Edward S. Bragg | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Edward S. Bragg

Edward S. Bragg | Wisconsin Historical Society

Hwy. 151, 6 mi. N of Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac county

Born in New York in 1827, Edward S. Bragg was admitted to the bar in 1848 and moved to Fond du Lac in 1850, where he practiced law and played an active role in politics. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Bragg joined other "War Democrats" in supporting the military suppression of the Confederacy. Bragg recruited and later commanded a volunteer militia company after it was amalga­mated with the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. Serving with valor and distinction, Bragg won a colonelcy in 1863 and command of the famed Iron Brigade in 1864. By the war's end he was brigadier general. Resuming his political career after the war, Bragg became a state senator, won two terms in Congress, and chaired several Wisconsin delegations to national Democratic conventions. A fiscal conservative, Bragg refused to support the Democratic ticket in 1896 and became a Republican. He served as minister to Mexico and consul general at Havana, culminating his long career as consul general at Hong Kong. Bragg died in 1912.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]