Abner Doubleday

Abner Doubleday (June 26, 1819 – January 26, 1893), was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his relief by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade caused lasting enmity between the two men. is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1819 (MDCCCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) in the [[Grhttp://en. ... is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The United States Army is the largest, and by some standards oldest, established branch of the armed forces of the United States and is one of seven uniformed services. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders Robert Anderson # P.G.T. Beauregard Strength 85 500 Casualties and losses 0 killed 5 wounded 0 killed (1 horse) 4 wounded The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861 – April 13, 1861) was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter near Charleston... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America Commanders George G. Meade Robert E. Lee Strength 93,921[1] 71,699[2] Casualties 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured/missing)[1] 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured/missing... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 - November 6, 1872) was an American military officer during the American Civil War. ...

In San Francisco, California, after the war, he obtained a patent on the cable car railway that still runs there. In his final years in New Jersey, he was a prominent member and later president of the Theosophical Society. His most lasting claim to fame is the popular myth that he invented baseball, which has been debunked by almost all sports historians, although Doubleday himself never made such a claim. San Francisco redirects here. ... Cable Car in San Francisco A San Francisco cable car Winding drums on the London and Blackwall cable-operated railway, 1840. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The Theosophical Society was the organization formed to advance the spiritual doctrines and altruistic living known as Theosophy. ... This article is about the sport. ...

Early years

Doubleday was born in Ballston Spa, New York. His grandfather had fought in the American Revolutionary War and his father, Ulysses F. Doubleday, represented Auburn, New York,^[1] for four years in the United States Congress.^[2] Abner practiced as a surveyor and civil engineer for two years before entering the United States Military Academy^[3] in 1838, from which he graduated in 1842, 24th in a class of 56 cadets, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery.^[4] Ballston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York in the USA. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. ... This article is about military actions only. ... Auburn (Áhsku•ˀ[1] in Tuscarora) is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... USMA redirects here. ... In the US military, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank. ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ...

Military career

Early commands and Fort Sumter

Doubleday and his wife, Mary.

Doubleday initially served in coastal garrisons and then in the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848 and the Seminole Wars from 1856 to 1858. In 1852 he married Mary Hewitt of Baltimore.^[5] In 1858 he was transferred to Fort Moultrie in Charleston harbor, but by the start of the Civil War, he was a captain and second in command in the garrison at Fort Sumter, under Major Robert Anderson.^[2] He aimed the cannon that fired the first return shot in answer to the Confederate bombardment on April 12, 1861, starting the war. He subsequently referred to himself as the "hero of Sumter" for this role.^[3] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x1284, 398 KB) TITLE: Maj. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x1284, 398 KB) TITLE: Maj. ... Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia José Mariá Flores Strength 78,790 soldiers 25,000–40,000 soldiers Casualties KIA: 1733 Total dead: 13,271 Wounded: 4,152 AWOL: 9,200+ 25,000... Combatants United States Seminole Commanders Andrew Jackson Osceola The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three wars or conflicts in Florida between various groups of Indians collectively known as Seminoles and the United States. ... Baltimore redirects here. ... Fort Moultrie is the name of a series of forts on Sullivans Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. ... Nickname: Motto: Aedes Mores Juraque Curat (She cares for her temples, customs, and rights) Location of Charleston in South Carolina. ... Fort Sumter, a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston harbor, South Carolina, was named after General Thomas Sumter. ... Anderson after the War Robert Anderson (June 14, 1805 – October 26, 1871) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War, known for his command of Fort Sumter at the start of the war. ... A group of Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army (CSA) was organized in February 1861 to defend the newly formed Confederate States of America from military action by the United States government during the American Civil War. ... is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Brigade and division command in Virginia

Doubleday was promoted to major on May 14, 1861, and commanded the Artillery Department in the Shenandoah Valley from June to August, and then the artillery for Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks's division of the Army of the Potomac. He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers on February 3, 1862, and was assigned to duty in northern Virginia while the Army of the Potomac conducted the Peninsula Campaign. His first combat assignment was to lead the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, III Corps of the Army of Virginia during the Northern Virginia Campaign. In the actions at Brawner's farm, just before the Second Battle of Bull Run, he took the initiative to send two of his regiments to reinforce Brig. Gen. John Gibbon's brigade against a larger Confederate force, fighting it to a standstill. (Personal initiative was required since his division commander, Brig. Gen. Rufus King, was incapacitated by an epileptic seizure at the time. He was replaced by Brig. Gen. John P. Hatch.)^[6] His men were routed when they encountered Maj. Gen. James Longstreet's corps, but by the following day, August 30, he took command of the division when Hatch was wounded, and he led his men to cover the retreat of the Union Army.^[3] is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Canoeing on the Shenandoah River near Winchester, VA. The Shenandoah Valley region of western Virginia, from Winchester to Staunton, is bounded by the Blue Ridge mountains to the East and the Allegheny mountains to the West. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Nathaniel Prentiss Banks (January 30, 1816–September 1, 1894), American politician and soldier, was born at Waltham, Massachusetts. ... Generals Burnside, Hancock, Couch, Ferro, Patrick, Wilcox, Cochrane, Buford and others. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... McClellan and Johnston of the Peninsula Campaign The Peninsula Campaign (also known as the Peninsular Campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. ... Daniel Sickles and staff after the Battle of Gettysburg There were four formations in the Union Army designated as III Corps (or Third Corps) during the American Civil War. ... The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. ... Union soldiers at the Orange & Alexandria Railroad The Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September, 1862, in the American Civil War. ... For other uses, see Bull Run (disambiguation). ... John Gibbon John Gibbon (April 20, 1827 – February 6, 1896) was a career U.S. Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. ... Rufus King (January 26, 1814 - October 13, 1876) was a Union Brigadier General in the American Civil War. ... This article is about the neurological disorder as it affects humans. ... James Longstreet (January 8, 1821 – January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his Old War Horse. ... is the 242nd day of the year (243rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Doubleday again led the division, now assigned to the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac, after South Mountain, where Hatch was wounded again. At Antietam, he led his men into the deadly fighting in the Cornfield and the West Woods, and one colonel described him as a "gallant officer ... remarkably cool and at the very front of battle."^[3] he was wounded when an artillery shell exploded near his horse, throwing him to the ground in a violent fall. He received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the regular army for his actions at Antietam and was promoted in March 1863 to major general of volunteers, to rank from November 29, 1862.^[7] At Fredericksburg in December 1862, his division mostly sat idle. During the winter, the I Corps was reorganized and Doubleday assumed command of the 3rd Division. At Chancellorsville in May 1863, the division was kept in reserve.^[3] I Corps (First Corps) was the designation of four different corps_sized units in the Union Army during the American Civil War. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders George B. McClellan Ambrose Burnside William B. Franklin Robert E. Lee Strength 28,000 18,000 Casualties 2,325 (443 killed, 1,807 wounded, 75 missing) 2,685 (325 killed, 1560 wounded, 800 missing) The Battle of South Mountain (known... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders George B. McClellan Robert E. Lee Strength 87,000 45,000 Casualties 12,401 (2,108 killed, 9,540 wounded, 753 captured/missing) 10,316 (1,546 killed, 7,752 wounded, 1,018 captured/missing) The Battle of Antietam (also... In the U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a commissioned officer superior to a major and inferior to a colonel. ... The United States Regular Army is the permanent force of the United States Army that is maintained during peacetime, as opposed to those persons who may be part of a reserve or national guard outfit. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about 1862 . ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Ambrose E. Burnside Robert E. Lee Strength Army of the Potomac ~114,000 engaged Army of Northern Virginia ~72,500 engaged Casualties 12,653 (1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded, 1,769 captured/missing) 5,377 (608 killed, 4,116... Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Commanders Joseph Hooker Robert E. Lee Stonewall Jackson† Strength 133,868 60,892 Casualties and losses 17,197 (1,606 killed, 9,672 wounded, 5,919 missing)[2] 12,764 (1,665 killed, 9,081 wounded, 2,018 missing)[2] The Battle of Chancellorsville...

Gettysburg

At the start of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, Doubleday's division was first infantry on the field to reinforce the cavalry division of Brig. Gen. John Buford. When his corps commander, Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, was killed very early in the fighting, Doubleday found himself in command of the corps. His men fought well in the morning, putting up a stout resistance, but as overwhelming Confederate forces massed against them, their line eventually broke and they retreated back through the town of Gettysburg to the relative safety of Cemetery Hill south of town. It was Doubleday's finest performance during the war, five hours leading 9,500 men against ten Confederate brigades that numbered more than 16,000. Seven of those brigades incurred casualties that ranged from 35 to 50 percent, indicating the ferocity of the Union defense. But on Cemetery Hill, the I Corps could muster only a third of its men as effective for duty and the corps was essentially destroyed as a combat force for the rest of the battle; it would be decommissioned in March 1864, its surviving units combined into other corps.^[3] Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America Commanders George G. Meade Robert E. Lee Strength 93,921[1] 71,699[2] Casualties 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured/missing)[1] 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured/missing... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... John Buford, Jr. ... John Fulton Reynolds (September 20, 1820 – July 1, 1863) was a career U.S. Army officer and a general in the American Civil War. ... Gettysburg is a borough 38 miles (68 km) south by southwest of Harrisburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the county seatGR6. ... Jubal Earlys attack on East Cemetery Hill, July 2, 1863, engraving from The Century Magazine. ...

On July 2, Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade replaced Doubleday with Maj. Gen. John Newton, a more junior officer from another corps. The ostensible reason was a report by XI Corps commander Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard that Doubleday's corps broke first, causing the entire Union line to collapse, but Meade also had a long history of disdain for Doubleday's combat effectiveness, dating back to South Mountain. Doubleday was humiliated by this snub and held a lasting grudge against Meade, but he returned to division command and fought well for the remainder of the battle.^[3] He was wounded in the neck on the second day of Gettysburg and received a brevet promotion to colonel in the regular army for his service.^[4] He formally requested reinstatement as I Corps commander, but Meade refused, and Doubleday left Gettysburg on July 7 for Washington.^[8] is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 - November 6, 1872) was an American military officer during the American Civil War. ... John Newton John Newton (August 25, 1822 – May 1, 1895) was a career engineer officer in the U.S. Army, a Union general in the American Civil War, and Chief of the Corps of Engineers. ... The XI Corps (Eleventh Corps) was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War, best remembered for its humiliating defeats at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in 1863. ... Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. ... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Washington

Doubleday assumed mostly administrative duties in the defenses of Washington, D.C., where his only return to combat was directing a portion of the defenses against the attack by Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Also while in Washington, Doubleday testified against George Meade at the United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, criticizing him harshly over his conduct of the Battle of Gettysburg.^[2] For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ... US Lieutenant General insignia In three branches of the United States Army, United States Marine Corps and United States Air Force, a Lieutenant General is also called a three-star general, named for the three stars worn on the uniform. ... Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. ... Eastern Theater operations in 1864 The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October, 1864. ... The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a United States Congressional investigating committee created to handle issues surrounding the American Civil War. ...

Postbellum career

After the Civil War, Doubleday mustered out of the volunteer service on August 24, 1865, reverted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and became the colonel of the 35th U.S. Infantry in September 1867. He was stationed in San Francisco from 1869 through 1871 and he took out a patent for the cable car railway that still runs there, receiving a charter for its operation, but signing away his rights when he was reassigned. In 1871 he commanded the 24th U.S. Infantry, an all African-American regiment, in Texas.^[5] He retired in 1873 and, by 1878, he was living in Mendham, New Jersey, from where, that year, he became a prominent member of the Theosophical Society. When two of the founders of that society, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, moved to India at the end of that year, he was constituted as the President of the American body.^[9] is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1865 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Cable Car in San Francisco A San Francisco cable car Winding drums on the London and Blackwall cable-operated railway, 1840. ... The 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry has served as part of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry (Lighting) Division since 24 August 1995 at Fort Lewis, Washington. ... Mendham is a borough located in Morris County, New Jersey. ... The Theosophical Society was the organization formed to advance the spiritual doctrines and altruistic living known as Theosophy. ... Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Hahn (also Hélène) (July 31, 1831 (O.S.) (August 12, 1831 (N.S.)) - May 8, 1891 London, England), better known as Helena Blavatsky or Madame Blavatsky was the founder of Theosophy. ... Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), founder and first president of the Theosophical Society, is well-known as the first prominent person of Western descent to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. ...

Doubleday died of heart disease^[3] in Mendham, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.^[4] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Legacy and baseball

Main article: Origins of baseball

Although Doubleday was a competent, if colorless, combat general with experience in many important Civil War battles, the lore of baseball credits Doubleday with inventing the game, supposedly in Elihu Phinney's cow pasture in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. The question of the origin of baseball has been the subject of debate and controversy for more than a century. ... Elihu Phinney (d. ... Cooperstown redirects here. ...

The Mills Commission, chaired by Abraham G. Mills, the fourth president of the National League, was appointed in 1905 to determine the origin of baseball. The committee's final report, on December 30, 1907, stated, in part, that "the first scheme for playing baseball, according to the best evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, New York, in 1839." It concluded by saying, "in the years to come, in the view of the hundreds of thousands of people who are devoted to baseball, and the millions who will be, Abner Doubleday's fame will rest evenly, if not quite as much, upon the fact that he was its inventor ... as upon his brilliant and distinguished career as an officer in the Federal Army."^[10] is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

However, there is considerable evidence to dispute this claim. Baseball historian George B. Kirsch has described the results of the Mills commission as a "myth." He wrote, "Robert Henderson, Harold Seymour, and other scholars have since debunked the Doubleday-Cooperstown myth, which nonetheless remains powerful in the American imagination because of the efforts of Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown." At his death, Doubleday left many letters and papers, none of which describe baseball, or give any suggestion that he considered himself a prominent person in the evolution of the game. Chairman Mills himself, who had been a Civil War colleague of Doubleday and a member of the honor guard for Doubleday's body as it lay in state in New York City, never recalled hearing Doubleday describe his role as the inventor. Doubleday was a cadet at West Point in the year of the alleged invention and his family had moved away from Cooperstown the prior year. Furthermore, the primary testimony to the commission that connected baseball to Doubleday was that of Abner Graves, whose credibility is questionable; a few years later, he shot his wife to death, apparently because of mental illness, and he was committed to an institution for the criminally insane for the rest of his life.^[11]

Doubleday Field is a minor league baseball stadium named for Abner Doubleday, located in Cooperstown near the Baseball Hall of Fame. It hosts the annual Hall of Fame Game, originally between "old-timers" teams, but currently an exhibition game between two major league teams. Doubleday Field is a baseball stadium in Cooperstown, New York. ... For the organization which many minor leagues belong to, see Minor League Baseball Part of the History of baseball series. ... This article is about the building type. ... Baseball Hall of Fame redirects here. ... An exhibition game (also known as an exhibition match or simply exhibition, or a demonstration or demo event) is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor (such as tournament or season rankings, or prize money) regardless of the outcome of... Major Leagues redirects here. ...

Doubleday published two important works on the Civil War: Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie (1876), and Chancellorsville and Gettysburg (1882), the latter being a volume of the series Campaigns of the Civil War.^[4]

Doubleday's indecision as a commander earned him the uncomplimentary nickname "Forty-Eight Hours."^[4]

Namesake

In World War II the United States liberty ship SS Abner Doubleday was named in his honor. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. They were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. ... The SS. Doubleday is a liberty ship that was built during World War 2. ...

See also

United States Army Portal

Image File history File links United_States_Department_of_the_Army_Seal. ...

References

• Beckenbaugh, Terry L., "Abner Doubleday", Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, Heidler, David S., and Heidler, Jeanne T., eds., W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN 0-393-04758-X.
• Coddington, Edwin B., The Gettysburg Campaign; a study in command, Scribner's, 1968, ISBN 0-684-84569-5.
• Doubleday, Abner, My Life in the Old Army: The Reminiscences of Abner Doubleday : from the Collections of the New York Historical Society, Texas Christian University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-87565-185-2.
• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Gomes, Michael, "Abner Doubleday and Theosophy in America: 1879-1884", Sunrise magazine, April/May 1991.
• Kirsch, George B., Baseball in Blue and Gray : The National Pastime during the Civil War, Princeton University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-691-05733-8.
• Langellier, John, Second Manassas 1862: Robert E. Lee's Greatest Victory, Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1-84176-230-X.
• Tagg, Larry, The Generals of Gettysburg, Savas Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-882810-30-9.
• Biography at Handbook of Texas History Online

Notes

is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

External links

• Biography at Arlington Cemetery
• Abner Doubleday at Find A Grave Retrieved on 2008-02-25
• Defense of Madame Blavatsky
• Baseball Hall of Fame