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Abner Doubleday

Abner Doubleday (June 26, 1819-January 26, 1893), as an officer in the Union army, commanded the firing of the North's first shots in defense of Fort Sumter, S.C., the opening battle of the American Civil War in 1861.

This war has had an enormous enduring effect on the history and cultural mores of the United States, and the firing on Fort Sumter is one of its most famous episodes.

Image:AbnerDoubleday.jpeg

The lore of baseball makes Doubleday the inventor of the game, in a cow pasture in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. This is false; baseball evolved slowly from English folk games. (see baseball origins). Recent scholarship casts doubt that Doubleday even codified the rules of the game. Baseball has no single inventor, although the achievements of Alexander J. Cartwright match closely what has been claimed for Doubleday.

A West Point graduate, before the Civil War Doubleday served in the Mexican War and fought the Seminole Native Americans. By 1862 he was a Major-General, and was temporarily in command at the Battle of Gettysburg, before being relieved by General Howard.

After the Civil War, he was posted in San Francisco, where he obtained a charter for the cable car railway which still runs there.

At his death, Doubleday left a considerable supply of letters and papers, none of which describe baseball, or give any suggestion that Abner Doubleday considered himself a prominent person in the evolution of the game. An encyclopedia article about Doubleday published in 1911 makes no mention of the game.

Doubleday 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.”

Doubleday's indecision as a commander led him to be sometimes referred to as "48 Hours".

See also: History of the United States

External links

  • Grave Site http://www.findagrave.com/pictures/4830.html
  • Hall of Fame http://baseballhalloffame.org/about/history.htm



Last updated: 02-07-2005 12:14:57
Last updated: 04-25-2005 03:06:01