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Fitzhugh Birney. Itzhugh Birney Was the Youngest Son of James G

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Fitzhugh Birney. Itzhugh Birney Was the Youngest Son of James G ’ TH E a or tb e tt 'g is folded 'f ba le s din , Tb e r o tru t tb e ' o u c y f mpe , and bla e f g n , Tb e tb und er ous r usb o u r f sq ad ons closing in , Tb e t r tb e tr i um b sb out r s 'i ed g oan , p , a e done . fi P w itb nd eace is come , passionless , mild eyes , ’ ’ of m otb er s m otb er s t r eyes , a ende ness . C b r tou cb tb e r t almed y be wea y na ion lies , ’ r ea tb u d nd feels be dewy br pon bis face . ' But T t a v w i tb r ime canno ail, all bis yea s , S cb asm s u r r v b ear ts t ll ome in o i en o fi , Wb ence t r r t br eab t r mis y memo ies ise o in ea s , fi nd b osts o ur bo es tb at u t u t g f b ied p ba n s s ill, 'e t r b o o — tb e tru t b ing a ind f j y , solemn s r r tb an u u t t u t Tb at fo m is mo e ns bs an ial d s . '' r u r t r r /9 gene o s pa en age o b eeding big , Or tb at ne tr w b er e ov t t fi s ain l e and wi , a one , ’ P ut t r ea cb otb er s sis e ly jewels on , Or tr utb or t ur t 'awless , spo less p i y , Or u t r r r t 't bea y , we e an a mo agains a e ' Tb en tbou br i bt r o , g blended g ace f man and boy , S t r u t k r t o wee memo y wo lds wal , a p esen j y , Wi t/7 u tb e u o t / s , s nny slope f life , ela e ‘ D ar -bou bt r u or tb e t / e , blood g land, bow p ecio s f cos 'r tr i um b t r v t ai p , perfec ed by p i a e pain Br igbt m a nbood tried and prov ed beyond compare / War wins an awful glory from tb at los t N t w bi cb t u v obili y , was no yo ng in ain ' But P t r r r eace w ines cyp ess in be golden bai . U I 'NE' 'ITZH GH B . ITZH U GH BI 'NE'was the u . yo ngest son of Jam es G Bi rn ey , u ' the disting ished ent uckian , who , e bo rn and b red a slaveholder , eman i 1 8 pated his slaves in 35 , and , in the ’ distrib u tion of his father s estate, took the neg roes for his portion , that h e might set them also free . When a you ng man he had been Attor ney Gene ral of Alaba ma . His talents , ' fi i rt ue, an d sac ri ces made him the candidate of the Liberty Pa rty fo r the 1 8 . Presiden cy , in 44 By a first m a rriage with a relative of I O M c D o w e ll . General , M r B irn ey had fiv e . 1 8 1 sons and on e da ughter I n 4 , h e m a rried Elizabeth P . Fitzh ugh , a daughte r of the N ew York branch of f an old Maryland amily . Fitzh ugh Birn ey was born at Saginaw , Michigan , f Jan uary 9 , The ollowi ng April his parents removed to Bay City , n ear the m outh of the sluggish Saginaw River . 1 8 2 of I n 4 , th e site the town had been clea red of pine forests 'b u t the only b uildings yet e rected were the th e warehouse , the hotel , and ban k . I n the hotel M r . Birney and his family m te porarily lodged . I n the ban k he ffi had an o ce and a Sunday school . The settlem en t was m u ch visited by t he Ojibway I ndians , with whom the fi w boy becam e a favorite . Th e rst o rds I he learned to spea k were i n the I ndian tongue . Fitzh ugh was an at hletic an d ad v e n n t uro s child . H e co uld n ot rem ember n when h e bega to swim . O nce , before fiv e h e was yea rs old , having pushed o u t on the river i n a sail -boat with two little companions, he was discovered at the hel m , assu ring them that th ere was no dange r , an d p rom ising to take the m ' ' asho re if they wo uld stop c rying . At seven , he skated alon e by moonlight o f from Saginaw to Bay City , a distance twelve m iles . At fou r he had lea r ned to read well . From fiv e to eight he was taugh t by an excellent N ew E nglan d teacher , M iss Be rry of Belfast , Main e . I n September , 1 8 1 5 , he was placed i n Theodore D . ’ Weld s fa mily school at Belleville , New 1 2 J ersey , where he remained u n t il , in 1 8 5 4, M r . W eld removed to Eagl es wood , Perth Amboy . Hither Mr . h B i rney came , an d ere he lived until 1 8 his death in the fall of 5 7 . D urin g these i nvalid years Fitzh ugh was a n u rse to him , as t ender an d gen tle as a girl . Fi tzh ugh Birney was a t ho rough and ambi t ious st uden t He u n co nsciously exerted over his mates a powe rful per ' sonal in uence , which they were glad t o feel and acknowledge . If o t hers rivalled him in so me feats of the play gro u nd and gymnasium , none excelled in so many , n on e threw over all sports f n such a asci ation as he . I n his seven t e e nth year he had t he happiness to save the life of a school - girl too ad ven tu ro us i n learning to swim . She 1 3 had sun k once 'th e tide was run ning o ff rapidly to the sea . Witho ut taking hat , coat , o r shoes , Fitzhugh , who had f u watched her rom the pier , pl nged in , seized her as sh e rose, and sup e ’ ported her till help cam . Am ong his companions at t his school was one afterwards known as Gen eral Llewellyn F . Haskell , whose rapid p ro m otion was th e reward of equal tal ent , valo r , and good fo rtu n e . Another i ak e r was that brave Q , Captain Hal o f lock Man n , whose gallant rescu e ' General ilpat rick at Aldie Gap , Vir ginia , was one of the m em orable deeds ' of the wa r . ilpat rick was i n th e hands of the en emy . Man n , seeing his men hesitate , shouted , A re yo u h e roes ' o r cowards 'Follow m e 'Charge ' d and , without looking back , ashed into 1 4 fi the mellay . H is troop , red by the example , rallied , dispersed the Confed c rates , and carried him , severely woun d l f m fi . ed , with the Genera , ro the eld Captain Man n was killed in a sub se qu ent bat tle . 1 8 I n the spring of 5 9 , a w restling match with his young friend Mann b ro ught on bleedin g at the lungs , which obliged Fitzh ugh to abandon his c pu rpose of en tering ollege that year . The followi ng J uly h e sailed fo r Eu rope , arriving t here sho rtly after th e peace of Villafranca . The Continen t was in a fer ment 'an d he was suffi c i e ntly well infor m ed to take an e x c i t i n ed in terest the questions of the ti me . Fro m a balcony on th e Bo ulevard , looking down the Rue de la Paix , he saw the t riu mphal en t ry in to Paris of 1 5 t he Empe ro r an d the a r my of Italy . ' I suppose war is a great evil , he ' s o said , b u t it is splendid that I am half sorry we can never have one at ' ho m e . A w eek later he was in C hamou ni . O n th e Mer de Glace , his party cam e to a place where two large masses of b e ice , sloping towa r ds each other , left a tween th em dangerous c revasse .
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