join the Bragg’s army in Kentucky. General Breckinridge was soon promoted to command the division and this resulted in Hanson being promoted to brigadier general of the “Orphan Brigade” on October 26, 1862. The brigade earned the nickname because they were all Kentuckians isolated from their home state. 

       Roger Hanson wasn't at all pleased with the condition of his brigade. The Kentuckians were great in soldiers, but were extremely lax around camp. Hanson was extremely active in the short time he was commander of the brigade, but wasn't very satisfied with the results. The men just didn’t care about policing their camp and keeping their area clean. 

       On the final day of the Battle of Murfreesboro, Bragg ordered Breckinridge to take his division and charge the Federal lines on high ground across a field and behind Stones River. Not only would Breckinridge be attacking a Federal division in a strong position, but the Federals had 60 cannons lined up hub to hub. 

Hanson's men would be forced to ford Stones River under fire

       Breckinridge begged Bragg not to send his men into what was certainly going to be a slaughter. Bragg wasn’t listening. He simply replied, “I believe, sir, you have your orders.”

       When Breckinridge told his brigade commanders what they were ordered to do, Hanson became furious. He went so far as to threaten the life of General Bragg and had to be restrained. (He wouldn’t be the last Confederate to threaten Bragg.) 

       As Hanson formed his men for the attack, his anger subsided and he became melancholy. He remarked to one of his staff officers, “I believe this will be my last battle.”

Position of the Federal cannons

       The 4500 man division surged across the field into the fierce artillery and rifle barrage. Shrapnel from an exploding artillery shell struck Hanson near the knee severing his femoral artery. (Some say it struck him in the hip. General Breckinridge rode to Hanson’s side. Despite the shells bursting overhead, he tried to stem the blood gushing from his brigadier’s leg. Breckinridge’s eyes were filled with tears. 

       The Confederate assault soon stalled after having lost 1800 men in less than an hour. As Hanson was being treated by a surgeon, he never complained about the pain, but insisted the man go treat his wounded men. Back in Murfreesboro, Breckinridge’s wife and Hanson’s wife both tried to nurse him back to health. A surgeon said the leg needed to be amputated, but Hanson was too weak to survive the surgery. 

The general's wife, Virginia Peters Hanson

       Two days later, Hanson would die from loss of blood. He admitted that it was glorious to die for ones country and have died in a just cause and done my duty. He would pass away in the company of his wife and friends. Originally buried in Nashville, today he rests beside his wife in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky.

Grave of Roger and Virginia Hanson