The Life of JACOB BOWMAN SWEITZER

Jacob Bowman Sweitzer
Section 14, Lot 10

Jacob Bowman Sweitzer commanded a regiment and then at brigade in the Army of the Potomac in the American Civil War.

Jacob Sweitzer was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1821. His brother, Nelson Bowman Sweitzer, who became a career army officer, was born in Brownsville 7 years later. Jacob Sweitzer studied at Jefferson College, graduating in 1843. Then he became a lawyer.

Sweitzer was named major of the 62nd Pennsylvania Regiment on July 4, 1861. He became lieutenant colonel on November 17 of that year and colonel on June 27, 1862. Sweitzer served in the Seven Days Battles, being wounded and captured at the Battle of Gaines Mill. After being exchanged on August 15, 1862, he led his regiment in first division V Corps at the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Antietam in the brigade of BG Charles Griffin.

When Griffin became commander of the first division, Sweitzer was temporarily his successor in brigade command. This period of command included the Battle of Fredericksburg. Then he returned to his regiment. Sweitzer resumed command of the brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville, succeeding Col James McQuade. (McQuade was senior to Sweitzer, but he had missed Fredericksburg.)

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 BG James Barnes, was sent to the left flank to aid III Corps. Sweitzer’s brigade and that of Col William S. Tilton went into action between the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard. (The third brigade, under Col Strong Vincent was detached and sent to Little Round Top.) 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.”[1] Sweitzer’s command, however, was sent back into the fight, entering the Wheatfield. It was flanked, however, by Confederate BG William T. Wofford’s brigade, suffering serious losses. Col Jeffords of the 4th Michigan Regiment 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.

When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized preceding LG Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, Sweitzer retained brigade command in Griffin’s first division. His brigade absorbed Tilton’s 22nd Massachusetts Regiment. Sweitzer led the brigade at the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania. Sweitzer distinguished himself at the Battle of North Anna, leading a counterattack that sealed a hole in the lines of V Corps made by a Confederate attack near Jericho Mills. He also commanded these troops at the Battle of Cold Harbor and the early stages of the Siege of Petersburg. Sweitzer was mustered out with his regiment on July 13, 1864. He received a brevet promotion to the rank of brigadier general for “war service” on March 13, 1865.

After leaving the army, Sweitzer settled in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He resumed legal practice in Pittsburg. Sweitzer died on November 9, 1881.