Innis Palmer Swift (February 7, 1882 – November 3, 1953) was a

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He was the grandson and namesake of

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

Major General Innis Newton Palmer,''Gen. Swift, A Cavalryman'', San Antonio Light, August 31, 1951, Page 21A. as well as the grandson of

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

Ebenezer Swift. His four decades of military service culminated in his commanding a unit during the liberation of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Early life and career

Swift was born at

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...

, Wyoming, the son of Major General

Eben Swift Eben Swift (May 11, 1854 – April 25, 1938) was a major general in the United States Army who served as the first commander of the 82nd Division, now the 82nd Airborne Division. Military career Swift was born on May 11, 1854, at Fort Chadb ...

and Susan Palmer. He graduated from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in 1904 and was commissioned in the cavalry. He served as aide-de-camp to General

John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the We ...

in the

and then served in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. While a First Lieutenant commanding C Troop, 13th Cavalry, he accompanied First Lieutenant

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

on the hunt for Julio Cardenas, commander of Pancho Villa's personal bodyguard. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he served as Assistant Chief of Staff for the 86th Division. Swift attended the

Army Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international milita ...

, graduating in 1923, and remained at the school as

faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument) A faculty is a legal in ...

until 1929.Berlin, Robert H
“U.S. Army World War II Corps Commanders: A Composite Biography”
''The Journal of Military History'', Vol. 53, No. 2 (April, 1989), pp. 147-168. He subsequently attended the Army War College and the

Army Industrial College The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

In 1940 he was promoted to

, and in 1941 to Major General and placed in command of the 1st Cavalry Division and

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...

. He participated in the

Louisiana Maneuvers The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana, an area bounded by the Sabine River to the west, the Calcasieu River to the east, and by the city of Shreveport to the nort ...

, where he coined the nickname used by army light observation aircraft when he told a pilot after a bumpy landing, "You looked just like a damn grasshopper!"

World War II

He transitioned the division from horse cavalry to essentially an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

division, though it retained "Cavalry" in the name. He took his division to Australia in July 1942 and remained in command through the

Admiralty Islands campaign The Admiralty Islands campaign (Operation Brewer) was a series of battles in the New Guinea campaign of World War II in which the United States Army's 1st Cavalry Division took the Japanese-held Admiralty Islands. Acting on reports from airm ...

after which he was reassigned to command I Corps. He was the oldest U.S. Corps commander to serve in

. After the war he remained a close personal friend of Douglas MacArthur.''Gen. Swift Dies'', Lubbock Evening Journal, Nov 3, 1953, Page 10.

Private life and death

Swift married the former Lucille G. Paddock and the couple had four daughters. After retiring in 1946 he lived in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. He retained interest in his old command, staying active in the 1st Cavalry Division Association and avidly following the division's activity in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

. He died at Brooke Army Hospital after a heart attack and was buried in

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of 2014, had over 144,000 interme ...

Notes

References

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External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift United States Army generals United States Army generals of World War II 1882 births 1953 deaths United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Recipients of the Legion of Merit People from Goshen County, Wyoming People from San Antonio United States Army personnel of World War I Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni United States Army War College alumni United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Wyoming