Thomas H. Bradley, a brigadier general of the Arkansas state forces, was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, on July 25,1808, the son of Thomas and Margaret Bradley, farmers in that county. He developed into one of the leading merchants of Franklin, Tennessee. In the Second Seminole War (1835 to 1836) Bradley was a major and regimental adjutant with the 1st Tennessee Volunteers. Soon after that war he moved to Crittenden County, Arkansas, where he established a large plantation on the Mississippi River about eighteen miles north of Memphis. One of the pioneer planters and largest slaveowners in that county, Bradley prospered. Like many planters Bradley (a Democrat) dabbled in politics and served one term (from 1850 to 1851) in the Arkansas House of Representatives. A Unionist by conviction, Bradley was a Douglas delegate to the 1860 Democratic Convention.

Elected to the Arkansas Secession Convention in early 1861, Bradley was reputedly the only delegate from eastern Arkansas to oppose secession, although he was the wealthiest delegate and largest slaveholder elected. On account of his prior military experience, Bradley was named brigadier general of Arkansas State Troops by the secession convention, to command the 2nd (Eastern) Division, assembling in northeast Arkansas. (It should be noted that petty politics dictated every action of the Arkansas Secession Convention. Governor Henry Rector, a Democrat and a strong secessionist, was of a different political faction than the majority of delegates, who were members of the Johnson political machine and, though Democrats and secessionists, were bitter political opponents of the governor. The Johnson Democrats sided with anti-secessionists and Whigs to dominate the proceedings. The convention established an Arkansas army and appointed generals to that army, usurping the governor's appointment powers and arguably exceeding its authority. Two of their three appointees were simultaneously anti-secessionist and anti-Rector, the third a pro-secessionist Whig, ensuring that the patronage of appointments would be removed from the governor's power. Governor Rector objected vehemently, but eventually acquiesced in the appointments. The two anti-secessionists (Bradley and N. B. Pearce) proved so unpopular with the troops that neither of them lasted long. For an overview of this subject see Michael B. Dougan, Confederate Arkansas (University, Tex., 1976).)

Bradley’s stint in divisional command was unsuccessful. Because of his Unionist background, his "old age and feeble health," the troops in camp "had no confidence in Bradley." He quarreled with his officers, attempting at one point to court-martial future General Pat Cleburne. (Bradley had dispatched a patrol toward the Missouri border, and made no effort to support or even account for all the troops in the expedition. Cleburne and the other regimental commanders subsequently posted a sentry on Bradley’s quarters, holding him in arrest, and petitioned the Military Board and the Secession Convention for Bradley’s relief for cause and replacement.) The Arkansas Military Board relieved General Bradley of duty in July, 1861; one newspaper called him a "drunkard, a coward, and incompetent in every respect." Enfeebled and disappointed, Bradley took no further part in the war. He relocated to Memphis, where he died on September 30, 1864. Bradley is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis.