Braxton Sr. soon moved his family from Norfolk back to King and Queen County, where his father owned 20 slaves in the 1840 federal census.

There he rose to become chief engineer in charge of construction for the Fredericksburg and Gordonsville Railroad by the start of the American Civil War, but only grading had begun.

[4] During the American Civil War he enlisted in the forces of the Confederacy, and on May 8, 1861, was made captain of the artillery company from Fredericksburg which became known as Braxton's Battery.

[2] After the war he prepared for publication a Map of the Battle Field of Fredericksburg, Explained by Extracts from Official Reports (1866).

[2] During his residence and up to the time of his death he was connected with many important enterprises of Newport News and when the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was extended to that city from Richmond he was chief engineer of the work.