I have good news for you, good people! VERY good news!

No, the Southern states didn't secede again (don't we wish!). I'm talking about news of the greatest of games -- baseball. You see, as of Sunday night at about 11 pm, the Auburn Tigers are going to the College World Series! We beat Florida State to win the NCAA regional tournament, and come Friday we'll be taking the field in Omaha, Nebraska, with seven other (lesser) universities to play for the NCAA title! Today is indeed a good day!

To bad I've got a project due next week, or I'd go.

But enough about Auburn baseball. Let's talk about the War!

This particular anecdote dates back to Christmas of 1862, just a short time before the bloody battle of Murfreesboro in middle Tennessee. At this time, the Confederate Army of Tennessee is camped nearby this sleepy little town and many of the soldiers were literally camping in their own backyards. In the period of inactivity just before the battle many were granted furloughs to visit loved ones in the area, see their sweethearts and generally just enjoy a respite from the hardships of camp life. Listen to this humorous tale of how one hungry regiment outsmarted another, and enjoyed a capital Christmas feast...

"The 45th Tennessee Infantry had been organized in the vicinity of Murfreesboro and most of the men were given furloughs to see their homes. When the men returned to camp, bringing home-cooked pies, cakes, and other delicacies, the desires of some of their neighbors were greatly aroused. The soldiers in the 20th Tennessee Infantry soon devised a plan to appropriate some of the good things for themselves.

"According to one member of the 20th, a snowball fight was arranged between the two regiments, and 'a charge was ordered and the boys of the 20th mixed it up the 45th in their own camp and the battle waxed warm; and while about three-fourths of the 20th were waging war in the heart of the 45th's camp, the other one-fourth was packing off into our camp whatever they could. When the fight was over the 45th did not have near as many pies and cakes as they did when it opened; they even lost a large portion of their cooking utensils, and the best of their arms.

"'I fared badly,' the chronicler admitted, stating that 'in the thickest of the fight two large soldiers caught me and I was thrown into a ditch; one of them held me while the other nearly smothered me with snow, but I was doing my best to entertain them for I knew at that very minute some of our men were confiscating whatever goodies they had.'"