GDG- Re: Doubleday at Gettysburg

[James Cameron]

<< Hello All,
I am a newbie- Tim Smith hooked me up with you guys on a tour I went on 
recently. I have a great deal of interest in the First Day part of the 
battle.

Question:  How did General Newton end up relieving Doubleday as Commander of 
the First Corp?  Was this because Meade felt Doubleday somehow neglected his 
duties? And was it not unusual to put someone from another Corp ( the 6th I 
believe) in charge instead of moving the next guy up within the corp.

And finally, what grade would you give Doubleday for his performance on the 
First day.  He was instrumental in having the 6th Wisconsin as a reserve for 
the whole corp and thus could plug them in when Davis started to beat up on 
Cutler.  I give him a B- he could have probably held them off longer and 
inflicted more damage if he moved to Seminary Ridge sooner.

Thanks and looking forward to reading your replies.

Mike Tushek   >>

Welcome, Mike.

I don't think Meade thought that Doubleday neglected his duties, so much as 
that he simply wasn't someone he wanted in command of a Corps.  My guess is 
that as soon as Meade learned Reynolds was dead, he decided to replace 
Doubleday, and that his performance didn't enter into the equation one way 
or the other.  Neither of the other division commanders in the Corps seem to 
have bene on Meade's short list to take over the Corps, which meant he had 
to reach out and pull somebody from a different Corps.

Doubleday did a solid enough job on July 1, but that wasn't going to change 
Meade's overall impression of him.

Jim Cameron