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 greatest of all out-of-doors pastimes has had its evolution. The following sketch is from Appleton's "Encyclopædia of American Biography":

"Major General Abner Doubleday was born in Ballston Spa, New York, June 26, 1819. He was a civil engineer in 1836-1838, when he was appointed to the U. S. Military Academy, and on his graduation in 1842, was assigned to the Third Artillery. He served in the First Cavalry during the Mexican War, being engaged at Monterey and at Rinconada Pass during the Battle of Buena Vista. He was promoted to First Lieutenant March 3, 1847, to Captain March 3, 1855, and served against the Seminoles (Indians) in 1856-1858. He was in Fort Moultrie from 1860 till the garrison withdrew to Fort Sumter on December 26th of that year, and aimed the first gun fired in defence of the latter fort on April 12th, 1861. He was promoted to Major in the Seventeenth Infantry on May 14th, 1861; from June till August was with General Patterson in the Shenandoah Valley, and then served in the defence of Washington, commanding forts and batteries on the Potomac. He was made Brigadier General of Volunteers on February 3, 1862, and was assigned to the command of all the defences of Washington on the same date, and commanded a Brigade on the Rappahannock and in the Northern Virginia campaign from May to September, 1862, including the second Battle of Bull Run, where he succeeded, on August 30, to the command of Hatch's Division. In the Battle of Antietam, his Division held the extreme right and opened the battle, losing heavily, but taking six battle-flags. On November 29, 1862, he was promoted to Major-General of Volunteers. He was at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and succeeded General John F. Reynolds as Chief of the First Corps when that officer was appointed to that command of a wing of the army. On July 1, 1863, he was sent to Gettysburg to support Buford's Cavalry, and on the fall of General Reynolds, took command of the field till the arrival of General Howard, some hours later. His division fought gallantly in the battle that followed, and on the third day aided in the repulse of Pickett's charge.

"General Doubleday served on courts-martial and commissions in 1863, and on July 12, 1864, temporarily commanded the south-eastern defences of Washington, when the city was threatened by Early's raiders. He was brevetted Colonel in the Regular Army on March 11, 1865, and Brigadier and Major-General on March 13, for his services during the war. In December, 1866, he was in command at Galveston, Texas; served as Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau there until August 1, 1867, and, after being mustered out of the volunteer service, was made Colonel of the