David G. Swaim was Judge Advocate General of the United States Army

Judge Advocate General of the United States Army

The Judge Advocate General of the United States Army is the commanding officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army. Under Title 10 of the United States Code, the TJAG is appointed by the President of the United States. Suitable candidates are recommended by the...

 from February 18, 1881 to December 22, 1894.

Born in Salem, Ohio

Salem, Ohio

Salem is a city in northern Columbiana County and extreme southern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. At the 2000 census, the city's population was 12,197....

, Swaim became a lawyer in 1859. With the outbreak of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, he joined the 65th Ohio Infantry

65th Ohio Infantry

The 65th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 65th Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Buckingham in Mansfield, Ohio beginning October 3, 1861 and mustered in for three years service on November 14, 1861 under the command of...

 as a first lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

. He was later promoted to adjutant of his regiment, and then acting adjutant of the brigade. He was wounded at the battles of Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...

 and Chickamauga

Battle of Chickamauga

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...

 and was promoted to captain. When the war ended, he remained in the Army, serving in the Judge Advocate General's Corps until 1879, when President Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...

 appointed him Judge Advocate General and promoted him to brigadier general

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

. In 1884, charges of financial improprieties were levied against him, and he was suspended from duty. President Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

 reinstated him, and he retired immediately afterward. He died three years later at his home in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

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