Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/324

 lUHXEY.

BIRNEY.

a brigade in the La Fourclie c'ainpaip:n, and pro- rtH'ile<l on the first lied river campaign under (Jenenil Btmks. and was present at the siege and surrender of Port Hudson on July 8, 186J3. He vohinteereii to lead the " forlorn liojx)" organized to assault that stronghold. Colonel Birge was promoted brigadier-general on Oct. 0, 18(53. In 1864 lie commanded a brigiule under General Rinks in the second Ked river cjimpaign, and after .serving actively in several engagements wius place<l in command of Baton Rouge, La. In August. 18W, lie was ordered north with the 2d division of the I9th corps, and commanded the division under General Sheridan in the Shenan- doah Valley. Va., and served in the engagements that foUoweil, and in tiie early part of 1865 was sent to command the fortifications at Savannah, Ga. On Feb. 25, 1865, he was brevetted major- general, a promotion recommended by General Sheridan for gallant action at Cedar Creek. He resigned his commission Oct. 18, 1865. and upon his return to Connecticut he received the thanks of the state legislature. He died June 1, 1888.

BIRNEY, David Bell, soldier, was born at Huntsville. Ala., May 29, 1825, son of James Gill- espie Birney. abolition leader. He studied law in Cincinnati, Oliio, where his father was publishing a newsp;iper, and removed with him to Bay City, Mich., where he engaged in business. At the out- breiik of the civil war he was practising law in PliiUidelphia, but abandoned liis profession to join the army, He recruited largely at his own expen.se the 23d Pennsylvania volunteer regiment, of which he was made lieutenant-colonel, and afterwards colonel, being promoted from this rank in succes-sive steps to that of brigadier-general and major-general of volunteers. He served gallantly at Yorktown, Williamsburg. Manassas, Fredericks- burg, and Chancellorsville. and upon the death of General Barry he succeeded him as commander of the division. His commission as major-general was received May 23, 1863, and at the battle of Gettys- burg he commanded the 3d corps after General Sickles was wounded, and on July 23, 1864, was made commander of the 10th corps. He returned home with greatly impaired health, and died Oct. 18, 1HR4.

BIRNEY, James, diplomatist, was born at iMnville, Ky., in 1817, eldest son of James G. Birney, abolitioni.st. He was educated at Centre college, Ky., and at Miami university, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1836. From 1837 to 18.'W he was professor of the Greek and Latin languages at Miami university. He .studied law at New Haven, Conn., and subsequently entere<l upon the practice of that profession at Cincinnati. Ohio. While at New Haven, he mar- rie<l Miss Moulton, step-daughter of Nathaniel Bacon of that city. In 1857 Mr. Birney removed

with his family to Lower Saginaw (now Bay City) Mich., and interested liimself in the development of the place. He was a prominent Republican, and in 1858 was elected to the state senate. In 1860 he was elected lieutenant-governor of the state and before the expiration of liis term of office was appointed by the governor one of the circuit judges. This position he held for four yejirs. After leaving the bench he resumed the practice of law. In 1871, Mr. Birney established the Bay City Chronicle as a weekly newspaper, and in 1873 it was issued as a daily. In Decem- ber, 1875, President Grant appointed him min- ister resident at the Hague, which i)ost he lield during two administrations. Mr. Birney's eldest son, James Gillespie, died from wounds received at Gettysburg, after serving through the war with gallantry. James Birney died in May, 1888. BIRNEY, James Gillespie, abolitioni.st, was born at Danville, Ky., Feb. 4, 1792. His father, an Irish Protestant, emigrated from Ulster when .sixteen years old, and became a manufacturer, farmer, and banker. After a careful preliminary education at Transylvania university, the son entered Princeton col- lege, where he was graduated with honor in 1810. He studied Y'^i^ law, was admitted to "^" the bar in 1813, and began the practice of his profession in his native town. In 1816 he was elected to the state legislature and became prominent by his opposition to and defeat of a proposed measure to demand of the states of Ohio and Indiana the return of fugitive slaves escaping to these states. He favored gradual emancipa- tion as the wisest solution of the slavery problem, and the efforts of his whole life were given to this object. He engaged in cotton planting near Huntsville, Ala., from 1818 to 1823, when he re- sumed the practice of law at Huntsville, and was appointed solicitor of the northern circuit. As a memljer of the legislature of Alabama he was instrumental in causing the incorporation in the constitution framed in 1819, of a clause empower- ing the general a.s.sembly to free slaves by pur- chase, forbidding the bringing of slaves into the state for sale, and securing to slaves more humane treatment. In 1826 he was elected solicitor- general of Alabama, and in 1828 was presidential elector on the Whig (Adams) ticket. He was deputed by the trustees of the state university to select a i)resident and faculty for the university.

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