Three-quarter length standing studio portrait of General Abner Doubleday in uniform. Albumen CDV. New York: Brady/Anthony, n.d. Subject identified by contemporary ink inscriptions to mount recto and verso. Anthony/Brady imprint to verso.

Abner Doubleday (1819 - 1893) was a career officer shaped by both inheritance and discipline. Military service ran in his family: his paternal grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, his maternal grandfather served as a mounted courier for George Washington, and his father was a veteran of the War of 1812. Doubleday followed suit, graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842 and serving in the Mexican-American War, the Seminole Wars, and various coastal commands.

By the outbreak of the Civil War, he had risen to the rank of captain and was second in command at Fort Sumter. When Confederate forces opened fire on 12 April 1861, it was Doubleday who aimed and ordered the first Union shot in reply. Promotions followed. At Second Bull Run, he acted decisively in covering the Union retreat. He was wounded at South Mountain and again at Antietam, where he led troops into the thick of the fighting in the Cornfield and West Woods. Widely regarded as a steady and courageous officer, he rose through the ranks and was appointed Major General of Volunteers in November 1862.

Doubleday saw his finest hour at the Battle of Gettysburg. His division was the second infantry force to reach the field, supporting Brigadier General John Buford’s cavalry. When Major General John F. Reynolds was killed early in the day, command of the I Corps fell to Doubleday. He led 9,500 Union troops against 16,000 Confederate attackers, holding the line with such effectiveness that several Confederate brigades suffered casualty rates as high as 50 percent.

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