Civil War Broughton's

In 1861, Edward Thomas "Tom" Broughton, Jr. joined the Confederate Army, enlisting in a group called the Texas Wide Awakes which was organized in Kaufman County. He was on the muster roll of Captain Jack Wharton's company. Then records show he became Captain of the 7th Texas Infantry, Company C, commanded by Col. John Gregg. The company mustered in Marshall and in October moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Tom would be imprisoned twice during the war. The first time was after his regiment was sent to Fort Donaldson, Tennessee where a four-day fight ended with the Confederate fort surrendering to General U. S. Grant. As a prisoner of war, E. T. "Tom" Broughton Jr would spend time at Camp Douglas near Chicago, Camp Chase near Columbus Ohio and Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio. In September of 1862, he was taken to Vicksburg where on the 26th, he was exchanged.

After his release, Tom came home briefly to recruit and then in December 1862 he went to Port Hudson, Louisiana where he joined confederate forces to battle Farragut's bombardment of the fort with gunboats.

In a report filed in May of 1863 in the Official Record of the Union and Confederate Armies, Colonel H. B. Granbury, 7th Texas Infantry gives an account of Broughton at the engagement of Raymond Mississippi. He writes, "I omitted to state that Captain E. T. Broughton, Company C, was among the last to leave the creek, having animated his men throughout the affair with his presence and bearing. He is among the missing."

Captain Broughton found himself again a prisoner of war at Johnson's Island where he was stricken with small pox and became nearly blind. It was in this physical condition that he was again exchanged in May of 1864.

According to the War Department - Adjutant's General's Office, when Tom's wife, Mollie, applied for a pension, their report states Captain Broughton was paroled at Hammond General Hospital, Point Lookout, Maryland on May 3, 1864 and was received at Acken's Landing May 8, 1864 for exchange. No later record has been found.

One researcher says upon his exchange Tom was immediately promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment then commanded by Colonel J. W. Brown of Rusk. He wrote of the promotion in letters to his wife, Mollie, but apparently the promotion was never officially recorded. James McCaffrey, another researcher and author of A Band of Heroes, says a General Granbury recommended Broughton for a promotion on August 10, 1864 just a few weeks after the Battle of Atlanta, "but the record is not clear as to whether or not the promotion came through." While records indicate Broughton resigned "as captain of Company C, 7th TX Infantry Regiment," he's referred to as Colonel Broughton in many public records following the war.

Despite his impaired health, Tom would return to battle. He is said to have joined John B. Hood's Brigade and took part in those "desparate and disastrous campaigns." He fought in battles at Decatur, Alabama, Spring Hill and Franklin, Tennessee. During the Battle at Franklin, where 15 generals were either killed or wounded, E. T. "Tom" Broughton commanded a regiment in three days of fighting around Nashville despite receiving a severe wound in the thigh. According to the book, A Band of Heroes, Captain E. T. Broughton took over command as senior officer after General Granbury had been killed at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee and "that the use of a Captain as Commanding Officer was highly unusual and indicates the condition Confederate Forces were in." After the army retreated to Corinty and then to Tupelo, Mississippi, the nearly blind and wounded Broughton suffering from "obstinate chronic conjunctivitis and general debility" resigned his command on January 16, 1865. He was granted leave of absence pending action on his resignation. General Lee surrended a few weeks later.