Col. Seth Warner's
Extra-Continental Regiment

DIVERSIONS

     Great parts of an 18^th Century Soldier's time were spent waiting and staving off boredom in camp and garrison.  Soldiers were amazingly creative in finding diversions for entertainment.  JP Martin describes several incidents during his time in the Continental Army.  In 1778 where he and some compatriots found an empty bomb shell and by filling it with water, stoppering it and placing it in the fire, where "the steam would force the plug out with a report as loud as a pistol shot."¹   He and his messmates quickly tired of this and took an old wagon wheel to the top a large hill behind the barracks where they "gave the wheel the liberty to shift for itself and find its own way back."  Partway down the hill it hit an obstacle and sending it directly towards the old, dilapidated barracks.  "When within  about fifteen feet of the barracks, and with the motion of a cannon ball, stuck something that gave it an elevation of twenty or thirty feet in the air, and passed over the barracks and several rods beyond them before it struck the ground again."²  
     Of course less destructive and annoying pastimes were available as well.  Card games are perhaps the ideal military camp diversion, a deck of cards is compact and many games can be played with the same deck.  While the list of 18^th Century card games is long, two of the most popular were Cribbage and Whist.  Rules are provided below.
      Board games were also popular, including Draughts, Chess, and Backgammon.  The playing board for Chess and Draughts were often fashioned on planks, the back of cutting or serving platters, or painted on cloth.  While the rules for backgammon and chess have not changed significantly, the rules for draughts are somewhat different now than in the 18^th Century and detailed below.  An excellent source of several additional 18^th Century games is A Brief Discourse on 18^th Century Games by Mark Tulley. 

¹ Private Yankee Doodle:  Being a narrative of some of the adventures, dangers and sufferings of a revolutionary soldier.  Joseph Plumb Martin [Ed. by George F. Scheer].  Eastern Acorn Press.  1962.  p 161
²  Private Yankee Doodle:  Being a narrative of some of the adventures, dangers and sufferings of a revolutionary soldier.  Joseph Plumb Martin [Ed. by George F. Scheer].  Eastern Acorn Press.  1962. p 162