William Birney

William Birney

William Birney (born May 28, 1819 near Huntsville , Alabama , † August 14, 1907 in Forest Glen , Maryland ) was an American professor, Union general during the American Civil War , attorney and author. A fervent abolitionist , he encouraged thousands of free African Americans to join the Union Army.

Birney was a son of prominent Southern Abolitionist leader James G. Birney and the older brother of Civil War General David B. Birney . Another brother, James Birney , was Lieutenant Governor of Michigan in 1860 . One cousin, Humphrey Marshall was a congressman and general in the Confederate Army .

Before the civil war

William Birney was born on his father's plantation near Huntsville, Alabama. He grew up there and in Danville , Kentucky . Birney went to Yale University , studied law, and after his admission to the bar, practiced in Cincinnati , Ohio . Then he lived in Europe for five years , mostly on the continent and in Great Britain . He was professor of English-language literature at Bourges College for two years . He also took an active part in the revolutionary movement in France in 1848 . He later wrote numerous articles for English and American newspapers. When he returned to the United States in 1853, he started a newspaper, the Daily Register , in Philadelphia .

In the civil war

When the American Civil War broke out, Birney joined the Union Army in May 1861, where he held the rank of captain in the 1st New Jersey Infantry . He gained his first combat experience at the First Battle of the Bull Run . After he was named major in the 4th New Jersey Infantry, he participated in the battles of Second Bull Run , Chantilly and Fredericksburg , and as a colonel in the Battle of Chancellorsville . Between 1863 and 1864 he was appointed one of three inspectors responsible for recruiting colored troops into the Union Army. In this capacity he organized seven regiments . He was named Colonel of the 22nd US Colored Troops. On May 22, 1863 he received an officer license as brigadier general and was assigned to recruit more black troops in Maryland . In 1864 he marched with his regiment to South Carolina , which was part of the Department of the South , to fight there. They did badly, and it wasn't until the Florida campaigns that things went much better, including the Battle of Olustee .

Birney's brigade was transferred to Virginia , where it joined other black regiments and formed the third division of the X Corps under the command of Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler . They suffered serious defeat in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm , but were crucial in several battles in the defense of Richmond . In December 1864 the black regiments of the X Corps were merged with those of the XVII Corps and formed a new, completely black XXV Corps under Major General Godfrey Weitzel . Birney's regiments became the 2nd Division of the XXV Corps and participated in the final assaults at the Siege of Petersburg in early 1865. Birney received the rank of Major General of the Volunteers in March 1865 . He then led his troops in the chase of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the Appomattox campaign . Birney resigned from the army in August of that year.

After the civil war

Birney lived in Florida for several years after the war before moving north in 1874 and starting a law practice in Washington, DC . He served as the US Attorney for the District of Columbia and wrote copiously on religion and history. He also wrote a biography of his father in 1890, James G. Birney and His Times; the Genesis of the Republican Party . Birney died at his home in Forest Glen in 1907 and was subsequently buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, Washington, DC.

literature

• Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders , Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, OCLC 445056 ISBN 0807108227
• On-line biography of Birney

Web link

• William Birney in the database of Find a Grave (English)