Graduated #1 in the West Point class of 1853

Killed in the Atlanta campaign in July 1864

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

(1828-64) He was born in Clyde, Ohio, and graduated #1 in the West Point class of 1853, a class which included future Civil War generals Philip H. Sheridan, John M. Schofield and John Bell Hood. After graduation McPherson was commissioned brevet second lieutenant and he was appointed to the Corps of Engineers. For a year after his graduation, he was assistant instructor of engineering at West Point, a position never before given to so young an officer. From 1854 to 1857, McPherson was the assistant engineer upon the defenses of New York harbor, and the improvement of the Hudson River. In 1857, he was superintendent of the building of Fort Delaware, and in 1857–61 he was superintending engineer of the construction of the defenses of Alcatraz Island, at San Francisco, California, and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1858. In 1859, while in San Francisco, he met Emily Hoffman, a woman from a prominent merchant family in Baltimore who had come to California to help care for her sister's children. She soon became engaged to McPherson and a wedding was planned, but ultimately was put off by the onset of the Civil War.

At the outbreak of the rebellion, he requested a position on the staff of General Henry W. Halleck, one of the senior commanders in the west. Promoted to captain, on August 6, 1861, he was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, serving under General Halleck as his aide-de-camp, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. McPherson's career began rising after this assignment, as he was the Chief Engineer in General Ulysses S. Grant's army during the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, Tenn., February 1862. He was promoted to brigadier general on May 15, 1862, and served as military superintendent of the railroads in western Tennessee. On October 8th, he was promoted to major general and was soon after given command of the 17th Corps in General Grant's Army of the Tennessee. He saw service at Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg, and on March 26, 1864, he was given command of the Army of the Tennessee which he led in the subsequent campaign in northern Georgia. Eleven years after their graduation, now Confederate General John Bell Hood opposed General McPherson before Atlanta, and Hood's battle order would result in the death of his old friend and classmate. McPherson was killed before Atlanta on July 22, 1864. General William T. Sherman's tears rolled through his beard and down on the floor when he viewed the dead body of his friend laid upon a door torn from its hinges and improvised as a bier.

Confederate General John Bell Hood, wrote of his old friend McPherson's death:

"I will record the death of my classmate and boyhood friend, General James B. McPherson, the announcement of which caused me sincere sorrow. Since we had graduated in 1853, and had each been ordered off on duty in different directions, it has not been our fortune to meet. Neither the years nor the difference of sentiment that had led us to range ourselves on opposite sides in the war had lessened my friendship; indeed the attachment formed in early youth was strengthened by my admiration and gratitude for his conduct toward our people in the vicinity of Vicksburg. His considerate and kind treatment of them stood in bright contrast to the course pursued by many Federal officers."

General William T. Sherman openly wept upon the death of General McPherson, and penned a letter to Emily Hoffman, McPherson fiance in Baltimore, stating:

"My Dear Young Lady, A letter from your Mother to General Barry on my Staff reminds me that I owe you heartfelt sympathy and a sacred duty of recording the fame of one of our Country's brightest and most glorious Characters. I yield to none on Earth but yourself the right to excel me in lamentations for our Dead Hero. Why should death's darts reach the young and brilliant instead of older men who could better have been spared?"

McPherson was the second-highest-ranking Union officer to be killed in action during the war, the highest being General John Sedgwick. Miss Hoffman never recovered from his death, living a quiet and lonely life until her death in 1891.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 3 3/4 card. Bust view in uniform with rank of major general. Back mark: Published by E. & H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York. Card is slightly trimmed. 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. J.B. McPherson, U.S.A. This is written in red ink indicating that McPherson was killed during the Civil War. Written in period ink in Irwin's hand on the reverse is, Maj. Genl. Jas. B. McPherson, Comdg. 17th Corps N. Army. Written in red ink is, Killed July 22, '64 at Atlanta, Ga. This is image No. 61 in the Irwin collection as indicated on the reverse of the card. Very fine 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.