Ordnance Department, U.S. Army
Centurion, 1900–1939
Born 5 April 1851 in Carroll County, Maryland
Died 25 September 1939 in Washington, District of Columbia
Buried United States Military Academy Post Cemetery
, West Point, New York
Proposed by Edmund L. Zalinski and Samuel E. Tillman
Elected 3 February 1900 at age forty-eight
Seconder of:
Century Memorial
Not so long ago actors, painters, soldiers, bankers, musicians looked their rôles. Nowadays the profession of a Centurion is rarely obvious. Colonel Rogers Birnie, as straight as a ramrod, lean and weathered, with white hair and mustaches, looked the West Pointer that he was. Almost daily, until a few years ago, he sat at the long table. In the billiard-room he fought protracted cowboy pool campaigns on the green terrain, and was the hero—win or lose—of countless engagements in the card-room. When he was commissioned Centurion in 1900, he was welcomed into the outfit by General Samuel E. Tillman, Colonel John W. Clous, Colonel Peter S. Michie, General Alexander S. Webb, and other officers. These and many civilian members became his constant companions.
Appointed from Maryland, Birnie was graduated from the U. S. Military Academy in 1872, No. 1 in his class. On survey duty for five years as an infantry officer, he travelled more than 10,000 miles on muleback. He served thereafter in the Ordnance Department, and made many valuable contributions to the theory of gun construction. He was president of the Army’s Ordnance Board at the time of his retirement in 1915.
Geoffrey Parsons
1939 Century Memorials
