Sad to say, he truly earned it. Born in North Carolina in 1817, Bragg graduated from West Point in 1837. Just a year later, serving against the Seminoles in Florida, he came down with a debilitating combination of fever, dyspepsia, and boils, and these would resurface to attack him many times over the years (especially when he was under stress). Bragg had a volatile temper, which often brought him into conflict with his subordinates, and that he rose in the Confederate Army is largely a result of his friendship with Jefferson Davis.