05/29/2026
Happy Birthday David Bell Birney. Birney was born on this day in Huntsville, Alabama in 1825. He and his family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio when he was thirteen.
After graduating from Andover, David traveled to Philadelphia where he entered into business and studied law. He began to actively practice law in 1856 and continued until the outbreak of the war.
Birney prepared for the conflict by studying military subjects and was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the 23rd Pennsylvania (a three-month regiment). The unit subsequently re-enlisted for three years and became its Colonel. On February 17, 1862 he was commissioned a Brigadier General of Volunteers, where he led a brigade under General Philip Kearny in the Third Army Corps in the Peninsula Campaign. [1]
Birney succeed Kearny as division commander after Kearny’s death at the Battle of Chantilly. He served ably and took command of the Third Corps on July 2, 1862 after MG Dan Sickles wounding near the Trostle Barn at Gettysburg.
The Third Corps was given to MG William French following Gettysburg and Birney returned to division command. In November 1863 that changed again as the Federal army un MG George Gordon Meade advanced to the Rappahannock and fought the Battles of Rappahannock Station and Kelly’s Ford.
At Kelly’s Ford, French was designated a wing commander, overseeing the First, Second and Third Corps. Birney was temporarily advanced to corps command.
During the action at Kelly’s Ford, Birney and his staff advanced to a small hill overlooking the ford, where Battery E, 1st Rhode Island artillery was engaging with Confederates across the river.
Birney was in an advanced position near the guns of Lt. [first name] Bucklyn’s Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Light, observing the assault. The Sharpshooters hesitated to cross the Rappahannock, suspecting Rebels along the south shore. They were correct, receiving fire from the North Carolinians hidden in the brush. “At the same time a volley was fired upon Birney and his staff, who were grouped together near the battery. This so irritated Birney that he very forcibly ordered the line into the river, using, in doing so, superlatives that are not found in military tactics, or the church catechism.”[2]
By mid-afternoon, Birney’s men were across the river and secured the ford, village of Kellysville and had pushed the Confederates back from the river. By dark, two pontoon bridges were laid and the bulk of the corps was across.
Birney and his division wintered in Culpeper and crossed the Rapidan as part of the Fifth Corps. Birney led his division well and on July 23, 1864 nominated him to command the Tenth Corps. However, Birney never had the opportunity. He contracted malaria, and succumbed to the illness on October 18, 1864.
He is buried in Philadelphia’s Woodlands Cemetery.
Photo of Birney and his staff taken during the Winter Encampment 1863-64 is from the Library of Congress.
1. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA, 1964, 34.
2. Lewis, George, The History of Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery in the War of 1861 and 1865, to Preserve the Union, Providence, RI, Snow & Farnham, 1892, 239.
