Wager Swayne (November 10, 1834December 18, 1902) 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 also was 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. Biography Born in Columbus, Ohio on November 10, 1834, he was the son of Noah Haynes Swayne, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He graduated from Yale University and became a lawyer in Ohio. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a field officer in one of Ohio's three-year infantry regiments. In August 1861, Governor William Dennison appointed Swayne as major of the 43rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was being organized in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He fought at the battles of Iuka and Corinth, and was promoted to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the regiment's colonel. Swayne led the 43rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry with distinction during the Atlanta Campaign and in the Carolinas Campaign until February 2, 1865 when he suffered a severe wound at the Battle of Rivers' Bridge (site now part of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site) in South Carolina by the Salkehatchie River, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. On March 13, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Swayne brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 8, 1865. President Lincoln submitted the nomination to the U.S. Senate on that date and the Senate confirmed the appointment on March 10, 1865. On May 1, 1866, President Andrew Johnson appointed Swayne as major general of volunteers to rank from June 20, 1865. The President nominated Swayne for the promotion on March 21, 1866 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on April 26, 1866. This appointment took precedence over his appointment as a brevet major