Francis (Franz) Huebschmann (April 19, 1817March 21, 1880) was a

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

immigrant, physician, and Democratic politician. He served four and a half years in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

, representing the northern half of

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

, and was a noted

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

for the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Biography

Francis Huebschmann was born in Riethnordhausen, in what was then the

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach () was a German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised to a grand duchy in 1815 by resolution o ...

(in modern-day

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

). He was educated at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, and graduated in medicine at

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

in 1841. He came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1842, and settled in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, where he resided until his death. He was school commissioner from 1843 until 1851, a member of the first Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1846, and served on the committee on

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and elective franchise. He was a special champion of the provision in the constitution granting foreigners equal rights with Americans. He was a Democratic Party presidential elector in 1848, for

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

, a member of the Milwaukee City Council and a Milwaukee County supervisor from 1848 until 1867. He served three periods as Wisconsin State Senator, first from 1851 to 1852, second in 1862, and finally from 1871 to 1872. From 1853 until 1857, he was superintendent of the affairs of the

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

s of the northern United States. During the Civil War, he entered the Union Army in 1862 as surgeon of the 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. He was surgeon in charge of a division at the

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's risky decision to divide h ...

, and of the

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

at Gettysburg, where he was held by the Confederates for three days. He was also at the Battle of Chattanooga, in charge of the Corps hospital in Lookout Valley in 1864, and brigade surgeon in the Atlanta Campaign. He was honorably discharged in that year, and, returning to Milwaukee, became connected with the United States General Hospital.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huebschmann, Francis 1817 births 1880 deaths Physicians from Wisconsin University of Jena alumni Politicians from Milwaukee Immigrants to the United States People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Wisconsin city council members County supervisors in Wisconsin Wisconsin state senators Union army surgeons People from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature