Captain S. S. Burdett

Company B.

Samuel Swineford Burdett was born in England, and when twelve years old with his elder brother landed on the American shores and settled in Elyria, Ohio. In due time he became a student of Oberlin College and graduated with high honors, after which he came to Iowa, settling at DeWitt. He read law, was admitted to the bar, and soon won a leading position as a lawyer. At the beginning of the war he joined the army of the Union, enlisting in the First Iowa Cavalry, and soon became Captain of Company B. In 1863 he was detailed as judge advocate at a station where he remained during the rest of the struggle.

The war over he married an Iowa girl, and soon took up his abode at Osceola, Missouri, where he practiced law. He was elected to Congress in 1868, and again in 1870. Between July 1st, 1874, and October, 1877, he was Commissioner of the General Land Office, an appointment he resigned on account of failing health. Extensive travel renewed his vigor, and he became partner in a lucrative law business at Washington. He has made considerable money, and owns the beautiful Washington residence in which Mrs. Burdett and he entertain their numerous visitors.

He was elected Department Commander of the Department of the Potomac, G. A. R., in 1881, and re-elected in 1882 to the same position. In 1885, at Portland. Maine, he was chosen Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army. "Though born in England. General Burdett is thoroughly American in every sense of the word, and by his military and civil services to his adopted country has contributed much to its welfare. As a member of Congress he had been appealed to in aid of many pensioners, and as Commissioner of the General Land Office had been importuned to give employment and aid to soldiers seeking employment; consequently he was keenly alive to all their needs, and could, as Commander-in-Chief, assist them in many ways. Members in good standing at the close of General Burdett's administration aggregated 295,337, which he insisted should have been many more, but for the carelessness of Post officers who had not properly looked after and reported members."

SOURCE: Charles H. Lothrop, A History Of The First Regiment Iowa Cavalry Veteran Volunteers, p. 328-9