“B” is for Bratton, John (1831-1898)

“B” is for Bratton, John (1831-1898). Soldier, congressman. Born in Winnsboro, Bratton attended Mount Zion Institute and later graduated from South Carolina college. He then enrolled at the Medical College of South Carolina and returned to Fairfield District to practice medicine. When South Carolina seceded from the Union, Bratton joined a local volunteer company and was elected as first Lieutenant. Following a reorganization in 1861, he resigned his commission and re-enlisted as a private in the Sixth Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers. He advanced through the ranks with remarkable speed, becoming colonel and commanding officer of the Sixth Regiment in April 1862. In May 1864 he was promoted to brigadier general. Returning home after the war, he was a loyal political lieutenant of General Wade Hampton. John Bratton was elected to Congress in 1884 but did not seek re-election.