Jeremiah Swartz

1841-1862

Jeremiah Swartz was born in Ohio on 25 Aug 1841, the son of Robert Swartz 1816-1897 and Susanna Kitchen.  He served with the 8th Regiment Ohio Infantry Company K from  Medina County, Ohio. This regiment organized for three months service May 2nd, 1861, and for three years June 26th, 1861. It served in West Virginia until March of 1862 when it moved to the Shenandoah Valley, and engaged in the battles of Cedar Creek, Winchester and Front Royal. In July it was ordered to the Peninsula, where it took part in the operations on the Chickahominy. In August the regiment moved north and fought at South Mountain and Antietam. It was at Fredericksburg and at Chancellorsville sustained heavy losses. The 8th Ohio participated in the battle where it was initially assigned as skirmishes after crossing the Rappahannock River on pontoon bridges. The regiment took shelter inside a cluster of buildings in the town of Fredericksburg approximately 150 yards from the Confederate line. From the comparative safety of their position, the men witnessed the series of bloody and futile attacks on Mary's Heights ordered by general Ambrose Burnside. After firing relentlessly for hours from the houses and with its ammunition exhausted, the 8th Ohio withdrew under heavy enemy fire to the rear of the Union line. 

Jeremiah Swartz was killed during the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, on 13 Dec 1862. He is buried in the West Salem Cemetery. The cemetery is located on the south side of Depot Street near the intersection at South Lincoln Street in West Salem, Wayne County, Congress Township, Ohio.