Civil War Union Army Officer. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the first son and eldest child of United States Congressman William Wallace Irwin and Sophia Arabella Bache Irwin (she was a great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, which made Richard B. Irwin one of Franklin's great-great-grandsons). He was employed as a clerk in the United States War Department when the Civil War started, and promptly volunteers his services after the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Mustered in as a Private in Company A, 3rd District of Columbia Militia on April 14, 1861, he served a three-month enlistment in the defenses of Washington, and was discharged when his unit's term of service expired by law on July 15, 1861. On August 15, 1861 he was commissioned as a Captain, US Volunteers and assigned as an Aide-de-Camp to Major General George Brinton McClellan. On November 12, 1862 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and served as Assistant Adjutant General for the Army of the Potomac. he later was assigned to the staff of Major General Nathaniel Banks in the Department of the Gulf, and served as an Assistant Adjutant General for the XIX Army Corps along the Mississippi River. Ill health from campaigning in the field forced his resignation on September 18, 1864.
After the war he served as the San Francisco agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, lived on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, and served as an editorial writer for the "New York Tribune". He wrote a number of well regarded pieces for the work "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", including a definitive outline of the Court Martial of Major General Fitz-John Porter after the Battle of Second Bull Run. He also wrote the work "The History of the Nineteenth Army Corps".
After the war he served as the San Francisco agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, lived on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, and served as an editorial writer for the "New York Tribune". He wrote a number of well regarded pieces for the work "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", including a definitive outline of the Court Martial of Major General Fitz-John Porter after the Battle of Second Bull Run. He also wrote the work "The History of the Nineteenth Army Corps".
Civil War Union Army Officer. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the first son and eldest child of United States Congressman William Wallace Irwin and Sophia Arabella Bache Irwin (she was a great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, which made Richard B. Irwin one of Franklin's great-great-grandsons). He was employed as a clerk in the United States War Department when the Civil War started, and promptly volunteers his services after the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Mustered in as a Private in Company A, 3rd District of Columbia Militia on April 14, 1861, he served a three-month enlistment in the defenses of Washington, and was discharged when his unit's term of service expired by law on July 15, 1861. On August 15, 1861 he was commissioned as a Captain, US Volunteers and assigned as an Aide-de-Camp to Major General George Brinton McClellan. On November 12, 1862 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and served as Assistant Adjutant General for the Army of the Potomac. he later was assigned to the staff of Major General Nathaniel Banks in the Department of the Gulf, and served as an Assistant Adjutant General for the XIX Army Corps along the Mississippi River. Ill health from campaigning in the field forced his resignation on September 18, 1864.
After the war he served as the San Francisco agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, lived on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, and served as an editorial writer for the "New York Tribune". He wrote a number of well regarded pieces for the work "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", including a definitive outline of the Court Martial of Major General Fitz-John Porter after the Battle of Second Bull Run. He also wrote the work "The History of the Nineteenth Army Corps".
After the war he served as the San Francisco agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, lived on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, and served as an editorial writer for the "New York Tribune". He wrote a number of well regarded pieces for the work "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War", including a definitive outline of the Court Martial of Major General Fitz-John Porter after the Battle of Second Bull Run. He also wrote the work "The History of the Nineteenth Army Corps".
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