Editing Abner Doubleday (section)

===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/>