Reconsidering Braxton Bragg Scheduled For March 18

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park invites the public to participate in a 1-hour, ranger-led program at Chickamauga Battlefield on Saturday, March 18, at 2 pm.  In conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s birth, participants will be asked to reconsider what has been said about the general for many years and recent scholarship that places him in a more favorable light.  This program will begin at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center and will car caravan to Bragg’s Headquarters.

For more than a century after the Civil War, General Bragg has been viewed as a commander who often quarreled with fellow officers and, at one time, even himself.  As the myth of the “Lost Cause” developed, Bragg became a “poster boy” for why the South lost the war on the battlefield.  However, he was a superior organizer and the only general to invade northern territory while commanding the Army of the Mississippi (Army of Tennessee) during the Civil War.  Visitors are encouraged to come and learn a different perspective on the Confederate general who commanded the Army of Tennessee at Chickamauga.

As a reminder, supportive shoes, appropriate clothing for the weather, water, portable chairs, and bug spray are recommended.