Faro in the Civil War

In this section will present information about where faro was played during the American Civil War/War Between the States. The difficulty of presenting how it was played is confounded by the lack of detailed writing regarding the topic. A diary or letter will mention soldiers gambling is fair common. But describing how it was played in any situation is entirely lacking. Until a letter, diary, journal, or newspaper article surfaces that described how faro was played at that place and at that time, a discussion about how it was played is entirely speculative. This is likely to continually be a work in progress as more research is done regarding this topic. But what is mentioned is where faro was being played and so the narrative goes where the research leads. There are three main places where faro was played during the conflict; they are in cities, in camp, and in prisoner of war camps. 

Faro played in cities is logical. Faro is very equipment intense with not just a few articles of in established play. The culture of dealers also lent itself to being sedentary, urban play. While a few dealers and gamblers did join their respective armies out of duty, patriotism, and adventure, it is likely that most stayed in their dealer's chairs where it was probably more lucrative. Throughout the conflicts urban centers drew soldiers; protecting the city, passing through on the march, recruiting and training, and furlough, to name a few. Centers of power and money tended to have a higher likelihood for more gambling. The numerous faro parlors in Washington City and Richmond could attest to this. Not just from soldiers but from politicians and other government employees. Newspaper scandals of government officials and quartermasters losing significant sums at the faro table are common. This is where the full game of faro would be, ornate chairs, crisp baize, and luxuries, and if it were to travel elsewhere it is likely to be rare and hardly repeated.

There are instances of gamblers traveling out to accommodate soldiers in camp, but seems likely that these set ups would be stripped of luxury and played with a degree of plainness compared to the gambling establishments in cities. Camps were temporary and gambling equipment needed to be this way also. On campaign, this meant that equipment needed to be as light and portable as possible. In winter quarters or a long term camp, or garrison duty meant more durable types of equipment could be used. As both armies began to realize that the conflict was going to take longer than expected and the rigors of campaigning and marching operated better the lighter the soldiers traveled, so went the extra faro equipment that surely came along with the eager patriots of the early war.  Indeed, an example of a faro set being captured at Manassass illustrates this point. While faro was extremely popular throughout the 19th century, it seems to be one of many games played during the war. This is probably because of the equipment intensity that was common by that time. It was easier to throw down a cloth and dice or a pack of cards than a faro board, dealer box, coppers, case keeper, checks, and other peripheral items that were common in gambling parlors in town. Instead, they stripped down the game. The case keeper, and dealer boxes were fairly recent additions to the game as the game had been played without them for some time. In this case, the cards could be dealt from the dealer's hand as it had been done before dealer boxes or dealt face down. Coppers, if used or allowed, were likely pennies as they had been used when coppers were first introduced. However, after some time even loose change would get lost or used in buying things and would become scare. In their stead, an agreed-upon item could answer the need. Case-keeping is a luxury that could easily be dispensed with, and certainly would work to the advantage of the dealer had they the skill to cheat their clients. Scraps of paper could be used but seems that given the necessity of the soldier to travel light that it seemed an trivial matter. Paper could be better used to write letters home since after a while paper had to be bought at the sutler's tent at a premium. Checks were probably the largest burden on the dealer. As a result a token personal to the player were used with greenbacks or script used as gambling pieces. This token could be anything such as rocks, pieces of hardtack, nut shells, and the like. The layout was probably the easiest since it could be anything, such as charcoal on handkerchiefs, old shirts, or painted to discarded tents or gum blankets. A rolled up professional type faro cloth was likely to be used for a number of things so it would end up very dirty or eventually discarded in favor of something more utilitarian. 

Prisoner of war camps provided the