Thomas Elliott Bramlette entered the world on the 3rd of January 1817 at a place called Elliott's Cross Roads within Cumberland County before it became Clinton County.
Bramlette accepted a commission as colonel in the Union Army on the 7th of August 1861 to raise and command the 3rd Kentucky Infantry regiment while violating Kentucky's official agreement to remain neutral.
Union Democrats selected Bramlette to replace Joshua Fry Bell after Bell withdrew from consideration, resulting in a landslide victory for Bramlette by nearly four-to-one margins despite intimidation tactics against his opponent Charles A. Wickliffe.
Bramlette reluctantly agreed to Black enlistment by March 1864 since white recruitment numbers fell short of quotas and President Lincoln authorized a special census showing 40,000 enslaved males of military age.
Thomas E. Bramlette died on the 12th of January 1875 and is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville after serving as patron to many charitable organizations until his death.