He is most famous for his painting The Burial of Latané, which became a symbol of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy in the years following the American Civil War,[3] and for the work he did in establishing the fine arts program of the Virginia Military Institute.

He also pursued further study in Düsseldorf, also with Leutze;[4] his recommendation to travel there was supported by both of Virginia's senators, James Murray Mason and Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, who urged Secretary of State Edward Everett to appoint him a dispatch bearer in Europe to provide him with funds for the journey.

[6] Eastman Johnson was in his second year at the Academy in Düsseldorf when Washington arrived, and it has been speculated on the basis of style that the two may have worked together in some capacity, possibly going on trips along with Leutze, who traveled frequently.

[7] While in Germany Washington began his career as a history painter with pieces such as Entrance to a Castle, The Student, and Commencement of the Huguenot War; this last he sent home for exhibition, prompting a favorable notice in the Daily National Intelligencer.

[7] While working at the Patent Office, in 1855, he drew an unauthorized copy of Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware in colored crayon on the wall of a basement room in the building.

[6] At this time he began work on a series of paintings depicting the military career of Francis Marion; conflicting reports exist as to their size, quantity and location, though at least one sketch survives.

[6] Washington served as a staff officer for brief stretches during the war, under the command of John B. Floyd;[2] while on duty he completed a number of sketches of mountain and battle scenes, some of which he would later translate into finished canvases.

[4][9] The former, depicting an incident in the war, was based on a popular poem by John Reuben Thompson, which Washington may have heard read by its writer at an informal gathering of the Mosaic Club, where he was living at the time.

[7] Smith had hoped to make Washington a full-time member of the Institute's faculty as chairman of the Division of Fine Arts, but the position was not forthcoming due to a lack of funds; the artist was not named to the post until June 1869.

[2] Washington was interred in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Lexington; classes at the Institute were suspended as a mark of honor until after his burial, and a battalion of cadets escorted the coffin to the grave during the funeral.