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===Civil War and aftermath===
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thornburgh fled to [[Kentucky]] and enlisted as a private in a brigade commanded by General [[George W. Morgan]].<ref name=cumberland>''Reunion of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland'' (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke and Company, 1891), p. 283-284.</ref> In 1862, he joined what would eventually become the [[4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry]] with the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]. He became commander of the unit following the resignation of Colonel [[Richard M. Edwards]] in July 1863. He saw action at the [[Battle of Okolona]], and led one of the first units into [[Mobile, Alabama]], after the city fell in 1865.<ref name=cumberland /> Thornburgh's father, a prominent Unionist, was arrested by Confederate authorities during the war and died in a Confederate prison in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name=cumberland /> His brother, Thomas, enlisted in the Sixth East Tennessee Volunteers and rose through the ranks, establishing a career as an officer in the military. He died in the western frontier during the [[Battle of Milk Creek]] with the [[Ute people|Utes]] in 1879.<ref name="Appletons">{{Cite book |title=Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography | volume=VI | chapter=Thornburg, Thomas T. |publisher=Sunderland-Zurita |pages=102}}</ref>
Thornburgh was appointed [[attorney general]] of the third judicial circuit of Tennessee in 1866, and was elected to this office in 1868 and 1870.<ref name=rothrock /> In spite of his family's hardships during the war, he was conciliatory in his actions toward former Confederates,<ref name=cumberland /> and briefly practiced law with his old mentor, Robert McFarland, who had supported the Confederacy.<ref name=rothrock /> In 1872, Thornburgh was appointed United States commissioner at the [[International Exposition]] held in [[Vienna]], [[Austria]].<ref name=rothrock />
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