Fort Bragg was named in honor of a native North Carolinian who was born in Warren County on March 22, 1817. after he graduated from West Point at the early age of 20, he served in the Seminole War for three years as a Second Lieutenant. In the war against Mexico, as a member of General Zachary Taylor's staff, he won distinction as an officer and was promoted to the rank of Captain for "gallant and distinguished conduct." His able leadership and superb strategy at the brilliant Battle of Buena Vista won for him the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was called from private life into the Confederate Army and was made a Brigadier General. Actively engaged in the two day Battle of Shiloh, in April, 1862, he further exemplified his military genius, and on the death of General Albert S. Johnson was elevated to the rank of full General. His most notable success, the defeat of General Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga, was followed by his own defeat at Chattanooga in November 1863.

Early in 1864 he was entrusted with the conduct of military operations as Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Army under the direction of President Jefferson Davis, a distinction of considerable magnitude, and in November of the same year he was placed in command of the Department of North Carolina. His defeat at Bennett's Place, near Durham, North Carolina, where he and General Joseph E. Johnston endeavored to defeat General Sherman, marked the cessation of Confederate action in this section.

After the war he was for some time Chief Engineer for the state of Alabama and as such had charge of the improvements in Mobile Bay. The remaining years of his life were spent as an inspector for a large railroad in Galveston, Texas, where he died on September 27, 1876.