There were at least four major snow ball fights (“snow balling”) between Confederate units in the Civil War. The biggest occurred on Jan. 29, 1863 after two feet of snow blanketed the Rappahannock Valley in Virginia. It started when the 1st and 4th Texas Regiments took on the 5th. When the 5th cried “uncle!”, they joined their brothers in assaulting the 3rd Arkansas. After the 3rd surrendered to the pelting, it joined the victors and they headed toward the camp of a Georgia brigade. The fight was stiff, but the aggressors triumphed once again and added the Georgians to the mob. Next, up was an entire division, but it had been forewarned, probably by all the grunting and giggling. By now 9,000 men were involved and officers were giving military commands as though it was a real battle. Rocks were being added to the snowballs and things got serious. Many soldiers were injured before higher officers put a stop to the melee. (It is unclear whether any Purple Hearts were awarded to the wounded.) Since armies rarely fought in wintertime back then, I guess this was the next best thing to the real thing.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24042/brother-against-brother-great-confederate-snowball-fight
Civil War snowball fight – Library of Congress
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