Editing Abner Doubleday (section)

==Early years==
Doubleday, the son of [[Ulysses F. Doubleday]] and Hester Donnelly, was born in [[Ballston Spa, New York]], in a small house on the corner of Washington and Fenwick streets. As a child, Abner was very short. The family all slept in the attic loft of the one-room house. His paternal grandfather, also named Abner, had fought in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. His maternal grandfather [[Thomas Donnelly (sergeant-at-arms)|Thomas Donnelly]] had joined the army at 14 and was a mounted messenger for [[George Washington]]. His great-grandfather Peter Donnelly was a Minuteman. His father, Ulysses F., fought in the [[War of 1812]], published newspapers and books, and represented [[Auburn, New York]], for four years in the [[United States Congress]].<ref name="Beckenbaugh">Beckenbaugh, pp. 611–612.</ref> Abner spent his childhood in Auburn and later was sent to [[Cooperstown, New York|Cooperstown]] to live with his uncle and attend a private preparatory high school. He practiced as a surveyor and civil engineer for two years before entering the [[United States Military Academy]]<ref name="Tagg">Tagg, pp. 25–27.</ref> in 1838. He graduated in 1842, 24th in a class of 56 cadets, and was commissioned a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[second lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in the 3rd U.S. Artillery.<ref name="Eicher">Eicher, p. 213.</ref> In 1852, he married Mary Hewitt of [[Baltimore]], the daughter of a local lawyer.<ref name="TX">[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdo39 Texas Handbook]</ref>

===Early commands and Fort Sumter===
[[File:MAjor Robert Anderson and his officers Ft Sumpter South Carolina.jpg|thumb|Major Robert Anderson and his officers at [[Fort Sumter]], South Carolina]]

[[File:Abner Doubleday at Fort Sumter, SC IMG 4534.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Doubleday photo displayed at Fort Sumter National Monument in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] harbor]]
[[File:Fort Sumter Medal.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Fort Sumter]] Medal bearing the likeness of [[Robert Anderson (major)|Major Robert Anderson]] which was presented to Abner Doubleday]]
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 1858, he was transferred to [[Fort Moultrie]] in [[Charleston Harbor]] serving under Colonel [[John L. Gardner (brigadier general)|John L. Gardner]]. By the start of the Civil War, he was a [[Captain (United States O-3)|captain]] and second in command in the garrison at [[Fort Sumter]], under [[Major (United States)|Major]] [[Robert Anderson (Union officer)|Robert Anderson]].<ref name=Beckenbaugh/> He aimed the cannon that fired the first return shot in answer to the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] bombardment on April 12, 1861. He subsequently referred to himself as the "hero of Sumter" for this role.<ref name=Tagg/> Of note, although Doubleday did not invent baseball, by sheer coincidence the Fort Sumter Garrison Flag (or Storm Flag) has the star pattern arranged in a diamond shape, which by that time in history, was the shape of the baseball infield.

===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 [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Nathaniel Banks]]'s division of the [[Army of the Potomac]]. He was appointed [[Brigadier general (United States)|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 (Union Army)|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 Brigadier General [[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 (Civil War General)|Rufus King]], was incapacitated by an [[epilepsy|epileptic]] seizure at the time. He was replaced by Brigadier General [[John P. Hatch]].<ref>Langellier, pp. 43, 45, 49.</ref> His men were routed when they encountered Major General [[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.<ref name=Tagg/>

Doubleday again led the division, now assigned to the [[I Corps (Union Army)|I Corps]] of the Army of the Potomac, after [[Battle of South Mountain|South Mountain]], where Hatch was wounded again. At [[Battle of Antietam|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."<ref name=Tagg/> 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 (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] in the [[Regular Army (United States)|regular army]] for his actions at Antietam and was promoted in March 1863 to [[Major General#United States|major general]] of volunteers, to rank from November 29, 1862.<ref>Eicher, p. 703.</ref> At [[Battle of Fredericksburg|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 [[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]] in May 1863, the division was kept in reserve.<ref name=Tagg/>

===Gettysburg===
[[File:DoubledayBirthplace.jpg|thumb|Birthplace in Ballston Spa]]
[[File:Doubleday and wife (1).jpg|thumb|right|Doubleday and his wife, Mary]]
At the start of the [[Battle of Gettysburg]], July 1, 1863, Doubleday's division was the second infantry division on the field to reinforce the cavalry division of Brigadier General [[John Buford]]. When his corps commander, Major General [[John F. Reynolds]], was killed very early in the fighting, Doubleday found himself in command of the corps at 10:50 am. 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, Pennsylvania|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 sustained casualties that ranged from 35 to 50 percent, indicating the ferocity of the Union defense. On Cemetery Hill, however, 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 consolidated into other corps.<ref name=Tagg/>

On July 2, 1863, Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. [[George G. Meade]] replaced Doubleday with Major General [[John Newton (engineer)|John Newton]], a more junior officer from another corps. The ostensible reason was a false report by [[XI Corps (Union Army)|XI Corps]] commander Major General [[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.<ref name=Tagg/> 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.<ref name=Eicher/> He formally requested reinstatement as I Corps commander, but Meade refused, and Doubleday left Gettysburg on July 7 for Washington.<ref>Coddington, pp. 690–691.</ref>

Doubleday's staff nicknamed him "Forty-Eight Hours" as a compliment to recognize his tendency to avoid reckless or impulsive actions and his thoughtfulness and deliberateness in considering circumstances and possible responses.<ref name=Barthel>Barthel, p. 127</ref>  In recent years, biographers have turned the nickname into an insult, incorrectly claiming "Forty-Eight Hours" was coined to highlight Doubleday's supposed incompetence and slowness to act.<ref name=Barthel />

===Washington===
Doubleday assumed administrative duties in the defenses of Washington, D.C., where he was in charge of courts martial, which gave him legal experience that he used after the war. His only return to combat was directing a portion of the defenses against the attack by Confederate [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|Lieutenant General]] [[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.<ref name=Beckenbaugh/> While in Washington, Doubleday remained a loyal [[History of the Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and staunch supporter of President [[Abraham Lincoln]]. Doubleday rode with Lincoln on the train to Gettysburg for the [[Gettysburg Address]] and Col. and Mrs. Doubleday attended events with Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln in Washington.