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Class of 1876

Vol. III
p262 2621

(Born Tex.)

Eben Swift1

(Ap'd at Large)

Born Fort Chadbourne, TX.a

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1872, to p263 June 14, 1876, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Second Lieut., 14th Infantry, June 15,º 1876.

Served: on frontier duty on Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition,

(Transferred to 5th Cavalry, July 28, 1876)

Oct. 12‑24, 1876, — Ft. D. A. Russell, Wy., Nov. 7, 1876, to May 29, 1877, — Scouting, to Oct. 25, 1877, — Ft. D. A. Russell, Wy., Oct. 25, 1877, to May 20, 1878, — Scouting, May 20 to Dec. 11, 1878, — Ft. D. A. Russell, Wy., and Scouting, Dec. 11, 1878, to Mar. 25, 1880, — and Regimental Adjutant, June 4, 1878, to Mar. 9, 1887; on leave of absence, Mar. 25 to June 24, 1880; on frontier duty at Ft. Laramie, Wy., to Aug. 10, 1882, — Ft. Sidney, Neb., to July 10, 1883, — Ft. McKinney,

(First Lieut., 5th Cavalry, Oct. 13, 1884)

Wy., to May 20, 1885, — Ft. Riley, Kan., to Mar. 22, 1887, — and in Indian Territory, to June 9, 1887; and as Aide-de‑Camp to Gen. Indicates a West Point graduate, Class of 1860: a link to his biographical entry in Cullum's Register. Merritt (Acting Engineer Officer of the Department of the Missouri), June 13, 1887, to –––––.

Vol. IV
p269 [Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Military History. — Relieved from duty as Aide-de‑camp to General Wesley Merritt, in fall of 1890. — Joined regiment and served at various points in Indian Territory and Cherokee strip, till fall of 1893.

(Captain of Cavalry, 5th Cavalry, Dec. 11, 1893)

— Assistant Instructor in Department of Military Art at U. S. Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., till spring of 1897. — On duty with National Guard of Illinois at Springfield till Spanish-American war.

(Major, 7th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, May 18, 1898)

(Lieut.‑Colonel, 9th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, July 7, 1898)

(Colonel, 4th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Nov. 18, 1898)

Served: At Springfield, Ill., and Camp Alger, Va., till July, 1898. — Returned to Springfield to assist in organization and instruction of 9th Illinois Volunteers. — Served at Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville, Fla., till Sept. 22; at Camp Columbia, Savannah, Fla.,b till Jan., 1899; Camp Columbia, Havana, Cuba, Jan. 5, 1899 to –––––

(Honorably mustered out of Volunteer Service, May 2, 1899)

(Major, Puerto Rico Battalion, U. S. Volunteers, Dec. 1, 1899)

Vol. V
p245 [Supplement, Vol. V: 1900‑1910]

Military History. — Served: Commanding troop and post of Humacao, P. R., till Dec., 1899; commanding P. R. Battalion, San Juan, P. R.; organizing mounted battalion and commanding Henry Barracks, Cayey, P. R., till honorably mustered out of Volunteer Service, June 30, 1901.

(Major, Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry, July 1, 1901)

(Major, 1st Cavalry, Jan. 24, 1903)

— Assistant Adjutant General by detail Aug. 26, 1903; assigned to 12th Cavalry, April 1, 1904; General Staff Corps, by detail, Aug., 1906; transferred to 4th Cavalry, Dec. 19, 1906; transferred to 9th Cavalry, April 26, 1907; commanding Henry Barracks, Cayey, P. R., till Aug., 1903; in Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D. C., till Aug., 1904; Infantry and Cavalry School and Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as Instructor in Military Art and Assistant Commandant till Aug., 1906; director Army War College, till –––––.

Vol. VI
p214 [Supplement, Vol. VI: 1910‑1920]

(Born May 11, 1854.)

Military History. —

Major, 1st Cavalry, Jan. 24, 1903.

At Washington, D. C., Director Army War College, August, 1906, to

(Transferred to 4th Cavalry, Dec. 19, 1906)

(Transferred to 9th Cavalry, April 26, 1907)

November, 1910 (in Manchuria, studying Russo-Japanese War, summer of 1907);

(Lieut.‑Colonel, 8th Cavalry, Jan. 17, 1911)

at Batangas, Philippines, 1911‑1912;

(Colonel of Cavalry, Feb. 29, 1912)

in Jolo, P. I., in operations against Moro tribes, 1912‑13; at Camp Stotsenburg, 1913‑14; General Staff, Chief of Staff, Western Department, to August, 1916; at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., Commandant of Army School of the Line, to

(Brigadier-General, U. S. A., Sept. 29, 1916)

p215 October, 1916; in Mexico, commanding Provisional Cavalry Division to August, 1917;

(Major-General, National Army, Aug. 5, 1917)

at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Ga., commanding 82nd Division, National Army, to Nov. 28, 1917; in France, observing conditions on Allied fronts, to Feb. 20, 1918; in Italy, Chief of American Mission; commanding American Forces in Italy, May 6, 1918;

Brigadier-General, U. S. A., Retired, May 11, 1918,
By Operation of Law.

Continued on active military duty, May 12, 1918; as Major-General, National Army.

Vol. VII
p134 [Supplement, Vol. VII: 1920‑1930]

Military History: —

Brigadier-General, U. S. A., Retired, May 11, 1918,
By Operation of Law.

Continued on active military duty as Major-General, National Army; Chief of American Mission and commanding U. S. troops in Italy to latter part of July, 1918; returned to U. S. and relieved from active duty Sept. 1, 1918; recalled to active duty Jan. to May 15, 1920, as lecturer to units of Reserve Officers Training Corps at various universities and colleges. His Majesty, the King of Italy, conferred upon General Swift the rank of Commander of his Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

Major-General, U. S. A., Retired, June 21, 1930,
Act of June 21, 1930.

Vol. VIII
p52 [Supplement, Vol. VIII: 1930‑1940]

Military History: —

Brig.‑Gen., Ret., May 11, 1918.

Maj.‑Gen., Ret., June 21, 1930.

Died, Apr. 25, 1938, at Washington, D. C.: Aged 83.

Portrait and obituary in Annual Report, Association of Graduates, for 1938.º

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

The Author's Note:º

1 Son of Brevet Brigadier-General Ebenezer Swift.

Thayer's Notes:

a Gen. Swift's birthplace is from his AOG obituary.

b So reads the printed text; but I think "Camp Columbia, Savannah, Fla." is a garble, possibly masking a brief station at the Cuban campaign embarkation point of Camp Onward (in Savannah, Ga.) between his stations, as mentioned, in Florida and at Camp Columbia in Cuba.

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