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That connection would have helped Abner Doubleday get into the United States Military Academy in 1838. Doubleday graduated in the middle of the class of 1842 and was assigned to the 3rd U.S. Artillery which makes the engraving on the frame of the pistol particularly relevant. He served in the Mexican-American War and then returned and married Mary (nee Hewitt) in 1852. She traveled with him for much of his career. That same year he served as commissioner to Mexico. He was stationed in Texas in 1854. In 1856-1858, he served during the Seminole Wars and was then transferred to Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor under Colonel John L. Garner. As the nation began tearing apart over the expansion of slavery, he was promoted
to Captain of Company E of the 1st U.S. Artillery. Doubleday was a Republican and opposed slavery. Mrs. Doubleday was also there, and both of them grew frustrated with the Buchanan administration’s handling of both the larger secession issue and the handling of the forts at Charleston Harbor. On December 11, 1860, she wrote
to her sister complaining about the situation and noting, “In this weak little fort I suppose President Buchanan and Secretary Floyd intend the Southern Confederacy to be cemented with the blood of this brave little garrison.
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