US Army Private Mcswain Council was born in Macon, Georgia in 1894, the son of George R. Council (1860-1944) and Lutishie "Tishie" Honeycutt (1861-1931). His father was originally from North Carolina and 1880 found George living with his parents in Bladen County. His father Obediah Wright Council was a carpenter while George drove a wagon for a living. Three years later, George would marry Lutishie on September 20, 1883, in Robeson County, NC. By 1894, the family was in Macon, Georgia where Mcswain was born and shortly thereafter in Bulloch County and still farming. In 1910, George had changed vocations and was now working in a turpentine distillery in Polk County, Florida. Prior to 1917 he was doing the same in Milton, Florida.
Mcswain was also the grandson of Obediah Wright Council (1829-) and Sarah Lancaster (1823-1900). During the Civil War, Obed enlisted in the Confederate Home Guard in Roberson County, NC. as a private. His area was assigned to Company "D" of the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina Local Defense Troops.
As for Mcswain, there is little information on his upbringing and early life. We do know that he would enlist in the US Army and sent to Jackson Barracks, Louisiana on February 2, 1917. Jackson Barracks became a processing and training center during WWI as America was quickly enlisting and drafting civilians into the army. After basic training, Mcswain was assigned to Company "L" of the 26th Infantry Regiment as a private. His regiment set sail from New York City on June 17, 1917, aboard the SS Momus, arriving in St. Nazaire, France four days later.
The 26th was one of only four Regular Army infantry regiments considered to be fit enough for immediate combat. Therefore, they were selected to be part of the first American Expeditionary Division. This expeditionary division would later be renamed forevermore as the 1st Division. After arriving in France, they were immediately sent to the front. Along with the other regiments in the division, they earned more campaign streamers than any other regiments during the war. However, the regiment would lose over 900 soldiers killed in just the first six months. At the battle of Soissons, the regiment would lose 1,500 killed and wounded out of 3,100 in the initial attack.
Then came the Battle of the St. Mihiel Salient, the first time American forces took the offensive against the Germans. On September 12, 1918, their artillery opened with a four-hour bombardment of the enemy trenches. As Mcswain and his regiment went up and over the top of their trenches the Germans opened up with machine guns, mortars, and artillery. But the attack was successful and the Americans were able to push the Germans backwards. The attack also served as a precursor for the future legendary tank leader George S. Patton. During the fighting, 4,500 men were killed and 2,500 wounded. Private Mcswain Council unfortunately was one of those that lost his life in the attack. One contradiction in his records is there is a list of Florida WWI casualties that list him as having died from an accident yet his WWI Service Card and his headstone application both list him as killed in action.
Regardless of the nature of his death, his body was returned home and buried in the Milton Cemetery after the war. Although information is scant there is no indication that the grave there is only a memorial. According to the War Department we do know that his father George R. Council was the one notified in Milton of his death. Ironically, his father's gravestone lists his own death as 1944 while Tishie listed herself as a "widow" in the 1930 census. At the time, she was living alone with her divorced daughter Ada Belle Council Williams. Tishie would pass away the following year and joined her son.
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