[1] His brother, Major Thomas Tipton Thornburgh, was commander of Fort Steele and was killed during the Battle of Milk Creek in 1879.

[4][3] At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thornburgh fled to Kentucky and enlisted as a private in a brigade commanded by General George W.

[5] His brother, Thomas, enlisted in the Sixth East Tennessee Volunteers and rose through the ranks, establishing a career as an officer in the military.

[1] In spite of his family's hardships during the war, he was conciliatory in his actions toward former Confederates,[5] and briefly practiced law with his old mentor, Robert McFarland, who had supported the Confederacy.

After a very competitive campaign, both candidates claimed the nomination, and both intended to run in the general election, which would have split the Republican vote and threaten the party's hold on the seat.

His daughter, Laura Thornburgh, was a journalist and author, perhaps best known for publishing one of the first hiking guides to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1937.