A new monument to America's Civil War history is proposed for Gettysburg: a gambling casino. The Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino would be located a half mile from Gettysburg National Military Park on what was known as South Cavalry Field, scene of fighting on July 3, 1863. During the Reconstruction movement after the conclusion of the Civil War, gambling proliferated in the South, and experienced a revival for a time. Proceeds of lotteries were used to help rebuild this area to help these states recover from the damage that the war had wrought. Best USA Online Casinos for 2020 Comparison of Top US Gambling Sites. Illegal gambling occurred in the city as early as the mid-1800s and following the Civil War, was firmly established. By the late 1870s, gambling had become an industry that rivaled the healing waters of the hot springs. Gambling no doubt contributed to southern Mississippi’s growth as a tourist destination during this time. After the Civil War disrupted the local MS economies and put a damper on holidays and vacations in general, the end of the war brought with it the reestablishment of tourism and gambling in Mississippi. The American Civil War was the culmination of the struggle between the advocates and opponents of slavery that dated from the founding of the United States. This sectional conflict between Northern states and slaveholding Southern states had been tempered by a series of political compromises, but by the late 1850s the issue of the extension of slavery to the western states had reached a.
Last year at Brownell Middle School we had a combined Math-Science Expo sort of thing instead of a traditional Science Fair. Like everyone in the education business, we were trying to find a sweet spot for a combination of Common Core, STEAM, and parents. Add this to the fact that I had several students who were not even remotely interested in any of those three things, nor in math, which was what I was trying to teach them. One of my young charges challenged me by asking, “What fun is there in Math, anyway?”
Driving home that evening, I went to my personal happy place, the Civil War. Suddenly it dawned on me . . . Chuck-a-luck! We were working on a unit involving chance and fair games, and it seemed a perfect fit. I never doubt that the answers for most things can be found somewhere between 1859 and 1865.
Chuck-a-luck is mentioned in countless soldier memoirs as a game played in camp and at which often-extraordinary sums of money were lost, but rarely is it mentioned in letters written to the folks back home. Few soldiers wished to let their families know that they were engaged in gambling in any form. Most chose to decry the negative influence of games of chance:
It is a bad thing for an army to remain too long at one place. The men soon become discontented and unhappy, and we had no diversion or pastime except playing poker and chuck-a-luck. (Chuck won and luck always lost.)[1]
Letters home most often described personal efforts of young officers to squelch such odious practices among the men in their charge:
Gambling has prevailed to some extent but I have finaly succeed to put a stop to it and evry man I find gambling I order him to the guard house. The Williamstown boys do finely and are respected for it.[2]
Nevertheless, there was plenty of gambling going on in camps on both sides, some of it
Governor Morton of Wisconsin
semi-supported by state governors:
While the regiment lay in Camp Madison a financial crisis came upon us. The stringency of the money market was perceptible felt by all. No money to bet at the “chuck-a-luck” bank, which was closed. Something had to be done to relieve us, or we could not see through. Gov. Morton was notified of our condition, and he there inaugurated the best plan for relief yet brought to light. The Governor simply went to the Indianapolis bankers and told them he wanted to borrow some money for the boys. They shelled out to him, and the Governor sent us all five dollars apiece, which amount was deducted from our pay at the final settlement. “Business” revived immediately, and all day long and until “taps, lights out,” the rattle of the dice in the “chuck-a-luck” box was heard in the land.[3]
So just how is it possible to make a form of gambling from the nineteenth century interesting to a 7th-grade student in 2016? Let them play! That’s how.
Chuck-a-luck is a game of chance and as such, favors the dealer rather than the players. No skill is necessary. The person hosting the game (dealer) has a cloth marked into six spaces numbered 1-6. This “playing board” can be traced into the dirt if one did not have a cloth. Players would select their number by placing their money on the appropriate square. The dealer then rolls three dice. If the player’s number comes up on one of the dice, (s)he wins and gets his/her money back. If that number comes up on two dice, the player doubled his/her money; if the number comes up three times, one’s winnings are tripled. The odds, however, are in the dealer’s favor, because (s)he got all the money left that did not come up on the dice.[4] There are more complicated versions of the game, but this is basic Chuck-a-luck. Modern versions involve a birdcage or a wheel and are played in casinos and at fundraisers. Players are no more successful now than they were in the 1860s.
My students enjoyed their afternoon of “gambling,” using jelly beans for currency, and the student who challenged me ended up doing his project on “Civil War Games of Chance.” He won a third place, and I gave him an “A,” which is probably the best outcome ever for a Chuck-a-luck player then or now.
Civil War Gaming
Here is a YouTube video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxJpe0HF9N8
. . . and now you know.
[1] Sam Watkins, Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War, 44.
Civil War Soldiers Gambling
[2] Carleton Young, Voices from the Attic: The Williamstown Boys in the Civil War, 25
[3] A. J. Grayson, The Spirit of 1861: History of the Sixth Indiana Regiment in the Three Months’ Campaign in Western Virginia, 28.
[4] http://www.tn4me.org/sapage.cfm/sa_id/7/era_id/5/major_id/5/minor_id/3/a_id/15