Jules Treilhard

Jules Treilhard served in the French legation in Washington before becoming a minister in his own right. The French diplomatic archives place his correspondence with the New Orleans consulate alongside that of Henri Mercier in 1860–1861. His surviving letters from the Civil War show him intervening over French commercial property and the treatment of French nationals under Union military occupation. ¹

In August 1862 Treilhard brought Edward Dupasseur and Company’s claim to Secretary of State William Seward. The company’s money remained detained after a disagreement between General Benjamin Butler and the federal investigator Reverdy Johnson over its release. In September 1863 he asked Washington to suspend further enforcement of a levy against subscribers to a New Orleans municipal loan, arguing that French firms claiming neutral status should have their cases examined by a competent authority. ^{2, 3}

A secondary account of the Treilhard family identifies the diplomat as Jules Treilhard, 1824–1882, and records service as minister in Chile and the United States. ⁴