b. 29/05/1838 Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. d. 08/01/1914 Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 02/04/1865 Selma, Alabama.
Charles A Swan MOH
Swan was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania on 29 May 1838 to parents Hugh B. Swan and Mary H. Stephenson. He was one of 5 children. When Swan was 16, the family moved to Mount Pleasant, where their farm would eventually become Camp Harlan, where the 4th Iowa Cavalry would be trained and stationed. He married Martha Beach Smith and fathered one child, Hugh Smith Swan.
Swan enlisted in the Army as a private on 5 January 1864 and was assigned to Company K of the 4th Iowa Cavalry. He was captured by the Confederates on 10 June 1864 in Guntown, Mississippi but was released 5 days later. He was promoted to 6th Sergeant on 1 May 1865 and 5th Sergeant on 1 July 1865. On 2 April 1865, during the Battle of Selma, Swan captured the flag and the flag bearer of the 11th Mississippi Infantry.
Swan was discharged from the Army on 8 August 1865 in Atlanta, Georgia.
MOH CITATION:
Capture of flag (supposed to be 11th Mississippi, C.S.A.) and bearer.
BURIAL LOCATION: FOREST HOME CEMETERY, MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA.
BLOCK 17, LOT 22.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
