On November 27, 1864, General Braxton Bragg was given command of the Department of North Carolina of the Confederate States Army. Braxton Bragg (1817-1876), Governor Thomas Bragg (1810-1872) and Congressman John Bragg (1806-1878), brothers, were among the six sons of Thomas and Margaret Bragg. They grew up in Warrenton and attended the Warrenton Male Academy.
Braxton Bragg attended West Point, where he graduated fifth in his class. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and returned to Warren County in 1848. He retired to Louisiana in 1856 but returned to the military at the onset of the Civil War. He rose through the ranks, eventually becoming commander of the Army of Tennessee.
Returning to North Carolina by the end of the war, he surrendered at Durham Station in April 1865, a result of negotiations between General William Tecumseh Sherman and General Joseph E. Johnston at Bennett Place. Fort Bragg in Fayetteville is named for him.