Birney Sword Purchase Secured; Civil War Artifact to be Presented Sept. 27
River of Time Opening Ceremonies to by Highlighted by Sword Presentation
September 12, 2003
By: Dave Rogers
7TH Cavalry Flag will be featured on pins selling for $5 to benefit Birney Sword Project. Famed battle flag was banner of Col. George A. Custer's unit in the Civil War and was rescued during the battle of Gettysburg by Bay City's Capt. James G. Birney IV.
River of Time opening ceremonies will showcase presentation of Birney sword.
The sword is ours!
The dress sword of Capt. James G. Birney IV, Bay City's hero at the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, will be presented to the community at opening ceremonies for the River of Time.
The living history exhibition and encampment is expected to draw a record number of re-enactors and other participants, according to Gay McInerney, executive director of the Bay County Historical Society.
While fundraising for the sword exhibit at the Bay County Historical Museum is ongoing, the committee has received enough in donations to secure the $7,500 purchase price of the sword, according to Tony Dearing, fundraising committee chairman.
The committee will be selling small lapel pins with a representation of the battle flag of the 7th Michigan Cavalry, Birney's unit, which was headed by Colonel, later General, George Armstrong Custer of Monroe.
"These pins will sell for $5 and proceeds will go toward building an appropriate exhibit at the museum for this historic artifact of national significance," said Gerald Pergande, local attorney and member of the Birney Sword Committee.
The sword will be presented by members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Ken Martin and Scott DeVeau, to Judy Jeffers, historical society board president, and Ron Bloomfield, museum curator, on behalf of the community.
Meanwhile, research is continuing to determine the final resting place of Capt. Birney, who died in 1870 at Fort Davis, Texas, according to Pergande. Spokespersons at the fort have reported that the Gettysburg hero originally was buried in the cemetery there but has been moved. Pergande said possible burial locations include Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near his uncle, Maj. Gen. David Bell Birney, another Gettysburg hero who once lived in Bay City.