David B. Birney

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about Civil War general. For the American actor, see David Birney.
David Bell Birney
Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AllegianceUnited States
Union
Service/branchUnited States Army
Union Army
Years of service1861–1864
Rank Major General
Commands heldX Corps
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

David Bell Birney (May 29, 1825 – October 18, 1864) was a

Union general in the American Civil War
.

Early life

Birney was born in Huntsville, Alabama, the son of an abolitionist from Kentucky, James G. Birney. The Birney family returned to Kentucky in 1833, and James Birney freed his slaves. In 1835, the family moved to Cincinnati, where the father published an anti-slavery newspaper. Following numerous threats from pro-slavery mobs, the family moved again to Michigan, and finally to Philadelphia.

Following his graduation from Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts,[1] David Birney entered business, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He returned to Philadelphia, practicing law from 1856 until the outbreak of the Civil War.

Civil War

Hancock and fellow division commanders Barlow and Gibbon
during the Wilderness campaign

Birney entered the Union army just after

Maj. Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, allegedly for "halting his command a mile from the enemy." But this was simply a matter of orders misunderstood. Birney was court-martialed
, but with strong positive testimony from Kearny, he was acquitted and restored to command.

Birney then led his brigade in the

George G. Meade's division's attack on the left flank of the Union line. However, he was complimented in III Corps commander Maj. Gen. George Stoneman's official report for "the handsome manner in which he handled his division" on that same day and for a second time he escaped punishment. Birney led his division in heavy fighting at Chancellorsville
, where they suffered more casualties (1,607) than any other division in the army. As a result of his distinguished service at Chancellorsville, he was promoted to major general on May 20, 1863.

Woodlands Cemetery

At the

John B. Hood and Lafayette McLaws slammed into the III Corps, and Birney's division, hit on three sides, was completely demolished in the fighting with severe casualties. As Birney watched the few survivors of his division gather about him on Cemetery Ridge, he whispered to one of his officers, "I wish I were already dead."[2] Sickles had his leg shattered by an artillery shell and Birney assumed temporary command of the corps, despite having received two minor wounds himself. Birney was in temporary command of the III Corps for a few days after Gettysburg, when the more senior General William H. French
was named permanent commander. French quickly gained notoriety for his inept handling of the III Corps, and unlike Birney, he was an outsider to the corps and unpopular with the soldiers.

Birney started in the

Woodlands Cemetery
.

His older brother, William, was also a Union general.

Legacy

David Birney was one of the more successful "political generals" of the Civil War. Many of his colleagues resented his swift rise in the ranks and he was not a beloved figure with them or his soldiers. Theodore Lyman of Meade's staff wrote of Birney:[3]

He was a pale, Puritanical figure, with a demeanor of unmoveable coldness; only he would smile politely when you spoke to him. He was spare in person, with a thin face, light-blue eye, and sandy hair. As a General he took very good care of his Staff and saw they got due promotion. He was a man, too, who looked out for his own interests sharply and knew the mainspring of military advancement. His unpopularity among some persons arose partly from his own promotion, which, however, he deserved, and partly from his cold covert manner.

— Theodore Lyman

The Gen. David B. Birney School, a Philadelphia public school named in Birney's honor, was built in 1912–1913. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Bates, p. 557.
  2. ^ Tagg, p. 67.
  3. ^ Tagg, p. 63.
  4. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Daniel E. Sickles
 Commander of the III Corps (Army of the Potomac)
May 29, 1863 – June 3, 1863 		Succeeded by
Daniel E. Sickles
Preceded by
Daniel E. Sickles
 Commander of the III Corps (Army of the Potomac)
July 2, 1863 – July 7, 1863 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander of the III Corps (Army of the Potomac)
January 28, 1864 – February 17, 1864 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Winfield S. Hancock
 Commander of the II Corps (Army of the Potomac)
June 18, 1864 – June 27, 1864 		Succeeded by
Winfield S. Hancock
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_B._Birney&oldid=1218493797"