Confederate General Braxton Bragg was a remarkably intelligent and well-informed man, professionally and otherwise. He was also thoroughly upright. .. A man of the highest moral character and the most correct habits, yet he was in frequent trouble. His irascibility had led him to be transferred away from many posts.There is an anecdote very characteristic of Bragg.
He was stationed at a frontier fort with several infantry companies commanded by a field officer. He was himself commanding one of the companies and at the same time he was acting as post quartermaster. His commanding officer was called away to other duties, and as next most senior, Bragg assumed command of the fort. As the acting company commander he made a requisition upon the quartermaster–himself–for some supplies he wanted.
As quartermaster he declined to approve his own requisition, and endorsed on the back of it his reasons for so doing. He returned this unfilled requisition to the company commander, who was also himself.. - With his company commander's hat on he responded to this rejected request, urging that his requisition called for nothing but what he was entitled to, and that it was the duty of the quartermaster {himself} to fill it. As quartermaster he received his own note yet still insisted that he was right not to allow the supplies.. In this condition of affairs, and presumably before blows were exchanged, Bragg referred the whole matter to the absent commanding officer of the post. The latter, when he saw the nature of the matter, exclaimed:
“My God, Mr. Bragg, you have quarrelled with every officer in the army, and now you are quarrelling with yourself!”
What the young Lieutenant Bragg, soon to be a Major General in command of an army, was trying to do was show how his orders as a line commander conflicted with his orders as a commissary. If he wanted to mount a long range patrol as commanding officer he was bound to ask for additional wagons and horses and tents and extra troops and rations and so on. As a quartermaster of a fort his job was to ensure there were enough supplies in store, and not to authorise extra items except in the most extreme situation. But all Bragg succeeded in doing was to make himself a laughing stock.
Anyway, enough of the history of obscure 19th century military figures. I see Vince Cable has now decided he will vote in favour of legislation that he was thinking of voting against, even though it was not just government policy, but actually his very own proposals. He has decided, for now, that it might be a good idea to at least seem to be in favour of legislation that he is supposed to be steering through parliament...
