Baseball During the Civil War & Reconstruction Era

James Holloway Kellison History 4368 9 December 2013 Baseball During the Civil War & Reconstruction Era “Before any cannon was fired or rifle loaded, men from the north and south had been playing the game of baseball.” Patricia Millen, From Pastime to Passion: Baseball and the Civil War (Westminister, MD: Heritage Books, 2007), xii. The game of baseball is often called America’s Pastime that had its beginnings in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Before, during, and after the Civil War it was one of the most played recreational activities in the United States. The game of baseball is entrenched in the history of the United States and its creation is even ensconced in Civil War myth. While there were other bat and ball games contemporaneous with the early form of baseball, baseball emerged and separated itself from these other sports and when war split the country it was baseball that was one of the most popular recreational activities of soldiers. The history of baseball during its early years, the civil war, and the reconstruction era is preserved through the writings of journalists in newspapers, diaries and journals of soldiers and players, and as well as drawings and photographs. Like everything else in the country the game of baseball was greatly affected by the outbreak of the Civil War. Yet it survived and continued throughout the war, perhaps even prospering during and from the war. The creation of baseball is shrouded in myth; one of the myths relates to the Civil War. There were many that believed that the person that invented baseball was a Union general by the name of Abner Doubleday. As Spalding suggests, Baseball had been born in the brain of an American soldier. It received its baptism in the bloody days of our Nation’s direst danger. It had its early evolution when soldiers, North and South, were striving to forget their foes by cultivating, through this grand game, fraternal friendship with comrades in arms. Albert G. Spalding, America’s National Game: Baseball (San Francisco: Halo Books 1991), 64. The Mills Commission of 1907 lead by Abraham G. Mills, which was urged into formation by Albert G. Spalding, spawned this myth. George B. Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003), x. The Commission had been charged with deciding on the true origins of baseball; specifically, the commission investigated whether baseball was derived from the English game of rounders, or whether it was purely a native invention. Mills concluded, “First, that ‘Base Ball’ had its origins in the United States. Second, that the first scheme for playing it, according to the best evidence obtained to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, New York, in 1839.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, xiii. The evidence obtained by the commission was the testimony of Abner Graves, a friend of Doubleday’s, who recalled watching him outline a diamond-shaped baseball field with a stick in the dirt, draw a diagram of the bases, and write a list of rules for his new game; which he named “Base Ball”. Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, xii. Abner Doubleday later went on to serve in the Union Army eventually rising to the rank of brevet major general. Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, xii. Graves’ testimony was submitted to the commission by Spalding who underlined the connection of baseball, Doubleday, and the Civil War, “it certainly appeals to an American’s pride to have had the great national game of Base Ball created and named by a Major General in the United States Army and to have that same game played as a camp diversion by the soldiers of the Civil War.” Mark Alvarez, The Old Ball Game (Virginia: Redefinition, Inc, 1990), 34. The decision by the Mills Commission brought on by Mills and Spalding concocted a creation myth of baseball that connected the game that had become the national pastime with the country’s greatest ordeal, that of the Civil War. Another belief is that Alexander J. Cartwright, Jr. a member New York Knickerbockers, an early ball club, in the mid-1840s created the regulations that would be the rules to the “New York game” which would eventually develop into the modern game of baseball. Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 6. These rules, “included the infield diamond for bases, underhand pitching, foul territory, the force out and tag play for retiring runners, three outs to a side, and victory to the first team to score twenty-one runs.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 7.(Kirsch 7)8 It is more likely that he shared this task with several other members of the Knickerbockers; therefore, he cannot be solely given the credit for the creation of the “New York game”. It is due to these competing accounts that many historians now believe that, “neither Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright or any other person created the modern sport of baseball; rather, it evolved in stages from earlier bat and ball games.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 7. There were many stick and ball games in early America, “but by the 1840s the game of baseball had evolved into a game that nay 20th century observer would have recognized.” Millen, From Pastime to Passion, 7. In the twenty years leading up to the Civil War the game of baseball had spread through much of the country. As Porter’s Spirit of the Times reported on September 13, 1856: This fine American game seems to be progressing in all parts of the United States with new spirit, while in New York and its neighborhoods its revival seems to have been taken u almost as a matter of national pride. Matches are being made all around us, and games are being played on every available green plot within a ten mile circuit of the city. Baseball was played in most major cities of the northeast, in the Midwest, as far south as New Orleans, and as far west as California. Baseball was mainly played in urban areas, which caused the south to lag behind the north in the organization of baseball organizations, but it also became popular in what cities the rural south had: “baseball was organized in cities such as New Orleans (where at least 7 teams were organized in 1860); Baltimore, Maryland; Washington D.C.; and Louisville, Kentucky prior to the war.” Millen, From Pastime to Passion, 8. While there were several variations of the game; the most popular and widespread version being played was the “New York game”. “Prior to the outbreak of war the ‘New York game’ was rapidly invading New England, the Philadelphia area, and even southern and western states in a drive to become the nation’s most popular team sport.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 9. The second most popular version of baseball was the “Massachusetts game”, was played mostly in the Northeast: it never spread like the “New York game” did and was eventually replaced by it. While up to the point of the Civil War the game of baseball had been solely a sport for white men, just preceding the Civil War several black teams were organized. “Reports of their baseball matches were carried in the New York Anglo-African as early as July 30, 1859—possibly the first published account of a baseball game by African-Americans.” Millen, From Pastime to Passion, 9. Perhaps one of the biggest contributions to the spread and popularization of baseball was periodicals, such as the New York Clipper, Porter’s Spirit of the Times, and Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times, as their coverage increased interest and enthusiasm for the game. Perhaps the leader in this was Henry Chadwick. Some have actually called Chadwick the “Father of Baseball” as he was a tireless advocate of the game of baseball and made many contributions to the sport. Another reason for the popularization of the game was the inter-city competition that was taking place in the years leading up to the Civil War. “Individuals, clubs, and the press all gave baseball a big boost during the 1850s, but perhaps the key event in the sport’s early modernization was the founding of its first centralized governing body—the National Association of Base Ball Players, or the NABBP.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 14. The creation of this organization, which goal was, according to Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times on January 15, 1861, to “foster and extend this most popular of all American pastimes, until the National Association game is unanimously adapted throughout the land.” Players met annually, giving them a platform to refine rules, resolve disputes, and control the development of the sport. The NABBP also helped the perception of baseball as the national game. Porter’s Spirit of the Times, expressing this concern in January 1857, urged, after the creation of the NABBP, that baseball, “ought to be looked upon in this country with the same national enthusiasm as Cricket and Football are regarded in the British Islands.” There seemed to be nothing that could slow the spread and popularization of baseball throughout the United States: then the Civil War began. The Civil War had a significant impact on baseball; baseball, however, also had a big impact on the Civil War. Baseball became a feature of military life, as soldiers played in military and prison camps. The game took on new meanings in the context of the war, as sports observers urged the use of baseball and other team sports as training for battles due to the similarities between the two. The Civil War initially dealt a major blow to baseball being played on the home front as thousands of baseball club members joined the armies of the Union and Confederacy to fight in this fraternal war. As the New York Clipper noted on June 22, 1861, Many of the most active participants in sporting matters have enlisted in the defense of the Union, and are now either at the seat of war, or preparing to march thither at short notice. Cricket and Baseball clubs, usually so busy in the field at this period of the year, are now enlisted in a different sort of exercise, the rifle or gun taking the place of the bat, while the play ball gives place to the leaden messenger of death. Men who have heretofore made their mark in friendly strife for superiority in various games, are now beating off the rebels who would dismember this glorious ‘Union of States.’” This caused a disbanding of many clubs, a reduction in the number of contests, and a drop in attendance at the annual NABBP convention. Baseball, however, would survive in many of the major cities, especially those in the northeast where there was somewhat of wartime prosperity and there were many men that were able to avoid military service that allowed for the continuation of many sports including baseball to continue at the home front. After the initial setback due to the Civil War, baseball generated a good amount of enthusiasm during the war era. “Intercity tours, benefit matches, conventions, and sportswriters all helped early baseball sustain itself during the Civil War.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 65. These factors allowed for baseball to survive the trying times of the Civil War. While there was a decrease in the number of baseball clubs and games being played due to the Civil War: that does not mean, however, that baseball was not being played elsewhere, as there is record of many soldiers playing the game of baseball for recreation in their downtime between battles. The image above is the only known photograph of a game of baseball being played during the Civil War. The soldiers are from Company G of the 48 New York State Volunteers at Fort Pulaski in Georgia. The game is being played in the background. Ca. 1862-63. National Baseball Hall of Fame Library and Archive, Cooperstown, NY. Playing the game of baseball on holidays, in winter camps, and during breaks was encouraged by officers on both sides of the war as it helped alleviate boredom in camps and enliven the troops during training. “Many of the boys had a revival of their school days in a game of ball. These amusements had much to do in preventing us from being homesick, and were productive, also, of health and happiness.” George Lewis, History of Battery E, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery (Providence, RI, 1892), 26. The playing of baseball was also encouraged by military doctors as they saw it as way for soldiers to augment their exercise regimen and maintain good health. In his military surgery manual, Doctor Julian Chilsolm wrote that he was familiar with and recommended the “manly play of ball” as an exercise that “should be encouraged as conductive to health, strength, agility, and address.” Julian J. Chilsolm, A Manuel of Military Surgery, For the Use of Surgeons in the Confederate Army (Columbia: Evans and Cogswell, 1864), 56-57. Companies and regiments were recruited from the same area, so soldiers that comprised those units generally knew each other. These companies of military institutions resembled the private voluntary associations such as athletic clubs that were very common in America at the time. The towns and cities where baseball had been spread and popularized were the places that produced the military units that actively played baseball in camps. “There were many excellent players in the different regiments, and it was common for the ball-players of one regiment or brigade to challenge another regiment or brigade . . . These matches were watched by great crowds with intense interest.” George T. Stevens, Three Years in the Sixth Corps, 77th Regiment, New York Volunteers, 2nd ed. (New York, 1870), 183. Many baseball players entered the Civil War and brought with them the game that they loved. While most soldiers that were baseball players were from the northeast, there were those on the confederate side that played baseball as well. John G. B. Adams of the Nineteenth Massachusetts wrote that he and his fellow soldiers while encamped played baseball and also watched confederate soldiers play across a river. “We would sit on the bank and watch their games, and the distance was so short we could understand every movement and would applaud good plays.” John G. B. Adams, Reminiscences of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment (Boston, 1899), 60-61. There is even a tale of Union and Confederate soldiers playing against each other. In Wells Twombly’s Two Hundred Years of Sport in America he recounts a tale of members of Stonewall Jackson’s second brigade, which was out hunting when they came upon a group of Union soldiers. After the northern troops showed that they were not armed they played a game of baseball together using the rules of the “New York game” which intrigued the Confederate soldiers who expressed a desire to learn them. Wells Twombly, Two Hundred Years of Sport in America (New York, McGraw Hill, 1976), Chapters 1, 2. While this tale may be apocryphal, it is a nice tale of baseball bringing soldiers from different sides together through the game of baseball. Not only was baseball played in both Union and Confederate camps; it was also played in prison camps, most notably the Prisons in Salisbury, North Carolina and Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio. Among the prisoners at Salisbury was Otto Boetticher, a commercial artist from New York City that while serving in the 68th New York Volunteers was captured in 1862. Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 43. After his release from Salisbury he drew a picture depicting Union soldiers playing baseball in the Confederate prison camp. “Union Prisoners at Salisbury, N.C.” Drawn by Otto Boetticher. It is an image of Union troops playing baseball in the Confederate prison camp in Salisbury, North Carolina. Published in 1863. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.26 Another prisoner at Salisbury was a Union doctor by the name of Charles Carroll Gray. In the diary that he kept while imprisoned at Salisbury he wrote that the fourth of July was “celebrated with music, reading of the Declaration of Independence, and sack and foot races in the afternoon, and also a baseball game.” Charles Carroll Gray, July 4, 1862, Charles Carroll Gray Diary, #2569-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A Confederate witness to baseball being played at Salisbury was Adolphus Mangum, a Confederate Chaplain who visited Salisbury in 1862. He wrote that prisoners “ran like schoolboys to the play ground and were soon joining in high glee in a game of ball . . . others sat down side by side with the prison officials and witnessed the sport.” Adolphus W. Mangum, “Salisbury Prison,” in Walter Clark, ed., Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-65, vol. 4. (Raleigh, NC: The State of North Carolina, 1901), 747. After 1862 through the end of the Civil War the conditions at Salisbury began to deteriorate, likely ending any opportunity for prisoners to play baseball. Baseball was not just played by Union prisoners, but by Confederate prisoners as well. In the Union prison on Johnson Island Colonel D. R. Hundley of the 31st Alabama Infantry recorded in his diary of a baseball match between the Southern and Confederate clubs. During the progress of the game, nearly all the prisoners looked on with eager interest, and bets were made freely among those who had the necessary cash, and who were given to such practices; and very soon the crowd was pretty nearly equally divided between the partisans of the white shirts [Southerners] and those of the red shirts [Confederates], and rebel yell went up from the one side or the other at every success of the chosen colors. The Yankees themselves outside the prison yard seemed to be not indifferent spectators of the game, but crowded the house-tops, and looked on with as much interest almost as did the rebels themselves. D.R. Hundley, Prison Echoes of the Great Rebellion (New York: 1874), 135. Prisoners also played baseball at other prison camps, but the accounts of Salisbury and Johnson Island are the most documented. During the Civil War baseball was played at home, in military camps, and prison camps. Not only did baseball survive the Civil War, but also it also thrived and perhaps even prospered during wartime. The army experience played an important role in the popularization of the sport after the war. In the immediate years following the Civil War, baseball experienced impressive growth throughout the United States as both civilians and former soldiers contributed greatly to the growth of baseball in the south and west. The Civil War might have contributed to the rapid spread of baseball during the late 1860s, but the game’s popularity prior to the war provided baseball with a foundation that made it likely that it would grow after the return to peace. Some believed that the game of baseball helped in the reunification and restoration of the country. In December 1869 the Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times observed: “This National Game seems destined to close the National Wounds opened by the late war. It is no idle pastime which draws young men, separated by two thousand miles, together to contest in friendship, upon fields but lately crimsoned with their brothers’ blood in mortal combat.” Sports have shown throughout history that it has a unique way of healing wounds, so perhaps this is true. Christmas Eve soccer game during World War I between German and British soldiers; 1995 Rugby World Cup; First baseball game in New York City after 9/11. The spread of baseball after the Civil War was not limited to only whites but to blacks as well. “Baseball fever swept through the African-American communities of many cities and towns during the 1860s.” Kirsch, Baseball in Blue and Gray, 122. Black baseball players experienced limited success in gaining respect and equal treatment from their white peers, as they were not allowed to join the NABBP. Black and white baseball clubs did, never the less, usually got along well, as white teams would often allow black teams to use their facilities to play and practice. There was, however, much resistance among white baseball players to the recognition of equality implicit in interracial competition. The first match between black and white baseball clubs took place in late 1869; to which the Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times declared in the September 1869, “old time prejudices are melting away in this country.” Unfortunately this would not fully come to pass in baseball till 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, and our nation in the 1960s. At the beginning of baseball no one could of guessed the impact that the game would have gone on to have in American culture. Baseball helped soldiers in the Civil War in many ways, and it also helped repair the country in a way in the aftermath of the fratricidal war. Whether it is purely an American invention or an evolution of the English game of rounders, baseball became the nation’s pastime and it has played an important part in American history especially during the Civil War. Bibliography Primary Sources Adams, John G. B. Reminiscences of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment. Boston, 1899. Boetticher, Otto. “Union Prisoners at Salisbury, N.C.” Illustration New York: Goupil, 1863. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Charles Carroll Gray Diary, July 4, 1862, #2569-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chilsolm, Julian J. A Manuel of Military Surgery, For the Use of Surgeons in the Confederate Army. Columbia: Evans and Cogswell, 1864. Hundley, D.R. Prison Echoes of the Great Rebellion. New York: 1874. Lewis, George. History of Battery E, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery. Providence, RI, 1892. Mangum, Adolphus W. “Salisbury Prison,” in Walter Clark, ed., Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-65, vol. 4. Raleigh, NC: The State of North Carolina, 1901. Stevens, George T. Three Years in the Sixth Corps, 77th Regiment, New York Volunteers, 2nd ed. New York, 1870. Unknown. “Soldiers and Ball Players from Company G, 48th New York State Volunteers at Fort Pulaski, GA.” Photograph. c. 1862-63. From National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, NY. Secondary Sources Alvarez, Mark. The Old Ball Game. Virginia: Redefinition, Inc, 1990. Kirsch, George B. Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. Millen, Patricia. From Pastime to Passion: Baseball and the Civil War. Westminister, MD: Heritage Books, 2007. Spalding, Albert G. America’s National Game: Baseball. San Francisco: Halo Books 1991. Twombly, Wells. Two Hundred Years of Sport in America. New York, McGraw Hill, 1976. 1