Letters from Cadwallader C. Washburn

Cadwallader Colden Washburn was an American businessman, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 11th governor of Wisconsin (1872-1874) and served 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing western Wisconsin. As a businessman, he acquired and grew the Minneapolis Milling Company, creating the business that would later become General Mills. During the American Civil War, Washburn also distinguished himself as a Union Army officer, and rose to the rank of major general, leading forces in the western theater of the war.