Wadsworth was elected as a Unionist to the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1865). His vote on the Thirteenth Amendment is recorded as nay. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1864.
During the Civil War Wadsworth served as aide to General Nelson, with the rank of colonel, at the Battle of Ivy Mountain.
He was appointed United States commissioner to Mexico, under the treaty of Washington for the adjustment of claims, by President Grant in 1869.
Wadsworth was elected as a Republican to the Forty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1887).
He was not a candidate for renomination in 1886.
He resumed the practice of law.
He died in Maysville, Kentucky, April 2, 1893.
He was interred in Maysville Cemetery.
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