We tend to teach the Civil War as a series of battles, when in fact a typical Civil War soldier would have seen combat for at most a total of two weeks a year. That’s a lot of time to kill. Some of it was spent marching in anticipation of the next battle. but most of it was spent in camp. While in camp, there were duties and drills to fill part of the time, but you still had hours to fill. This was especially true of winter time. Armies seldom fought in the winter. Usually, they went into winter camp. Although spared the dangers of battle, they still had to deal with diseases, poor sanitation, lack of food, and lack of women. What they had a lot of was boredom. To fight this, they wrote letters, played cards, told stories, played music, and even put on plays. Team sports, like an early form of baseball, were popular.
When snow covered the ground, an occasional snow ball would flit through the air, possibly finding the back of an officer’s head. There were times when the teamwork of warfare linked up with what was called “snowballing”. Some of these organized affairs became legendary. Sometimes entire regiments of thousands challenged each other. Pyramids of snowballs would be gathered. Lines were formed. Officers took charge. Drums and bugles sounded. The “Rebel yell” rang out. And volleys of snowballs flew. The greatest of these snowball fights was probably the biggest snowbell fight in the history of North America. It took place on Jan. 29, 1863. That morning the Confederates awoke to a new snowfall that had covered their camp. It all started with Texans pelting each other. Then they joined up to attack another Texas regiment. After driving them back to their tents and forcing them to cry uncle, all the Texans gathered to sneak attack a nearby unit from Arkansas. After a truce was called, they all joined to attack a Georgia regiment. The Georgians saw them coming and having the high ground, put up a fight, but were eventually forced to retreat. Now, all the Texans, Georgians, and Arkansans united to attack Gen. Lafayette McLaws division. There were now about 9,000 Rebels participating in a no hold’s barred snow ball fight. There was a blizzard of snowballs in the air for over an hour. Some of the balls were ice balls. Limbs and noses were broken Here is how one soldier described it.
When the Georgians were within one hundred feet the order was given to “fire.” Then shower after shower of the fleecy balls filled the air. Cheer after cheer went up from the assaulters and the assaultant—now pressed back by the flying balls, then to the assault again. Officers shouted to the men, and they answered with a “yell.”
This usually ended in a melee with more than snowballs being thrown. Broken bones, blackened eyes, sprained ankles, and other injuries ensued. And one side made a run for it, ending the fun.
SNOWBALLING IN THE CIVIL WAR
https://www.historynet.com/deep-freeze-fight.htm
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/desperate-snow-battle
https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/largest-ever-snowball-fight/
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