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.
