Theodore Schwan (July 9, 1841 – May 27, 1926) was a Union Army officer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

who received the

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for his actions at the Battle of Peebles' Farm. He also served with distinction during the Spanish–American and

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

Early life and Civil War

Theodore Schwan was the son of Rev. Georg Heinrich Christian Schwan and his second wife, Dorette Polemann, and the half-brother of Rev. Heinrich Christian Schwan.Ancestry.com Schwan was born in Wulsdorf, now a neighborhood in the city of

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, Bremen, Germany, but in 1841 part of the

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, and received his initial schooling in Germany. He immigrated to the

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in 1857, arriving at New York on 30 May 1857 on the sailing ship Ariel. On 12 June 1857, Schwan enlisted as a

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in the

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, four weeks before his 16th birthday, and served in the 10th U.S. Infantry. When the Civil War broke out, he served with his regiment, rising from Private to

Quartermaster Sergeant Quartermaster sergeant (QMS) is a class of rank or appointment in some armed forces, especially those of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, and formerly also in the United States. Ireland Quartermaster sergeant () a ...

by October 1863, when he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He was promoted to

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in April 1864 and later received the

for dragging a wounded Union officer to the rear and preventing him from being captured at the October 1864 Battle of Peebles Farm.

After the war

He remained in the Regular Army after the close of the Civil War and was promoted to captain on March 14, 1866. From May 1866 to May 1867 he was commanding a company as chief quartermaster for the Quartermaster Department of the District of Minnesota at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was then on leave of absence from May to October, 1867; commanding a company at Fort Snelling, Minnesota to April, 1869; unassigned May, 1869; and then on duty at Galveston, Indianola, Corpus Christi, and Jefferson, Texas, until December 1869.

Indian Wars

Captain Schwan was assigned to Eleventh U.S. Infantry regiment December, 1869; Commanding Company G, on frontier duty at Fort Griffin, and a subpost

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, Texas, 1870–73 (the intervening ten months having been spent on sick-leave of absence). During the

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, 1874-76 he again was commanding Company G, at Fort Griffin. On February 5, 1874, detachments of Companies A and G, Eleventh Infantry, attacked a camp of hostile Qua ha dee

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on the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, Texas, killed eleven Indians and captured sixty-five horses. One enlisted man was wounded in the fight. In August and September, 1876, He was sent with the Eleventh Infantry from the Department of Texas to the Department of Dakota for field service in connection with the

Great Sioux War of 1876-77 The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...

in the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

and in Montana. Captain Schwan served at Cheyenne River Agency, D.T., Fort Custer, M.T., Fort Bennett, D.T., and Fort Sully, D.T., 1876–80. On May 16, 1877, Lt. Gen. Sheridan directed his brother Lt. Col. Michael V. Sheridan to retrieve the bodies of Custer and his officers. On June 20, 1877, About 7 o'clock Company I, Seventh Cavalry (Captain Nowlan), reached the north bank of the

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, having been detached as the escort of Colonel Sheridan, who was to proceed to the Little Bighorn for the purpose of securing the bodies of the officers who fell in the Custer fight. Later in the day Colonel Sheridan passed up the river on the steamer Fletcher, being accompanied by Captain Schwan, Company G, Eleventh Infantry. Headquarters of the Military District of Dakota Territory, March 15, 1878, designated Capt. Theodore Schwan to act as

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at the Cheyenne Agency, Dakota Territory. On June 20, the commissioner of Indian Affaires instructed Captain Schwan to form an Indian police force on the Cheyenne River Agency in order to reduce the need of a military force at the agency. He was then on recruiting service at Davids Island N.Y. Harbor 1880–82. Captain Schwan was an instructor on the staff of the United States School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry, at

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, Kan., 1882–86.

Adjutant-General's Department

Captain Theodore Schwan, of the 11th Infantry, to be assistant adjutant general with the rank of major, July 6, 1886, vice Benjamin, deceased. Maj. (now Lieut. Col.) Theodore Schwan, assistant adjutant-general, detailed as acting inspector-general, Department of Dakota, July 17, 1894, per Special Orders, No. 140, Adjutaut-General's Office, 1894; relieved April 30, 1895, per Special Orders, No. 75, Adjutant-General's Office, current series ( lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant general, February 19, 1895). He was promoted to colonel and assistant adjutant-general, May 18, 1898. The Adjutant-General's Department was then Adjt.-Gen'l, Brig.-Gen. H. C. Corbin. Assistants, Col. Theodore Schwan, Col. Thos. Ward, Lieut.-Col. W. H. Carter, Maj. H. O. S. Heistand, Maj. J. A. Johnston and Maj. W. A. Simpson. Two weeks before his last promotion in the regular army he was appointed brigadier-general of

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, and in accordance with the Act of Congress, approved March 2, 1899, he will retain that rank until July 1, 1901. He was brevetted several times.

Spanish–American War

When the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

erupted, Lt. Col. Schwan was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and colonel in the Regular Army in May 1898, making him one of the only foreign-born generals in the Spanish–American War. He assumed command of the First Division of the Fourth Army Corps, which had mustered in at Mobile, Alabama before moving to the Tampa assembly area in early June and

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on June 20. That unit was exchanged with the First Division, Seventh Army Corps on June 27, and at the beginning of July, Schwan was relieved of that command by the War Department, freeing him for service with the Puerto Rican invasion. Schwan assumed command of the Independent Regular Brigade and sailed for

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; the brigade landed at Guánica on July 31 and moved west along the coast. On August 10, his brigade won the Battle of Silva Heights; the next day, he entered the town of

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. The Spanish moved up for another attack on Schwan, but a cease fire was enacted before either side attacked. Allegedly during this cease fire, Schwan's troops engaged in the first game of

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to be played in Puerto Rico.

Philippine–American War

With the fighting on Puerto Rico over, General Schwan was transferred to the

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, where he became chief-of-staff of the Eighth Army Corps, which had become engaged in the

. He personally directed the first Cavite Expedition, then took command of the Second Brigade in the corps' First Division (in this era, brigade and division numbers were repeated from one corps to another) during the second Cavite Expedition.

Retirement and death

He retired from the army in 1901 and was made a Major General of Regulars and put on the retired list. Theodore Schwan died in 1926 and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

.Arlington National Cemetery
/ref>

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and Organization: :First Lieutenant, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Peebles Farm, Va., October 1, 1864. Entered service at: New York. Born: July 9, 1841, Germany. Date of issue: December 12, 1898. Citation: :At the imminent risk of his own life, while his regiment was falling back before a superior force of the enemy, he dragged a wounded and helpless officer to the rear, thus saving him from death or capture.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwan, Theodore 1841 births 1926 deaths American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor American military personnel of the Indian Wars American military personnel of the Philippine–American War American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery German-born Medal of Honor recipients Emigrants from the Kingdom of Hanover to the United States United States Army generals United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Union army officers People from Bremerhaven