Cock Fighting

[Evan]

I was just wondering about fighting chickens during the WBTS. I had seen period photograghs of this but i cannot find much on this subject and was wondering if anyone could point me in that direction for this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Evan Ellis

[TeamsterPhil]

Re: Cock Fighting

A google search will give you the titles of several comprehensive histories of cockfighting.

Phil Campbell
The keyboard and inter-library loans are your friends.

[theknapsack]

Re: Cock Fighting

Evan,
There is a great reference to Chicken Fighting in Co. Aytch by Sam R. Watkins (Corporal, 1st Tenn. Infantry, Co H.[pgs 195b-196a]):

"Death of Tom Tuck's Rooster"

"Atlanta was a great place to fight chickens. I had heard much about cock pits and cock fights, but had never seen such a thing. Away over the hill, outside of Thomas' thirty-pound parrot guns, with which he was trying to burn up Atlanta, the boys had fixed up a cock pit. It was fixed exactly like a circus ring, and seats and benches were arranged for the spectators. Well, I went to the cock fight one day. A great many roosters were to be pitted that day, and each one was trimmed and gaffed. A gaff is a long keen piece of steel, as sharp as a needle, that is fitted over the spurs. Well, I looked at the fun. Tom Tucks rooster was named Southern Confederacy; but this was abbreviated to Confed., and as a pet name, they called him Fed. Well, Fed was a trained rooster, and would "clean up" a big-foot rooster as soon as he was put in the pit. But Tom always gave Fed every advantage. One day a green-looking country hunk came in with a rooster he wanted to pit against Fed. He looked like a common rail-splitter. The money was soon made up, and the stakes placed in proper hands. The gaffs were fitted, the roosters were placed in the pit and held until both were sufficiently mad to fight, when they were turned loose, and each struck at the same time. I looked and poor Fed was dead. The other rooster had popped both gaffs through his head. He was a dead rooster; yea, a dead cock in the pit."

After that they wrote a poem about Fed and cooked him up, only to be stolen by some "Yankee Calvary". So he had been "Southern Confederacy" only to become food of Federals. Apparently Tom Tuck had carried Fed in his haversack. It's somewhere in the book, I just couldn't find the page (for lack of time).
I have only seen one period photo of cock-fights, but thats it. it sounds like it was fairly popular in the AoT or at least the First Tenn.
Does anybody know of any other references?