Football in the Civil War? You Betcha, Well, Sort Of

In the last post, I mentioned a plaque at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, with the names of 27 men from the 14th Wisconsin who were wounded and died at the Battle of Shiloh on April 7, 1862. The only Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, that I know of is Camp Randall Stadium where the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers play their home football games.

Could this Camp Randall have a connection?

Turns out it does. Camp Randall Stadium was actually a Civil War training camp where some 70,000 Wisconsin volunteers and draftees learned how to be soldiers during the war.

So there you have your Civil War- football Connection.

Wonder if Badger units marched off to the strains of "On Wisconsin?"

One Has to Wonder. --Old Secesh