Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/410

 BUAUV.

BRAGG.

the :\Ianliattan club, a member of the Tammany soc'iety. ami of the Friendly sons of St. Patrick. Juilf,'e Brady was a picturesque figure in New York, in its judicial, jxilitical and social life. With an un.shakable determination to see full justice rendered, he combined an invariable ten- dency to secure to every i)erson the advantage granted by the law. In civil matters he inclined to what was obviously just, in preference to ad- hering to legal technicalities. He died in New York city. Marcl\ 10. 1S!I:?.

BRADY, Matthew B., photographer, was born in Warren county, N. Y., in 1823. In his youth he studied the art of portrait painting, intending to make that his life work, but through the in- fluence of Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor, him- self a portrait painter, Mr. Brady became inter- ested in the invention of Daguerre, studied his process and, in partnership with Morse, opened a small gallery in New Y'ork in 1846, where he com- menced making daguerreotypes. Success was immediate, the most distinguished men and women of the time became his patrons, and in 1851 he had a large collection of daguerreotypes for which he received the first prize at the Lon- don exhibition of that year. In 1855 he discarded the daguerreotyping and adopted the new photo- graphing process at both his New Y^'ork and Wash- ington galleries. At the beginning of the civil war he sent a corps of well-equiijped experts to the front and they succeeded in obtaining some thirty thousand views, many of the battlefields before, during and after some of the most famous engagements. His collection of battle scenes was afterwards purchased and used by the gov- ernment in illustrating its ofl[icial history of the war of the rebellion. His collection of portraits is extremely interesting as he photographed nearly every man and woman who appeared conspicuously before the public in his daj'. The Prince of Wales and his suite sat for him several times during their visit to America in 1860, and the faces of Lincoln, Seward, Chase, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, Hor- ace Greeley, Dolly Madison, Mrs. Polk, Washing- ton Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, J. Fenimore Cooper, Bayard Taylor, Jefferson Davis and a host beside, apf»ear repeatedly in his album. Mr. Brady died in New York city, Jan. 16, 1806.

BRAGDON, Charles Cushman, educator, was bom at Auburn, N. Y., Sei't. 6, 1847; son of Charles Powers and Sarah Woodman (Cushman) Bnigdon. His paternal ancestors were Wqjsh, and his mother was a descendant of Robert Cush- man of the Mayfloicer. He was graduated from the Northwestern university, Evanston, 111., in 1865, having taught at the Elgin, 111., academy during 1863 and 1864. In 1867 he became a teacher in Dickinson seminary, William.sport,

Pa., and in 1868 accepted alike j)<)sition in the Cincinnati Wesleyan college. He remained there four years, resigning in 1872 to si^end two years in study in Germany. In 1873 and 1874 he taught at Aurora, III., and in the latter year became principal of Lasell seminary for young women at Aulnu-n<lale, ]\Iass.

BRAGG, Braxton, .soldier, was born in War- renton, Warren county, N. C, March 22, 1817; brother of Thomas Bragg, statesman. He was graduated at West Point in 1837 and took a con- spicuous part in both the Seminole and Mexican wars as lieutenant of artillery. His gallantry and bravery won him steady promo- tion. He attained the rank of captain by brevet for the de- fence of Fort Brown, that of major of artillery for brav- ery at Monterey, and in 1847 that of lieutenant-colonel

for gallantry at the VW^ >?^il'MlWM^>!>\\WV! N bat tie of Buena Vista. In January, 1856, he resigned his commission and re- tired to his planta- tion in Louisiana.

Upon the breaking out of the civil war he re- ported for service in the Confederate army ; was appointed brigadier-general and placed in com- mand of the forces at Pensacola, Fla. In return for brilliant services in the Pensacola campaign he was raised in February, 1862, to the rank of major-general, was engaged in the battle of Shiloh, and, on the death of Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston, he was promoted general, and suc- ceeded General Beauregard as commander of the department of the Mississippi. In August, 1862, he left Chattanooga, passed through east Ten- nessee and entered Kentucky at the head of forty- five thousand men, expecting to cajiture Louis- ville. General Buell reached Louisville in ad- vance, and compelled liim to retire after having fought the battle of PerryviUe. This was the beginning of a series of reverses that befell his command. He was placed under arrest for a short time, but was restored and given command of the army, opposing General Rosecrans. He was defeated at Murfreesboro, Jan. 2, 1863, losing nine thou.sand men killed and wounded. On Sept. 19-20, 1863, he again encountered Rosecrans at Chickamauga, and, though he won the victory, he lost fifteen thousand men in the two days of the battle. In November of the same year he met with disastrous defeat in the battle of Chatta