Jacob Bowman Sweitzer (July 4, 1821 – November 9, 1881) was a
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
lawyer and soldier who commanded a
regimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
and then a
brigadeA brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army. Usually, a brigade is a sub-component of a division, a larger unit consisting of two or more brigades; however, some brigades are classified as a...
in the
Army of the PotomacThe Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
in the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. He and his men were significantly engaged at the 1863
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
, where they reinforced and helped temporarily stabilize the
UnionThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
defensive line on the second day of fighting.
Jacob Sweitzer was born in
Brownsville, PennsylvaniaBrownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. In 1940, 8,015 people lived here...
, on July 4, 1821. His brother, Nelson Bowman Sweitzer, who became a career army officer, was born in Brownsville seven years later.
Jacob Bowman Sweitzer (July 4, 1821 – November 9, 1881) was a
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
lawyer and soldier who commanded a
regimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
and then a
brigadeA brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army. Usually, a brigade is a sub-component of a division, a larger unit consisting of two or more brigades; however, some brigades are classified as a...
in the
Army of the PotomacThe Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
in the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. He and his men were significantly engaged at the 1863
Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of...
, where they reinforced and helped temporarily stabilize the
UnionThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
defensive line on the second day of fighting.
Early life
Jacob Sweitzer was born in
Brownsville, PennsylvaniaBrownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. In 1940, 8,015 people lived here...
, on July 4, 1821. His brother, Nelson Bowman Sweitzer, who became a career army officer, was born in Brownsville seven years later. Jacob Sweitzer studied at
Jefferson CollegeWashington & Jefferson College is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, in the city of Washington, Pennsylvania, USA...
, graduating in 1843.
He later studied law, passed the bar exam, and established a legal practice.
Civil War
Sweitzer was named
majorIn the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant commander in the other uniformed services.The pay grade for the rank of major...
of the 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry on July 4, 1861. He became
lieutenant colonelIn the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the rank of commander in the other uniformed services....
on November 17 of that year and
colonelIn the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, Colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and just below the rank of Brigadier General. It is equivalent to the naval rank of Captain in the other uniformed services...
on June 27, 1862. Sweitzer served in the
Seven Days BattlesThe Seven Days Battles was a series of six major battles over the seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, away from...
, being wounded and captured at the Battle of Gaines Mill. After being exchanged on August 15, 1862, he led his regiment in the First Division,
V CorpsThe V Corps was a unit of the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.-1862:The corps was first organized briefly under Nathaniel P. Banks, but then permanently on May 18, 1862, designated as the "V Corps Provisional"...
at the
Second Battle of Bull RunThe Second Battle of Bull Run, or, as it was called by the Confederacy, the Battle of Second Manassas, was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against...
and at
AntietamThe Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil...
in the brigade of Brig. Gen. Charles Griffin.
When Griffin became commander of the First Division, Sweitzer was temporarily his successor in brigade command, including at the
Battle of FredericksburgThe Battle of Fredericksburg, fought in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, from December 11 to December 15, 1862, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, is remembered as one of the most...
. Subsequently, Sweitzer returned to his regimental role. He resumed command of the brigade at the
Battle of ChancellorsvilleThe Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville and the area from there to the east at Fredericksburg. The battle pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army...
, succeeding Col. James McQuade. (McQuade was senior to Sweitzer, but he had missed Fredericksburg.)
Gettysburg
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the V Corps arrived early on July 2, 1863, after a hard march from Unionville, Maryland. The First Division, temporarily led by Brig. Gen.
James BarnesJames Barnes was a railroad executive and a Union Army general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, was sent to the left flank to aid
III CorpsThere were four formations in the Union Army designated as III Corps during the American Civil War.Three were short-lived:*In the Army of Virginia:**Irvin McDowell ;**James B...
. Sweitzer’s brigade and that of Col.
William S. TiltonWilliam Stowell Tilton was an American businessman and soldier who led a regiment, and occasionally a brigade, in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War...
went into action between the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard. (The Third Brigade, under Col.
Strong VincentStrong Vincent was a lawyer who became famous as a U.S. Army officer during the fighting on Little Round Top at the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, where he was mortally wounded.-Early life:...
was detached and sent to
Little Round TopLittle Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left flank on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg....
.) The two brigades were deployed at a perpendicular angle to one another, which made their position hard to maintain under attack. After enduring Confederate assaults, General Barnes decided to withdraw from an exposed position. Sweitzer’s report describes the order to withdraw as “peremptory.”
Sweitzer’s command, however, was sent back into the fight, entering the Wheatfield. It was flanked, however, by Confederate Brig. Gen.
William T. WoffordWilliam Tatum Wofford was an officer during the Mexican-American War and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
’s brigade, suffering serious losses. Col.
Harrison JeffordsHarrison Jeffords was the colonel of the 4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. He was noted for his heroism at the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, in which he gave his life while protecting the United States flag.Jeffords was born in...
of the 4th Michigan Infantry was killed when Confederate soldiers tried to capture his regiment’s flag. The brigade withdrew toward Little Round Top and was positioned in that vicinity for the remainder of the battle. It later participated in the retreat of the Confederate army. Sweitzer had only three regiments present, one—the 9th Massachusetts Regiment—being on detached duty. He reported that his regiments lost 466 out of 1,010 present on the field.
Sweitzer retained his brigade in the autumn of 1863, participating in the earlier stages of
Bristoe CampaignThe Bristoe Campaign was a series of inconclusive battles fought in Virginia during October and November 1863, in the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, began to maneuver in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of...
and in the Mine Run Campaign.
After Gettysburg
When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized preceding Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877....
’s
Overland CampaignThe Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...
, Sweitzer retained brigade command in Griffin’s First Division. His brigade absorbed Tilton’s 22nd Massachusetts Infantry. Sweitzer led the brigade at the
Battle of the WildernessThe Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
and the Battle of Spotsylvania. Sweitzer distinguished himself at the
Battle of North AnnaThe Battle of North Anna was fought from May 23 to May 26, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. It was fought in central Virginia as series of small actions in a number of locales, rather than a...
, holding the exposed right flank of V Corps during a Confederate attack near Jericho Mills. He also commanded these troops at the
Battle of Cold HarborThe Battle of Cold Harbor, the final battle of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless frontal assault...
and the early stages of the
Siege of PetersburgThe Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
.
Sweitzer was mustered out with his regiment on July 13, 1864. He received a
brevetIn many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being brevetted...
promotion to the rank of
brigadier generalA brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services.-...
for “war service” on March 13, 1865.
Postbellum activities
After leaving the army, Sweitzer settled in
Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the second largest city in the state. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2006, it was estimated to have fallen to 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is...
. He resumed legal practice in Pittsburgh. Sweitzer died on November 9, 1881, and was buried at Allegheney Cemetery.
See also