Wager Swayne

Wager Swayne (November 10, 1834 – December 18, 1902) was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War and was appointed as the last major general of volunteers of the Union Army. Swayne received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Second Battle of Corinth. He was also effectively the military governor of Alabama from March 2, 1867, to July 14, 1868, after the passage of the first Reconstruction Act by the U.S. Congress until Alabama was readmitted to the Union. Robert M. Patton remained the nominal governor during this period, but as the local army commander, Swayne controlled the State government. During the Reconstruction era, Swayne oversaw the Freedmen's Bureau in Alabama and helped establish schools for African Americans in the state. He was the first person born after Alabama statehood to govern the state.

Biography

Born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 10, 1834, Swayne was the son of Noah Haynes Swayne, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He graduated from Yale University in 1856, was a member of the Scroll & Key Secret Society, and became a lawyer in Ohio. Built in 1852, and eventually named for Wager Swayne, Swayne Hall is the oldest building on the campus of Talladega College, Alabama's oldest private historically black college located in Talladega, Alabama. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1974 On March 13, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Swayne brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 8, 1865. President Lincoln submitted the nomination to the U.S. Senate on that date and the Senate confirmed the appointment on March 10, 1865. The President nominated Swayne for the promotion on March 21, 1866, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on April 26, 1866. The U.S. Senate confirmed this appointment on March 12, 1866. The Senate approved this nomination on April 15, 1867.

He died in New York City on December 18, 1902, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery Arlington County, Virginia, Plot: Section 3, Lot 1406.