Abner and Mary Doubleday were quite the team, both ardent abolitionists and supporters of the Union. Mary's support and council helped Abner stick to his beliefs and values when it would have been easier - and possibly more beneficial to his career - to be less vocal about the beliefs he held so dear.
Mary accompanied her husband to all of his pre-Civil War postings and when the garrison at Fort Moultrie had to flee to the relative safety of Fort Sumpter in the Harbor, she remained in Charleston and continued to row out to bring information to Doubleday and the others, news about negotiations between the north and south. When it became clear that a compromise was unlikely, the southern soldiers obliged the families of the northern troops to leave. Only then was Mary separated from her husband.
This painting, titled The Bombardment of Fort Sumpter, by the iconic American duo Currier & Ives, depicts the 36-hours period between April 12 - 14, 1861, when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumpter and started the Civil War. Captain Doubleday, the commander of one of two artillery batteries station in the harbor, commanded the first guns that returned fire but when the Yankee's shot, shell, and food were all but diminished, with no hope of resupply, the valiant defenders had no choice but to negotiate an end to the cannonade.
The Federal soldiers were allowed to remove their flag and return north, sailing to New York City, where they received a hero's welcome. After the Union troops abandoned Fort Sumpter, Confederate forces moved in. The below photo shows some of the damage inside the fort, including many burned out brick storage areas.
For recognition of the important role he played in the first battle of the Civil War, Doubleday was promoted to major and given command of Fort Hamilton in New York City, which, as a bonus, allowed him to be reunited with Mary once more.
Doubleday did not see combat again for more than a year. He was primarily assigned to supporting roles during that time but did find himself promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and put in command of a brigade. But in mid-April 1862, his brigade marched as part of a much larger force toward Manassas, VA, where the Confederates had defeated Union troops in the first major battle of the war the summer before.
On April 28, the day before the battle officially began, Doubleday's sister brigade, commanded by Brigadier General John Gibbon found itself in contact with Stonewall Jackson's much larger force. Gibbon's soldier were known as the Black Hat Brigade for the Model 1858 dress hat, aka the Hardee Hat, they wore into combat.
The Black Hats were on the verge of falling back in the face of a superior force, as just about every Union unit had done since the start of the war, when Doubleday heard heady fire and rushed his brigade to reinforce the Black Hats. Thanks to Doubleday's initiative, both his and Gibbon's forces were able to fight Jackson to a draw until nightfall. Only after sunset did the Yankee perform a textbook orderly withdrawal from the battlefield - it was the first time the mythic Jackson was unable to drive his enemy from the field.
In true less-than-dashing fashion, Gibbon's brigade got the recognition for the stand and their nickname was changed from the Black Hats to the Iron Brigade, by which they were known for the rest of the war. Doubleday didn't need the recognition. He and his boys knew what they had done.
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| Iron Brigade reenactors at Brawner's Farm on the Manassas Battlefield in 2009 |
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