1781.1

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Teen Makes White Leather Balls for British Officers' Ball-Playing

Salience Noteworthy
Tags Military
City/State/Country: Lancaster, PA, United States
Age of Players Adult
Text

"These officers [British soldiers captured at the Battle of Saratoga] were full of cash and frolicked and gamed much.  One amusement in which they indulged much, was playing at ball.  A Ball-Alley was fitted up at the Court-House, where some of them were to be seen at almost all hours of the day."

"Whilst the game of ball was coming off one day at the Court House, an American officer and a British officer, who were among the spectators, became embroiled in a dispute."

The writer, Samuel Dewees, went on to describe how, as a teen, he had fashioned balls and sold them to the British for a quarter each.

 

Sources

Hanna, John S., ed., A History of the Life and Services of Captain Samuel Dewees, A Native of Pennsylvania, and Soldier of the Revolutionary and Last Wars [Robert Neilson, Baltimore, 1844], p. 265- 266. Per Thomas L. Altherr, "A Place Leavel Enough to Play Ball," reprinted in David Block, Baseball before We Knew It, ref #37: see p. 238.

For more on the ball-playing habits of the "Convention Army" of captured British soldiers from 1778 to 1781, see Brian Turner, "Sticks or Clubs: Ball Play Among the Route of Burgoyne's 'Convention Army,' Base Ball, volume 11 (2019), pp. 1-16.

Comment

In the game of wicket, the "alley" included the space directly between the two wickets.  

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Query

Is "alley" used by cricketers in the same way?

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