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CDV, General David B. Birney

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Item Number: cdv9705

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The gallant General Birney died from malaria in 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

(1825-1864) Son of the antislavery leader James G. Birney, he was born in Huntsville, Alabama. He moved with his family to Cincinnati, Ohio when he was 13 years old. He graduated from Andover, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He then moved to Philadelphia where he practiced law from 1856 until the outbreak of the rebellion. He was commissioned Colonel of 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry in 1861, and on February 17, 1862, was promoted to rank of brigadier general. His first major field action was when he was appointed as a brigade commander in General Phil Kearny's division of the 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac which he led in the 1862 Virginia Peninsular campaign. He was heavily engaged in the battles of Chantilly, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He fought gallantly as a division commander in General Daniel E. Sickles, 3rd Corps at Gettysburg, and took command of the corps after Sickles was seriously wounded on July 2, 1863 resulting in the amputation of Sickles leg. Birney was promoted to major general on May 20, 1863 for gallant service in the Chancellorsville campaign. He also served with distinction with the Army of the Potomac in the 1864 Overland campaign, but was badly stricken with malaria, and he died on October 18, 1864, in Philadelphia, and was buried in Woodlands Cemetery in that city.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Corners of the mount are very slightly trimmed. Period ink ID on the front mount, Maj. Genl. D.B. Birney, U.S.A. Half view wearing his double breasted major general's frock coat with a cape resting over his left shoulder. Back mark: E. & H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, From a Negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery. Period ink ID on the reverse, Maj. Genl. David B. Birney, Died Oct. 1864. This image came from the famous General B.J.D. Irwin album. Written at the bottom of the reverse is, Genl. B.J.D. Irwin album No. 85. Includes a 2 cents orange George Washington, U.S. Inter. Rev. Proprietary tax stamp. Very sharp image. Very desirable pose of this hard fighting Union Civil War general. Rare "one of a kind image" having come from the General Irwin album.

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 Rebels and Yankees 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. His was a superb Civil War image collection. Each image is rare because it is "one of a kind" having come from the Irwin collection!

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