The Game of the Rebellion

Game of Rebellion was first produced by A. Williams and Company, Boston, Massachusetts (US) in 1861 with subsequent editions being produced by Heyer Brothers through the early 20th century. It was copyrighted by its inventor Henry A. Sampson.

The subject matter of the game is the American Civil War.

The game is for two or more players. There are 50 cards (5.8cm long x 9cm wide), and 7 "counters (1.7cm)". The cards are divided into 3 "suits" - red, blue, black - which have significance in the play of the game. On each card, the name of a prominent political or military personage of the time appears, or the name of a city which was the scene of a battle. The cards, counters, and instructions are encased in a box 11cm long x 7.6cm wide x 1.7cm high .

The Game Cards are divided evenly between “Union” and “Confederate” sides. The “Union” cards are printed in red ink and include a card marked “Washington” representing the Union Capitol along with 24 cards each with the name of a Union General, Officer, Politician or Ship. Included is a card for Abraham Lincoln, Colonel Ellsworth, the frigate Lawrence, Winfield Scott, General Sherman, General Butler and many other Union Officers. The “Confederate” cards are printed in black ink and include a card marked “Richmond” representing the Confederate Capitol along with 24 cards each with the name of a Confederate General, Officer, Politician or Ship. Included is a card for Jefferson Davis, Privateer Petrel, General Lee, General Johnson, General Beauregard and many other Confederate Officers.

The Game was played between two people – one took all the Union cards and the other the Confederate cards. They players would lay down the card representing the capitol of their respective countries and the box, containing 24 blue and one red token would be placed far enough away from the players so that they could not see the tokens inside. Play would begin with one player laying down a card at the center of the table and the other player choosing a card to “oppose” that card. Then the players would each take turns drawing a token from the box – when a player drew the single red token from the box he would “win” that battle and take his opponent’s card “as prisoner”. This play would continue until one of the players captured all of the original cards from the other thus being declared the “Victor”.

A Heyer Brothers edition game is part of the collection of the Games Museum in Waterloo, Canada.