USMA Class of 1872. On December 30, 1879, he married Helen Gunn in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Seventy-First Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 10, 1940, The Moore Printing Company, Newburgh, New York.
Rogers Birnie
No. 2411. Class of 1872.
Died September 25, 1939, at Washington, D.C., aged 88 years.
Rogers Birnie was born April 5, 1851, at Glenburn Farm, Carroll County, Maryland, the son of Rogers and Amelia Knode (Harry) Birnie. His parents were both natives of Maryland. Colonel Birnie’s grandfather, Clothworthy Birnie, came from Belfast, Ireland, to Frederick County, Maryland, in 1810 and settled on a 2,300 acre tract of land given him by his uncle, Doctor Upton Scott, British surgeon and distinguished citizen of Colonial days.
After some tutoring at the Glenburn School, of which his father was principal, Rogers Birnie entered the Military Academy September 1, 1868 and was graduated, at the head of his class, June 14, 1872.
On graduation he was commissioned 2d Lieutenant of the 13th Infantry and was stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah, for two years. From 1874 to 1879 he served with the Expedition for Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian and each year of that duty he commanded one of the field parties, including topographers, meteorological observers and a pack train, operating in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho.
In June 1878, Lieut. Birnie was transferred to the Ordnance Department and the following May was sent to Springfield Armory. A year and a half later he went to Europe on leave of absence for nine months, to visit ordnance manufacturing establishments in France, England, Italy and Germany. On his return to the United States he was assigned as Assistant to the Constructor of Ordnance at the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York and he remained on that duty for nearly six years. It was here, while he was still a Lieutenant of Ordnance, that he made an indelible impression upon the constructive work of the Ordnance Department by his contribution to the science and art of built-up gun construction. The first studies on the subject had been made in Europe, but Lieutenant Birnie was the first officer to utilize those studies in the United States and to apply modern methods to the construction of ordnance for this Government. His keen analytical mind stood him in good stead in this work. By his careful study he ascertained the errors, discovered the correction, reconstructed the theories and was able to harmonize his corrected formulas with the results actually found in practice. He scored a real and important advance and contributed substantially and valuably to the establishment upon a sound basis of the construction of ordnance in the United States. The sufficiency of his solution is evidenced by the fact that it has not since been improved upon nor has there been any marked change in his methods and formulas for the regulation of the shrinkage as applied to gun construction.
On the completion of fourteen years commissioned service Rogers Birnie was advanced in June 1886, to the grade of Captain and was ordered to Washington, D.C., as Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance, in which capacity he remained for twelve years.
His work in Washington, while not so well known as his work on gun construction, was, however, just as important. He was tireless in his efforts to induce Congress to restore the country’s coast defenses that were in such urgent need of restoration, because of total neglect after the Civil War. At this time there was in Congress a willing but not greatly interested majority in favor of doing something for the coast defenses of the country, but there was also a determined opposition. Captain Birnie prepared many reports and memoranda to meet attacks of interested parties upon the proposed schemes of ordnance construction. He urged upon members of Congress the views which were subsequently adopted in the fortification bill of September 22, 1888. The enactment of this law marked the beginning of the rehabilitation of the coast defenses of the country. As a result of this legislation Captain Birnie made arrangements for installing the first modern gun making plant in the United States at Watervliet Arsenal, which is still in service as the Army gun factory.
In July 1898, Rogers Birnie was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, United States Volunteers and he served as Chief Ordnance Officer, 7th Army Corps, at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; with the Army of Cuban Occupation and as Chief Ordnance Officer, Division of Cuba, Havana, Cuba, until he returned to the United States in March 1899. He was discharged from volunteer service, only and reverted to Captain, Ordnance Department, April 10, 1899.
During Captain Birnie’s absence in Cuba and without his knowledge, Congress enacted legislation which authorized the President to transfer and appoint him in the Corps of Engineers with a resultant increase in rank. In spite of the personal sacrifice involved he declined the privilege because he thought that the precedent thus established would not be beneficial to the service. The loyalty and high sense of honor that caused him, in this instance, to subordinate personal to official consideration was thoroughly characteristic.
In July 1899, after a short period of duty at Springfield Armory, Captain Birnie was detailed as a member of the Ordnance Board and Board for Testing Rifled Cannon at New York Arsenal, but his duties were principally at Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey. He was advanced to the grade of Major in February 1901; to Lieutenant Colonel in June 1906 and to Colonel in October 1907. Upon the retirement of his old friend, Brigadier General Charles S. Smith, Colonel Birnie was assigned to the command of Sandy Hook Proving Ground in January 1909, where he remained until October 1912. He was then called to Washington, where he was Acting Chief of Ordnance during the assignment of Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, to duty as President of the Army War College and until July 1913. After that date and until he retired April 5, 1915, on reaching the age of sixty-four years, he was on duty at Sandy Hook Proving Ground as a member of various boards of officers. Among the important ones were:
Ordnance Board, 1899-1915.
Board for Testing Rifled Cannon, 1899-1915.
Board of Engineers, 1902-1908.
Board on Ordnance Material, 1907-1911.
Joint Army and Navy Board on Specifications for Gun Forgings, 1907-1915.
Board on Ordnance and Fortification, 1912-1913.
Even his retirement did not discourage this tireless worker. From 1919 to 1922, he was a member of the firm of Birnie, Hawkins and Watson, of New York City, Consulting Engineers, employed by the Government in various suits involving knowledge of ordnance material.
Colonel Birnie prized the many letters of appreciation that were sent to him upon his retirement, especially one from the Honorable Lindley M. Garrison, then Secretary of War, which expressed the Secretary’s regret that he was unable to properly recognize Colonel Birnie’s valuable services.
In 1913, upon his relief from duty as Acting Chief of Ordnance, Major General Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, wrote as follows: I desire to express to you my sincere appreciation of the very satisfactory manner in which you conducted the affairs of the department.
Your entire relations with this office have been greatly marked by a spirit of helpful cooperation which has tended greatly to facilitate the transaction of public business.
On the date of his retirement, Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, stated: In mentioning these characteristics of your service, I wish to specifically state that you have exhibited them in an unusual degree and to add that you received no reward other than the opportunity to continue to exhibit them in the public service. Your advancement has been no more rapid and no higher than that which marks the career of one who simply does not make failures. But your marked successes and the qualities which have attained them have secured for you unalterably the high reward of recognition upon the part of that larger number of persons who know your career through having watched it, of your conspicuous merit as a public officer.
In 1935, the Army Ordnance Association awarded its Medal of Merit to Colonel Birnie with the following citation: For engineering skill and invention in the development of modern armament. The Army Ordnance Association acclaims Colonel Birnie as a leader in the field of modern gun construction and as a technical officer of exceptionally distinguished service to the Ordnance cause. In 1887, he presented a thesis before the Military Service Institution on Gun Making in the United States which marked the beginning of a new era of metallurgical development in gun construction and modernized the entire theory and practice of gun design and manufacture.
His wife, the former Helen Gunn of Springfield, Massachusetts, preceded Colonel Birnie several years in death. He is survived by his daughter Lucy, the wife of Colonel Ernest Graves, Retired and two grandsons.
In his life Colonel Birnie has been a shining example to others not only for his scientific attainments, which have been perpetuated in his professional papers and their application but for his unfailing consideration for others which marked his high sweet spirit to the very end.
Upon the younger officers who were privileged to be closely associated with this exceptionally fine officer and gentleman, he left his stamp as the embodiment of the finest traditions of the Army.
N.F.R.
Seventy-First Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 10, 1940, The Moore Printing Company, Newburgh, New York.
Rogers Birnie
No. 2411. Class of 1872.
Died September 25, 1939, at Washington, D.C., aged 88 years.
Rogers Birnie was born April 5, 1851, at Glenburn Farm, Carroll County, Maryland, the son of Rogers and Amelia Knode (Harry) Birnie. His parents were both natives of Maryland. Colonel Birnie’s grandfather, Clothworthy Birnie, came from Belfast, Ireland, to Frederick County, Maryland, in 1810 and settled on a 2,300 acre tract of land given him by his uncle, Doctor Upton Scott, British surgeon and distinguished citizen of Colonial days.
After some tutoring at the Glenburn School, of which his father was principal, Rogers Birnie entered the Military Academy September 1, 1868 and was graduated, at the head of his class, June 14, 1872.
On graduation he was commissioned 2d Lieutenant of the 13th Infantry and was stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah, for two years. From 1874 to 1879 he served with the Expedition for Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian and each year of that duty he commanded one of the field parties, including topographers, meteorological observers and a pack train, operating in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho.
In June 1878, Lieut. Birnie was transferred to the Ordnance Department and the following May was sent to Springfield Armory. A year and a half later he went to Europe on leave of absence for nine months, to visit ordnance manufacturing establishments in France, England, Italy and Germany. On his return to the United States he was assigned as Assistant to the Constructor of Ordnance at the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York and he remained on that duty for nearly six years. It was here, while he was still a Lieutenant of Ordnance, that he made an indelible impression upon the constructive work of the Ordnance Department by his contribution to the science and art of built-up gun construction. The first studies on the subject had been made in Europe, but Lieutenant Birnie was the first officer to utilize those studies in the United States and to apply modern methods to the construction of ordnance for this Government. His keen analytical mind stood him in good stead in this work. By his careful study he ascertained the errors, discovered the correction, reconstructed the theories and was able to harmonize his corrected formulas with the results actually found in practice. He scored a real and important advance and contributed substantially and valuably to the establishment upon a sound basis of the construction of ordnance in the United States. The sufficiency of his solution is evidenced by the fact that it has not since been improved upon nor has there been any marked change in his methods and formulas for the regulation of the shrinkage as applied to gun construction.
On the completion of fourteen years commissioned service Rogers Birnie was advanced in June 1886, to the grade of Captain and was ordered to Washington, D.C., as Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance, in which capacity he remained for twelve years.
His work in Washington, while not so well known as his work on gun construction, was, however, just as important. He was tireless in his efforts to induce Congress to restore the country’s coast defenses that were in such urgent need of restoration, because of total neglect after the Civil War. At this time there was in Congress a willing but not greatly interested majority in favor of doing something for the coast defenses of the country, but there was also a determined opposition. Captain Birnie prepared many reports and memoranda to meet attacks of interested parties upon the proposed schemes of ordnance construction. He urged upon members of Congress the views which were subsequently adopted in the fortification bill of September 22, 1888. The enactment of this law marked the beginning of the rehabilitation of the coast defenses of the country. As a result of this legislation Captain Birnie made arrangements for installing the first modern gun making plant in the United States at Watervliet Arsenal, which is still in service as the Army gun factory.
In July 1898, Rogers Birnie was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, United States Volunteers and he served as Chief Ordnance Officer, 7th Army Corps, at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; with the Army of Cuban Occupation and as Chief Ordnance Officer, Division of Cuba, Havana, Cuba, until he returned to the United States in March 1899. He was discharged from volunteer service, only and reverted to Captain, Ordnance Department, April 10, 1899.
During Captain Birnie’s absence in Cuba and without his knowledge, Congress enacted legislation which authorized the President to transfer and appoint him in the Corps of Engineers with a resultant increase in rank. In spite of the personal sacrifice involved he declined the privilege because he thought that the precedent thus established would not be beneficial to the service. The loyalty and high sense of honor that caused him, in this instance, to subordinate personal to official consideration was thoroughly characteristic.
In July 1899, after a short period of duty at Springfield Armory, Captain Birnie was detailed as a member of the Ordnance Board and Board for Testing Rifled Cannon at New York Arsenal, but his duties were principally at Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey. He was advanced to the grade of Major in February 1901; to Lieutenant Colonel in June 1906 and to Colonel in October 1907. Upon the retirement of his old friend, Brigadier General Charles S. Smith, Colonel Birnie was assigned to the command of Sandy Hook Proving Ground in January 1909, where he remained until October 1912. He was then called to Washington, where he was Acting Chief of Ordnance during the assignment of Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, to duty as President of the Army War College and until July 1913. After that date and until he retired April 5, 1915, on reaching the age of sixty-four years, he was on duty at Sandy Hook Proving Ground as a member of various boards of officers. Among the important ones were:
Ordnance Board, 1899-1915.
Board for Testing Rifled Cannon, 1899-1915.
Board of Engineers, 1902-1908.
Board on Ordnance Material, 1907-1911.
Joint Army and Navy Board on Specifications for Gun Forgings, 1907-1915.
Board on Ordnance and Fortification, 1912-1913.
Even his retirement did not discourage this tireless worker. From 1919 to 1922, he was a member of the firm of Birnie, Hawkins and Watson, of New York City, Consulting Engineers, employed by the Government in various suits involving knowledge of ordnance material.
Colonel Birnie prized the many letters of appreciation that were sent to him upon his retirement, especially one from the Honorable Lindley M. Garrison, then Secretary of War, which expressed the Secretary’s regret that he was unable to properly recognize Colonel Birnie’s valuable services.
In 1913, upon his relief from duty as Acting Chief of Ordnance, Major General Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, wrote as follows: I desire to express to you my sincere appreciation of the very satisfactory manner in which you conducted the affairs of the department.
Your entire relations with this office have been greatly marked by a spirit of helpful cooperation which has tended greatly to facilitate the transaction of public business.
On the date of his retirement, Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, stated: In mentioning these characteristics of your service, I wish to specifically state that you have exhibited them in an unusual degree and to add that you received no reward other than the opportunity to continue to exhibit them in the public service. Your advancement has been no more rapid and no higher than that which marks the career of one who simply does not make failures. But your marked successes and the qualities which have attained them have secured for you unalterably the high reward of recognition upon the part of that larger number of persons who know your career through having watched it, of your conspicuous merit as a public officer.
In 1935, the Army Ordnance Association awarded its Medal of Merit to Colonel Birnie with the following citation: For engineering skill and invention in the development of modern armament. The Army Ordnance Association acclaims Colonel Birnie as a leader in the field of modern gun construction and as a technical officer of exceptionally distinguished service to the Ordnance cause. In 1887, he presented a thesis before the Military Service Institution on Gun Making in the United States which marked the beginning of a new era of metallurgical development in gun construction and modernized the entire theory and practice of gun design and manufacture.
His wife, the former Helen Gunn of Springfield, Massachusetts, preceded Colonel Birnie several years in death. He is survived by his daughter Lucy, the wife of Colonel Ernest Graves, Retired and two grandsons.
In his life Colonel Birnie has been a shining example to others not only for his scientific attainments, which have been perpetuated in his professional papers and their application but for his unfailing consideration for others which marked his high sweet spirit to the very end.
Upon the younger officers who were privileged to be closely associated with this exceptionally fine officer and gentleman, he left his stamp as the embodiment of the finest traditions of the Army.
N.F.R.
USMA Class of 1872. On December 30, 1879, he married Helen Gunn in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Seventy-First Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 10, 1940, The Moore Printing Company, Newburgh, New York.
Rogers Birnie
No. 2411. Class of 1872.
Died September 25, 1939, at Washington, D.C., aged 88 years.
Rogers Birnie was born April 5, 1851, at Glenburn Farm, Carroll County, Maryland, the son of Rogers and Amelia Knode (Harry) Birnie. His parents were both natives of Maryland. Colonel Birnie’s grandfather, Clothworthy Birnie, came from Belfast, Ireland, to Frederick County, Maryland, in 1810 and settled on a 2,300 acre tract of land given him by his uncle, Doctor Upton Scott, British surgeon and distinguished citizen of Colonial days.
After some tutoring at the Glenburn School, of which his father was principal, Rogers Birnie entered the Military Academy September 1, 1868 and was graduated, at the head of his class, June 14, 1872.
On graduation he was commissioned 2d Lieutenant of the 13th Infantry and was stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah, for two years. From 1874 to 1879 he served with the Expedition for Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian and each year of that duty he commanded one of the field parties, including topographers, meteorological observers and a pack train, operating in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho.
In June 1878, Lieut. Birnie was transferred to the Ordnance Department and the following May was sent to Springfield Armory. A year and a half later he went to Europe on leave of absence for nine months, to visit ordnance manufacturing establishments in France, England, Italy and Germany. On his return to the United States he was assigned as Assistant to the Constructor of Ordnance at the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York and he remained on that duty for nearly six years. It was here, while he was still a Lieutenant of Ordnance, that he made an indelible impression upon the constructive work of the Ordnance Department by his contribution to the science and art of built-up gun construction. The first studies on the subject had been made in Europe, but Lieutenant Birnie was the first officer to utilize those studies in the United States and to apply modern methods to the construction of ordnance for this Government. His keen analytical mind stood him in good stead in this work. By his careful study he ascertained the errors, discovered the correction, reconstructed the theories and was able to harmonize his corrected formulas with the results actually found in practice. He scored a real and important advance and contributed substantially and valuably to the establishment upon a sound basis of the construction of ordnance in the United States. The sufficiency of his solution is evidenced by the fact that it has not since been improved upon nor has there been any marked change in his methods and formulas for the regulation of the shrinkage as applied to gun construction.
On the completion of fourteen years commissioned service Rogers Birnie was advanced in June 1886, to the grade of Captain and was ordered to Washington, D.C., as Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance, in which capacity he remained for twelve years.
His work in Washington, while not so well known as his work on gun construction, was, however, just as important. He was tireless in his efforts to induce Congress to restore the country’s coast defenses that were in such urgent need of restoration, because of total neglect after the Civil War. At this time there was in Congress a willing but not greatly interested majority in favor of doing something for the coast defenses of the country, but there was also a determined opposition. Captain Birnie prepared many reports and memoranda to meet attacks of interested parties upon the proposed schemes of ordnance construction. He urged upon members of Congress the views which were subsequently adopted in the fortification bill of September 22, 1888. The enactment of this law marked the beginning of the rehabilitation of the coast defenses of the country. As a result of this legislation Captain Birnie made arrangements for installing the first modern gun making plant in the United States at Watervliet Arsenal, which is still in service as the Army gun factory.
In July 1898, Rogers Birnie was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, United States Volunteers and he served as Chief Ordnance Officer, 7th Army Corps, at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; with the Army of Cuban Occupation and as Chief Ordnance Officer, Division of Cuba, Havana, Cuba, until he returned to the United States in March 1899. He was discharged from volunteer service, only and reverted to Captain, Ordnance Department, April 10, 1899.
During Captain Birnie’s absence in Cuba and without his knowledge, Congress enacted legislation which authorized the President to transfer and appoint him in the Corps of Engineers with a resultant increase in rank. In spite of the personal sacrifice involved he declined the privilege because he thought that the precedent thus established would not be beneficial to the service. The loyalty and high sense of honor that caused him, in this instance, to subordinate personal to official consideration was thoroughly characteristic.
In July 1899, after a short period of duty at Springfield Armory, Captain Birnie was detailed as a member of the Ordnance Board and Board for Testing Rifled Cannon at New York Arsenal, but his duties were principally at Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey. He was advanced to the grade of Major in February 1901; to Lieutenant Colonel in June 1906 and to Colonel in October 1907. Upon the retirement of his old friend, Brigadier General Charles S. Smith, Colonel Birnie was assigned to the command of Sandy Hook Proving Ground in January 1909, where he remained until October 1912. He was then called to Washington, where he was Acting Chief of Ordnance during the assignment of Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, to duty as President of the Army War College and until July 1913. After that date and until he retired April 5, 1915, on reaching the age of sixty-four years, he was on duty at Sandy Hook Proving Ground as a member of various boards of officers. Among the important ones were:
Ordnance Board, 1899-1915.
Board for Testing Rifled Cannon, 1899-1915.
Board of Engineers, 1902-1908.
Board on Ordnance Material, 1907-1911.
Joint Army and Navy Board on Specifications for Gun Forgings, 1907-1915.
Board on Ordnance and Fortification, 1912-1913.
Even his retirement did not discourage this tireless worker. From 1919 to 1922, he was a member of the firm of Birnie, Hawkins and Watson, of New York City, Consulting Engineers, employed by the Government in various suits involving knowledge of ordnance material.
Colonel Birnie prized the many letters of appreciation that were sent to him upon his retirement, especially one from the Honorable Lindley M. Garrison, then Secretary of War, which expressed the Secretary’s regret that he was unable to properly recognize Colonel Birnie’s valuable services.
In 1913, upon his relief from duty as Acting Chief of Ordnance, Major General Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, wrote as follows: I desire to express to you my sincere appreciation of the very satisfactory manner in which you conducted the affairs of the department.
Your entire relations with this office have been greatly marked by a spirit of helpful cooperation which has tended greatly to facilitate the transaction of public business.
On the date of his retirement, Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, stated: In mentioning these characteristics of your service, I wish to specifically state that you have exhibited them in an unusual degree and to add that you received no reward other than the opportunity to continue to exhibit them in the public service. Your advancement has been no more rapid and no higher than that which marks the career of one who simply does not make failures. But your marked successes and the qualities which have attained them have secured for you unalterably the high reward of recognition upon the part of that larger number of persons who know your career through having watched it, of your conspicuous merit as a public officer.
In 1935, the Army Ordnance Association awarded its Medal of Merit to Colonel Birnie with the following citation: For engineering skill and invention in the development of modern armament. The Army Ordnance Association acclaims Colonel Birnie as a leader in the field of modern gun construction and as a technical officer of exceptionally distinguished service to the Ordnance cause. In 1887, he presented a thesis before the Military Service Institution on Gun Making in the United States which marked the beginning of a new era of metallurgical development in gun construction and modernized the entire theory and practice of gun design and manufacture.
His wife, the former Helen Gunn of Springfield, Massachusetts, preceded Colonel Birnie several years in death. He is survived by his daughter Lucy, the wife of Colonel Ernest Graves, Retired and two grandsons.
In his life Colonel Birnie has been a shining example to others not only for his scientific attainments, which have been perpetuated in his professional papers and their application but for his unfailing consideration for others which marked his high sweet spirit to the very end.
Upon the younger officers who were privileged to be closely associated with this exceptionally fine officer and gentleman, he left his stamp as the embodiment of the finest traditions of the Army.
N.F.R.
Seventy-First Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 10, 1940, The Moore Printing Company, Newburgh, New York.
Rogers Birnie
No. 2411. Class of 1872.
Died September 25, 1939, at Washington, D.C., aged 88 years.
Rogers Birnie was born April 5, 1851, at Glenburn Farm, Carroll County, Maryland, the son of Rogers and Amelia Knode (Harry) Birnie. His parents were both natives of Maryland. Colonel Birnie’s grandfather, Clothworthy Birnie, came from Belfast, Ireland, to Frederick County, Maryland, in 1810 and settled on a 2,300 acre tract of land given him by his uncle, Doctor Upton Scott, British surgeon and distinguished citizen of Colonial days.
After some tutoring at the Glenburn School, of which his father was principal, Rogers Birnie entered the Military Academy September 1, 1868 and was graduated, at the head of his class, June 14, 1872.
On graduation he was commissioned 2d Lieutenant of the 13th Infantry and was stationed at Fort Douglas, Utah, for two years. From 1874 to 1879 he served with the Expedition for Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian and each year of that duty he commanded one of the field parties, including topographers, meteorological observers and a pack train, operating in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho.
In June 1878, Lieut. Birnie was transferred to the Ordnance Department and the following May was sent to Springfield Armory. A year and a half later he went to Europe on leave of absence for nine months, to visit ordnance manufacturing establishments in France, England, Italy and Germany. On his return to the United States he was assigned as Assistant to the Constructor of Ordnance at the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, New York and he remained on that duty for nearly six years. It was here, while he was still a Lieutenant of Ordnance, that he made an indelible impression upon the constructive work of the Ordnance Department by his contribution to the science and art of built-up gun construction. The first studies on the subject had been made in Europe, but Lieutenant Birnie was the first officer to utilize those studies in the United States and to apply modern methods to the construction of ordnance for this Government. His keen analytical mind stood him in good stead in this work. By his careful study he ascertained the errors, discovered the correction, reconstructed the theories and was able to harmonize his corrected formulas with the results actually found in practice. He scored a real and important advance and contributed substantially and valuably to the establishment upon a sound basis of the construction of ordnance in the United States. The sufficiency of his solution is evidenced by the fact that it has not since been improved upon nor has there been any marked change in his methods and formulas for the regulation of the shrinkage as applied to gun construction.
On the completion of fourteen years commissioned service Rogers Birnie was advanced in June 1886, to the grade of Captain and was ordered to Washington, D.C., as Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance, in which capacity he remained for twelve years.
His work in Washington, while not so well known as his work on gun construction, was, however, just as important. He was tireless in his efforts to induce Congress to restore the country’s coast defenses that were in such urgent need of restoration, because of total neglect after the Civil War. At this time there was in Congress a willing but not greatly interested majority in favor of doing something for the coast defenses of the country, but there was also a determined opposition. Captain Birnie prepared many reports and memoranda to meet attacks of interested parties upon the proposed schemes of ordnance construction. He urged upon members of Congress the views which were subsequently adopted in the fortification bill of September 22, 1888. The enactment of this law marked the beginning of the rehabilitation of the coast defenses of the country. As a result of this legislation Captain Birnie made arrangements for installing the first modern gun making plant in the United States at Watervliet Arsenal, which is still in service as the Army gun factory.
In July 1898, Rogers Birnie was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, United States Volunteers and he served as Chief Ordnance Officer, 7th Army Corps, at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; with the Army of Cuban Occupation and as Chief Ordnance Officer, Division of Cuba, Havana, Cuba, until he returned to the United States in March 1899. He was discharged from volunteer service, only and reverted to Captain, Ordnance Department, April 10, 1899.
During Captain Birnie’s absence in Cuba and without his knowledge, Congress enacted legislation which authorized the President to transfer and appoint him in the Corps of Engineers with a resultant increase in rank. In spite of the personal sacrifice involved he declined the privilege because he thought that the precedent thus established would not be beneficial to the service. The loyalty and high sense of honor that caused him, in this instance, to subordinate personal to official consideration was thoroughly characteristic.
In July 1899, after a short period of duty at Springfield Armory, Captain Birnie was detailed as a member of the Ordnance Board and Board for Testing Rifled Cannon at New York Arsenal, but his duties were principally at Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey. He was advanced to the grade of Major in February 1901; to Lieutenant Colonel in June 1906 and to Colonel in October 1907. Upon the retirement of his old friend, Brigadier General Charles S. Smith, Colonel Birnie was assigned to the command of Sandy Hook Proving Ground in January 1909, where he remained until October 1912. He was then called to Washington, where he was Acting Chief of Ordnance during the assignment of Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, to duty as President of the Army War College and until July 1913. After that date and until he retired April 5, 1915, on reaching the age of sixty-four years, he was on duty at Sandy Hook Proving Ground as a member of various boards of officers. Among the important ones were:
Ordnance Board, 1899-1915.
Board for Testing Rifled Cannon, 1899-1915.
Board of Engineers, 1902-1908.
Board on Ordnance Material, 1907-1911.
Joint Army and Navy Board on Specifications for Gun Forgings, 1907-1915.
Board on Ordnance and Fortification, 1912-1913.
Even his retirement did not discourage this tireless worker. From 1919 to 1922, he was a member of the firm of Birnie, Hawkins and Watson, of New York City, Consulting Engineers, employed by the Government in various suits involving knowledge of ordnance material.
Colonel Birnie prized the many letters of appreciation that were sent to him upon his retirement, especially one from the Honorable Lindley M. Garrison, then Secretary of War, which expressed the Secretary’s regret that he was unable to properly recognize Colonel Birnie’s valuable services.
In 1913, upon his relief from duty as Acting Chief of Ordnance, Major General Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, wrote as follows: I desire to express to you my sincere appreciation of the very satisfactory manner in which you conducted the affairs of the department.
Your entire relations with this office have been greatly marked by a spirit of helpful cooperation which has tended greatly to facilitate the transaction of public business.
On the date of his retirement, Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, stated: In mentioning these characteristics of your service, I wish to specifically state that you have exhibited them in an unusual degree and to add that you received no reward other than the opportunity to continue to exhibit them in the public service. Your advancement has been no more rapid and no higher than that which marks the career of one who simply does not make failures. But your marked successes and the qualities which have attained them have secured for you unalterably the high reward of recognition upon the part of that larger number of persons who know your career through having watched it, of your conspicuous merit as a public officer.
In 1935, the Army Ordnance Association awarded its Medal of Merit to Colonel Birnie with the following citation: For engineering skill and invention in the development of modern armament. The Army Ordnance Association acclaims Colonel Birnie as a leader in the field of modern gun construction and as a technical officer of exceptionally distinguished service to the Ordnance cause. In 1887, he presented a thesis before the Military Service Institution on Gun Making in the United States which marked the beginning of a new era of metallurgical development in gun construction and modernized the entire theory and practice of gun design and manufacture.
His wife, the former Helen Gunn of Springfield, Massachusetts, preceded Colonel Birnie several years in death. He is survived by his daughter Lucy, the wife of Colonel Ernest Graves, Retired and two grandsons.
In his life Colonel Birnie has been a shining example to others not only for his scientific attainments, which have been perpetuated in his professional papers and their application but for his unfailing consideration for others which marked his high sweet spirit to the very end.
Upon the younger officers who were privileged to be closely associated with this exceptionally fine officer and gentleman, he left his stamp as the embodiment of the finest traditions of the Army.
N.F.R.
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