History of the Civil War

BASEBALL in BLUE & GRAY

The National Pastime During the Civil War . By George B Kirsch

Reviewed by Sam West, surgeon for the ALA. VOLS.

It is October again. That means by my calendar, the World Series is a few weeks away. What better time to look at a book about baseball and the Civil War; two of my favorite subjects.

In his book, Baseball in Blue & Gray, George B. Kirsch gives some interesting insights and observations of our national pastime. Baseball has been part of the American sports scene since the 1840's with a recognizable version of the game starting in New York in the 1850's.

Now we all know that Union General Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball. That is a myth. While the book explores the origins of the myth, the author, like many others, is unable to offer a firm reason as to WHY the myth prevailed. As mentioned in the preface, page xii .

"Abner Graves recalled that as a boy he watched Abner Doubleday draw a diamond shape on the field and called it Base Ball......When (baseball historian) Spalding submitted Grave's recollections to the (baseball) Commission he underscored that 'It certainly appeals to 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'

Debunking the myth is easy. "Abner Doubleday moved away from Cooperstown in 1838, and he and Graves might have never seen each other since. Graves did not tell anyone about Doubleday inventing baseball until sixty-eight years later; he also killed his wife afterwards and spent the last days of his life in a hospital for the mentally insane. (page xiv)

If the myth was the result of insane ramblings or a fabricated hoax, we may not know. But baseball was a very important part of the American pastime in the Civil War.

Americans wanted a game that was their own.

Baseball was in its infancy in the Civil War. (page 131) Just as the war disrupted American life, baseball was interrupted too and as the war influenced American society, it influenced baseball too.

Baseball, or "BASE" as it was called, evolved loosely from the English game of Cricket, but anti-British sentiment in America forced the game to undergo many changes, to make it more unique and less like cricket. Many variations of baseball existed in amateur baseball leagues and clubs as early as 1840, some called "townball" but the New York game eventually took root and flourished, replacing other leagues and rules. This was, according to the author, because of New York's influence as the major economic and social center. Travelers and businessmen from New York would travel the country, influencing and funding other baseball clubs and encouraging an adoption of the New York rules. In addition, players and spectators favored the rules of the New York game.

The point is, by 1861, baseball was a very widespread and popular sport. Amateur and semi professional teams flourished, and the game was gaining popularity when the war broke out. Many who answered the call were involved in baseball in some way. Statistically, the majority of the soldiers who were baseball players were from the northeast, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn, but there were baseball players from every region including the confederacy. (page 36)

So a national pastime was thus flourishing by soldiers who in need of a pastime, a break from the carnage of war and a need for friendly rivalries to combat boredom. Scheduled contests were played in front of spectators by prisoners of war, by companies whose ranks were filled with former townball or baseball players. Companies would often challenge each other to a game of "base". This has been well documented throughout the war. Sometimes these games would be played in camp, but sometimes in town, open to the public eye. Rules had to be agreed on beforehand; though as mentioned above, the New York rules were most popular, variations did exist throughout the war. But not all competition existed within the ranks of the armies. Baseball was a social game; a chance for men and boys of any walks of life to participate. But as a social club, regular schedules were not the rule. But this changed with the flourishing of the college game during the war. Princeton, Harvard and the likes held regularly scheduled games with well organized teams, thus giving birth in a way to the scheduled season that we see today.

The season was put on hold though, interestingly enough, in 1865. With the imminent collapse of the Confederacy, players flocked to ball fields instead of battlefields; but with the assassination of Lincoln, many Northern leagues postponed play out of respect to the fallen president. (page 113) But we must consider this: A soldier coming into the war in 1861 might not know anything about baseball; but by 1865, there is a very good chance that he had not only seen a game but at some point had participated in one as well. And as the war ended, the college clubs had brought a level of organization about through regular scheduling. This opened the door to various amateur and social clubs for former soldiers and other players to flock to, and statistics show that the number of clubs greatly increased after the war(page 113-115). This included persons of all economic social status and race as well, the author uses the term "baseball fever" to illustrate the great number of Negro leagues that started after the war (page 122). There is much evidence that both white and black players enjoyed the game and enjoyed competing with and against each other. The influential clubs were predominantly white and did not want to welcome black players into their ranks. It would be well into the next century that black players could join into the organized game with the white players.

This book offers some interesting points into the evolution and influences of the game during the war. Though the game has changed so much since the war, the game remains truly American and something that all Americans regardless of age, race, wealth or education can all enjoy. Baseball is truly an American experience.

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