Abner Doubleday:
Illustrated, maps, notes, bibliography, appendix, index, 269 pp., 2009. Xlibris Corporation, 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 27403, $29.99 plus shipping. Less than two weeks after the battle of Gettysburg Gen. Abner Doubleday wrote to a friend in New York that he had been “treated badly.” Although Doubleday’s letter referred to his being relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac’s First Corps in favor of Gen. John Newton, Doubleday’s observation of being treated badly transcends Gen. George G. Meade’s command decision in the summer of 1863. From a historian’s perspective Doubleday was not only treated badly by Meade, but has been treated poorly by history. To most, Doubleday’s name is synonymous with the alleged creation of American baseball. Beyond that, however, most know little about this great American. Fortunately JoAnn Smith Bartlett has produced a well-written and finely researched biography of Doubleday in Abner Doubleday: His Life and Times: Looking Beyond the Myth. Bartlett, a journalist, approaches her subject with intense scrutiny. Throughout the book’s 25 chapters the author, utilizing a nice cache of published and unpublished primary source materials, peels away the layers of Doubleday’s life to reveal the general’s true character. She is solid in her approach and writing as she explains the full gamut of Doubleday’s life from his childhood and time at West Point to his service in the Mexican War, involvement at Fort Sumter, service in the Union army during the Civil War, postwar service, and the circumstances surrounding his death. In addition to providing a sound chronicle of Doubleday’s life — the first such book to do so — the author analyzes a number of important aspects of his life. Chief among them is Doubleday’s role as the father of American baseball. Based on sound research the author proves without any doubt that Gen. Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball, but that it could potentially be Doubleday’s cousin Abner D. Doubleday. While most historical accounts state that Gen. Doubleday invented baseball in the summer of 1839, the author’s in-depth research reveals that Doubleday’s first mention of the sport did not come until 1871 when he requested some equipment for the Buffalo Soldiers under his command. Another area of analysis in which the author excels and adds value to the historiography of Union generals is examination of early influences that shaped Doubleday’s abolitionism. Throughout the book the author paints Doubleday as a stern abolitionist having been influenced by the likes of the Grimke sisters. She illustrates how Doubleday’s attitude of abolitionism was not popular among officers in the United States Army before or during the Civil War, but still Doubleday held to his convictions. While the book’s analysis of Doubleday’s character makes it useful, what further enhances this volume’s value are the gems of information related to a variety of aspects of the war. In addition to Bartlett’s discussion of Doubleday at Fort Sumter and Gettysburg, topics important to military historians and scholars of Union occupation in the South will also find this book of great worth. In chapter 14 Bartlett addresses the obstacles Doubleday confronted during his stint as occupation commander of Fredericksburg in 1862. This discussion shows a contrast to the “hard war” policy of Union occupation forces in the war’s final two years. Through Doubleday’s words the reader gets a sense of his frustration as he tried to impose policies as military governor at a time in the war’s early stages when “the policy of the army … favored the Rebel citizens, rather than the Union army.” Bartlett’s book has wide appeal, is solidly researched, and finely crafted. Thanks to her, Doubleday’s legacy is no longer being “treated badly.” Reviewer: Jonathan A. Noyalas is assistant professor of history and director of the Center for Civil War History at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Va., and the author or editor of six books on Civil War era history.
|
