b. 1842 Gothenburg, Sweden. d. 13/06/1923 ?
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 15/01/1865 Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
He was born as Jacob Johnson in Gothenburg, Sweden. Emigrating from his native Sweden, Swanson volunteered for service in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the Union brig USS Santiago de Cuba (1861). His enlistment is credited to the state of Massachusetts.
On January 15, 1865, the North Carolina Confederate stronghold of Fort Fisher was taken by a combined Union storming party of sailors, marines, and soldiers under the command of Admiral David Dixon Porter and General Alfred Terry. Seaman Swanson was a member of the storming party.
MOH CITATION:
On board the U.S.S. Santiago de Cuba during the assault on Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865. As one of a boat crew detailed to one of the generals onshore, Swanson bravely entered the fort in the assault and accompanied his party in carrying dispatches at the height of the battle. He was one of six men who entered the fort in the assault from the fleet.
BURIAL LOCATION: CROWN HILL CEMETERY, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.
SECTION 37, LOT 1620.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.