Thornton F. Brodhead

Thornton F. Brodhead was a brevet brigadier general during the American Civil War. He was born in south Newmarket, New Hampshire, on September 22, 1822. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in law. He then moved to Pontiac, Michigan. He soon was appointed prosecuting attorney and then deputy Secretary of State.

At age 27 he became a senator for the state of Michigan. Archange Macomb and they had six children. 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.