"[5] He was wounded when an artillery shell exploded near his horse, throwing him to the ground in a violent fall. Artillery. He graduated in 1842, 24th in a class of 56 cadets, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Volunteers Infantry Regiment, in uniform with his wife, Mary Hewitt Doubleday] / From photographic negative by Brady. [6] He was survived by his wife.[12]. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Portrait of Brig. He 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.[6]. 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. The origins of the myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown can be traced back to the early 20th century when there was strong debate as to whether baseball was directly descended from British games like rounders and cricket. All Rights Reserved. During his first year he stood 30th out of 85 plebes. No serious historian of baseball believes Doubleday established the rules of baseball, but the myth of Doubleday still persists to some degree. Due to his bravery, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the regular army and major general of volunteers. Born: 26-Jun-1819 Birthplace: Ballston Spa, NY Died: 26-Jan-1893 Location of death: Mendham, NJ . Despite Abner Doubleday having had nothing to do with baseball's origin, the Baseball Hall of Fame still displays an oil painting of Doubleday. He died in 1893 at the age of 73. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his relief by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade caused lasting enmity between the two men. In 1861 he was second-in-command at Fort Sumter, where he ordered the Unions first shots of the Civil War in response to the bombardment by secessionist forces. Historical Society of Pennsylvania . He remained in division command for the Battle of Antietam, in which his unit sustained heavy casualties at an area known as the Cornfield. For his performance at Antietam, Doubleday was promoted to major general of volunteers in November 1862. Doubleday was in the midst of heavy fighting in the Corn Field and West Woods.19 Late in the battle, Doubleday was wounded when a shell exploded under his horses nose, causing the rider and the horse to run over steep rocks. [7], Doubleday initially served in coastal garrisons and then in the MexicanAmerican War from 1846 to 1848 and the Seminole Wars from 1856 to 1858. Instead, he served as a Union major general in the American Civil War and later became a lawyer and writer. Doubledays childhood days were spent in Auburn, after which he went to Cooperstown to pursue further studies. 17 Gumpert, Doubleday; Genealogytrails.com, West Point bios 1842 class. 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. Civil War Union Major General. Cooperstown businessmen and major league officials seized on myths enduring power in the 1930s, when they established the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in the village. Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893. In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Abner Doubleday was named in his honor. After General John P. Hatch was wounded in the fighting, Doubleday took command of his division and successfully withstood a Confederate assault. This flies in the face of the fact that Doubleday was a plebe at West Point at that time, was only 20 years old, and had never left West Point from August 1838 until his graduation in 1842. Reassigned to the I Corps under General Joseph Hooker, Doubleday next participated in the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862. }, Cronkite School at ASU Initially they sold office supplies whoesale to banks and governmental offices and eventually moved into the retail market. 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. 3 Thomas Barthel, Abner Doubleday: A Civil War Biography (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc., 2010), 7-8. Family Members. In 1846, the Knickerbockers played the first official game of baseball against a team of cricket players, beginning a new, uniquely American tradition. I was hit and pitched over my horses neck by a piece of shell which struck me in the back of the neck. . 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." Promoted to brigadier general in February 1862, Doubleday participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and the Battle of Antietam later that year. He published newspapers and books and served two terms in the US Congress.4, 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. background-color:#ba3434; 2 Biographic information on Abner Doubleday is from Bert Gumpert, who was working on a Doubleday biography for the Civil War Roundtable of New York. His first combat assignment was to lead the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, III Corps of the Army of Virginia during the Northern Virginia Campaign. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A native of New York, Doubleday graduated from West Point and served during the Mexican-American War (1846-48). 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. He published books and newspapers as well. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The application process for the upcoming summer season begins the . Doubleday then went on to become a Civil War hero, while baseball became Americas beloved national pastime. Born in Piers, town, New York County, New York, USA on Jan 1 1801 to Abner Doubleday and Mercy Freeman. Abner practiced as a surveyor and civil engineer for two years before entering the United States Military Academy in 1838. During his years at West Point, he did not leave West Point from August 1838 until graduation in 1842;7 he was considered to be a diligent and thoughtful student, something of a critic, and was fond of questions in moral philosophy.8 Doubleday was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery and was sent to Fort Johnson in North Carolina as his first assignment.9. Despite the lack of solid evidence linking Doubleday to the origins of baseball, Cooperstown, New York, became the new home of what is today the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1937. As a child, Abner was very short. Four of the Doubleday children survived to adulthood. At Antietam, Doubleday again led the men into the battle taking place in the Cornfield and the West Woods, but he was injured after an artillery shell exploded near his horse, throwing him onto the ground violently. Doubleday Brothers and Company began in 1898 when brothers Fred U. and Ward F., sons of Abner Doubleday, purchased the bindery of the Kalamazoo Publishing Company. 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. Born Abner DOUBLEDAY United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War Born on June 26, 1819 in Ballston Spa, New York, USA , United States Died on January 26, 1893 in Mendham, New Jersey, USA Born on June 26 44 Deceased on January 26 40 Family tree Report an error Doubleday Elisha 1713 - 1806 Bayley Hannah 1732 - 1774 Freeman After graduating in 1842, he became a cadet and was commissioned into the 3rd US Artillery as a brevet second lieutenant. At Chancellorsville in May 1863, the division was kept in reserve. Finally, Graves was not well; he wound up killing his wife and spent his remaining years in an asylum.37, Abner Doubleday was a very religious man, who never drank or used profane language, and whose interests were wide, including mathematics, engineering, literature, military science, and sports. Thanks to Mark Pattison for providing information on Gumperts work on Doubleday. 19 Genealogytrails.com, West Point bios 1842 class. Doubledays force was lightly engaged at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, and he was placed in charge of the newly created Third Division a month later. They then attacked near my position opening with from 100 to 150 pieces of artillery. This is where Abner Doubleday and baseball were linked for the only time. Especially upset with Howard's unfair insinuation that the 1st Corps . He helped found the Bronx Historical Society and was also involved with the Civil War Society and the Revolutionary War Roundtable in New York City. Later, he became a Republican and was one of the biggest supporters of President Abraham Lincoln. He is popularly credited with inventing the modern game of baseball in 1835. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his relief by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade caused lasting enmity . Abner was born in 1819 in Ballston Spa, New York. Abner Doubleday. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Inventor Thomas Edison was also an important member of the society. An 1838 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, he is known today more for the myth that he invented Modern Baseball while a cadet at West Point than for his accomplishments as a Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War. There may have been some relationship to baseball as a national sport and Abner Doubleday. 24 Byron Farwell, Stonewall: A Biography of General Thomas J. Jackson (New York: W.W. Norton, 1992), 109-110, 129. Doubleday Scrapbook. His great grandfather Peter Donnelly was a Minuteman. Despite his opposition to the war,10 he volunteered to fight. [4] He aimed the cannon that fired the first return shot in answer to the Confederate bombardment on April 12, 1861. Try NewspaperArchive.com. An error has occured while loading the map. Surprisingly hidden- if my husband wasn't looking for it, I would have never known it was there. Maj Gen Abner Doubleday Born 26 Jun 1819 in Ballston Spa, New York, USA Ancestors Son of Ulysses Freeman Doubleday and Hestor (Donnelly) Doubleday [sibling (s) unknown] Husband of Mary (Hewitt) Doubleday married 27 Jan 1852 in District of Columbia, United States [children unknown] Died 26 Jan 1893 at age 73 in Mendham, New Jersey, USA His brother Thomas ran a well-known bookshop, TD Doubleday, on Wall Street. A monument has been built in Doubledays name in Gettysburg, which has been erected by his admirers. Newton, who was number one in his class, relieved General Doubleday as commander of the I Corps during the Battle of Gettysburg,22 and Doubleday served under Pope in the Union defeat at Second Manassas in August 1862.23 Several members of Doubledays class served with the Confederate army, including Daniel H. Hill,24 Richard Anderson, Lafayette McLaws, and James Longstreet, all of whom fought at Gettysburg.25, In command of a division in the I Corps, Doubleday was among the first to see action in the battle. The ostensible reason was a false report by 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. The family all slept in the attic loft of the one-room house. By the time of the American Revolution, variations of such games were being played on schoolyards and college campuses across the country. In my outdoor sports I was a addicted to topographical work and even as a boy amused myself by making maps of the country around my fathers residence which was in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York.5 Interesting, there is no mention of baseball in his upbringing. Doubleday received some bruises and could not hold the reins of a horse for a long time.20, Doubledays bravery and that of his troops at Antietam earned him promotion to major general of U.S. During early fighting near Brawners Farm, Doubleday dispatched nearly 1,000 of his men to support forces under General John Gibbon. We strive for accuracy and fairness. The company closed Kalamazoo operations in 2005 and is now . He was assigned to duty in northern Virginia while the Peninsula Campaign was being conducted by the Army of the Potomac. He was born in Ballston Spa,. Army and a general for the Union during the Civil War. Thomas died in 1863 after being run over by a bus in New York. Abner Doubleday began living in Mendham Township, New Jersey, during the later years of his life. [5], 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. Fun & Games. In other words, the Hall of Fame is built on a lie. When you examine the life of Abner Doubleday you eventually have to come to the point expressed by classic detective Joe Friday: Just the facts, maam, just the facts. Okay, so here are two facts about General Abner Doubledays life. Register now to join us on July 5-9, 2023, in Chicago. The Doubleday myth arose in the early 1900s when the nation, relatively young and insecure over lack of pedigree, needed to possess the game as uniquely American. But Doubleday was not a man to worry about his appearance; rather, his concern would be his obligations to the men in his command.21. 34 Civilwarwomenblog.com/mary-doubleday.htm. Abner Doubleday will celebrate 204th birthday on Monday, 26th of June 2023. Doubleday, who was born to a prominent family in upstate New York in 1819, was still at West Point in 1839, and he never claimed to have anything to do with baseball. His grandfather, also named Abner Doubleday, served under "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the American Revolution. Little is known of him, but in the 1893 "Biographical Review of Otsego County," Cousin Abner is listed as the brother of a William Doubleday, who was born in 1823. Doubleday asked his superiors to purchase baseball implements for the amusement of the men.32, After an illness, and after being bitten by a copperhead33 on the way to Brownsville, Texas, Doubleday retired from the Army in 1873. In 1860 he was Captain of Company E of the First United States Artillery stationed at Fort Moultrie in South Carolina. Howard and Meade had incurred the New Yorker's enduring wrath, a fact made evident in Doubleday's Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Popularity Last Name Doubleday Abner Doubleday Is A Member Of Born In 1819 War Heroes First Name Abner Cancers Abner Doubleday Fans Also Viewed Thomas Edison War Hero Daniel Harvey Hill Samuel P Carter 00 Cooperstown is home to only 1,730 people, but more than 300,000 journey to the tiny Otsego County village's world-famous cultural attraction each year. Alderman, 1890), 115. Essay by George B. Kirsch, Theosophical Society in America (Hargrove), Theosophical Society Point Loma - Blavatskyhouse, United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, List of American Civil War generals (Union), "The Doubleday myth is Cooperstown's gain: Pastoral village has become the heart of baseball folklore", "Featured Monument: Major-General Abner Doubleday Monument", "Cooperstown Connection: Doubleday Field, A Diamond in the Pasture", "Baseball Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown will end after this year", "1 Thing We Love About Morris: Baseball spring training", "Abner Doubleday's presence still felt in Ballston Spa", Abner Doubleday and Theosophy in America: 18791884, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abner_Doubleday&oldid=1147449171, American military personnel of the MexicanAmerican War, People of New York (state) in the American Civil War, Articles with Encyclopdia Britannica links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 March 2023, at 01:16. Despite . Phoenix, AZ 85004 The house of his birth still stands in the middle of town and there is a monument to him on Front Street. Seen not as a foolhardy soldier but as a steadfast one, many times in the future Doubleday would be asked to anchor a line and protect the flank of a large body of soldiers. Doubleday was a well-known Civil War general. Abner Doubleday (June 26, 1819 - January 26, 1893) was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. Doubleday died of heart disease in Mendham Township on January 26, 1893. In the face of mounting hostilities, in December 1860 Doubleday and Fort Moultries commander, Major Robert Anderson, moved their garrison to Fort Sumter and abandoned the citys other forts to the South Carolina militia. 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. Family Life His father was named Ulysses F. Doubleday. His maternal grandfather joined the Army at 14 and was a mounted messenger for George Washington. Born on June 26, 1819, he was the first officer to fire a shot in defence of Fort Sumter, during the opening of the war.He played a vital role during the initial stage of the Battle of Gettysburg. He was the third of eight children of Ulysses Freeman Doubleday and Hester (Donnelly) Doubleday. Abner Doubleday (1819-1893) was a U.S. military officer who served as a Union general during the Civil War (1861-65). 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. In 1875, Mary Stewart Doubleday married . Doubleday never forgave Meade, and his career with the Army of the Potomac was over.27 Allen C. Guelzo, in Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, writes, The written update (General John) Hancock sent back to Meade from Gettysburg included a brief statement Howard says that Doubledays command gave way which became fixed in Meades mind as proof that Doubleday had lost all control of I Corps and somehow caused the collapse of both the I and the XI Corps. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812 (1812-15), and later served as a U.S. congressman. Before the Civil War began, Doubleday noted that Charleston was not a pleasant place to be, commenting, Almost every public assemblage was tinctured with treasonable sentiments and toasts against the flag were always warmly applauded.15, His service against the Confederacy began where the war began, at Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. Username and password are case sensitive. Mary Hewitt had married Abner Doubleday eight years earlier, when she was about 28 and he was a 32-year-old first lieutenant. 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