Lucius Fairchild Lucius Fairchild ( December 27 , 1831May 23 , 1896 ) was an American politician , army general , and diplomat . He served as the tenth Governor of Wisconsin and as U . S . Minister to Spain . Military career . General Fairchild , as a Private in 1858 , enlisted in a Wisconsin volunteer militia known as the " governor ' s guard " . Under his guidance the militia was titled Company K , 1st Wisconsin volunteers and by 1861 , was serving in the Civil War at Falling Waters against the " Stonewall Brigade " of General Thomas J . Jackson . In August 1861 , Fairchild was appointed Captain of the 16th US Regulars as well as Major of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment . The 2nd Wisconsin served in the brigade commanded by General William T . Sherman until the general reorganization of the Union army following the First Battle of Bull Run . Electing to stay with the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry , Fairchild was soon commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and , with his regiment now a part of the famed Iron Brigade within the Army of the Potomac , participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run . One week thereafter , on September 8 , 1862 , he was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry . On February 27 , 1863 , the Iron Brigade , now under the command of Brig . Gen . Solomon Meredith , was redesignated the " 1st Brigade , 1st Division , I Corps " . This gave Fairchild the distinction of being the ranking officer among all commissioned officers within the I Corp of the Army of the Potomac during the Spring and Summer of 1863 . Fairchild and the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry distinguished themselves at the Battle of Antietam , then at Seminary Ridge during the first day of fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1 , 1863 , being the first infantry regiment to make close contact with the Confederate Army . During the engagement , at approximately 10 : 00 , the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry delivered a striking blow by capturing very first Confederate General Officer of the war , Brig . Gen . James J . Archer . Almost immediately after this success , the regiment was ambushed by an attack on their right flank , losing seventy - seven percent of their ranks , including most officers . Fairchild was shot in the upper arm , captured , tended to , and released . While recovering from his amputated left arm , Fairchild was commissioned as brigadier general President Abraham Lincoln on October 19 , 1863 . Political and diplomatic career . Fairchild resigned from the military in November 1863 and was appointed Secretary of State of Wisconsin ( 1864 – 1866 ) , before being elected three term Governor of Wisconsin ( 1866 – 1872 ) . After his time as governor , Fairchild was appointed U . S . consul at Liverpool ( 1871 ) and then consul general at Paris ( 1880 – 1881 ) , Fairchild was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain . Fairchild ' s later served as Commander - in - Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic ( 1886 – 87 ) and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States ( 1893 – 95 ) ; during the former of these terms , he came to national prominence for calling upon God to " palsy " President Grover Cleveland for offering to return several captured Confederate battle flags to the veterans of their respective regiments as a peace gesture towards the South . Fairchild also received 95 degrees in the Masonic Order " Egyptian Masonic Rite of Memphis " . He died in Madison , Wisconsin in May 1896 . Family . Fairchild is a descendant of Thomas Fairchild who emigrated to North America in 1639 . His father was Democrat , Jairus C . Fairchild , the first Treasurer of the State of Wisconsin and the first Mayor of the city of Madison , Wisconsin . His brother , Cassius Fairchild served as Democratic Party Leader in the Wisconsin State Assembly , and also served in the Union Army during the American Civil War with the rank of colonel ( and brevet brigadier general ) . His brother Charles served in the Union Navy during the war . His wife was Frances Bull Fairchild , and together they had five daughters : Mary , Sarah , Caryl , Lucia , and Charlotte . Legacy . The town of Fairchild , Wisconsin and the Liberty ship SS " Lucius Fairchild " , built in 1943 in Portland , Oregon for the United States War Shipping Administration , were named in his honor . In Kent , Ohio , where Fairchild was born in 1831 , Fairchild Avenue is named after him . Fairchild visited Kent with much fanfare in 1887 and the road was officially named for him in 1904 . A John Singer Sargent portrait of General Fairchild is housed at the Wisconsin Historical Museum located in Madison , Wisconsin . Bibliography . Ross , Sam . " The Empty Sleeve : A Biography of Lucius Fairchild " ( Madison , WI : State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Civil War Centennial Commission ) , 1964 .