The Doubleday Hill Monument is an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

monument located in

Williamsport, Maryland Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,137 as of 2010. Geography Williamsport is located at (39.598496, −77.818464). According to the United States Census Bu ...

, in what is now River View Cemetery. Erected in 1897, the monument commemorates the crossing of the Potomac River and occupation of the hill by Major General

Abner Doubleday Abner Doubleday (June 26, 1819 – January 26, 1893) was a career United States Army officer and Union major general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a p ...

. The monument, also known Doubleday Hill, overlooks the Potomac River into West Virginia. The monument also credits Doubleday with creating the game of baseball in 1835, an unlikely claim which Doubleday himself never made. A popular legend circulating at the time of the monument's erection claimed that Doubleday invented baseball in 1839, although Doubleday was attending

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

that year. Doubleday Hill was a deviation from the more popular form of late 19th and early 20th century monuments: the statue of a standing, uniformed soldier. Between the years of 1863 through 1919, monuments often depicted a soldier “standing holding the barrel of a rifle that rests upright on the ground in front of him." This more common form was particularly prevalent from 1880 to 1920. Monuments placed at locations other than battlefield parks during the years 1863 to 1919 normally honored soldiers and sailors from the same town, county, or state where the monument was erected. The Doubleday Hill monument differed from this practice by celebrating occupation of the site by Doubleday, who was from Ballston Spa, New York.Katherine Tingley (1921). ''The Theosophical Path'', Vol. XX, p. 591. New Century Corporation, Point Loma, California. File:Doubleday Hill Monument with Flag and Cannon.JPG, Doubleday Hill Monument shown with Flag and Cannon File:Doubleday Hill Monument.JPG, Doubleday Hill Monument Sign

References

{{Coord, 39, 35, 55.75, N, 77, 49, 30.95, W, display=title, type:landmark Monuments and memorials in Maryland