Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/401

Rh 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 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