Thomas Bradford (British Army officer)

General Sir Thomas Bradford, GCB, GCH (1 December 1777 – 28 November 1853) was a British Army officer.

Bradford was the eldest son of Thomas Bradford of Woodlands, near Doncaster, and Ashdown Park, Sussex. He entered the army as an ensign in the 4th (The King's Own) Regiment of Foot on 20 October 1793. In 1795, he was promoted to major into the Loyal Nottingham Fencibles, at that time stationed in Ireland. He served with the forces opposing the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and in 1801 was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel and appointed assistant adjutant general in Scotland. He was summoned to the colours as a major in 1805, and served with Auchmuty as deputy adjutant general in 1806 in the expedition to South America.

In June 1808, Bradford accompanied the force under Sir Arthur Wellesley to Portugal, and was present at the battles of Vimeiro and Corunna. On his return to England, he became assistant adjutant-general at Canterbury, and lieutenant colonel in succession of the 34th and 82nd regiments in 1809. In 1810, he was promoted to colonel, and took command of a brigade in the Portuguese army. In this capacity he proved most successful and, during the attack on the Arapiles, in the Battle of Salamanca especially, he directed his brigade with distinction. In 1813, he was promoted to major general and made a mariscal de campo in the Portuguese service; he was then put in charge of a Portuguese division, which he commanded at Vitoria, the San Sebastian, and in the Nive. In the fighting before Bayonne, he was so severely wounded that he had to return to England.

In 1814, Bradford was placed on the staff of the northern district, and in January 1815 was appointed a KCB; he was also awarded the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword. He missed Waterloo, at which his younger brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Holles Bradford, who had also been a staff officer in the Peninsula, was killed. He commanded the 7th division of the army of occupation in France from 1815 to 1817, and the forces in Scotland from 1819 until he was promoted to lieutenant general in May 1825. He then became Commander-in-Chief of the troops in Bombay, a post he retained for four years. He was colonel of the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1823–9, and, on returning to England in 1829, became colonel of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot. In 1831, he was appointed a GCH and promoted to a GCB in 1838. In November 1841, he was promoted to general, and in 1846, exchanged the colonelcy of the 30th for that of the 4th. Bradford was twice married. He and his first wife had two sons and three daughters who survived infancy. His second wife was the widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Ainslie; they also had children. Bradford died at 13 Eaton Square, London, on 28 November 1853.

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