John Bratton

Infobox Military Person
name= John Bratton
born= March 7, 1831
died= January 12, 1898


caption=John Bratton
nickname=
placeofbirth= Winnsboro, South Carolina
placeofdeath= Winnsboro, South Carolina
allegiance= Confederate States of America
branch= Confederate States Army
serviceyears= 1861–65
rank= Brigadier General
unit= Army of Northern Virginia
commands= Bratton's Brigade
battles= American Civil War
* Peninsula Campaign
* Battle of Chickamauga
* Chattanooga Campaign
* Overland Campaign
* Siege of Petersburg
* Appomattox Campaign
awards=
relations=
laterwork= Lawyer, politician, U.S. congressman

John Bratton (March 7, 1831 – January 12, 1898) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, as well as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He led a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia several important battles in the Eastern Theater during the 1864 Overland Campaign.

Early life and career

Born in Winnsboro, South Carolina, Bratton attended the Academy of Mount Zion Institute in Winnsboro. He was graduated from South Carolina College at Columbia in 1850 and from South Carolina Medical College at Charleston in 1853. He engaged in the practice of medicine in Winnsboro from 1853 to 1861. He also engaged as a planter.Eicher, p. 142.]

Civil War service

He enlisted in the Confederate States Army on April 1, 1861, as a private in Company C of the 6th South Carolina Infantry and was promoted a month later to captain. On March 1, 1862, he became a colonel in charge of the regiment. He participated in the Peninsula Campaign and was wounded and captured in the Battle of Seven Pines.

Bratton was promoted to brigadier general dating from May 6, 1864. He led a brigade of infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia for most of the rest of the war, seeing action in such battles as the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. He then participated in the defense of Petersburg and was wounded in the shoulder at the Battle of Darbytown Road.

He surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 and was paroled on April 9.

Postbellum career

Bratton served as member of the State constitutional convention in 1865. He served in the South Carolina Senate in 1866. He served as chairman of the South Carolina delegation in the 1876 Democratic National Convention. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880. Bratton was elected comptroller general of South Carolina by the legislature, to fill a vacancy, in 1881. Bratton was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John H. Evins and served from December 8, 1884, to March 3, 1885. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1884. [Confessional biography]

He retired from active politics and again engaged in planting at "Farmington," near Winnsboro. He died in Winnsboro, South Carolina, on January 12, 1898. He was interred in St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery.

The General John Bratton Camp #1816 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was named in his honor.

References

* Retrieved on 2008-02-13
* Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* U.S. War Department, [http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm "The War of the Rebellion"] : "a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies", U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
* Warner, Ezra J., "Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders", Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.
* Welsh, Jack D., "Medical Histories of Confederate Generals", Kent State University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0873388535.

Notes