General Abner Doubleday

As Portrayed By Skip Shirmer

Doubleday was a career officer and Union general in the relative safety of , south of town. It was Doubleday's the . He fired the first shot in defense of , finest performance during the war, five hours leading 9,500 men against the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting ten Confederate brigades that numbered more than 16,000. by General George Gordon Meade caused lasting enmity between On July 2, 1863, Major General Meade replaced Doubleday with the two men. Major General , a more junior officer from another Born in a small house on June 26 1819, in Ballston Spa, NY, corps. Doubleday was humiliated by this snub and held a Doubleday and his family all slept in the attic loft of the lasting grudge against Meade. Doubleday formally one-room house. Abner spent his childhood in Auburn requested reinstatement as commander, but and later was sent to Cooperstown NY to live with his Meade refused. Doubleday left Gettysburg on July 7th uncle and attend a private preparatory high school. for Washington. Abner practiced as a surveyor and civil engineer for two Doubleday assumed administrative duties in the years before entering the West Point in 1838, from defenses of Washington, D.C., where he was in charge which he graduated in 1842. In 1852, he married Mary of courts martial, giving him legal experience that he Hewitt of . used after the war. While in Washington, Doubleday Doubleday initially served in the Mexican War and in the remained a staunch supporter of President Lincoln. . By the start of the Civil War, he was a Doubleday rode with Lincoln on the train to Gettysburg captain and second in command in the garrison at Fort for the , and Mr. and Mrs. Doubleday Sumter, under Major Robert Anderson. Doubleday aimed the attended events with Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln in Washington. cannon that fired the first return shot in answer to the Confederate After the Civil War, Doubleday mustered out on August 24, 1865. In bombardment on April 12, 1861, starting the war. 1869, while stationed in San Francisco, Doubleday took On February 3, 1862, Doubleday was promoted brigadier out a patent for the cable car railway, which is still general of volunteers and was assigned to lead a brigade running. In 1873, he practiced law in Mendham NJ, and in the . He then led a division at the he became a prominent member of the Theosophical Second Battle of Bull Run, and the battles of South Society. Mountain and Antietam. In March 1863, Doubleday was Contrary to myths and legends, Doubleday did not invent promoted to major general of volunteers. Doubleday’s the game of Baseball but did refine the rules of the game. division sat idle at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Part of the confusion could stem from there being another When the I corps commander, Major General John man by the same name in Cooperstown in 1839. Reynolds, was killed very early during the first day of the Doubleday died of heart disease in Mendham NJ in 1893, , Doubleday found himself in and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in command of the I corps. His men fought well, but as Arlington, Virginia. overwhelming Confederate forces massed against them, the I Corps line eventually broke and retreated back to

Abner Doubleday is portrayed by Skip Schirmer.