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

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

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 larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

, representing the northern half of

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is 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, and the 45th most populous coun ...

, and was a noted

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Biography

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

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical 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 ...

(in modern-day

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

). He was educated at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, and graduated in medicine at

Jena Jena () is a German city 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 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

in 1841. He came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1842, and settled in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, 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 representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

and elective franchise. He was a special champion of the provision in the constitution granting foreigners equal rights with Americans.
The most important Democratic leader in the early German community, physician Franz Hübschmann,championed the cause of voting rights for white immigrant men who were not citizens, believing that they should be able to vote as long as they had lived in the state for a year and had begun the naturalization process." He was Democratic Party presidential elector in 1848, for

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...

, a member of the Milwaukee City Council and a Milwaukee County supervisor from 1848 until 1867, and Wisconsin State Senator in 1851–2, 1862, and 1871–2. From 1853 until 1857, he was superintendent of the affairs of the Native Americans of the northern United States. During the Civil War, he entered the Union Army in 1862 as surgeon of the

26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment had a total enrollment of 1,089 men during its service, of which 191, (17.5%) were killed in action o ...

. 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. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because 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 * XI ...

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 German emigrants to the United States People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Wisconsin city council members County supervisors in Wisconsin Wisconsin state senators 19th-century American politicians Union Army surgeons