rolling " river and harbor bills, all extravagant ap-
propriations for public buildings, all subsidies for
steamship lines, and all undue- renewals of patents.
Among the important bills that he introduced was
the one that provided for the establishment of
national cemeteries. At the beginning of his ad-
ministration President Grant appointed Mr. Wash-
burne secretary of state, which office he resigned
soon -afterward to become minister to Prance.
This place he held during the Franco-Prussian
war, and on the withdrawal of the German am-
bassador, the latter was ordered by Count Bis-
marck to turn over his archives to the American
legation. At the request of Bismarck, and with
the permission of the French minister of foreign
affairs, he exercised his official influence with re-
markable tact and skill for the protection of the
Germans in Paris and acted as the representative
of the various German states and other foreign
governments. When the empire was overthrown,
Mr. Washburne was the first foreign representa-
tive to recognize the new republic. He remained
in Paris during the siege, and was at his post
when the Commune ruled the city. He visited
the venerable archbishop Darboy of Paris when he
was hurried to prison, and succeeded in having the
prelate removed to more comfortable quarters, but
failed to prevent his murder. He retained the
respect and good-will of the French during all the
changes of government, and the emperor of Ger-
many recognized his services by conferring upon
him the Order of the Red Eagle. This he declined,
owing to the provision of the U. S. constitution
that prevented its acceptance, but on his resigna-
tion in 1877 the emperor sent him his life-size por-
trait, and he was similarly honored by Bismarck,
Thiers, and Gambetta. On his return to this coun-
try he settled in Chicago, and in 1880 his name was
brought forward as a candidate for the presidency,
but he refused to have it presented to the conven-
tion. He was president of the Chicago historical
society from November, 1884, till his death, and
was frequently invited to lecture on his foreign
experiences. He wrote a series of articles on that
subject for " Scribner's Magazine," which were ex-
panded into " Recollections of a Minister to France,
1869-1877 " (2 vols., New York, 1887). His collec-
tion of pictures, documents, and autographs he de-
sired to be given to the city of Chicago, provided
they should be exhibited free to the general public.
Efforts are being made to secure the erection of
a suitable building in Lincoln park for their exhi-
bition. Mr. Washburne edited "History of the
English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois "
(Chicago, 1882^; and " The Edwards Papers " (1884).
— Another brother, Cadwallader Colden, lawyer,
b. in Livermore, Me., 22 April, 1818 ; d. in Eureka
Springs, Ark., 14 May, 1882, worked on his father's
farm in summer and attended the town school in
winter until about 1835, when he went to Hallowed
and was employed in a store. He also served in the
post-office, and during the winter of 1838-'9 taught
m Wiscasset. In the spring of 1839 he set out for
the west and settled at Davenport, Iowa, where he
joined the geological survey of that state under
David Dale Owen. Toward the close of the year
he entered the law-office of Joseph B. Wells, having
previously studied under his uncle, Reuel Wash-
burn, in Livermore, Me., and was admitted to the
bar on 29 March, 1842. In 1840 he was elected sur-
veyor of the county of Rock Island, 111., the duties
of which he performed while preparing for his pro-
fession. He removed to Mineral Point, Wis., in 1842,
and in 1844 entered into partnership with Cyrus
Woodman, agent of the New England land com-
pany, but their law-practice gradually diminished
as they paid greater attention to financial matters.
They dealt largely in the entry of public lands for
settlers and the location of Mexican land-warrants.
In 1852 the firm established the Mineral Point
bank, which never suspended specie payments and
during its existence had a high reputation. On
the repeal of the Missouri compromise, Washburn
was chosen as a Whig to congress, and served with
re-elections from 3 Dec, 1855, till 3 March, 1861.
He then declined a renomination, but was sent as
a delegate from Wisconsin to the Peace congress
that was held in Philadelphia in 1861. At the
beginning of the civil war he raised the 2d Wis-
consin cavalry, and was commissioned its colonel,
10 Oct., 1861. His first service was under Gen.
Samuel R. Curtis in Arkansas. Among his acts
at this period were the dislodging of a Confeder-
ate force that was preparing to obstruct the prog-
ress of the National army at the crossing of the
Tallahatchie, and the opening of the Yazoo pass ;
and he was conspicuous in the battle of Grand
Coteau, where he saved the 4th division, under Gen.
Stephen G. Burbridge, from annihilation by an
overwhelming force of the enemy. He was com-
missioned brigadier on 16 July, 1862, and on 29
Nov., 1862, major-general of volunteers. He took
part in the siege of Vicksburg, and on its surren-
der was given command of the 13th corps and
sent to the Department of the Gulf. On 29 Nov.,
, he landed on the coast of Texas with 2,800
men and compelled the evacuation of Fort Esper-
anza, a bomb-proof work, which was cased with
railroad iron, surrounded by a deep moat filled
with water, manned by 1,000 men, and mounted
ten guns. This fort was at Pass Cavallo, and
guarded the entrance to Matagorda bay. In April,
, he was ordered to relieve Gen. Stephen A.
Hurlburt, in command at Memphis, of the district
of west Tennessee. This post he held almost con-
tinuously until his
resignation on 25
May, 1865. Gen.
Washburn was
sent as a Republi-
can from the 6th
district of Wis-
consin to con-
gress, and served
with re - election
from 4 March,
1867, till 3 March,
1871. In the au-
tumn of 1871 he
was elected gov-
ernor of Wiscon-
sin, and he held
that office for two
years, beginning
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1 Jan., 1872. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the office in 1873, and afterward for the U. S. senate. On retiring from office, he directed his attention to the care of his property. The timber lands that he had purchased soon after he settled in the state had become very valuable, and he operated extensively in lumber. In 1876 he erected an immense flouring-mill in Minneapolis, where first in this country was introduced the " patent process " and the Hungarian system. It was destroyed by an explosion in 1878, but he at once replaced it with one more capacious. He was also one of the largest owners of the water-power at St. Anthony Falls, and a heavy stock-holder in the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad. Gen. Washburn was actively interested in the Wisconsin historical