West Point
When Bragg was only ten years old, his father decided on a military career for him and sought ways to obtain a nomination to the United States Military Academy. Eventually the oldest Bragg son, John, recently elected as a state legislator, obtained the support of U.S. Senator Willie P. Mangum and West Point admitted Braxton at the age of 16. His classmates included notable future Civil War generals Joseph Hooker, John C. Pemberton, Jubal A. Early, John Sedgwick, and William H.T. Walker. He did well in academic pursuits because of his superior memory for classes and textbooks, rather than because of industrious study, and received disciplinary demerits at a rate lower than most of his contemporaries. He graduated fifth of fifty cadets from the West Point Class of 1837 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery.
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