He was the author of "Reminiscences of Fort Sumter and Moultrie in ," ; and "Chancellorsville and Gettysburg," A statue of him stands on the Battlefield at Gettysburg. His wife, Mary, who died in is buried with him.
Doubleday planned a career in civil engineering, but in he was appointed to West Point. He graduated in with a commission in the artillery, and served in the Mexican and Seminole Wars. In , Doubleday became a member of a commission investigation allegations of fraud during the Mexican War. Doubleday was known for his dignified and courteous manner and he used no profanity, liquor, or tobacco. Doubleday was promoted to first lieutenant in and to captain in Stationed in Charleston Harbor in , Doubleday fired the first Union shot from Fort Sumter after the Confederate ironclad battery bombardment of that fort.
Next appointed major of the 17th Infantry in May , Doubleday served in the lower Shenandoah Valley and in the defense of Washington. Later, he became brigadier general of volunteers, assigned to command a brigade in Union Gen. Irvin McDowell's corps. In , as major general of volunteers, Doubleday commanded the fighting at Gettysburg.
On the first day, Doubleday led the Union troops in their repulse of the Confederate army until reinforcements arrived. Doubleday's top commander, Gen. George G. Meade, was not, however aware of all of the facts concerning Doubleday's meritorious service and Doubleday's division's credit for the ultimate Union victory on the third day of Gettysburg. Therefore, Doubleday did not earn the permanent command of his division; instead it was given to former West Point classmate John Newton, and Doubleday was returned to a lesser command.
Doubleday retired from active service in and made his home in New Jersey, where he died twenty years later. In the library at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown is a letter that gives some insight into how Abner Doubleday spent his youth.
I was fond of poetry and art and much interested in mathematical studies. The mythology remains strong today, but most serious baseball historians believe the game comes from England and other ball and bat games in prehistory. Doubleday grew up in Auburn and attended the Cooperstown Classical and Military Academy, studying civil engineering before he was appointed to West Point in During his first year he stood 30th out of 85 plebes.
In , West Point began issuing grades and standings for students. In his sophomore year Doubleday scored third in Drawing; 21st in Mathematics; 29th in English Grammar and 46th in French. Overall, Doubleday stood number 19 in a class of 76 members; many first-year students did not make it through the plebe year.
In his junior year, Doubleday stood 20th in a class of 60 members, scoring 17th in Drawing; 21st in Philosophy; and 27th in Chemistry. He graduated from West Point in ranking 24th in a class of 56 members on July 1 of that year.
His last-year scores were 26th in Engineering; 29th in Ethics; 30th in Infantry Tactics; 32nd in Artillery; and 32nd in Mineralogy and Geology. Despite his opposition to the war, 10 he volunteered to fight. He began the war as a supply officer but applied for and received an artillery posting. After the conflict with Mexico, Doubleday returned to Texas.
As a lieutenant of the 1st Artillery, Doubleday was involved in the hostilities against the Apaches from to on the Texas border. In he posted to Florida. According to the National Archives in Washington, D. Doubleday was posted to the garrison at Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina, in , an assignment that had a huge influence on his military career. Doubleday was a supporter of abolition and voted for Abraham Lincoln in His service against the Confederacy began where the war began, at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor.
Fort Moultrie had been abandoned after South Carolina seceded, and its garrison was moved to Fort Sumter. There, Doubleday was second in command to Major Robert Anderson, who was from Kentucky and was from a slave-owning family.
Major Anderson remained in the Union Army, and Doubleday remarked that he was in a cruel situation. The Southerners opened fire on Sumter during the early morning hours of April 12, and Anderson offered only token resistance. Under the rules of engagement, the Fort Sumter garrison was allowed to vacate the fortress. Doubleday was transferred to command the garrison at Fort Hamilton in New York. Promoted to major, Doubleday served with the 17th Infantry in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and in the defenses of Washington from September to May During this time he was promoted to brigadier general of U.
South Mountain was the precursor to Antietam, the bloodiest one-day battle of the war. Doubleday was in the midst of heavy fighting in the Corn Field and West Woods. He attended school at Auburn and Cooperstown, where he prepared for a career in civil engineering. A long-standing tradition claimed that he originated the game of baseball, but recent scholarship has established that he played no role in the history of the sport.
He worked as a surveyor from to and graduated from the United States Military Academy in He served under Gen. Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War.
In he married Mary Hewitt of Baltimore. He was promoted later to major general of volunteers and fought in many battles, including the second battle of Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, before a transfer took him to Washington, D. After the war he was promoted to colonel in the regular army and transferred to California, where he obtained the charter for the first San Francisco cable street railway.
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