Thomas Bragg

Thomas Bragg
2nd Confederate States Attorney General
In office November 21, 1861 – March 18, 1862
Preceded by	Judah P. Benjamin
Succeeded by	Thomas H. Watts
Personal details
Born	November 9, 1810(1810-11-09) Warrenton, North Carolina
Died	January 21, 1872(1872-01-21) (aged 61) Raleigh, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Thomas Bragg (November 9, 1810 – January 21, 1872) was a politician and lawyer who served as the 34th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1855 through 1859. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate States Cabinet. He was the older brother of General Braxton Bragg. They were direct descendants of Thomas Bragg (1579–1665) who was born in England and settled in the Virginia Colony.

Born in Warrenton, North Carolina, Bragg attended Warrenton Academy and later graduated from Captain Partridge’s American Literary, Scientific & Military Academy. He was admitted to the bar in 1833 and commenced practice in Jackson, North Carolina. He was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly from 1842 to 1843 and became the prosecuting attorney for Northampton County. He successfully ran for Governor of North Carolina and served from 1855 to 1859. He then took a seat in the United States Senate, serving from 1859 until the start of the Civil War in 1861. He served as chairman of the Committee on Claims in the thirty-sixth congress. He was expelled for siding with the Confederacy. Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Bragg Attorney General of the Confederate States; he served from 1861 until his resignation in 1862. He continued to practice law until his death in 1872, and was also chairman of the central executive committee of the North Carolina Democratic Party (then called the Democratic-Conservative Party) as of 1870. He was interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Bibliography

• Patrick, Rembert W. (1944). Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 298–302. 

Political offices
Preceded by Warren Winslow	Governor of North Carolina 1855–1859	Succeeded by John Willis Ellis
United States Senate
Preceded by David Settle Reid	United States Senator (Class 2) from North Carolina 1859–1861 Served alongside: Thomas Lanier Clingman	Succeeded by Joseph C. Abbott(1)
Legal offices
Preceded by Judah P. Benjamin	Confederate States Attorney General 1861–1862	Succeeded by Thomas H. Watts
Notes and references
1. Because of North Carolina's secession, the Senate seat was vacant for seven years before Abbott succeeded Bragg.