Chancellorsville And Gettysburg

by Abner Doubleday

Overview

"Chancellorsville and Gettysburg merits the attention of modern students of these major Eastern campaigns as well as anyone interested in postwar controversies among Union generals."—Gary W. Gallagher



General Abner Doubleday (1819-1893) is best known as the man who "invented" baseball, but his admirable service on behalf of the Union earned him a reputation as a solid commander and patriot. He saw action at Fort Sumter where he aimed the first gun fired against the rebellion; at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, where he lead the First and later the Third Divisions of the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac; and finally at Gettysburg, where he commanded the entire First Corps after the death of General Reynolds early in the morning of the first day. Facing powerful assaults from Confederates, the outnumbered First Corps fought, under Doubleday's calm leadership, a valiant holding action that culminated in high casualties, but gave General Meade the crucial time he needed to reinforce the battlefield.


Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, originally commissioned as part of the landmark Campaigns of the Civil War series, provides stern judgements of Generals Meade and Howard; astute insights into other generals such as Hooker, Reynolds, and Sickle; and penetrating, minute-by-minute analyses by a leading participant of these two pivotal battles. Although the fierce resistance by the First Corps during the bloody late afternoon of July 1 never received its due praise, Doubleday's account of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg stands as a passionate, uncompromising tribute.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781463543631
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/1900
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Abner Doubleday was born on June 26, 1819 in Ballston Spa, New York. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War and his father in the War of 1812 before becoming a U. S. Congressman. After spending much of his childhood in Auburn, New York, Abner was sent to Cooperstown to live with his uncle and attend a private high school. He worked as a surveyor before entering West Point, from which he graduated in 1842, becoming a lieutenant in the U. S. Artillery. He served in the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848, then the Seminole Wars from 1856 to 1858. In 1852, he married Mary Hewitt. At the start of the Civil War, he was second in command at Fort Sumter, and in fact, aimed the cannon that fired the first return shot of the war in 1861. Promoted to major, he was a hero at the Second Battle of Bull Run, and was present at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and of course Gettysburg, where he spent five hours leading 9,500 Union troops against 16,000 Confederates. Due to a misunderstanding, General George Meade replaced him, and he assumed administrative duties in Washington, D. C. When Abraham Lincoln travelled to Gettysburg, to give his famous address, Doubleday travelled with him. He left the military in 1873. While stationed in San Francisco from 1869 through 1871, he invented the cable car, which still runs there today. Working as an attorney in New York, he also spent much time writing and became a friend of Thomas Edison. Doubleday died on January 26, 1893, at the age of 73, from heart disease in Mendham, New York. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. As to the myth that he was the inventor of baseball, there is no evidence to support that, either historically, or in Doubleday's own writings.