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My Life in the Old Army (Hardcover, New)
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My Life in the Old Army (Hardcover, New)
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"This was the very life I had been desirous of leading. To mix with
the Mexican rancheros and see more of their manner of living. "When
the news came that a treaty of peace had actually been signed with
Mexico we joyfully turned our face homewards that is towards the
sea coast, taking with us the heavy guns which had been an object
of so much care and solicitude in the past." Often thought of as
the inventor of baseball, Abner Doubleday was first and foremost a
soldier. Graduated from West Point in 1842 (where his record
characterizes him as "correct in his deportment, social and
communicative. . . rather adverse to outdoor sports and retiring in
his manner"), Doubleday was an active participant in the Mexican
War (1840s), the Seminole Wars in Florida (1850s), a veteran of
service on the Texas frontier (1850s, 1870s), the man who ordered
the first Union salvo from Fort Sumter in April 1861, and a veteran
of many Civil War battles, including Gettysburg and
Chancellorsville. He retired from the United States Army in 1873
and died in 1893. Doubleday was also the author of two published
books on his Civil War experiences. My Life in the Old Army,
however, is composed of a set of previously unpublished writings
(the originals are housed at the New-York Historical Society)
primarily about Doubleday's tour of duty during the Mexican War. He
was on hand for the first shots of the war, for the battles of
Monterrey and Buena Vista, and later served in Saltillo after the
campaign moved farther south toward Mexico City. Fluent in Spanish,
he traveled far and wide in Mexico and describes his experiences.
"This is the very life I had been desirous of leading," he writes.
"To mix with the Mexican rancheros and see more of their manner of
living." The volume includes chapters on campaigns against hostile
Native Americans in Texas and Florida. Throughout his life,
according to editor Joseph Chance, Doubleday collected anecdotes
and stories of the great and the forgotten military men of the
United States. Thus the book closes with a light-hearted final
chapter about the "Old Army." Whether Doubleday invented baseball
during one of his many tours in Texas may never be known. His
narrative mentions nothing of the great American pastime. Copious
notes and a complete bibliography enhance the volume.
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