Because of how volunteer regiments were recruited and created, the cultural and social connections among baseball clubs, volunteer fire companies and citizen militia units were imported to the military. Countless fire companies and militia units enlisted en masse and became regimental companies. Members of baseball clubs were already concentrated in particular state militia units before the war. Regiments such as the First and Second New York Fire Zouaves were recruited from New York City and Brooklyn fire companies, whose membership overlapped with that of dozens of baseball clubs. The New York Historical Society has a collection of Civil War military recruitment posters. A look through them shows how closely intertwined Amateur Era baseball was with other areas of life that today could not be more separate from the bubble that is the world of professional sports.

Joseph C. Pinckney, fervent Abolitionist, important early member of New York state’s Republican party, Civil War commander, man-about-town and star second baseman for the Union club of Morrisania, NY.

Remember that the vast majority of soldiers on both sides of the Civil War were volunteers. Imagine that you are a young man in his twenties who is walking the streets of Manhattan. What kind of sales pitch might persuade you to enlist? Recruitment posters typically make three kinds of promises. The first is money. “Bounties Paid to Recruits,” read a poster for the 66th New York Regiment, “$129 BEFORE Leaving the STATE.” Recruits are promised a total of $217 in bonus money, in addition to regular army pay of $13 to $20 per month. The second is safety, in the form of seasoned leadership. “The Old Officers to Go Out With the Regiment!” reads a poster for the 31st New York Volunteers. The third is a credible and trustworthy commander, a man with popularity and social capital with whom the rank and file could feel a sense of personal connection and loyalty. (Irish immgrants signed up by the thousands to fight with their hero Michael Corcoran; among German-American troops the popular catchphrase was “I fight mit Sigel (German-born General Franz Sigel).”

Frank Jones was a member of the Excelsiors, the first baseball club in Brooklyn. The war brought him to Washington, DC. In peacetime he recruited New York baseball stars for the Washington Nationals, giving them sinecures or no-show jobs in the Tre… — Frank Jones was a member of the Excelsiors, the first baseball club in Brooklyn. The war brought him to Washington, DC. In peacetime he recruited New York baseball stars for the Washington Nationals, giving them sinecures or no-show jobs in the Treasury Department.

Many of these commanders were important figures in the worlds of politics, citizen militias and volunteer firefighting. Some were also baseball men. On a recruiting poster for the the 66th NY, the name of Colonel Joseph C. Pinckney appears in large type in the second line from the top. Pinckney was a Republican politician, but he was also a well-known star baseball player with the Gothams and the Unions of Morrisania. For the 31st NY, the colonel whose name appears in large black letters on recruitment posters is Frank Jones, member of the Excelsior club of Brooklyn and future officer and backer of the Nationals, Washington, D.C.’s most important early baseball club.