Wager Swayne

Wager Swayne was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War and was appointed as the last major general of volunteers of the Union Army. Swayne received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Second Battle of Corinth. He was also effectively the military governor of Alabama from March 2, 1867, to July 14, 1868, after the passage of the first Reconstruction Act by the U.S. Congress until Alabama was readmitted to the Union. Robert M. Patton remained the nominal governor during this period, but as the local army commander, Swayne controlled the State government. During the Reconstruction era, Swayne oversaw the Freedmen's Bureau in Alabama and helped establish schools for African Americans in the state. He was the first person born after Alabama statehood to govern the state.