Edward Bragg's Law Book-- Part 4: Diplomatic Career and the San Francisco Earthquake

In 1902, Bragg was appointed  Consul General  to Havana, but later that year was transferred to Hong Kong by President  Theodore Roosevelt because he  disliked living in Cuba.

When he returned to the United States from that posting in 1906, he was in San Francisco and had just retired to bed at a hotel and the chandelier above his wife and his bed started shaking and then crashed down on their bed.  They had returned just in time for the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906.

They were not hurt, but they lost all their possessions in the fire that took place afterwards.  They went and joined the many other city residents who slept outdoors at Knob Hill.

The book ends in December 1907, when Edward Bragg retired from his law practice.

He died June 20, 1912, at the age 85.  Beside his monument at Fond du Lac's Rienzi Cemetery stands a broken pillar for his only son, William Kohl Bragg, who died  at age 22.

Along with William Bragg and his wife Cordelia they had two daughters, Kate and Margaret.  Their children were known as Will, Kit and Daisy.

--Old Secesh

Edward Bragg's Law Book-- Part 3

Author Kenneth Grieb described Bragg as :  "short, squat, barrel-chested with ramrod straight bearing."  He wore his bushy hair brushed forward.  Grieb said the New York World newspaper as saying  the storied general had the air of "a bad man from Bitter Creek, who would lick  any blanked man  in town."  

Throughout his military career, Bragg's conduct and bravery impressed his commanding officers.  For a civilian with no military training or background, to reach the rank of brigadier general was an impressive feat.

Following the war, Edward Bragg was elected a Wisconsin Congressman (1876-1880 and 1884)  In 1884, at the Democratic National Convention, he seconded the nomination of Grover Cleveland, using the phrase:  "We love him for the enemies he had made."

--Old Secesh

Edward Bragg's Law Book Found-- Part 2: Raised Two Companies and Commanded the Iron Brigade

When news of the outbreak of the Civil War reached Wisconsin, Edward Bragg was defending a woman in a murder trial in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,   Once court was adjourned, he returned to Fond du Lac and raised an entire company of men for immediate service at the battlefront.

The training took place at Camp Hamilton in Fond du Lac, located where Playmore Park now sits on East Division and North Seymour streets.

Bragg stayed behind when the men left to tie up loose ends of his law practice, but then raised another company in June for the 6th Regiment Wisconsin  Volunteer Infantry and was elected its captain.   The regiment spent most of the war as the part of the famed  Iron Brigade  in the Army of the Potomac.

Joan Brusoe, a volunteer at the library,  recalls her great-grandfather's story of walking from Green Bay  to Fond du Lac at age 10 1/2  to join Bragg .  She says he became the drummer boy, but got dysentery at the Battle of Vicksburg.

Possessing a commanding presence, Bragg eventually rose to the command of the Iron Brigade, known for their Black Hats, from June 1864 to February 1865.  Known as one of the best brigades in the Union Army,  the unit suffered the highest percentage of casualties.

--Old Secesh

Charles V. Gridley's Family: 'You May Fire....'

I have been writing about this Civil War naval officer in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog.  He made his greatest fame, however, in the Spanish-American War, when he commanded the USS Olympia when George Dewey gave his famed order:  "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley!"

Charles Gridley also had two other relatives involved in the Civil War.  His brother, Lucius Gridley, was a musician in Company A, 2nd Michigan Infantry and his mother, Ann Eliza Sholes Gridley was a Civil War nurse.

You can read about these three people in my Running the Blockade blog from last and this week.  Just go to My Blog List to the left of this and click on that blog.

--Old Secesh

Edward Bragg's Law Book Found in Fond du Lac-- Part 1

From the May 17, 2018, Fond du Lac Reporter "Fond du Lac attorney general Edward Bragg's record book found" by Sharon Roznik.

Buried in a cardboard box in the newspaper archive room of the Fond du Lac Historical Society's library, the book smelled old and felt weighty, wrapped in archival paper to keep  the dust out.

Letters on the spine spelled "E.S. Bragg", the name of Fond du Lac's general who took part in  in every major Civil War battle in the east except Gettysburg.

Born in 1827, Edward S. Bragg was a Fond du Lac defense attorney whose practice  traveled a wide circuit through Northeast Wisconsin.

Bragg made this log starting in 1882.  It contains expenses for his clients who were among the movers and shakers of early Fond du Lac history.

--Old Secesh

Edward Bragg's Family-- Part 3: Two Grandchildren Also in Military

Two of Edward S. Bragg's grandchildren were also involved in the military.

Margaret Bragg Sherman's son, Edward Bragg Sherman (1883-1981) is listed as an ensign.

Bertha Bragg Scrivens' daughter was married to Lt.  Col. Detlow Mainch Marthinson, U.S. Army. (1894-1965)

--Old Secesh

Edward Bragg's Family-- Part 2: His Daughter Bertha Married Brig. Gen. George P. Scriven

A third daughter, Bertha Bragg Scriven, married an Army officer., George P. Scriven (1854-1940).

From Find-A-Grave

BIRTH:  23 July 1963

DEATH:  3 February 1914,  Washington, D.C.

BURIAL:  Arlington National Cemetery.

From the February 4, 1914, Washington Post

Mrs. Bertha Bragg Scriven wife of  the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, Brigadier General George P. Scriven, died at 9 o'clock yesterday morning at her home, 2009 N. Street Northwest.  Although ill for some months,  her death was not expected as her condition was not considered serious.

Mrs. Scriven was the daughter of the late General Edward S. Bragg, Commander of the Iron brigade of Civil War fame.  She was fifty years old and is survived by her mother, who resides in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, by her husband and two daughters.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock at St. John's Episcopal Church.  The Rev. Roland Cotton Smith will officiate and internment  will be in Arlington National Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County CW Round Table Discussion Group Meets Sat. June 26: Topic Is CW Veterans' Associations North and South

The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) will be meeting Saturday, June 26, at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, (U.S. Route 14 and Main Street) at 10 a.m. to noon.

This Saturday's discussion topic is Civil War Veterans' Associations:  North and South.

Of course the biggest Union one was the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Confederate one was the United Confederate Veterans (UCV).

Plenty of room and everyone is welcome, members and nonmembers.  Where there is always good discussion and debate and, on occasion, we have even managed to stay sort of on topic.

Stop on in if you're in the area.

--Old Secesh

Edward Bragg's Family-- Part 1: A Commodore in the U.S. Navy

Edward S. Bragg married Cornelia Colman Bragg ((1830-1914) and they had three daughters ab d a son.  The son, William Kohl Bragg (1856-1878) died young at age 21.   The oldest daughter, Kate Colman Bragg Henry (1854-1895) married Clarence W. Henry.  All three of these people are buried at Rienzi Cemetery in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Two daughters married military men.

Margaret Bragg Sherman (1859-1937) married Francis H. Sherman.  She and her husband are buried at Mount Mora Cemetery in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

U.S. Navy Commodore.  He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy as a midshipman in 1871 and served as an officer in the Navy.

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, he was a lieutenant-commander in the North Atlantic Squadron in command of the monitor USS Passaic.

After the war, he served as Captain on the Navy Flag Staff and retired as one of the Navy's last commodores.

--Old Secesh

Find-A-Grave: Edward S. Bragg-- Part 2

 After the war, President Andrew Johnson  appointed him postmaster of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1866 and he was a member of the State Senate in 1868 and 1869.  In 1885, he was elected  as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth Congress , serving until1887.

He was also the Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico in 1888, consul general  at Havana, Cuba, in  1903 and consul general to Hong Kong, China, 1903-1906.

--Old Secesh

Find-A-Grave: Edward Stuyvesant Bragg-- Part 1

BIRTH:   20 February 1827, Unadilla, New York

DEATH:  20 June 1912 (aged 85) Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

BURIAL: Rienzi Cemetery, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Civil War Union brigadier general,  U.S. Congressman, diplomat.

At te outbreak of the Civil War, he was a Wisconsin district attorney when commissioned a captain in the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in July 1861.

He participated in numerous battles and was promoted to colonel and commanded his regiment.  The 6th Wisconsin was part of the famed Iron Brigade.  He led  assaults on Petersburg and made a heroic advance at Fitzhugh's Crossing, where his troops crossed the Rappahannock under enemy fire and captured the Confederate works.

For this action, he was brevetted to brigadier general of U.S. volunteers in June 1864.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg's Postwar Career and Family

After the war, Bragg returned to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, and continued with his legal career.  He was very involved in politics, serving in the Wisconsin State Senate and as a U.S. Representative.    Most of the time we was very active as a Democrat, but eventually split with that political party, becoming a Republican.

**********************

FAMILY

Bragg married  Cornelia Colman on January 2, 1854.  She was the granddaughter of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, a Revolutionary War soldiers and namesake and one of the founders of Rochester, New York.  They had three sons and three daughters, although two of the sons died young.  One daughter married George Percival Scriven, career soldier and the first chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of today's NASA.

Bragg was also a cousin to Frederick William Benteen of the U.S. 7th Cavalry under  George Armstrong Custer.  he was a major figure in the action at the Battle of the Little Big Horn

He was also cousin to Confederate General Braxton Bragg, though they never met each other on the battlefield.

--Old Secesh

I'd Vote to Rename Fort Bragg after the Union Bragg

The Wisconsin Bragg, Edward S. Bragg, definitely established a good war record for himself, as you have been reading in the last posts,  so I'd be in favor of renaming Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from being for Confederate General Braxton Bragg to being for the Union General Bragg.

It would certainly save a whole lot of money and would accomplish the "Woke" folks' desire to continue with their Confederadication.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 9: End of the War

For the next several weeks, they remained in position besieging Petersburg.  They were in the trench line, which meant they were subject to  sniper fire and enemy artillery and there they remained until June 28, when they were relieved temporarily.

Finally, Edward Bragg received word of his official promotion to brigadier general, effective June 25, 1864.  They rotated back to the trenches a few weeks later.

They remained engaged in siege for the rest of the year and into early 1865.

On July 30, 1864, a Union sapper mine was exploded under the Confederate trenches resulting in what was called the Battle of the Crater.  On August  18, 1864, they were part  of a successful Union raid known as the Battle of Globe Tavern, to cut the Weldon Railroad and reduce the flow of supplies to the Petersburg defenders.

In October there was  another attempt to do that known as the Battle of Boydtown Plank Road, to sever another Confederate supply line, but the attack was withdrawn.

General Bragg's final battle of the war was the Battle of Hatcher's Run, which took place  February 6, 1865, near the site of the Battle of Boydtown  Plank Road.  The Iron Brigade took heavy casualties and, following the battle had to be significantly reorganized.

General Bragg was then summoned to Washington with four regiments and then sent to Baltimore to supervise transportation of conscripts.  He remained there until the end of the war and mustered out on October 9, 1865.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Slang-- Part 4: 40 Dead Men, Hospital Rats and Grey Backs

If you'd like to see all 20 slang terms, just click on the slang label below.

16.  FORTY DEAD MEN

Soldiers had nicknames for  almost every item that they had to take with them.  "Forty Dead Men" referred to a full cartridge box of bullets.  A full cartridge box held 40 rounds.  And, of course, they could kill you (well, the enemy).

17.  PLAY OLD SOLDIER / HOSPITAL RAT

Being honorable during the war was very important.  Faking an injury was not very honorable.  Nothing was more dishonorable than faking am injury of disability to avoid battle.

Soldiers doing this were referred to as "playing old soldier" or "hospital rat" for their frequent trips to the infirmary.

18.  PARLOR SOLDIERS

Parlor soldier was a derogatory term for an unsuitable soldier.  Someone who talked about their war experience without actually having it.

19.  GREY BACKS

Diseases rule when there is a war.  One of the most prevalent diseases during the war was malaria which was called "The Shakes."

Next to malaria, soldiers on both sides suffered from grey backs, otherwise known as lice.  This was also a derogatory term for Confederates since that was generally the color of their uniforms.

20.  LONG SWEETENING

Soldiers really loved their coffee.  And a favorite extra ingredient was "long sweetening" which was molasses.  This was a replacement for sugar, of course.  Unlike sugar, this was a runny sweetener.  If they could get sugar, that was short sweetening.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 8: Spotsylvania and Petersburg

I am certainly finding out a lot about this man whom I had never heard of since I saw his name put up as a possible new name for Fort Bragg in North Carolina.  They wouldn't have to change the name.  He had quite an honorable history of military command.

At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Bragg's Pennsylvanians  participated in four attacks  on entrenched Confederates over four days, the one on May 12th was at the infamous "Bloody Angle."  Colonel Bragg was announced as having been killed at this battle, but he wasn't.  However, the story alarmed folks back in Wisconsin.

They were engaged with Confederates over the next two weeks and then Bragg was returned to the command of the Iron Brigade.

On June 12, they made a quick move and crossed the James River, engaging in what became known as the Siege of Petersburg.  On June 18 they participated  in a futile charge that led to  what is called the Second Battle of Petersburg.  The Iron Brigade charged across a half mile of open field, under Confederate fire and were ordered to halt to await reinforcements which did not come.

After two hours, they were forced to retreat after heavy casualties.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 7: Command of the Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade

After the fighting on May 6, at the Wilderness, Bragg was placed in command of the division's 3rd Brigade which was made up of all Pennsylvania regiments, sometimes called the Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade, by General Lysander Cutler, who had been Bragg's original commander of the 6th Wisconsin.  Lysander had become division commander with the death of General  James S. Wadsworth.

Bragg was replacing  the Bucktails' commander Colonel  Roy Stone who had reportedly been drunk during the battle on May 5 and 6.  On both days, his brigade had performed poorly, reportedly marching and firing in disorganized manner and scattering in the face of Confederate skirmishers.  They even had accidentally wounded members of their own unit.

Stone had been removed after his horse  fell on top of him on May 6.

Bragg led the brigade for  most of the remainder of the Overland Campaign.  His leadership stabilized the brigade and they performed admirably at Spotsylvania Court House,  North Ana, Totopotomoy Creek and Cold Harbor.  After Cold Harbor, Bragg turned command of the brigade over to Gettysburg hero Joshua  Chamberlain.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 6: Re-enlisting and the Battle of the Wilderness

At the Battle of Gettysburg, the 6th Wisconsin had 340 effectives on the field and lost 30 killed,  116 wounded and 22 missing.  Most of them all were on the first day.

Colonel Bragg returned to the 6th Wisconsin about August 28, 1863,  During the Bristoe Campaign and the Battle of Mine Run, the Iron Brigade participated in a series of  maneuvers but weren't engaged in any serious fighting.

In January 1864, the 6th Wisconsin's enlistment was over.  Those who re-enlisted were given Veteran Status and they, along with Bragg traveled by train home on furlough and were feted in Milwaukee.

Returning to Virginia, the 6th was then involved in Gen. Grant's Overland Campaign, starting with the Battle of Wilderness on May 5, 1864, during which Edward S. Bragg was nearly captured trying to ascertain where other Union regiments were located.

On May 6, the Iron Brigade was involved in an attack on the Confederate left flank that was initially successful until Confederate reinforcements counterattacked and forced them to fall back.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 5: Too Ill for Gettysburg

Colonel Edward Bragg became seriously ill after the Chancellorsville, possibly because of  the poor weather conditions during the battle, combined with an injury he received from being kicked by Major  John Hauser's horse.  He remained in his tent while attempting to recuperate, but in early June he was sent to a hospital in Washington, D.C..

While sick, he missed the entire Gettysburg Campaign, leaving the regiment under the command of Lt. Colonel Rufus Dawes.  Both Dawes and the regiment performed heroically on the First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Rufus Dawes was the great grandson of William Dawes who warned the Massachusetts  Minutemen of the approach of the British prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord.  He was one of several  men spreading the word, but Paul Revere is the one best-known for doing it.

Bragg attempted to rejoin his regiment in the days after Gettysburg but was too ill and had to return to medical care.

--Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 4: Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville

The Iron Brigade did not participate in the Peninsula Campaign, but was posted across from Fredericksburg, Virginia.

After Gen. John Pope took command of the Army of the Potomac, the Iron Brigade ended up fighting Confederates at the Second Battle of Bull Run, also called the Battle of Gainesville.  The brigade was outnumbered three to one but managed to hold their ground.  The brigade was held in reserve the second day of the battle, but fought in the third day.  They ended up forming the Union Army's rear guard as it fell back.

There were two major offensives against the Confederates at Fredericksburg in the winter of 1862 and 1863, but the brigade was not engaged in serious fighting in either.   On March 10, 1863, Edward Bragg was promoted to full colonel.  He also met President Lincoln.

During the Chancellorsville Campaign, the brigade was put in charge of securing a pontoon bridge at Fitz Hughes Crossing of the Rappahannock River. When the bridge engineers came under fire, Bragg was ordered to take his men and cross the river to secure the bank on the other side.  he accomplished this in an hour and captured 200 Confederate in the process.

--Old Secesh

Boy, Was That Fun Last Night in Union. First In-Person Round Table Meeting Since March 2020.

Last night I drove 30 miles from Spring Grove, Illinois, to Union, Illinois, for the first in person McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) meeting since March of 2020 (because of you-know-what).  We had an excellent presentation on Civil War generals by Bruce Allardice.

The meeting was held at the McHenry County Historical Society Museum located in an old school in Union.  We normally have our monthly meetings at the Woodstock (Illinois) Public Library, but their meeting rooms remain closed.  (Hopefully next month we can meet there.)

Just as fun, we also had a pre-meeting dinner group at the Checkers II restaurant in Union which had eight in attendance.  When we used to meet in Woodstock, we had the pre-meeting eat and greet at 3 Brothers restaurant.

I must admit that I used to take these get-togethers for granted, but believe me, no more.

In addition, I joined the McHenry County Historical Society.  While there I got to see the journals the MCCWRT has paid to have preserved and an exhibit on the GAR in McHenry County.

This, by the way, was the second farthest I'd been from home since March 2020.  The farthest was over Memorial Day weekend a couple weeks ago when I went to the Indy 500.

Sure Good to Be Back.  --Old Secesh

Edward S. Bragg-- Part 3: To D.C. and Rising to Rank of Lt.-Colonel

The 6th Wisconsin was organized at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin (present-day Camp Randall Stadium, home of the Wisconsin Badgers).  They mustered into service July 16, 1861, under Colonel Lysander Cutler.  

They were ordered to proceed to Washington, D.C., and once there became a part of General Rufus King's brigade.  They were soon joined by the 2nd Wisconsin, 7th Wisconsin and 19th Indiana regiments in what would become known as the Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac.

From that point to the end of the war, Bragg  participated in nearly every battle of the Iron Brigade.

Bragg and his 6th Wisconsin spent the  Fall of 1861 to Spring 1862 on  picket duty near Washington, D.C., building  fortifications to protect the city and drilling in preparation for combat.  During this time, Bragg was promoted to major in September 17, 1861 and then to lieutenant colonel on June 21, 1862, after Lt.-Col. Benjamin Sweet was given command of the new 21st Wisconsin Infantry regiment.

--Old Secesh

About Colonels Edward S. Bragg and Charles F. Fisher and Their 6ths

I just realized that right now, I am writing about two colonels from famous regiments in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War and Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blogs.

Charles F. Fisher was the commander of the 6th North Carolina Infantry Regiment and was killed leading his men at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in 1861.  The 6th regiment went on to great glory during the war and fought at most of the major battles in the Eastern Theater of conflict.

I am writing about him in my Running the Blockade blog, even though the 6th NC was infantry because Fort Fisher was named after him.

Edward S. Bragg was the commander of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, which went on to become a part of the famed Iron Brigade and fought the war in the Eastern Theater.  

Both regiments fought at the sane battles for much of the war.  Both had particularly high casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg.

A Coincidence?  --Old Secesh

Edward Bragg-- Part 2: Lawyer to Captain

Continued from May 27.

Edward Bragg settled in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and became a lawyer there.  He quickly rose to prominence and associated himself with the Democratic party.  In 1853, he was elected district attorney of the town and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charleston, S.C., in 1860 and nominated Stephen A. Douglas for president.

When word  of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Fond du Lac, he addressed an assembly there and an entire company of men were raised for three months' service.   As Bragg was going about arranging his affairs, another call went out, this time  for three years' service.

He recruited another company and was elected its captain.  The company became known as "Bragg's Rifles" and would become Company E of the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Meeting June 8 in Union, Illinois

The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table will be having its first in person general meeting since March 2020 at the McHenry County Historical Society Museum in Union this Tuesday, June 8, at 7 pm.

We have already had several in person discussion group meetings, but this will be the first regular meeting like that.

Bruce Allardice will give his presentation "Poltroons, Patriots and Politicians:  Civil War Generals" at that time. 

Also, a group of us will be meeting at Checkers restaurant at 5:30 pm.

Everyone is welcome.  Come on by.

Looking Forward to Learning What a Poltroon Is.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Events in June: Seven Days' Battles Begin and kennesaw Mountain

JUNE 19, 1862

Lincoln signs a bill prohibiting slavery in the Western Territories.

JUNE 25, 1862

The Seven Days' Battles begins at Oak Grove, Virginia.

JUNE 27, 1862

Battle of Gaines' Mill, Virginia

JUNE  27, 1864

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia

JUNE  29, 1862

Battle of Savage's Station, Virginia

JUNE 29, 1864

Battle of Reams Station, Virginia

JUNE 30, 1862

Battle of Glendale (Frayser's Farm), Virginia

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in May: Lee Gets ANV, Memphis, Brandy Station & Brice's Cross Roads

From the June 2021 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

JUNE 1,  1862

General Robert E. Lee appointed commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.

JUNE 6, 1862

Battle of Memphis, Tennessee

JUNE 8, 1862

Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia

JUNE 9, 1863

Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia

JUNE 10, 1864

Battle of Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi

JUNE 11, 1864

Battle of Trevilian Station, Virginia

JUNE 15, 1864

Petersburg Campaign begins.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Brice's Cross Roads

From the June American Battlefield Trust 2021 Calendar.

BRICE'S CROSSROADS, Mississippi

1,500 acres saved

Brice's Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, Baldwyn, Mississippi

With 1,500 acres saved, Brice's Cross Roads is the Trust's largest preservation success at a battle field outside of the Eastern Theater.

The Trust and its partners -- including te Brice's Cross Roads National Battlefield Commission -- plan to protect the entirety of this battlefield in the coming years.

--Old Secesh