Major General Abner Doubleday in the Civil War

Major General Abner Doubleday in the Civil War Born at Ballston Spa, NY on June 26, 1819, Abner Doubleday was the son of Representative Ulysses F. Doubleday and his wife, Hester Donnelly Doubleday. Raised in Auburn, NY, Doubleday came from a strong military tradition as his father had fought in the War of 1812 and his grandfathers had served during the American Revolution. Educated locally in his early years, he was later sent to live with an uncle in Cooperstown, NY so that he could attend a private preparatory school (Cooperstown Classical and Military Academy). While there, Doubleday received training as a surveyor and civil engineer. Throughout his youth, he expressed interests in reading, poetry, art, and mathematics. After two years of private practice, Doubleday received an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point. Arriving in 1838, his classmates included John Newton, William Rosecrans, John Pope, Daniel H. Hill, George Sykes, James Longstreet, and Lafayette McLaws. Though regarded as a â€Å"diligent and thoughtful student, Doubleday proved an average scholar and he graduated in 1842 ranked 24th in a class of 56. Assigned to the 3rd US Artillery, Doubleday initially served at Fort Johnson (North Carolina) before moving through several assignments in coastal fortifications. Mexican-American War With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846, Doubleday received a transfer west to the 1st US Artillery. Part of Major General Zachary Taylors army in Texas, his unit commenced preparing for the invasion of northeastern Mexico. Doubleday soon marched south and saw action at the hard-fought Battle of Monterrey. Remaining with Taylor the following year, he served at Rinconada Pass during the Battle of Buena Vista. On March 3, 1847, shortly after the battle, Doubleday was promoted to first lieutenant. Returning home, Doubleday married Mary Hewitt of Baltimore in 1852. Two years later, he was ordered to the frontier for service against the Apaches. He completed this assignment in 1855 and received a promotion to captain. Dispatched south, Doubleday served in Florida during the Third Seminole War from 1856-1858 and also helped to map the Everglades as well as modern Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Charleston Fort Sumter In 1858, Doubleday was posted to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, SC. There he endured the growing sectional strife that marked the years immediately before the Civil War and commented, â€Å"Almost every public assemblage was tinctured with treasonable sentiments and toasts against the flag were always warmly applauded.† Doubleday remained at Fort Moultrie until Major Robert Anderson withdrew the garrison to Fort Sumter after South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860. On the morning of April 12, 1861, Confederate forces in Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter. Within the fort, Anderson selected Doubleday to fire the first shot of the Union response. Following the forts surrender, Doubleday returned north and was quickly promoted to major on May 14, 1861. With this came an assignment to the 17th Infantry in Major General Robert Pattersons command in the Shenandoah Valley. In August, he was transferred to Washington where he commanded batteries along the Potomac. On February 3, 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command of the Washington defenses. Second Manassas With the formation of Major General John Popes Army of Virginia in the summer of 1862, Doubleday received his first combat command. Leading the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, III Corps, Doubleday played a key role at Brawners Farm during the opening actions of the Second Battle of Bull Run. Though his men were routed the next day, they rallied to cover the retreat of the Union army on August 30, 1862. Transferred to the I Corps, Army of the Potomac with the rest of Brigadier General John P. Hatchs division, Doubleday next saw action at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14. Army of the Potomac When Hatch was wounded, Doubleday took command of the division. Retaining command of the division, he led them at the Battle of Antietam three days later. Fighting in the West Woods and Cornfield, Doubledays men held the right flank of the Union army. Recognized for his superior performance at Antietam, Doubleday was brevetted to lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army. On November 29, 1862, he was promoted to major general. At the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, Doubledays division was held in reserve and avoided taking part in the Union defeat. In the winter of 1863, I Corps was reorganized and Doubleday was shifted to command the 3rd Division. He served in this role at the Battle of Chancellorsville that May, but his men saw little action. As Lees army moved north in June, Major General John Reynolds’ I Corps led the pursuit. Arriving in Gettysburg on July 1, Reynolds moved to deploy his men in support of Brigadier General John Bufords cavalry. While directing his men, Reynolds was shot and killed. Command of the corps devolved on Doubleday. Racing forward, he completed the deployment and guided the corps through the opening stages of the battle. Gettysburg Positioned northwest of the town, Doubledays men were badly outnumbered by the approaching Confederate army. Fighting valiantly, I Corps held their position for five hours and was only forced to retreat after XI Corps collapsed on their right. Outnumbered 16,000 to 9,500, Doubledays men inflicted 35-60% casualties on seven of the ten Confederate brigades that attacked them. Falling back to Cemetery Hill, the remains of I Corps held their position for the remainder of the battle. On July 2, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Major General George Meade, replaced Doubleday as commander of I Corps with the more junior Newton. This was largely the result of a false report submitted by the XI Corps commander, Major General Oliver O. Howard, stating that I Corps broke first. It was fostered by a long-running dislike of Doubleday, whom he believed indecisive, which went back to South Mountain. Returning to his division, Doubleday was wounded in the neck later in the day. After the battle, Doubleday officially requested that he be given command of I Corps. When Meade refused, Doubleday departed the army and rode to Washington. Assigned to administrative duties in the city, Doubleday served on courts martial and commanded part of the defenses when Lieutenant General Jubal Early threatened to attack in 1864. While in Washington, Doubleday testified before Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War and criticized Meades conduct at Gettysburg. With the end of hostilities in 1865, Doubleday remained in the army and reverted to his regular rank of lieutenant colonel on August 24, 1865. Promoted to colonel in September 1867, he was given command of the 35th Infantry. Later Life Posted to San Francisco in 1869, to head the recruiting service, he obtained a patent for a cable car railway system and opened the citys first cable car company. In 1871, Doubleday was given command of the African-American 24th Infantry in Texas. After commanding the regiment for two years, he retired from the service. Settling in Mendham, NJ, he became involved with Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott. The founders of the Theosophical Society, they converted Doubleday to the tenets of Theosophy and Spiritualism. When the pair moved to India to continue their studies, Doubleday was named the president of the American chapter. He continued to live in Mendham until his death on January 26, 1893. Doubledays name is most commonly known due to its association with the origins of baseball. While the 1907 Mills Commission Report states that the game was invented by Doubleday at Cooperstown, NY in 1839, subsequent scholarship has proven this unlikely. Despite this, Doubledays name remains deeply linked to the games history.

F-105 Thunderchief in the Vietnam War

F-105 Thunderchief in the Vietnam War Design of the F-105 Thunderchief began in the early 1950s as an internal project at Republic Aviation. Intended to be a replacement for the F-84F Thunderstreak, the F-105 was created as a supersonic, low-altitude penetrator capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to a target deep within the Soviet Union. Led by Alexander Kartveli, the design team produced an aircraft centered on a large engine and able to achieve high speeds. As the F-105 was meant to be a penetrator, maneuverability was sacrificed for speed and low-altitude performance. F-105D Specifications General Length: 64 ft. 4.75 in.Wingspan: 34 ft. 11.25 in.Height: 19 ft. 8 in.Wing Area: 385 sq. ft.Empty Weight: 27,500 lbs.Loaded Weight: 35,637 lbs.Crew: 1-2 Performance Power Plant: 1 Ãâ€" Pratt Whitney J75-P-19W afterburning turbojet, 26,500 lbf with afterburning water injectionCombat Radius: 780 milesMax Speed: Mach 2.08 (1,372 mph)Ceiling: 48,500 ft. Armament Guns: 1 Ãâ€" 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon, 1,028 roundsBombs/Rockets: Up to 14,000 lbs. of ordnance including nuclear weapons, AIM-9 Sidewinder, and AGM-12 Bullpup missiles. Weapons carried in the bomb bay and on five external hardpoints. Design and Development Intrigued by Republics design, the US Air Force placed an initial order for 199 F-105s in September 1952, but with the Korean War winding down reduced it to 37 fighter-bombers and nine tactical reconnaissance aircraft six months later. As development progressed, it was found that the design had grown too large to be powered by the Allison J71 turbojet intended for the aircraft. As a result, they elected to utilize the Pratt Whitney J75. While the preferred power plant for the new design, the J75 was not immediately available and as a result on October 22, 1955, the first YF-105A prototype flew powered by a Pratt Whitney J57-P-25 engine. Though equipped with the less powerful J57, the YF-105A achieved a top speed of Mach 1.2 on its first flight. Further test flights with the YF-105A soon revealed that the aircraft was underpowered and suffered from problems with transonic drag. To counter these issues, Republic was finally able to obtain the more powerful Pratt Whitney J75 and altered the arrangement of the air intakes which were located at the wing roots. Additionally, it worked to redesign the aircraft fuselage which initially employed a slab-sided look. Drawing on experiences from other aircraft producers, Republic employed the Whitcomb area rule by smoothing the fuselage and slightly pinching it in the center.     Ã‚   Refining the Aircraft The redesigned aircraft, dubbed the F-105B, proved able to achieve speeds of Mach 2.15. Also included were improvements to its electronics including the MA-8 fire control system, a K19 gun sight, and an AN/APG-31 ranging radar. These enhancements were required to allow the aircraft to conduct its intended nuclear strike mission. With the alterations complete, the YF-105B first took to the sky on May 26, 1956. The following month a trainer variant (F-105C) of the aircraft was created while the reconnaissance version (RF-105) was canceled in July. The largest single-engine fighter built for the US Air Force, the production model of F-105B possessed an internal bomb bay and five external weapons pylons. To continue a company tradition of employing Thunder in its aircraft names, which dated back to World War IIs P-47 Thunderbolt, Republic requested that the new aircraft be designated Thunderchief. Early Alterations On May 27, 1958, the F-105B entered service with the 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron. As with many new aircraft, the Thunderchief was initially plagued by problems with its avionics systems. After these were dealt with as part of Project Optimize, the F-105B became a reliable aircraft. In 1960, the F-105D was introduced and the B model transitioned to the Air National Guard. This was completed by 1964. The last production variant of the Thunderchief, the F-105D included an R-14A radar, an AN/APN-131 navigation system, and an AN/ASG-19 Thunderstick fire-control system which gave the aircraft all-weather capability and the ability to deliver the B43 nuclear bomb. Efforts were also made to restart the RF-105 reconnaissance program based on the F-105D design. The US Air Force planned to purchase 1,500 F-105Ds, however, this order was reduced to 833 by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Issues Deployed to Cold War bases in Western Europe and Japan, F-105D squadrons trained for their intended deep penetration role. As with its predecessor, the F-105D suffered from early technological issues. These issues may have helped earn the aircraft the nickname Thud from the sound the F-105D made when it hit the ground though the true origins of the term are unclear. As a result of these problems, the entire F-105D fleet was grounded in December 1961, and again in June 1962, while the issues were dealt with at the factory. In 1964, the issues in existing F-105Ds were resolved as part of Project Look Alike though some engine and fuel system problems persisted for another three years. Vietnam War Through the early- and mid-1960s, the Thunderchief began to be developed as a conventional strike bomber rather than a nuclear delivery system. This was further emphasized during the Look Alike upgrades which saw the F-105D receive additional ordnance hard points. It was in this role that it was sent to Southeast Asia during the escalation of the Vietnam War. With its high-speed and superior low-altitude performance, the F-105D was ideal for hitting targets in North Vietnam and far superior to the F-100 Super Sabre then in use. First deployed to bases in Thailand, F-105Ds began flying strike missions as early as late 1964. With the commencement of Operation Rolling Thunder in March 1965, F-105D squadrons began bearing the brunt of the air war over North Vietnam. A typical F-105D mission to North Vietnam included mid-air refueling and a high-speed, low altitude entry and exit from the target area. Though an extremely durable aircraft, F-105D pilots usually only had a 75 percent chance of completing a 100-mission tour due to the danger involved in their missions. By 1969, the US Air Force began withdrawing the F-105D from strike missions replacing it with F-4 Phantom IIs. While the Thunderchief ceased to fulfill a strike role in Southeast Asia, it continued to serve as a wild weasel. Developed in 1965, the first F-105F Wild Weasel variant flew in January 1966. Possessing a second seat for an electronic warfare officer, the F-105F was intended for a suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) mission. Nicknamed Wild Weasels, these aircraft served to identify and destroy North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile sites. A dangerous mission, the F-105 proved highly capable as its heavy payload and expanded SEAD electronics allowed the aircraft to deliver devastating blows to enemy targets. In late 1967, an enhanced wild weasel variant, the F-105G entered service. Due to the nature of the wild weasel role, F-105Fs and F-105Gs were typically the first to arrive over a target and the last to leave. While the F-105D had been completely removed from strike duties by 1970, the wild weasel aircraft flew until the wars end. In the course of the conflict 382 F-105s were lost to all causes, representing 46 percent of the US Air Forces Thunderchief fleet. Due to these losses, the F-105 was ruled to no longer be combat effective as a frontline aircraft. Sent to the reserves, the Thunderchief remained in service until officially being retired on February 25, 1984.