Following the Civil War, Vifquain was appointed as US consul to Colombia and was inducted into the Order of the Double Dragon for rendering aid to Chinese citizens.

Vifquain was born as Jean-Baptiste Victor Devuyst in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium on 20 May 1836; his parents were not married at the time of his birth, and he was legally recognized by his father in 1845.

[5] Upon the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Vifquain joined the Fifty-third New York Infantry so he would not have to wait for a Nebraska unit to be created.

Following the disbandment, Vifquain and three colleagues snuck into Richmond in an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Surviving a barrage of Confederate gun fire without serious injury, Vifquain ordered a general charge of the fort by his unit.

[7] Vifquain ultimately achieved a rank of brevet brigadier general by the time he was mustered out of service in October 1865.

Vifquain founded the Daily State Democrat in 1879 and was appointed US consul to Columbia by President Grover Cleveland in 1886.