1863.1
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Ballplaying Peaks in the Civil War Camps
| Salience | Prominent |
|---|---|
| Tags | Civil War, MilitaryCivil War, Military |
| Location | VAVA |
| City/State/Country: | VA, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Game | Base Ball, Cricket, Wicket, Massachusetts GameBase Ball, Cricket, Wicket, Massachusetts Game |
| Immediacy of Report | Retrospective |
| Age of Players | AdultAdult |
| Holiday | |
| Notables | |
| Text | [A] "[In April 1863] the Third Corps and the Sixth Corps baseball teams met near White Oak Church, Virginia, to play for the championship of the Army of the Potomac." [B] "Ballplaying in the Civil War Camps increased rapidly during the War, reaching a peak of 82 known games in April 1863 -- while the troops still remained in their winter camps. Base ball was by a large margin the game of choice among soldiers, but wicket, cricket, and the Massachusetts game were occasionally played. Play was much more common in the winter camps than near the battle fronts." [C] Note: In August 2013 Civil War scholar Bruce Allardice added this context to the recollected Army-wide "championship game": "The pitcher for the winning team was Lt. James Alexander Linen (1840-1918) of the 26th NJ, formerly of the Newark Eureka BBC. Linen later headed the bank, hence the mention in the book. In 1865 Linen organized the Wyoming BBC of Scranton, which changed its name to the Scranton BBC the next year. The 26th NJ was a Newark outfit, and a contemporary Newark newspaper says that many members of the prewar Eurekas and Adriatics of that town had joined the 26th. The 26th was in the Sixth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, stationed at/near White Oak Church near Fredericksburg, VA. April 1863, the army was in camp. The book says Linen played against Charlie Walker a former catcher of the Newark Adriatics who was now catcher for the "Third Corps" club. "With all that being said, in my opinion the clubs that played this game weren't 'corps' clubs, but rather regimental and/or brigade clubs that by their play against other regiments/brigades claimed the Third and Sixth Corps championships. "Steinke's "Scranton", page 44, has a line drawing and long article on Linen which mentions this game. See also the "New York Clipper" website, which has a photo of Linen." |
| Sources | [A] History. The First National Bank of Scranton, PA (Scranton, 1906), page 37. This is, at this time (2011), the only known reference to championship games in the warring armies. As described in Patricia Millen, On the Battlefield, the New York Game Takes Hold, 1861-1865, Base Ball Journal, Volume 5, number 1 (Special Issue on Origins), pages 149-152. [B] Larry McCray, Ballplaying in Civil War Camps. [C] Bruce Allardice, email to Protoball of August, 2013. [D] (((add Steinke ref and Clipper url here?)))
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| Warning | Note Civil War historian Bruce Allardice's caveat, above: "In my opinion the clubs that played weren't 'corps' clubs, but rather regimental or brigade clubs that by their play other regiments/brigades claimed the Third and Sixth Corps championships." |
| Comment | Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Is it possible that a collection of trophy balls, at the Hall of Fame or elsewhere, would provide more evidence of the prevalence of base ball in the Civil War? Edit with form to add a query |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| External Number | |
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| Has Supplemental Text |
1863.1 Ballplaying Peaks in the Civil War Camps"
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