United States Congressman from Missouri

Governor of Missouri

Wounded at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas in 1862

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

(1809-67) Born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, near Farmville, to a moderately wealthy family of planters. His father and older brother both fought in the War of 1812. He was educated at Hampton Sydney College, and afterwards studied law in Cumberland County, Virginia, under the jurist Creed Taylor. He spent six years in the Missouri state legislature, the last four as speaker of the house. From 1844-46, he was a member of the U.S. Congress from Missouri, and he resigned his seat to fight in the Mexican War as colonel of the 2nd Missouri Mounted Infantry, and was assigned to serve under the command of General Stephen W. Kearny. He was the governor of Missouri from 1853-57. Price was initially a public supporter of the Union, and backed Senator Stephen A. Douglas for president in 1860. When the states of the deep south seceded and formed the Confederate States of America, Price initially opposed the secession of Missouri. He was elected presiding officer of the Missouri Constitutional Convention on February 28, 1861, which voted against the state leaving the Union. In private, however, Price changed his mind and conspired with pro-Confederate Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson to arm the state's militia with Confederate weapons so they could seize the St. Louis Arsenal, and thereby gain control of the city and the state. The plot was foiled in May 1861, when Union forces under General Nathaniel Lyon seized the militia's Camp Jackson near St. Louis, where Confederate weapons had been delivered. No longer able to hide his private support, and using the Federal action as justification, Price gave his public support to the secessionists, and joined in requests for the Confederacy to occupy Missouri. Governor Jackson appointed Price to command the new Missouri State Guard in May 1861, and Price led his recruits, who nicknamed him "Old Pap," in a campaign to expel Lyon's troops. By that time, Lyon's troops had seized the state capital, and reconvened the pro-Union Missouri Constitutional Convention. The convention voted to remove Governor Jackson from office, and replace him with Hamilton Rowan Gamble, a pro-Union former chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. The climax of the conflict was the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, when Price's Missouri State Guard, supported by Confederate troops led by General Benjamin McCulloch, soundly defeated Lyon's troops, with Lyon himself dying, the first Union general to die in battle. Price's troops launched an offensive into northern Missouri, defeating the Federal forces of Colonel James Mulligan at the First Battle of Lexington, Mo. However, the Union Army soon sent reinforcements to Missouri, and forced Price's men and Jackson to fall back to the Arkansas border. The Union retained control of most of Missouri for the remainder of the war, although there were frequent guerrilla raids. Operating as a Missouri militia general rather than a commissioned Confederate officer, Price was unable to agree on future operations with General McCulloch, and Price and McCulloch became such bitter rivals that the Confederacy appointed General Earl Van Dorn as overall commander of the Trans-Mississippi Dept. Van Dorn reunited Price's and McCulloch's formations into a force he named the Army of the West, and set out to engage Union troops in Missouri under command of General Samuel R. Curtis. Now under General Van Dorn's command, Sterling Price was commissioned into the Confederate States Army as a Major General on March 6, 1862. Outnumbering General Curtis's forces, Van Dorn attacked the Northern army at Pea Ridge, Arkansas on March 7–8, 1862. Although wounded in the battle, General Price pushed Curtis's force back at Elkhorn Tavern on March 7th, but the battle was lost on the following day after a furious Union counterattack. Price, now serving under General Van Dorn, crossed the Mississippi River to reinforce General P.G.T. Beauregard's army in northern Mississippi following Beauregard's loss at the Battle of Shiloh. Van Dorn's army was positioned on the Confederate right flank during the Siege of Corinth, and during General Braxton Bragg's "Heartland Offensive," Van Dorn was sent to western Mississippi, while General Price was given command of the District of Tennessee. As Bragg marched his army into Kentucky, he urged Price to make a move and Price seized the Union supply depot at nearby Iuka, but was driven back by General William S. Rosecrans at the Battle of Iuka on September 19, 1862. A few weeks later, on October 3–4, Price, under Van Dorn's command once more, was defeated at the Second Battle of Corinth, Miss. Van Dorn was replaced by General John C. Pemberton, and Price, who had become thoroughly disgusted with Van Dorn, and was eager to return to Missouri, obtained a leave to visit Richmond, the Confederate capital. There, he obtained an audience with Confederate President Jefferson Davis to discuss his grievances, only to find out that his own loyalty to the South was sternly questioned by the Confederate president. Price did secure Davis's permission to return to Missouri but unimpressed with the Missourian, President Davis pronounced Price "the vainest man I ever met." Price contested Union control over Arkansas in the summer of 1863, and while he won some of his engagements, he was not able to dislodge Federal forces from the state, and abandoned Little Rock. General Price convinced his superiors to permit him to invade Missouri in the fall of 1864, hoping yet to seize the state for the Confederacy, or at the very least imperil President Abraham Lincoln's chances for reelection in 1864. Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith agreed, though he was forced to detach the infantry brigades originally detailed to Price's force and send them elsewhere, thus changing Price's proposed campaign from a full scale invasion of Missouri to a large cavalry raid. Price amassed 12,000 horsemen for his army, and fourteen pieces of artillery. The first major engagement in Price's Raid occurred at Pilot Knob, where he successfully captured the Union held Fort Davidson, but needlessly subjected his men to high fatalities in the process, for a gain that turned out to be of no real value. From Pilot Knob, Price swung west, away from St. Louis, his primary objective, and toward Kansas City, Missouri, and nearby Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Forced to bypass his secondary target at heavily fortified Jefferson City, Price cut a swath of destruction across his home state, even as his army steadily dwindled due to battlefield losses, disease, and desertion. Although he defeated Union forces at Boonville, Glasgow, Lexington, the Little Blue River and Independence, Price was ultimately boxed in by two Union armies at Westport, where he had to fight against overwhelming odds. This unequal contest, known afterward as "The Gettysburg of the West," did not go his way, and he was forced to retreat into hostile Kansas. A new series of defeats followed, as General Price's battered and broken army was pushed steadily southward toward Arkansas, and then further south into Texas. "Price's Raid" was his last significant military operation, and his last significant Confederate campaign west of the Mississippi. Rather than surrender, Price emigrated to Mexico, where he and several of his former compatriots attempted to start a colony of Southerners. He settled in a Confederate exile colony in Carlota, Veracruz. There Price unsuccessfully sought service with the Emperor Maximilian. When the colony failed, he returned to Missouri. While in Mexico, Price started having severe intestinal problems, which grew worse in August 1866. Impoverished and in poor health, Price died in St. Louis, and his funeral was held on October 3, 1867, in St. Louis, at the First Methodist Episcopal Church. His body was carried by a black hearse drawn by six matching black horses, and his funeral procession was the largest to take place in St. Louis. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 3 3/4 card. The mount is very slightly trimmed. Back mark: Published by E. & H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York. This image came from the Surgeon and General Bernard J.D. Irwin collection. There is a period ink inscription written on the front mount, Maj. Genl. Sterling Price, C.S.A. Written in period ink in Irwin's hand on the reverse is, Lieut. Genl. Sterling Price, C.S.A. This is image No. 129 in the Irwin collection as indicated on the reverse of the card. This is Price's best known war date portrait taken as major general. Very fine 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.