Joseph Ritner Swigart

A lawyer, he had been admitted to the bar in 1859 and was in practice in Bucyrus, OH. He enlisted in Company C, 8th Ohio Infantry as Corporal at age 21 on 5 June 1861. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Regiment on 6 July 1861. He was detached as Aide de Camp (ADC) to General Kimball on 6 July 1862.

In his after-action Report, General Kimball noted:

The conduct of Lieutenants Swigart, Marshall, and Burrell, though out the entire fight, was highly commendable, and exhibited a high degree of gallantry, efficiency, and personal bravery. They were proved by a test such as it is seldom the lot even of veterans to encounter, and the result has been highly honorable to them. I recommend them to the consideration of the commanding general.

He transferred to Company G, 8th Ohio on 1 November 1862 as First Lieutenant. He was honored by brevet to Major on 13 November 1863. Mustered out with his Company on 13 July 1864.

In 1867-68 he was Mayor of the village of Napoleon, OH. By 1870 he was a practicing lawyer in Toledo, OH and Collector of the Internal Revenue there, to at least 1877.

Basic information from State of Ohio1. Details from A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County, Ohio (Lewis Publishing, 1902), the Heidelberg College Catalogue (1891-2), and other local histories. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His photograph in uniform from one of unknown provenance posted on Ancestry.com.

09/29/1839 in PA

03/03/1892; burial in Hutchinson Eastside Cemetery, Hutchinson, KS