Stephen A. Swails: Black Freedom Fighter in the Civil War and Reconstruction

by Gordon C. Rhea Esq.

Overview

Stephen Atkins Swails is a forgotten American hero. A free Black in the North before the Civil War began, Swails exhibited such exemplary service in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry that he became the first African American commissioned as a combat officer in the United States military. After the war, Swails remained in South Carolina, where he held important positions in the Freedmen’s Bureau, helped draft a progressive state constitution, served in the state senate, and secured legislation benefiting newly liberated Black citizens. Swails remained active in South Carolina politics after Reconstruction until violent Redeemers drove him from the state.

After Swails died in 1900, state and local leaders erased him from the historical narrative. Gordon C. Rhea’s biography, one of only a handful for any of the nearly 200,000 African Americans who fought in the Civil War or figured prominently in Reconstruction, restores Swails’s remarkable legacy. Swails’s life story is a saga of an indomitable human being who confronted deep-seated racial prejudice in various institutions but nevertheless reached significant milestones in the fight for racial equality, especially within the military. His is an inspiring story that is especially timely today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807176269
Publisher:	Louisiana State University Press
Publication date:	11/03/2021
Series:	Southern Biography Series
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Gordon C. Rhea is the author of numerous books on the Civil War, including his award-winning Overland Campaign series.

Editorial Reviews

Stephen Swails fought through the Civil War in the most famous Black regiment of the Civil War and served in political office during one of the most violent periods in American history. In this long-awaited biography historian Gordon Rhea brings his considerable talents to uncovering Swails's remarkable life with vivid prose and the critical understanding it deserves. Rhea has produced a book that both reveals the revolutionary scope of the Civil War and why Americans continue to struggle with its legacy.

Kevin M. Levin

I am a firm believer that history should be instructive. An important lesson we learn from Stephen Swails' story is that if a thing has happened before, it can happen again. Despite being born free and having great success in his military and political careers, he lost his rights as an American during his lifetime. History can and does repeat itself, and I thank Gordon Rhea for reminding us of Swails’ story at a time when we see the parallels to our current history.

James E. Clyburn

The book touches on several historical topics, including an account of Swails’s fight against racial and political violence in South Carolina that many people should consider reading. . . . Rhea illustrates that scholarly attention needs to continue centering on the lives of Black historical figures to establish a more inclusive understanding of American history.

Journal of Southern History

Twice-wounded Stephen Swails of the famous 54th Massachusetts infantry was commissioned as the first black combat officer of the Civil War, stayed in South Carolina after the war, and became a leading member of the state legislature during Reconstruction. His remarkable career receives its due treatment in this equally remarkable book by a leading Civil War historian.

James M. McPherson James M. McPherson

Stephen A. Swails fought in the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry, became the first African American line officer in the Union army, and later served with the Freedman's Bureau and as a Republican member of the South Carolina state legislature. Gordon Rhea's welcome biography illuminates the dramatic arc of Swails's life amid the military and political upheavals of his time, and in doing so it pulls readers into an era marked by striking gains and heartbreaking disappointments for Black Americans.

Gary W. Gallagher

In this well-crafted narrative, Gordon Rhea documents the fascinating career of Stephen Swails, a member of the 54th Massachusetts who was the first black man to be promoted from the ranks to become an army officer and eventually became a prominent Reconstruction Era Republican politician in South Carolina. Rhea expertly combines Swails’ story with that of the war and its turbulent aftermath, bringing to life for the reader an important and compelling personal, state and national story.

Stephen R. Wise

Utterly courageous in battle, Swails rose to become the first African American to be promoted into the commissioned ranks before again venturing his life in the dangerous world of South Carolina’s Reconstruction era politics. In this absorbing new biography, celebrated Civil War authority Gordon C. Rhea restores this soldier and statesman to much-deserved prominence. Exhaustively researched and elegantly written.

Douglas R. Egerton

Twice-wounded Stephen Swails of the famous 54th Massachusetts infantry was commissioned as the first black combat officer of the Civil War, stayed in South Carolina after the war, and became a leading member of the state legislature during Reconstruction. His remarkable career receives its due treatment in this equally remarkable book by a leading Civil War historian.

James M. McPherson

Stephen Swails fought through the Civil War in the most famous Black regiment of the Civil War and served in political office during one of the most violent periods in American history. In this long-awaited biography historian Gordon Rhea brings his considerable talents to uncovering Swails's remarkable life with vivid prose and the critical understanding it deserves. Rhea has produced a book that both reveals the revolutionary scope of the Civil War and why Americans continue to struggle with its legacy.

author of "Searching for Black Confederates: T Kevin M. Levin

I am a firm believer that history should be instructive. An important lesson we learn from Stephen Swails' story is that if a thing has happened before, it can happen again. Despite being born free and having great success in his military and political careers, he lost his rights as an American during his lifetime. History can and does repeat itself, and I thank Gordon Rhea for reminding us of Swails’ story at a time when we see the parallels to our current history.

Congressman of South Carolina James E. Clyburn

Utterly courageous in battle, Swails rose to become the first African American to be promoted into the commissioned ranks before again venturing his life in the dangerous world of South Carolina’s Reconstruction era politics. In this absorbing new biography, celebrated Civil War authority Gordon C. Rhea restores this soldier and statesman to much-deserved prominence. Exhaustively researched and elegantly written.

author of "Thunder At the Gates: The Black Civ Douglas R. Egerton

Twice-wounded Stephen Swails of the famous 54th Massachusetts infantry was commissioned as the first black combat officer of the Civil War, stayed in South Carolina after the war, and became a leading member of the state legislature during Reconstruction. His remarkable career receives its due treatment in this equally remarkable book by a leading Civil War historian.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Battle Cry of Fr James M. McPherson

Stephen A. Swails fought in the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry, became the first African American line officer in the Union army, and later served with the Freedman's Bureau and as a Republican member of the South Carolina state legislature. Gordon Rhea's welcome biography illuminates the dramatic arc of Swails's life amid the military and political upheavals of his time, and in doing so it pulls readers into an era marked by striking gains and heartbreaking disappointments for Black Americans.

author of "The Enduring Civil War: Reflections Gary W. Gallagher