Charles Michael Sweeny (January 26, 1882 – February 27, 1963) was an American soldier of fortune, United States Army lieutenant colonel, French Foreign Legion officer,[1] Polish army brigadier general,[2][3] Royal Air Force (RAF) group captain, and journalist who fought in numerous conflicts in the 20th century.

Another nephew, Robert "Bob" Sweeny, was an accomplished golfer on both sides of the Atlantic, playing in numerous Masters Tournaments and winning the 1937 British Amateur Championship.

[10] He fought in several conflicts in Central and South America, including for Francisco I. Madero in Mexico and against José Santos Zelaya in Nicaragua and Cipriano Castro in Venezuela, according to his friend Ernest Hemingway.

[12] Starting as a private, he was eventually commissioned a lieutenant for conspicuous gallantry at the Second Battle of Champagne in September 1915,[8] and later promoted to captain for capturing a German trench with just a dozen men, but was severely wounded.

"[21] After learning about the mercenaries, the U.S. Department of State issued instructions to its consul in Morocco to warn the Americans that they would risk the revocation of their citizenship, imprisonment, and fines under the Neutrality Act of 1794 if they did not end their involvement in the war.

While the initial public reception to the mercenaries had been mixed back home, their involvement in bombing campaigns caused widespread outrage.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it would have been one thing if the mercenaries were fighting for the Riffians, but that there was "nothing gallant or chivalrous in the rain of bombs, dropped on defenseless villages."

The Christian Century, a leading Protestant magazine, remarked, "These American soldiers of fortune have no pretexts other than the exaltation of the manhunt.

This is a royal sport and the fact that these women and children who have had the misfortune to be born in the Rif villages as victims has no more meaning for them than the death of a rabbit during a hunt.

[14] Meanwhile, his nephew Charles Francis Sweeny was in London persuading the Air Ministry to gather all the Americans currently serving in the RAF, plus any new recruits, into what would become known as the Eagle Squadrons.