Elihu B Washburne

Early life, education, and legal career

Elihu Benjamin Washburne was born on September 23, 1816 in Livermore, Maine. He was the third oldest of eleven children born to Israel and Martha (née Benjamin) Washburn. Washburne was the grandson of Captain Israel and Abiah (King) Washburne. His grandfather served as an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was a descendant of John Washburne, who served as Secretary of the Plymouth Colony while in England; he was an original Puritan colonist who emigrated to America in 1631 settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Washburne's father settled in Maine in 1806 and set up a shipbuilding trade at Whites Landing on the Kennebec River in 1808. Following Puritan heritage, Israel was a strict disciplinarian and Washburne and his siblings were instructed in the Bible and put to work daily in the fields and on other chores, with no time for leisure. During the Winter months Washburne attended district school that used "birch rod" corporal punishment. Washburne's family came into financial hard times in 1829, and his father, who was then in the mercantile business, was forced to sell his general store. The family was destitute and forced to rely on farming for subsistence, while Washburne and several of his brothers had to fend for themselves. At the age of 14, Washburne added the letter "e" to his name, as was the original ancestral spelling, and left home in search of education and a career.

After attending public schools, Washburne worked as a printer on the Christian Intelligencer in Gardiner, Maine from 1833 to 1834. From 1834 to 1835 Washburne taught school and from 1835 to 1836 he worked for the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Maine. Washburne studied at Maine Wesleyan Seminary, and studied law in Maine under Judge John Otis. In 1839 he began attendance at Harvard Law School. In 1840 he passed the bar exam, and moved west to Galena, Illinois. In Galena, Washburne entered into law partnership with Charles S. Hempstead.

Marriage and family

On July 31, 1845, Washburne married Adele Gratiot, the niece of his law partner and the daughter of Colonel Henry Gratiot and Susan Hempstead Gratiot, members of one of Galena's most prominent families. Washburne had met Adele shortly after arriving in Galena; she was 10 years younger than Washburne, and known to be attractive, well-educated, and charming. The Washburnes had seven children including sons Gratiot, Hempstead, William P., and Elihu B. Jr., and daughters Susan and Marie L. The Washburne's marriage lasted 42 years.

U.S. Congressman (1853–1869)

Washburne became active in politics as a Whig, and served as a delegate to the Whig National Conventions of 1844 and 1852. In 1848 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress.

In 1852, Washburne was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He was reelected eight times, and represented northwestern Illinois from 1853 to 1869. While in Congress, Washburne was chairman of the Committee on Commerce (34th Congress, and 36th through 40th Congresses), and the Committee on Appropriations (40th Congress).

In 1854 Washburne supported Abraham Lincoln's unsuccessful candidacy for the United States Senate. In the mid-1850s the Whig Party dissolved, and the Republican Party was founded as the major anti-slavery party. Washburne joined the Republican Party, and in 1856 supported its first candidate for president, John C. Frémont.

Washburne backed Lincoln's unsuccessful candidacy for the United States Senate in 1858. In 1860, Washburne enthusiastically supported Lincoln's successful presidential campaign.

American Civil War

During Lincoln's presidency Washburne supported the Union. As a trusted friend, he advised Lincoln informally, and kept him abreast of political news from Illinois.

As Lincoln made his way to Washington, D.C. in early 1861 to begin his presidential term, his supporters feared an assassination attempt. Washburne consulted Winfield Scott, the commander of the Army, who increased security in Washington and the surrounding area. Lincoln arrived in Washington incognito on February 23, 1861, and Washburne was on hand to meet him.

Sponsored Ulysses S. Grant

Washburne was one of only a few men in Washington D.C. who had previously known Ulysses S. Grant, a fellow resident of Galena. Grant was a graduate of West Point and had served in the Army for eleven years, including the Mexican American War. Initially, Grant and Washburne seemed like an odd political pairing; Grant was a Douglas Democrat and Washburne an ardent abolitionist and founder of the Republican Party. Despite those differences, Washburne became an early and ardent Grant supporter, and helped secure his promotions to the general officer ranks.

Though Grant had no rank or commission at the start of the war, he took the initiative to recruit a company of volunteers in Galena, and accompanied them to Springfield, the state capital. Grant discussed with Washburne his hope that his West Point education and previous military experience would lead to a field command; Washburne promised to discuss the matter with Governor Richard Yates. Yates quickly offered Grant a militia commission to serve as mustering officer and continue training the volunteer units which were being raised to rapidly expand the Army. Grant accepted, but continued his efforts to obtain a field command.

With Washburne's sponsorship, Grant was commissioned a colonel of volunteers on June 14, 1861, and appointed to command the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During his command of the regiment and through the Vicksburg Campaign, Washburne kept in close touch with Grant through his brother, Major General Cadwallader C. Washburn.

Washburne continued as Grant's advocate and defender in Washington. In September 1861, Washburne sponsored Grant's promotion to brigadier general and command of a brigade, and supported his subsequent promotion to major general and assignments to district, field army, and military division command. Washburne was also an advocate for Grant's promotion to lieutenant general and command of the entire Union Army. During the war Grant aligned himself with the Republican goals of ending slavery and incorporating African Americans into the military. His changed political outlook and success on the battlefield made him a likely contender for president as a Republican, and Washburne supported Grant's successful campaign in 1868.

Investigation into Western War Department

During the first months of the Civil War under President Lincoln, Washburne launched an investigation into corruption charges of general John C. Frémont's Western War Department. Lincoln had appointed Frémont commander of the Western War Department in July, 1861. Rumors spread of a "horde of pirates" under Frémont's authority of defrauding the army and the federal government and that Frémont himself was "extravagant". Washburn's investigation revealed that Frémont had awarded his California associates with lucrative army contracts. Also Frémont had favored sellers who were given exorbitant contracts for railroad cars, horses, mules, tents, and equipment that was inferior in quality. In October, Lincoln relieved Frémont of command on corruption charges and for insubordination.

Radical Republican leader

Washburne became a leader of the Radical Republicans, those most ardently opposed to slavery, and was among the original proponents of racial equality. As a congressman, he served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction which drafted the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. After the Civil War, Washburne advocated that large plantations be divided up to provide compensatory property for freed slaves.

Secretary of State (1869)

When Grant became president in 1869, he appointed Washburne to succeed William H. Seward as Secretary of State, with the understanding that he would hold the post only briefly and then serve as minister to France.

Illness and resignation

He became ill after becoming Secretary of State, and resigned after only eleven days; his term remains the shortest of any Secretary of State.

Minister to France (1869–1877)

As Minister to France, Washburne played a major diplomatic and humanitarian role the during the Franco-Prussian War. This was the first major war in which all belligerents appointed protecting powers to represent their interests in enemy capitals, and the United States agreed to be the protecting power for the North German Confederation and several of the German states. Washburne arranged for railroad transportation to evacuate 30,000 German civilians who had been living in France, and was responsible for feeding 3,000 Germans during the Siege of Paris. Although the State Department gave him permission to evacuate the American Legation at his discretion, Washburne chose to remain in Paris throughout the war and the Commune of Paris.

Washburne was the only diplomat from a major power to remain in the French capital through the Siege of Paris. As protecting power, he transmitted messages between the French and German governments. He was permitted by the Germans to receive sealed diplomatic communications from outside the city, a privilege that was denied to the smaller neutrals. Washburne was also entrusted with the protection of seven Latin American consulates that lacked diplomatic representation in France. The French Republic finally exchanged chargés d'affaires with the German Empire in June 1871, after an eleven-month breach in diplomatic relations between France and Germany. Washburne, who had lost 17 pounds during the ordeal, returned immediately to the Carlsbad springs to recuperate; he had been visiting the springs when he learned of the start of the war.

Washburne's tireless efforts set a precedent for the role of protecting power in future wars. He received special honors from German Emperor Wilhelm I and German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, as well as from the French leaders Léon Gambetta and Adolphe Thiers.

Presidential candidate (1880)

Washburne left France at the end of Grant's term in 1877, and returned to Galena. When Grant decided to run for an unprecedented third term in 1880, Washburne agreed to support him, and disavowed attempts by his own supporters to make Washburne a candidate. Despite Washburne's disavowals, he was a contender at the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago. With 379 votes required to win the nomination, he consistently received support from 30 to 40 delegates; Grant had been the early front runner, and consistently received between 300 and 315 votes. Recognizing after more than 30 ballots that neither Grant nor the other leading contenders, James G. Blaine and John Sherman could be nominated, delegates began to search for a dark horse. Having failed to build momentum for Washburne on an earlier ballot, on the 34th ballot 16 Washburne delegates from Wisconsin cast their votes for James A. Garfield without warning. This surprise action started a groundswell of support for Garfield, and he was nominated on the 36th ballot.

Most of Grant's delegates held firm even as most of those supporting Blaine and Sherman shifted to Garfield. Grant was angry at Washburne, believing that Washburne had not strongly supported Grant's candidacy, as Washburne had pledged to do. Grant was convinced that if Washburne's delegates switched to him, it might have generated momentum sufficient for him to win the nomination. For Washburne's part, he believed that if Grant had withdrawn, as Blaine and Sherman had, Washburne and not Garfield might have been the dark horse who obtained the nomination. Grant and Washburne never met each other again and their friendship ended.

Retirement

In 1882, Washburne published a biography of former Illinois governor Edward Coles, an anti-slavery Virginian who had emancipated his slaves. Washburne later moved to Chicago, and he served as president of the Chicago Historical Society from 1884 to 1887. In 1887, he published a memoir of his time as a diplomat, Recollections of a Minister to France.

Death and burial

Washburne died at his son Hempstead's home in Chicago on October 23, 1887, following a two-week period of ill health and heart ailment. His wife had died only a few months earlier. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Galena.

Physical description and character

Washburne was a tall, broad shouldered man, having light gray eyes. Washburne was respected as a person of honesty and seriousness. Washburne, when he moved west to Galena, vowed he would not drink, smoke, play cards, or attend the theater. After his marriage to Adele Gratiot in 1845, he adopted the practice of drinking a glass of wine with dinner.

Notable relatives

Three of Washburne's brothers (Cadwallader C. Washburn, William D. Washburn, and Israel Washburn, Jr.) also became politicians. His son, Hempstead Washburne, was the 32nd Mayor of Chicago serving from 1891 to 1893.

Honored

In 1885 Washburne received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Bowdoin College.

Washburne Street at 1230 south in Chicago is named in honor of Elihu Washburne.