"As a leading Confederate general, Braxton Bragg (1817-1876) earned a reputation for incompetence, for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles. This public image established him not only as a scapegoat for the South's military failures but also as the chief whipping boy of the Confederacy. The strongly negative opinions of Bragg's contemporaries have continued to color assessments of the general's military career and character by generations of historians. Rather than take these assessments at face value, Earl J. Hess's biography offers a much more balanced account of Bragg, the man and the officer."--Dust jacket flap.

The making of a Southern patriot -- Pensacola -- Shiloh -- Corinth and high command -- Kentucky -- Controversy and recovery -- Stones River -- Turning point -- Tullahoma -- Chickamauga -- Revolt of the generals -- Chattanooga -- Military adviser to the Confederate president -- Davis's troubleshooter -- Defeat -- After the war.