America's Civil War

CALM OUT OF TURMOIL

“Pure Chaos” by Edwin L. Kennedy Jr. and Jerry Morelock in the March issue, on how General Braxton Bragg’s subordinates sabotaged Confederate victory at Chickamauga, was a well-researched and clearly written and mapped article, as was Jack Trammell’s interesting addition, “Was Bragg Autistic?” I wish to contribute the observation of Bragg by Confederate General Richard Taylor, in a book he wrote after the war, Destruction and Reconstruction, which may add to both accounts. In 1862, before he assumed command in western Louisiana, Taylor wrote of Bragg:

“At dinner, surrounded by his numerous staff, I inquired for one of his division commanders, a man widely known and respected, and received this answer: “General ----- is an old woman,

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