Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie: In 1860-'61 (Paperback)

by Abner Doubleday (Author)
Key Phrases: Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Fort Moultrie (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Abner Doubleday (1819-1893), was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his relief by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade caused lasting enmity between the two men. In San Francisco, California, after the war, he obtained a patent on the cable car railway that still runs there. In his final years in New Jersey, he was a prominent member and later president of the Theosophical Society. His most lasting claim to fame is the popular myth that he invented baseball, which has been debunked by almost all sports historians, although Doubleday himself never made such a claim. 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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Digital Scanning Inc. (December 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582182795
• ISBN-13: 978-1582182797
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,651,283 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Abner Doubleday gives an inside account of Fort Sumter., September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in 1860-'61 (Hardcover)

Abner Doubleday presents a unique account from the Union side of the events leading up to and including the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, which ignited the American Civil War. His first-person details from inside the garrison are hard to find elsewhere. He was such a staunch Unionist that he recalls being the only officer of the garrison in favor of the election of Lincoln. He continually protests against what he saw as the inaction of his own commanders and higher echelons. He felt that the Rebellion could have been nipped in the bud, had proper action been taken. From the foregoing, it should be apparent that sympathizers of the Confederacy will disagree with Doubleday on many points. I should point out that there is only limited evidence that Abner Doubleday had anything to do with the invention of baseball. He did, however, earn a Congressional Medal of Honor at Gettysburg.