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D.M. Brodhead
(1840 - 1864)
Home State: New York
Command Billet: Commanding Company
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Antietam
Son of a lawyer, state legislator, and lumberman, in 1860 he was 19 years old and lived with his father, step-mother, and siblings near Frostburgh in Sullivan County, NY. He was appointed First Lieutenant, 14th United States Infantry on 14 May 1861.
On the Campaign
He commanded Company G of the First Battalion, 14th US Infantry on the Maryland Campaign of 1862.
The rest of the War
He was wounded on 6 May 1864 in the Wilderness, VA:
He received his death-wound while in the noble effort to rescue a fallen fellow officer, Capt. Burbank, who had been wounded in the leg and was lying between the two contending armies. Lieut. Clay, who went out with Lieut. Broadhead to rescue their comrade, was killed. Capt. Burbank was subsequently captured by the rebels and had his leg amputated by his uncle, a surgeon in their service ...He was promoted to Captain to date from 9 June, but died of his wounds in Washington, DC on 11 June 1864. He was honored by brevet to Captain on 5 May 1864 for his actions in the Wilderness.
References & notes
His service from Heitman1 and Henry.2 His role at Antietam from Captain Brown's after-action Report. The quote above from his obituary in the Tri-States Union (Port Jervis, NY) of 17 June 1864. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a photograph (with Lt George K Brady) at the US Army Heritage & Education Center.
Birth
09/30/1840; Millford, PA
Death
06/11/1864; Washington, DC; burial in Laurel Grove Cemetery, Port Jervis, NY
1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, Vol. 1, pg. 247 [AotW citation 29166]
2 Henry, Guy Vernor, Military Record of Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, 2 Volumes, New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1873, Vol. 2, pg. 245 [AotW citation 29167]