26. The General Who Bought the Union Time for a Chance to Win the Battle of Gettysburg
On the first day of fighting at Gettysburg, I Corps’ commander, General John F. Reynolds, was killed, and General Abner Doubleday stepped into his shoes and took charge. Leading 9000 men, he fought off nearly twice as many Confederates for five hours. Doubleday’s command sustained horrific casualties before he was forced to retreat to defensive positions on the high ground south of Gettysburg. I Corps was effectively destroyed in that first day’s fighting, and shattered so badly that it would be decommissioned the following year, with its components sent off to reinforce other corps.
However, Doubleday had bought the rest of the Union army enough time to reach the field of battle, and secure the high ground for whose possession Doubleday had sacrificed his corps. The Battle of Gettysburg over the next few days boiled down to the Confederates vainly attacking the Union forces in an attempt to knock them off the heights that Doubleday had secured. The Rebels were beaten back each time, culminating in Picket’s Charge on the battle’s last day, before they admitted defeat and retreated back to Virginia.
