A member of the Washburn family of Maine, he was a U.S. congressman and governor of Wisconsin, and served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Inspired by his brother Elihu who set up a legal practice in nearby Galena, Illinois, he studied law.

Among the incorporators were Washburn's cousin Dorilus Morrison, and Robert Smith, an Illinois congressman who had acquired the rights to the water power at the west side of St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis.

[5] In 1859 Washburn moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and after his war time service, he engaged in a project to clear the Black River to make it easier to drive logs.

At the same time, Washburn sent William Hood Dunwoody to England to open that market for spring wheat.

During the 34th Congress, he and his brothers voted for Nathaniel Banks during the protracted 1855-56 House of Representatives Speaker election.

Washburn moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1861 but returned to Washington, D.C., later that year as a delegate in the peace convention that was held in an attempt to prevent the American Civil War.

"[10] He commanded the cavalry of the XIII Corps in the opening stages of Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg campaign.

He commanded the 1st Division in the XIII Corps in Nathanial P. Banks' operations along the Texas Coast leading the expedition against Fort Esperanza in November 1863.

After the conclusion of the war, Washburn returned to his home in La Crosse, where he was elected again for two terms in the House of Representatives.

After giving birth to Nettie her mother, Jeanette, started showing signs of mental illness.

After Frances (Fanny) was born two years later, in 1852, Washburn made arrangements for his wife's care at the Bloomingdale Asylum.

[16] Washburn donated the Edgewood Villa estate to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1881.

[28] La Crosse, Wisconsin, where Washburn is laid to rest at his memorial in the Oak Grove Cemetery, has a downtown neighborhood and park named for the former governor and long time resident of the city.