Transcript for Episode 5 of the 2024 season of Talking Hoosier History
Written by Jill Weiss Simins, voiced by Justin Clark, and produced by A.J. Chrapliwy.
Mississippi, May 16, 1863,
Major General Ulysses S. Grant ordered the attack at 10:00 a.m.
An hour and a half later, the 34th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers led by Lt. Col. William Swaim slammed into the Confederate defensive line like a breaking wave, pushing the rebels up the hill and capturing the main roads.
But the tide of soldiers ebbed, and the Confederates made a ferocious counterattack. Chaos ensued. Mortars exploded over the sound of rifles and cries of men in agony. Swaim encouraged his battle-weary troops to fight on, leading them deeper into the action. At some point, likely in the midst of this brutal clash, Swaim was shot and severely wounded. But Union soldiers regained the hill, pushing the rebels all the way back to Vicksburg, where they would soon turn the tide of the war.
Now, we probably have a picture in our heads of this smoke-filled battlefield and of Swaim leading his men into the melee, saber drawn. Our image of this bearded Lt. Col. in his dark blue Union uniform is probably influenced by oil portraits we’ve seen or maybe statues of generals on horseback. And we have an idea of who these Union leaders were as well: career military men trained in strategy and honed by courage in battle.
But most of those who served in the Civil War, including many of the leaders, were just regular citizens, not trained soldiers. William Swaim had only recently acquired the title “Lt. Col.” Just a year and a half earlier, he was your typical Hoosier farmer. He and his beloved wife Hannah were raising their five children on their land in Ossian, Wells County, growing corn, rye, wheat, apples, and clover, and leading a peaceable, simple, secure life.
What on earth would make someone like Swaim, or any Hoosier working to make a better and easier life for his children, risk everything – leave his family, and homestead to fight an ideological war from which he might never return? Some have argued that most soldiers didn’t understand the root causes of the war – that they were fighting for pride, for their reputations, for their hometown.
But Swaim told us why he fought. Just before he was wounded in action, he wrote his wife that he was proud to risk everything to abolish “that monster Slavery” and was willing to die in this “most righteous war.” For this Hoosier citizen soldier, and many others who made the ultimate sacrifice, the war was about one issue only – slavery.
I’m Justin Clark and this is Talking Hoosier History.
In the summer of 1861, just days after Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton wrote to President Abraham Lincoln promising to send tens of thousands of Hoosier troops, William Swaim enlisted in the Union Army. Swaim also helped raise a company of volunteers from Wells County, mainly from the small towns of Ossian, Murray, and Bluffton. Among the men who formed Company A of the 34th Regiment Indiana Volunteers was Swaim’s son James who was only sixteen years old.
Recognizing Swaim’s natural capacity for leadership, the men of the 34th Regiment elected him as their captain. The regiment mustered in Anderson in September 1861. Almost immediately Swaim identified issues with the camp and areas in which the men needed to improve and thus he stepped into a leadership position – even above his official rank – to make the necessary changes. With a dearth of experienced military leaders in the Army at the time, Swaim repeatedly stepped into leadership roles during his service.
He often wrote about serving in such leadership roles in letters home to his wife Hannah. Upon arriving at Anderson, he began ordering soldiers to clean up their clothing and belongings. He wrote, “I yesterday acted as comander of the camp[.] You better believe I feelt some what awkerd but I done the best I could have.” He continued, “One consulation, there is plently as green as I am and worse than myself.” His words demonstrate that Swaim was one of many average citizens who would have to rise to the occasion and become military leaders.
His letters also reveal that more Hoosiers in the 1860s were becoming literate. Swaim followed politics and current events, sometimes noting something that a newspaper got wrong. In fact, in the U.S. more broadly, literacy rates and newspaper circulation were on the rise. Americans tapped into current events and politics, including ideological clashes over slavery. They formed debate groups and joined political clubs. They had strong opinions about the democratic experiment and preserving the Union. Indiana residents volunteered in great numbers and encouraged their neighbors and family members to do the same. Many expressed a patriotic duty to serve their country, but some also explicitly fought to end slavery.
This was undeniably true for African Americans. Black Hoosiers also chose to serve, some making dangerous treks across the country to fight in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry of the United States Colored Troops. When Indiana did form its own Black regiment, the 28th Regiment USCT in 1863, over 500 Black Hoosiers enrolled and organized into six companies. A year later, enough additional men had volunteered to make four more companies.
Like many white soldiers such as Swaim, Black soldiers fought to end the evils of slavery. But fighting wasn’t enough. Many Black soldiers believed that their service to their country would prove that they were Americans, too. They were individuals deserving of rights – such as the ability to vote or be treated equally under the law – that should have been inherent but had been long denied.
And yet, not everybody shared the same reasons for taking up arms or shared the belief in racial equality. In 1861, the American public supported the Crittenden resolution adopted by Congress which asserted that the war was about preserving the union, while the Indiana State Sentinel reported in 1862 that Indiana political leaders like Thomas Hendricks and Caleb Smith were against Black enlistment.
Nevertheless, Swaim was motivated by both Unionism and abolition. He wanted to serve his country, making his community proud and embodied a passionate hatred for the institution of slavery and a belief that it could be ended by this war. As the 34th waited at Camp Jo Holt in Jeffersonville, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Swaim was eager to prove himself in action. He wrote his wife Hannah:
“We expect to go to Kentucky soon as we get our guns and in all probility will find something to do and that is what we all want. In [skirmishes] all places of honor are the most dangerous but that is just the place for me[.] If I come out of this war let me come out honorable.”
He also wrote that he was sure it seemed like the regiment was moving slowly, but that they were indeed preparing for a battle that would be “a grand Sight and one that I have long wished to see.” He explained that he knew “many men will have to be left buryed in the Solders grave but it will be a gloryious death if we conqurer in the end.”
As various leaders of the 34th resigned, moved to other regiments, or fell ill, Swaim again acted in positions above his rank as captain at Camp Wickliffe. On January 19, 1862, he told Hannah that he had been acting as colonel for the past week, drilling the regiments and meeting with the “Brass.” And a week later, he wrote that he was acting as “Captain, Major and Colonel and shall have to till the staff is filled.” He stated that he would not be surprised if Governor Morton approved a higher appointment for him very soon. He was correct. On February 16, Swaim was commissioned the rank of Major.[11]
Meanwhile, back in Indiana, Hannah Swaim ran the farm, cared for the children, and arranged business deals – selling corn and grain and making payments on their house. She often wrote to William for his advice, but never asked him to come home. He praised her for this support and told her how much he wished he could see her and “the little ones,” but stood firm in his desire to do his duty to his country.[12]
In March 1862, the 34th Regiment finally saw action, joining the Siege of New Madrid on the Mississippi River at the border between Tennessee and Missouri. The 34th joined the siege, but Swaim reported that their field guns were too light compared to the Confederate gun boats firing on them from the river. He wrote to Hannah about shells passing over their heads in their wooded position three-quarters of a mile from the main action, where they were stationed to protect a battery of field guns. He said that as the shells “howeled pass they make a screaming noise” until they “burst in pieces and fly in every direction.” He reported that while some of the boys turned pale, “give them a chance and they will fight to all distruction.” Before signing off, he again told Hannah: “If we shall fall in battle it would be a gloryious death and an honorable one.”[13]
Larger artillery soon arrived, and Union forces took New Madrid before combined Army and Navy operations led to the capture of Island Number 10. With the capture of strategic Confederate positions along a bend in the Mississippi River at New Madrid, Missouri and the small nearby island, the Union gained control of the river all the way to Fort Pillow in Tennessee. Swaim proved his leadership in battle and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on June 15, 1862.
He wrote home sharing news on his health and opinions on the events of the day. In one letter he also wrote about the health of a Black man travelling with them – likely a self-emancipated Southerner working for the regiment and hoping for freedom. His language in this letter shows that he still held misconceptions and prejudices about Black people. Though as he met more Black camp workers, including two women whose cooking he praised and a young boy travelling with them named George, his empathy and understanding seemed to increase.
As Swaim’s preconceptions changed, so too did the nation’s. As historian Emma Lou Thronbrough wrote, “By the end of 1863 even conservative Republicans were insisting that since slavery was the fundamental cause of the war it must be extirpated before there could be any hope of lasting peace.”
As the 34th approached Vicksburg and General Sherman no longer allowed women or children to travel with the regiments, a Black man named Cornelius, with whom Swaim had seemingly grown close, chose to stay behind with his wife. Swaim paid Cornelius thirty dollars in some sort of business transaction and “told him to take his money and with it find a place of Freedom . . . he said that was his intentions.”[18]
Swaim expressed concern over leaving so many freedom seekers behind, worried about what would happen to them, and hoping that the war would end their plight. He wrote in a February letter:
We think at this time we have a fair prospect of victory ahead . . . over that monster Slavery, which has cost us So meny lives and so much truble[.] Every Senciable man and well wisher of his countrey now admits that it must be distroyed to insure us a lasting piece.
He also wrote to Hannah about a letter he received from Han Platt, a relative of the Swaims. Platt had written of news from home but also that she was encouraging her family not to enlist. She called it “a Negro war” and said “the Abalitionest and Negros ought to fight it out.” Swaim was livid. He told his wife:
I answered her by saying that I had been an Abalitionist for nearly thirty years and Gloryed in it . . . I told her that I had one Son with me in the Armey with me and if he either died by Sickness or by bullets from the Enemey it would be a great consolation to me to know that I had one relation who had curage enough to face Danger with me in Defence of our Countrey.[16]
On April 1863, the 34th joined the Vicksburg Campaign as part of Brig. Gen Alvin Hovey’s Division. (A native of Mount Vernon, Indiana, Hovey would go on to serve as the 21st Governor of Indiana). Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign would cut supply lines and destroy manufacturing centers before marching on the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg. As the 34th headed towards Vicksburg, the greatest danger they had yet faced, Swaim told Hannah:
I feel that we are in the most Righteous war that ever any body was in and if we fall we fall in a good cause — if we get into fight I expect to do my Duty as an officer and leave no stain upon my Character or disgrace upon you or my children[.] I wish you to act the part of a Soldiers wife take things as they come and be ready for the Worst.[20]
In Mid-May, 1863, “Lieut. Col. Swain [sic], 34th Indiana, was severely wounded whilst cherring his men and encouraging them in the performance of their duty” in the Battle of Champion Hill. The “Righteous war” laid claim to one of its most righteous warriors.
Just before Swaim was wounded in action, he had written Hannah that he was proud to risk everything to abolish “that monster Slavery” and was willing to die for this cause in this “most righteous war.” For this Hoosier citizen soldier, and many others who made the ultimate sacrifice, the war was centered on the issue of slavery.
As the rest of the 34th marched on to Vicksburg, Swaim was moved to a nearby hospital, accompanied by his son Jim who helped care for him. While many newspapers reported that Swaim had died on the battlefield, he did not. He actually seemed to improve for several weeks while in the hospital. Jim wrote to Hannah:
I received a letter from you today when on the 31 of May you said that you had seen in the papers that pop had been killed at Champion Hills[.] It is all a mistake[.] [26]
Jim reported that while his father was severely wounded, he had left the morning of June 12 with a doctor first to Memphis to secure a medical leave of absence and then to Ossian. Jim concluded, “I expect that he will get home before this letter does.” [27]
But Swaim never made it home. On June 16 or 17, 1863, on his long journey home, Lt. Col. William Swaim died from the wound he sustained at Champion Hill.[28] It is hard to fathom what it must have been like for Hannah having to lose him twice—first, in the conflicting newspaper reports, and then, the tragic arrival of the fallen citizen soldier. But she would have to be strong for her other children. Jim survived the war, continuing on with the 34th Indiana Regiment, which fought in the very last conflict of the Civil War at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, Texas.
Had Lt. Col. Swaim made it to Vicksburg, he could have been an eye witness to the crucial role Black soldiers played in the seizing of this Confederate stronghold. Hundreds of Black soldiers, many newly emancipated, gave their lives for the Union cause, including those of Indiana’s 28th Regiment. The 28th served valiantly, including at the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg. Virginia, where nearly half the men were killed or wounded. While the work for equality was long from finished, the sacrifices of Hoosiers, Black and white, helped to end slavery and forward civil rights.
Swaim was buried in the Ossian Cemetery (and later moved to nearby Oak Lawn cemetery). The 34th Regiment wrote to Hannah in July signing a unanimous resolution stating:
That in his death the regiment has siffered [sic] the irreparable loss of a brave, efficient, and faithful officer; the country a high minded unwavering patriot [to] the cause of liberty – a mighty, uncompromising champion, and to society – a jewel of sterling worth whose unswerving integrity – and dauntless courage stood out boldly as an example of imutation [sic].”
Lt. Col. William Swaim was willing to risk his life for his country, for the honor of his family and his hometown, and for the preservation of the Union. But those who claim that Indiana soldiers did not understand and/or care about the underlying cause of the war that split the union—ending slavery—do a disservice to the sacrifices of men like Swaim. In his own words to his beloved wife, he expressed his dedication to abolishing “that monster Slavery” and was prepared to die for that cause. In the end, Swaim did just that. He gave his life in “the most Righteous war” to make the United States a more perfect union, one without the abomination of slavery.
Want to learn more about Lt. Col. William Swaim? Check out our blog post “The Most Righteous War:” The Leadership and Sacrifice of Lt. Col. William Swaim by IARA historian Jill Weiss Simins.
Historical markers are a great way to learn more about Indiana’s Civil War history, such as our marker on Lieutenant Colonel Alois O. Bachman. Born in Madison in 1839, he attended Hanover College to study law and later attended Kentucky Military Institute in Frankfort. Bachman not only organized a military company in Jefferson County—the Madison City Greys—but was also part of the 19th Indiana Infantry Regiment of the famed “Iron Brigade.” He was mortally wounded leading a charge during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, the highest-ranking Hoosier in the Union Army killed in this battle.
This episode was written by Jill Weiss-Simins, edited by IHB staff, and produced by A. J. Chrapliwy. Find a transcript and show notes for this and all our episodes at podcast.history.in.gov. And remember to subscribe, rate, and review Talking Hoosier History wherever you get your podcasts. Once again, I’m Justin Clark, and this has been Talking Hoosier History. Thanks for listening!
