Thornton Brodhead was born September 22, 1822 in South New Market,
New Hampshire. He studied law at Harvard, graduating in 1845, after
which he moved to Pontiac, Michigan. He was soon afterward appointed
Prosecuting Attorney and Deputy Secretary of State. At the age of
27, Brodhead was elected to the Michigan Senate. He married Archange
Macomb, a daughter of General William Macomb and they had six children.
He was the owner and editor of the Democratic Free Press
and, in 1851, purchased the Detroit Commercial Bulletin.
Brodhead owned the first steam printing press in Michigan. He was
active in national Democratic politics and, in 1853, President Franklin
Pierce appointed him Postmaster of Detroit, a post he held until
1857.
Brodhead enlisted in April of 1847 as 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant
in the 15th U. S. Infantry during the Mexican War and he was brevetted
to the rank of Captain on August 20, 1847. He was made a Full Captain
on December 2, 1847 and was mustered out on July 31, 1848 when the
troops were disbanded.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Brodhead was commissioned to raise
a regiment of cavalry. On August 22, 1861, he was made Colonel of
the 1st Michigan Cavalry. Colonel Brodhead was in many raids, skirmishes
and battles and had two horses shot out from under him. Brodhead
was mortally wounded while leading his men to the charge during
the Battle of Bull Run, dying on September 2, 1862. He had been
brevetted Brigadier General of the U. S. Volunteers as of August
30, 1862.
Born: September 22, 1822
Died: September 2, 1862
Buried: Section N, Lot 107
