Jacob Montgomery Thornburgh (July 3, 1837– September 19, 1890) was an American attorney and politician who represented Tennessee's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1879. The son of a prominent state legislator, Thornburgh fought in the Union Army during the Civil War, and served as attorney general of the state's third judicial district after the war. Following his congressional term, he formed a law partnership with several prominent Knoxville attorneys, and engaged in philanthropy. Biography Early life Thornburgh was born in New Market, Tennessee in Jefferson County. His father, Montgomery Thornburgh, was a Tennessee state senator and attorney general. His mother was Olivia. He attended Holston College (in New Market), and studied law under his father and Judge Robert McFarland. He was admitted to the bar in 1861, after which he commenced practice in Jefferson County. His brother, Major Thomas Tipton Thornburgh, was commander of Fort Steele and was killed during the Battle of Milk Creek in 1879. Civil War and aftermath At the outbreak of the Civil War, Thornburgh fled to Kentucky and enlisted as a private in a brigade commanded by General George W. Morgan. In 1862, he joined what would eventually become the 4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He became commander of the unit following the resignation of Colonel Richard M. Edwards in July 1863. He saw action at the Battle of Okolona, and led one of the first units into Mobile, Alabama, after the city fell in 1865. Thornburgh's father, a prominent Unionist, was arrested by Confederate authorities during the war and died in a Confederate prison in Georgia. His brother, Thomas, enlisted in the Sixth East Tennessee Volunteers and rose through the ranks, establishing a career as an officer in the military. He died in the western frontier during the Battle of Milk Creek with the Utes in 1879. Thornburgh was appointed attorney general of the third judicial circuit of Tennessee in 1866, and was elected to this office in 1868 and 1870. In spite of his family's hardships during the war, he was conciliatory in his actions toward former Confederates, and briefly practiced law with his old mentor, Robert McFarland, who had supported the Confederacy. In 1872, Thornburgh was appointed United States commissioner at the International Exposition held in Vienna, Austria. Congressional career In the early 1870s, Tennessee's Democrat-controlled legislature gerrymandered