[1] He served as a lieutenant in the Connecticut militia for a short time, but his mother opposed this because he was her only son.

[3] When the American Civil War began in 1861, Bradley chose to enlist in the Union cause.

[4] Under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, he fought with his regiment at the capture of Island Number Ten in New Madrid, Missouri, and at the occupation of Nashville, Tennessee.

[5] Bradley was then appointed a brigadier general in the Union Army, to rank from July 30, 1864.

He participated in the Atlanta Campaign, during which he commanded a brigade in Newton's Division of IV Corps in the Army of the Cumberland.