Did The Boys Play Cribbage, Chess, Checkers, & Backgammon In Camp?

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oldreb

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We are kicking off our new award with this thread from way back in 2001. While it doesn't have many responses,
it sounds like an interesting subject! Let's see if some new conversation will follow.

For the historian who has studied camp life, did the Confederate (or Union if you must) boys play any of the games I noted above in camp? I know gambling was the rage, but cribbage, chess, checkers, backgammon, all were around in the 1600-1800s so the boys had to know them.
Is there record of these games being played in camp?
Thanks,
 
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I visited the Pamplin Park museum near Petersburg a couple years ago (I recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there). Part of the museum is a recreation of a Civil War camp site, with a couple people portraying Confederate soldiers to describe camp life.

They did show us a couple of games. One I remember was called "Chuck-o'-luck." They had a hand-carved die and a little flat piece of wood rudely divided into six sections. A player would be allowed to pick two numbers before rolling the die. He would place markers on those two sections of the piece of wood and then roll the die. If one of his numbers came up, he won two of whatever they were playing for; if neither of his numbers came up, he lost one. The odds were such that, over the long run, the player could expect to break even, but a hot or cold streak could put the player well ahead or well behind.

That was the sort of game they showed us - very rudimentary, using handmade gaming pieces that could be fashioned after they got to camp. If they had chess sets or checkerboards, they didn't tell us about them.

My guess is that probably many of the soldiers knew how to play the games you mentioned, but probably very few common soldiers actually had them on hand. Such gaming implements would have been too much of an encumbrance for soldiers on the move.
 
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Board games were probably more common in winter quarters. I've seen pictures of officers playing chess in camp, but not of enlisted men.

Interesting trivia... Milton Bradley made his fortune by selling a little 8-in-1 board game set to families of soldiers, to send to their boys. It included the original version of The Game of Life!

Zou
 
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Gambling certainly predominated based on soldier accounts that I have reviewed, but C. W. Bardeen of the 16th Massachusetts also mentioned that on two occasions he "sat up all night playing cribbage," and that he had also "whittled out a set of chessmen and played with everybody who knew the game or would learn it." (https://archive.org/details/littlefiferswar00bardrich/page/176/mode/2up)
 
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The short answer to your question is "yes." Lord's Encyclopedia, Vol II, pictures a number of different card sets, a couple checkerboards, checkers and chessmen and 3 cribbage boards from the period (pp 66-73). In Vol. V there are also checkerboards and a set of cards for the game of "authors," and a set of chessmen carved by a soldier in captivity. (pp. 70-76)
 
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Here are a few clips from various 3rd Iowa Infantry diaries that mention various games:

Let me look around our tent and see, four are engaging themselves over a game of whist and a fifth one is looking on, two are writing letters, one finishing up his journal, another is stirring up a smoky fire.

Chess with capt O Neil, beat him 5 straight games

The boys are playing cards from Reville to Tattoo.

3 of our men got hurt very bad, one in a fight, one wrestling & one ball playing.

even now as I write they are playing at wickat ball

Poker playing with gun caps is all we can do

Heavy betting on Rush Reuben.

In the evening, Mrs. Dewey asked me if I played card. “No”. She was very much surprised—the only officer she had ever seen who didn’t play. She undertook to teach me euchre. We went through the motions for about half an hour. I was told what cards to play etc.. Don’t know how to play now.

Tim
 
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Playing cards was associated with visiting taverns, and so was discouraged by the temperance set back home. This persisted into the modern era. 30 years ago, I remember seeing seminary catalogues in which playing "normal" cards was forbidden behavior for students. I'm pretty sure Magic: the Gathering would have given them fantodds. (IDK -I put those in the "no" pile and went somewhere else.)
 
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