Washington, John Macrae (1797-1853) U.S. army officer. Born in Stafford County, Virginia, John Macrae Washington graduated from West Point in 1817 with a commission in artillery. He fought against the Seminoles in Florida and served on Gen. Winfield Scott's staff during the removal of the Cherokee Indians in 1838-1839. During the Mexican War, Washington earned a brevet to lieutenant colonel in 1847 commanding a battery that anchored the American right wing at the Battle of Buena Vista. After that engagement he served as the military governor of Saltillo before becoming chief of artillery of the army of occupation. The next year he was assigned to be the civil and military governor of New Mexico, filling that position from October 1848 to October 1849. While on a steamer heading for the Pacific Coast in 1853, he was swept off the deck in a violent storm and drowned.
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