From the personal collection of Surgeon & General Bernard John Dowling Irwin. Irwin has the distinct honor of being the first recipient of the Medal of Honor in U.S. military history by date of action, February 13, 1861

(1833-1908) Born in Charleston, South Carolina, he graduated in the West Point class of 1854. He resigned his commission in the U.S. Army on February 20, 1861, and joined the Confederate army with rank of captain, and his early war service was that of aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard. Lee participated in the 1862 Virginia Peninsula Campaign, notably during the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31st and June 1st, the Battle of Savage's Station on June 29th, during the Seven Days Battles from June 25th to July 1st, and the Battle of Malvern Hill also on July 1st. He was promoted to colonel on July 9th, and commanded an artillery battalion of General James Longstreet's Corps. Under Longstreet, Lee fought in the Second Battle of Manassas that August, and then the Battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17th, where his guns played a prominent role in defending the ground near the famed Dunker Church. On November 6, 1862, he was appointed brigadier general and assigned to the command of General John C. Pemberton's artillery at Vicksburg, Miss. Lee fought notably during the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16th, where he was wounded in the shoulder. Military historians praised Lee's performance in this action, saying, "he was the hero of the battle of Champion Hill. He was captured with the Confederate garrison when Vicksburg fell on July 4, 1863, and was later exchanged. Promoted to major general in August 1863, Lee was assigned to the command of the cavalry in the Department of Mississippi, Alabama, West Tennessee and East Louisiana, on May 9, 1864. Troops in General Lee's department under General Nathan Bedford Forrest won a convincing victory at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads on June 10th, and seriously threatened the U.S. supply lines supporting General William T. Sherman's army in Georgia. Lee personally reinforced Forrest, but the combined Confederate forces were defeated at the Battle of Tupelo, Miss., ensuring that Sherman's supply lines were still operative. Promoted to lieutenant general on June 23, 1864, this made Stephen D. Lee the youngest at this grade in the entire Confederate States Army. On July 26th, he was assigned to lead the Second Corps, Army of Tennessee, commanded by General John Bell Hood. During the Atlanta Campaign, Lee fought at the Battle of Ezra Church on July 28th and was in command of the extended line in southwest Atlanta in August 1864. His troops, with the attachment of William B. Bate's Division and a brigade of Georgia militia, defeated General John M. Schofield's movement to break the railroad lines at East Point at the Battle of Utoy Creek. For this action, General Lee published a general order recognizing Bate's Division for defeating the attack of the combined Union's 23rd Corps and 14th Corps. He also commanded his corps at the Battle of Jonesborough, on August 31st, and September 1st. He fought in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign and was severely wounded in the foot at the Battle of Spring Hill, on November 29th, but did not give up the command until an organized rearguard took over the post of danger. Regarding the confused and disappointing fight at Spring Hill, Lee considered it "one of the most disgraceful and lamentable occurrences of the war, one that is in my opinion unpardonable." He then participated in the Battle of Franklin on November 30th. Lee's men arrived at Franklin at 4:00 pm with orders from General Hood to support General Benjamin F. Cheatham's force if necessary. Meeting with Cheatham, General Lee decided the situation was dire and attacked at 9:00 pm, taking serious losses from the Union position. Following the Battle of Nashville, on December 15–16th, Lee kept his troops closed up and well in hand despite the general rout of the rest of the Confederate forces. For three consecutive days, they would form the fighting rearguard of the otherwise disintegrated Army of Tennessee. General Lee was wounded in the foot by an artillery shell on December 17th. After his recovery, he joined the remnants of General Joseph E. Johnston's army during the 1865 Carolina's Campaign and he surrendered with Johnston's forces in April 1865, and was paroled on May 1st. After the war Lee lived in Mississippi where he devoted his life to being a planter. He later served in the Mississippi State Senate in 1878, and was the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi from 1880 to 1899. Lee was a delegate to the Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1890. In 1895, he was the first chairman of the Vicksburg National Park Association, and was instrumental in the congressional passage of the law creating the national park in 1899. He also was an active member and commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans society. He died on May 28, 1908, at Vicksburg, and is buried in Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, Mississippi. General Lee is memorialized with a statue in the Vicksburg National Military Park which was dedicated in 1909.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Chest up view in double breasted Confederate uniform coat. His insignia in this view show three stars on his collar indicating his rank being that of a full colonel, dating this image to mid or late 1862. This image came from the Surgeon and General Bernard J.D. Irwin collection. There is a period ink inscription written on the front mount, Lt. Genl. Stephen D. Lee, C.S.A. Written in period ink in Irwin's hand on the reverse is, Lt. Genl. Stephen D. Lee, C.S.A., Western Armies. This is image No. 192 in the Irwin collection as indicated on the reverse of the card. Back mark: Published by E. & H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York. Excellent, and very desirable Confederate image. Rare.

History of United States Surgeon & General Bernard John Dowling Irwin

Surgeon & General Irwin was the first United States Medal of Honor Recipient by date of action, February 13, 1861.

(1830-1917) Born in County Roscommon, Ireland, he immigrated with his parents to the United States in the 1840s. He attended New York University from 1848 to 1849, and then served as a private in the New York Militia. In 1850, he entered Castleton Medical College, and he later transferred to New York Medical College, where he graduated in 1852.

He served as a surgeon and physician at the State Emigrant Hospital on Ward's Island, NYC, until his appointment as assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army in 1856. He was an assistant army surgeon during the Apache Wars, and was the first Medal of Honor recipient chronologically by date of action. His actions on February 13, 1861, at Apache Pass, Arizona, are the earliest for which the Medal of Honor was awarded! The citation on his medal of honor reads; "Voluntarily took command of troops and attacked and defeated hostile Indians he met on the way. Surgeon Irwin volunteered to go to the rescue of 2d Lt. George N. Bascom, 7th U.S. Infantry, who, with 60 men, was trapped by Chiricahua Apaches under Cochise. Irwin and 14 men, not having horses, began the 100-mile march riding mules. After fighting and capturing Indians, recovering stolen horses and cattle, he reached Bascom's column and helped break his siege."

Cochise, the Apache Indian chief, and a group of Apache warriors were accused of kidnapping a boy and a small group of U.S. soldiers in the Arizona Territory after the Army had captured Cochise's brother and nephews. When the Army refused to make a prisoner exchange, Cochise killed his prisoners. Soldiers then killed Cochise's brother and nephews. 2nd Lieutenant George Nicholas Bascom led a group of 60 men from the 7th U.S. Infantry after Cochise but was soon besieged, prompting a rescue mission by the army. In response to the siege of Bascom and his men, Irwin set out on a rescue mission with 14 men of the 1st U.S. Dragoons. He was able to catch up with the Apaches at Apache Pass in present day Arizona. He strategically placed his small unit around Cochise and his men, tricking the Apache leader into thinking that he had a much larger army with him. The Apaches fled and Bascom and his men were saved. Bascom and his men joined Irwin and together they were able to track Cochise into the mountains & rescued the young boy that Cochise had captured.

The Medal of Honor did not exist during the time of the "Bascom Incident," and would not be established until a year later in 1862. However, the actions of Irwin were well remembered, and he was awarded the Medal of Honor just prior to his retirement. Irwin's actions were the earliest for which the Medal of Honor was awarded, predating the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Irwin subsequently served with the Union army during the Civil War, and was promoted to captain in August 1861, and the next year was appointed medical director under Major General William "Bull" Nelson. He improvised one of the first field hospitals used by the U.S. Army at the Battle of Shiloh, on April 7, 1862. He was captured during the Battle of Richmond, Ky., while attempting to save the wounded General Nelson. He was promoted to major in September 1862, and after his release from a Rebel prison he became medical director in the Army of the Southwest. From 1863 to 1865, he was superintendent of the military hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and in March of 1865, he was brevetted to the rank of colonel. He was a companion of the California Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and the Order of the Indian Wars of the United States. After the Civil War, Irwin served as a senior medical officer at several U.S. army posts, including West Point from 1873 to 1878. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1885, to colonel in August 1890, and to brigadier general in April 1904. He died in Ontario, Canada, on December 15, 1917, and is buried in the West Point Cemetery, at the U.S. Military Academy, New York.

His son George LeRoy Irwin, graduated from West Point in 1889, and served in World War I, becoming a Major General in the U.S. Army.

His grandson Stafford LeRoy Irwin, graduated from West Point in 1915, and served in World War II, and became a Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army.

His daughter, Amy Irwin Addams McCormick, was a nurse with the American Red Cross and served during World War I.

General Irwin was an admirer and collector of photographs, and he put together a very large, and superb collection of Union and Confederate images. Interestingly, he collected photographs of both Rebel and Yankee alike. I have owned several famous military photograph albums before and never came across one that collected images from both sides of the rebellion. He numbered each individual image, and wrote a brief historical notation on each one. The collection was split up by another dealer, and by the time I found out about it, I was still very fortunate to be able to acquire about one third of his superb Civil War image collection. Each image is rare because it is "one of a kind" having come from the Irwin collection!

The image of B.J.D. Irwin pictured here is a copy photograph from the "Find a Grave" website and is used here for illustration purposes only.