Abner Doubleday

Doubleday, Abner (1819–93), U.S. Union general. Credited with the invention of baseball in 1839 at Cooperstown, N.Y., although a game much like baseball, had been played long before Doubleday's time. He fired the first Union gun in defense of Fort Sumter and was a hero of the Battle of Gettysburg.

See also: Baseball; Civil War, U.S.