USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
F
PC
Gc 974.8 B31m v.2 1657148
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 3030
-
MARTIAL
EEDS
OF
ENNSYLVANIA.
vol.2 6
BY
SAMUEL P. BATES.
The field of history should not merely be well tilled, but well peopled. None is delightful to me, or interesting, in which I find not as many illustrious names as have a right to enter it. We might as well in a drama place the actors behind the scenes, and listen to the dialogue there, as in a history push valiam men back, and protrude ourselves with husky disputations. Show me rather how great projects were executed. great advantages gained, and great calamities averted. Show me the Generals and the Statesmen who stood foremost, that I may tend to them in reverence; tell me their names, that I may repeat them to my children.
LANDOR'S PERICLES AND ASPASIA.
PHILADELPHIA : T. H. DAVIS & CO. 1676.
F854.08
559
DAVID B. BIRNEY.
juncture, Birney came upon the field. It was the turning-point in the fortunes of the day. In gallant style his well-ordered columns wheeled into position. The enemy was driven at all points, and the Union forces occupied the field. The conduct of Birney in this fight attracted the attention of Kearny, a soldier in the armies of two hemispheres, whose name is a synonym for gallantry, and the two were ever after fast friends. Volunteer Generals from civil life were viewed with jealousy and distrust by those bred to the profession of arms, and Birney often found himself under the ban of the latter, even experiencing the shafts of malice; but Kearny never yielded to this petty weakness, judging every man by the qualities which he displayed in the hour of peril. He found in Birney a manhood which won his soldier heart. In his report of this battle, Kearny said : " I have to mark out for the high commendation of the General-in-chief, . Generals Jameson, Birney, and Berry, whose soldierly judgment was alone equalled by their distinguished courage." In a letter to Governor Curtin, he said : "In conclusion, your Excellency, it is not only by her noble regiments Pennsylvania was dis- tinguished in the last great battles; I have to bring to your notice and to that of the people of the State that the Second brigade of my division was commanded by a Pennsylvanian, General Birney. This officer displayed coolness and courage, and brought into the field the talents which distinguished him among his fellow-citizens. He has proved himself a good Colonel. His brigade is a model of good discipline. His genius of com- mand was especially conspicuous on this day."
At Charles City Cross Roads, and at Malvern Hill, Birney bore a conspicuous part, Kearny saying of him in the latter engage- ment : "The coolness and judicious arrangement of General Birney influenced his whole command to feel invincible in a very weak position."
Upon the return of the army from the Peninsula to the sup- port of Pope, now struggling in the toils of the enemy, the Third corps, having given that General the necessary aid to enable him to retire across the Rappahannock, was advanced to the plains of Manassas. A daring reconnoissance was made by Birney to Centreville with two companies of cavalry, where the head of
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/martialdeedsofpe02bate
560
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the hostile column was struck, the General narrowly escaping capture by shooting down his pursuer. In the battle which ensued, Kearny's division held the right of the Union army on the turnpike. "I kept Birney's most disciplined regiments," says Kearny, "reserved and ready for emergencies. During the first hours of combat, as tired regiments in the centre fell back, General Birney of his own accord rapidly pushed across to give them a hand to stimulate them to a renewed fight." In con- cluding his report, Kearny says: " My loss has been about 750 men. It makes me proud to dwell upon the renewed efforts of my generals of brigade, Birney and Robinson."
On the afternoon of the Ist of September, Stonewall Jackson attacked the right wing of the Union army, in the neighborhood of the little village of Chantilly, with his characteristic fury. Reno first felt the shock; but Kearny was soon at his side- Birney's division in the advance-and stayed, by his powerful sup- ports, the shattered line. It was in the midst of a terrific thun- der-storm, and the roar of the elements drowned the awful voice of the battle. Kearny appeared as touched by inspiration, and. as he moved upon the field, shone like the heroes of Homer, or a descended god of war. This was his last battle, and he must needs grace the end with acts of undying valor. Only intent on saving the day, after doing deeds worthy the hero, he was finally shot down from coming inadvertently into the enemy's lines. " At this juncture," says Birney, "General Kearny reached the hill with Randolph's battery, and, placing it in position, aided my brigade by a well-directed fire. I then pointed out to the General a gap on my right, caused by the retreat of Stevens' division, and asked for Berry's brigade to fill it. IIe rode for- ward to examine the ground, and, dashing past our lines into those of the enemy, fell a victim to his gallant daring." A rebel Captain, observing him riding up, called out to him to surrender. Discovering his peril, he leaned forward on his horse and put spurs to its sides, hoping to extricate himself. But a volley from the enemy's muskets was too well directed, and he fell dead upon the spot. Birney had remonstrated with his bold commander against exposing himself where it was certain the enemy was swarming, but without avail. Judging by his protracted absence
561
DAVID B. BIRNEY.
that he had fallen into the enemy's hands, Birney assumed com- mand of the division, directing its movements with consummate skill, gaining the victory and saving thereby the whole army from disastrous rout. A message was received from the enemy's lines, giving the first intelligence of the death of Kearny, and tendering his body to the Union commander. It was received under flag of truce by his trusted staff-officer, Captain J. Mindel. At midnight the army moved, and with it the remains of the mangled General. At the defences of Washington, the army halted, and the funeral cortege passed on to his home at Newark, New Jersey, where it was received by a sorrowing wife and family, and without ostentation committed to the grave.
At the conclusion of Pope's campaign, General Birney was designated to sit with Generals Casey and Harney in a court- martial, and his division was led by another in the battle of Antietam. While engaged in this service, General Birney was the recipient of a most flattering testimonial to his gallantry in the late engagements from citizens of Philadelphia, who had watched, with a just pride, the brilliant career of their fellow- townsman. It consisted of a valuable horse and fine equipments, and sword. The guard of the sword was elaborately set with the initials, D. B. B., in diamonds. The hilt was adorned with an olive leaf, wrought with the same glittering jewels. Accompany- ing the sword was a handsome dress and undress scabbard, on the former of which was the inscription, "GEN. D. B. BIRNEY, October, 1862, from his follow-citizens of Philadelphia."
After concluding his labors upon the court-martial, General Birney was put in command of Kearny's old division, General Stoneman who had commanded it in the Antietam campaign being placed over the Third corps. While in camp before Fred- ericksburg, Mrs. Birney visited head-quarters, and was untiring in her attentions to the sick and wounded in the hospitals of the division. Meade having been selected by Franklin to make the attack on the enemy's left, in the battle of Fredericksburg, on the 13th of February, 1862, Birney was ordered to cross the Rappahannock and take position in support of Meade. Gallantly did Meade assault the well-manned breastworks of the foe, break- ing through his lines and reaching his camps. But the division
36
562
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
was too weak to maintain the advantage gained. He called on Birney for support. Birney referred the call to Stoneman, his corps commander ; but, seeing the ranks of Meade shattered and broken, took the responsibility of ordering up his brigades and advancing his batteries. His troops were now subjected to a terrible ordeal; but he was everywhere upon the field, and by his presence, unheeding danger, inspired his men to hold their ground, closing up where the line was broken, and repelling the repeated and determined attacks. "The state of affairs," says General Stoneman, " when Birney's (First) division arrived on the ground, followed soon after by Sickles' (Second) division, was anything but promising. . .. In doing this valuable service, the First division lost upwards of a thousand men as brave as ever pulled a trigger. Of the conduct of this division, I cannot speak too highly. Composed, as it is, of regiments from almost every State from the Penobscot to the Mississippi, the entire country may justly feel proud of its well-earned fame."
Upon the accession of Hooker to the command of the Army of the Potomac, Birney could count upon a sincere and warm per- sonal friend in the new Chief. Hooker felt that men of the stamp of Birney should occupy the most responsible places, and he ac- cordingly wrote to the President, saying, that "if service and qualifications are of weight, he is richly deserving promotion. IIe has been in command of Kearny's old division the greater part of the time since the death of that officer, and I know of no better division commander in this army, or one that I would prefer to have in my command. He is an ornament to any service." At Chancellorsville, Birney took position with his division to the right of the Chancellor House, and succeeded in occupying a continuous line through the woods south of the piank road. "At about eight o'clock in the morning," he says in his official report, "I reported to Major-General Sickles that a con- tinnous column of infantry, trains, and ambulances was passing my front towards the right, and that I should give it a few shots from Clark's rifled battery. Sending a section to a good point in the little field in my front, it, opened with effect, the column double-quicking past the point reached by our shots." At twelve Mr., Birney was ordered to pierce the advancing column and gain
563
DAVID B. BIRNEY.
a position on the road over which it was passing. This was promptly executed, reaching with little opposition the Forge, a company of the enemy which occupied this place being cap- tured and sent to the rear. This seemed an important position, and as the fire of musketry on the left of the line at this time was terrific, Birney was ordered to halt at that point until re- inforcements could come up. Whipple's division of the Twelfth corps, and Barlow's brigade of the Eleventh, were pushed forward. Upon their arrival, Birney again advanced, and nearly 200 of the enemy were captured. At half past six. P. M., he was again ordered to advance rapidly, and as his force, now well supported, went forward, the enemy was driven by a well-directed fire, and the roads, over which the hostile columns had been seen moving, were soon entirely at his command. He was about preparing to bivouac for the night, when he was informed that the Eleventh corps -- which formed the right wing of the army, and on which he was relying for support upon that flank-was broken, and in com- plete rout. This left him in a most perilous situation. He was far in advance of the main line of the army, across difficult ground, with his supports gone, and the victorious enemy sweeping on to seemingly assured victory. Before the enemy reached the track by which Birney had advanced, however, the foc had been checked, their trusted leader Stonewall Jackson slain, and darkness com- ing, a lull in the battle had succeeded. But still the Union army was in the worst possible position, the force under Birney being particularly disjointed, and liable to be cut off. Something must be done, as morning would bring a renewal of the fight, and the isolation of Birney would be discovered. At midnight, Sickles gave the order for Birney to retrace his steps, and when he had arrived at the breastworks, which had been held by the Union army, but were now in the hands of the enemy, to storm and carry them at the point of the bayonet. As noiselessly as possi- ble the troops moved back, and when arrived before the works behind which the enemy was sleeping, Birney opened with his artillery. It was midnight of Saturday, and the first hour of the Sabbath was advancing, when Birney's guns roused the wearied soldiers of both armies, now reposing in close proximity to each other. The roar of artillery for a little time was terrific, and
56-1
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the fire told fearfully upon the rebel line. The infantry was held in readiness, and the instant the first great shock of the guns had been felt they dashed forward and poured in a most destructive fire. The enemy was taken by surprise, little dream- ing of an attack from that direction in force; and that invincible corps, which had been led by its renowned Captain to victory in nearly every battle with the Army of the Potomac, was broken and thrust back, leaving the portion of the field with its works which it had snatched, in the early evening, from the Eleventh corps, in the hands of Birney's men. The victory was signal, inasmuch as it gave the Union forces a foothold for the contest, which was sure to be renewed at early dawn; and it opened a gateway for this force, which was practically isolated and cut off from the main body, to restore its connection, and to take posi- tion on the main line at its most exposed and vulnerable point. The fighting commenced early on the Sabbath, the 3d of May, and the hours of that peaceful day were given to most frightful carnage. Unfortunately, the Third corps stood where it was as- sailed from three sides, and it was soon found impossible to hold its position. To withdraw it to defensible ground now became the absorbing problem. Only by determined fighting could this be executed. Manfully did its gallant divisions stand, in one of the most trying situations in which a soldier can be placed, where he is conscious of fighting, not for victory, but to save what he can; and none fought more gallantly than the division of Birney. The movement to the new line in the rear was successfully executed, but at a fearful cost. This withdrawal practically ended the battle on the Chancellorsville field, and after facing each other for a few days and keeping up a show of battle at arms' length, returned to their old camping-grounds about Falmouth and Fredericksburg. The valor of Birney in this battle was duly recognized. He was made a Major-General, his commission to date from the 2d of May, 1863.
In the Gettysburg campaign, Birney led the Third corps until the army reached Frederick, Maryland. Sickles, who had been absent from the field, returned and resumed command. The corps reached the field during the night of the 1st of July. About noon of the 2d, it was led by Sickles into position on the
565
DAVID B. BIRNEY.
diagonal ridge between Cemetery and Seminary Ridges, striking the Emmittsburg pike at the Peach Orchard. . With that wise forethought which characterized him, Birney carly sent out a force from his command to feel upon his front. It found the enemy moving heavy masses of infantry and artillery around upon the Union left. The position and force of the Union army was easily discernible by the enemy. Not so his from the Union side, as he moved behind a curtain of wood, along White Oak or Seminary Ridge. This important piece of information, vital to the safety of the army, was at once communicated to Sickles, who ordered Birney to dispose his division so as to face this newly- developed line of the foe. Longstreet's veterans were concen- trated upon the extreme Union left ; indeed, had really outflanked the Union army when discovered, and were ready to fall like Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville upon the unsuspecting and unprepared Union line, and take it in reverse. Fortunately, not as at Chancellorsville, a vigilant officer was here, who divined the movements of the foe and was prepared to meet him when he came. Ward's brigade was posted on the left, near the Devil's Den in front of Round Top; De Trobriand's along the wooded and rocky ground by the Wheat Field; and Graham's reached to the Emmittsburg pike and for some distance along its course towards the village of Gettysburg. This line was over a mile in length, facing the corps of Longstreet and Hill. The odds were fearful. At length the storm burst with a fury rarely paralleled in the annals of war. The thin lines of Birney bent before it, but did not break. Beating back the strong columns of the enemy on one part of the line only insured a blow with re- doubled force in another. Supports were called for and speedily came. Sickles, stricken in the heat of the battle, was borne away, and the command of the corps devolved upon Birney. It was an awful moment. Should this wing give way the field would be irretrievably lost. But the iron will of Birney was equal to the emergency. With a fortitude unsurpassed, he brought his men to the fearful work, and battled with a superior force until one-half of the eight thousand who composed that heroic corps had gone down in the fight. The enemy had every- where been checked, and fresh troops had now come to take their
566
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
places. He accordingly gave the word for his worn-out men to retire. Falling back, they took position on the new and more contracted line of battle, and these begrimed heroes who survived rested upon their arms for the night. Birney, though every- where in the thickest of the fight, was hit but twice, only slight wounds being inflicted. "Notwithstanding the stubborn resist- ance of the Third corps, under Major-General Birney," says Meade, in his report of the battle, " superiority in numbers and corps of the enemy enabling him to outflank its advanced posi- tion, General Birney was counselled to fall back and reform behind the line originally designed to be held."
After the battle of Gettysburg, General Sickles having lost a leg, and being incapacitated for further field service, by every principle of justice General Birney should have succeeded to the command of the Third corps; but other counsels prevailed, and it was found convenient to consolidate this corps with the forces stationed at Harper's Ferry under General French, and the latter was placed over the combined force, Birney returning again to the command of his old division. It was the bane of the Army of the Potomac, that its officers were divided into cliques, actuated by certain political or professional views, and many an able soldier was crushed beneath the heel of the despotism of that one which happened to be in the ascendant.
It is unnecessary to describe the part taken by General Birney in the forty or more battles in which he was engaged, and in which his valor shone conspicuous. Before entering upon the campaign of the Wilderness, the Army of the Potomac was reor- ganized. The Third corps was broken up. The First, Second and Fourth divisions of the Third were consolidated, forming the Third division of the Second corps, and General Birney was assigned to the command, thus enabling him to retain under him the men whom he had led from the first, and with whom he had been associated. To the command of the corps General Hancock was assigned.
At the opening of May, 1864, the army crossed the Rappa- hannock and, plunging into the dense wood, was soon lost to sight beneath the dense shadows of the Wilderness. Scarcely had the movement commenced before it struck the columns of the
567
DAVID B. BIRNEY.
enemy marching to meet their assailants. And now commenced one of the most remarkable and hotly-contested campaigns of the war. Massive army corps were hurled against massive army corps, and not an inch was gained on either side without desper- ate fighting and the loss of myriads of brave men. Until the keen blasts of winter swept the hills and valleys of Virginia, and the cold breath of the ocean chilled the blood of the contestants, was this struggle maintained in all its sanguinary horrors. In the three days of battle in the Wilderness, in the two weeks of fighting before Spottsylvania Court-House, in the heroic charge across the North Anna on the 23d of May, at Cold Harbor during the first days of June, in the assault on the intrenchments before Petersburg on the 16th of June, and in the advance upon the Weldon Railroad, the division of Birney was where the fighting was sternest, and in all he led with the heroism of the bravest and the skill of the most renowned captains.
In the advance upon the Weldon Railroad Birney was in com- mand of the corps, Hancock having been incapacitated to lead by the breaking out of his wound received at Gettysburg. The attack was to be made upon the enemy behind intrenchments. The quick eye of Birney recognized the hopelessness of the movement, and he protested in earnest terms against it; but the order was imperative, and the commander-in-chief was inexorable. Birney knew the strength of the enemy's works, and judged correctly of the preparations which would be made to receive the Union force. The dispositions were skilfully made, and the assault delivered with great gallantry ; but it failed of success, as its commander had foreseen from the first. Birney was the subject of abuse, and the voice of detraction was loud against him. But though the ignorant blamed and the envious were busy with aspersions, the Lieutenant-General, before whose ever- vigilant eye no deed was hidden, could discover nothing to censure. On the contrary, he was filled with admiration for the cool courage and undaunted bravery displayed by the temporary leader of the corps, and it was not long before the promotion came which was justly earned.
On the 21st of July General Birney wrote to his law partner : " I am making every exertion to come home and recruit. You
568
MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
will see me in a few days, when I hope that business will permit you to join me in a trip to some quiet place, where I can lay aside shoulder-straps and enjoy a few evenings of quiet talk. I am greatly bored by the want of something to do here. Nothing relieves the monotony of the day but the occasional report of a heavy gun, which for a few moments starts us from our lethargy ; but we soon relapse into as perfect quiet as if we were in some grove near by Philadelphia." That contemplated visit was never made. That quiet, friendly converse in some cool retreat was never enjoyed. Two days after thus writing he was assigned to the command of the Tenth corps. In mentioning this promotion, in a letter to a friend, he speaks with a feeling of just pride : "I am much pleased," he says, "with my new command. My assignment to it by General Grant, in the field, in preference to a dozen others who deserved it, nearly all of whom outranked me, was a compliment far greater than if I had been assigned to the corps by the President upon political or personal grounds."
It was not without a deep feeling of regret that he parted with the tried veterans of his old division, which the lamented Kearny had first led; but he at once took the field with his new com- mand, and the sharp fighting and decisive gains of Deep Bottom showed that he had not assumed the duty of leading without the spirit and the will to face the enemy and drive him from his chosen ground. Again and again did that enemy, stung with mortification at his loss of guns and strong positions, return to the contest, hurling heavy masses of his best troops upon the devoted Tenth corps, but with little effect. On the 19th of August he telegraphed to General Butler, who commanded the Army of the James, to which the Tenth corps belonged : "The enemy attacked my line in heavy force last night, and was repulsed with great loss. In front of one colored regiment eighty- two dead bodies were counted. The colored regimental troops behaved handsomely and are in fine spirits. The assault was in column, a division strong, and would have carried the works if they had not been too well defended. The enemy's loss was at least one thousand."
For a time the Tenth corps, having returned to the Petersburg front, remained in the trenches, where little of daring was re-
ميد
569
DAVID B. BIRNEY.
quired. While here General Birney was authorized to raise two new regiments, which were recruited with unusual celerity. Indeed, the people of Philadelphia had observed the gallantry of Birney with pride and satisfaction. In recognition of his eminent. services the Select and Common Councils passed highly culogistic resolutions, and tendered him the use of Independence Hall for a reception of his friends and the public. But this flattering mark of favor he was unable to accept.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.