The Battle Comes To Sheridan

[kipt]

The Battle Comes To Sheridan

On July 6th the Gentleman's Gourmet Gaming Society played the above scenario from Regimental Fire and Fury. We had seven players with me as umpire: four Confederates and three Union.

The scenario represents a section of the battle of Stones River, fought on December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863, between Union General Rosecrans and Confederate General Bragg.  Plans on both sides were to attack on the enemy's right and hold on the left.  Bragg got the jump early on the Union.  Two divisions of the Union right flank under McCook were surprised and routed, followed by 2 divisions of the rebels.  The division not routed was under General Sheridan who put up a strong delaying defense, which is our scenario.

This is a picture of the Union position from the north. Cotton fields in the lower right, corn fields in the center, and the darker areas are winter woods. 



This picture is from the south, showing the Confederate positions and their view to the north.



The Confederates have four brigades: Loomis on the left and Manigault, both from Wither's division, on the right, both in the first line.  Second line has Vaughn on the left and Maney on the right, both from Cheatham's division.

Not a good formation but a result of the earlier attacks on the Confederate left where brigades became mixed (and reminiscent of Shiloh).  Because the front line was a different division from the rear line, and the division commanders were not on this field (off to the left pushing the Union north), I did not let the Confederate players discuss tactics between a front brigade and a rear brigade unless the commander figures were in base-to-base contact.  Not a big issue as the Confederates had earlier orders to attack and keep going.

This is Loomis.



This is Manigault.  Behind him is Maney.



In the second line, this is Vaughn.  Vaughn is also controlling the 9th Texas, just out of the picture on the bottom.



And this is Maney.  Note each brigade has its own battery attached.



The lines are at a 90-degree angle together, which can cause some problems as the troops move forward.
 
The Union also has 4 brigades, three under Sheridan; Sill, Schaefer and Roberts, and one from Jefferson Davis's division which has broken and is retreating off the board to the west.  This brigade, Woodruff, has come under Sheridan's control, and he holds the fence line facing south.



This is Sill holding the fence line facing east. Woodruff's battery is at the lower right corner,




Roberts holds Sheridan's left flank in the open field and in the woods.



Schaefer is in reserve, with two regiments behind Woodruff and two regiments on the cotton field hill.



Also on the hill are the two batteries of Roberts and Schaefer.



To the right of the Confederate line and above the Union left is a wooded hill that is rough going.



Roberts Union regiments are in the upper left and Maney's right flank regiments are at the bottom.

The game commences at 0730 hours and has 12 15-minute turns, Confederates move first. (Typically, we do not finish all the turns, either due to player fatigue or an obvious result.  This went for 4 turns with all the players and then I did 3 more turns solo over the next few days when the result was obvious).

At 0730 the Confederates attack. Loomis in front with Vaughn following.  Both of their brigade batteries follow the attack.



On the Confederate right flank Manigault moves forward, keeping two regiments, the 24th and 28th Alabama in the woods due to the Union regiments from Roberts.



Action happens across the fronts so I will follow first the Rebel left flank, then the center and finally the right to keep the combats clear.

Woodruff's Union brigade was pushed back quickly, losing a gun with the remainder of the battery retreating.





Schaefer's Union brigade moved to support Woodruff.



Counterattack followed attack for over an hour, with the colonel of the 9th Texas, Colonel Young, mortally wounded.



The Union was finally pushed back onto the wooded area. Vaughn's brigade got into the woods and part swung left and the rest proceeded north, contacting Sill's Union troops in the center fight.







Ultimately the Rebels cleared the wooded area, and the Union fell back to the open field beyond where Schaefer had been posted.





The center attack found Sill's Union brigade assaulted by Manigault's brigade with some support by Loomis at the connection of the two Rebel brigades.



Sill's battery was forced back, having one gun damaged.



Manigault broke into the clear area between the brick kiln and Sill's 24th Wisconsin.



The 88th Illinois, a green regiment, was able to repulse the 10th South Carolina, and kept its position at the kiln for over an hour.



The Confederates pushed further into the center but Sill's battery and rallied regiments were able to hold, and ultimately push the Rebels out, inflicting heavy casualties.





Roberts Union brigade on the left flank, pushed into the heavy woods on the hill to confront the two Rebel regiments from Manigault, the 24th and 28th Alabama.



Two of Roberts' regiments were moved to the right to confront Maney's brigade which was advancing on Sill.



The combat in the woods was very intense, finally concluding with the destruction of both Rebel units.
Maney's brigade, seeing the threat from Roberts, all faced right and moved to attack.



The action here was also attack, counterattack and at one-point Roberts' units were able to hit a retreating Confederate unit, the 19th South Carolina in the flank, which routed the regiment and the unit's colonel, Colonel Lythgoe, wounded, was captured.



Roberts' two regiments, the 51st and 42nd Illinois, held off Maney's units for almost 2 hours, while destroying two of Manigault's regiments.



During the entire time of these combats, the Union guns on the cotton field hill did considerable damage to the attacking Confederates.



In addition to causing numerous Rebel infantry casualties, these Union guns decimated Loomis's battery which had advanced to fire on Sill's troops



Sheridan, having fought against these Rebel assaults for almost two hours, and knowing of the Union routs on his right and pressure on the Union center, felt it was time to fall back.



The Confederates, exhausted with heavy casualties, did not pursue.  The Union guns on the cottonfield hill had command of all Rebel approaches, which helped the Confederate leaders decide to pause to regroup.

Casualties were heavy, as these pictures show.

















Victory conditions for this scenario are based on casualties and taking a certain position. 
The position was the entire fence line held by Woodruff's and Sill's brigades.  The Union held it to the last turn.

Heavy casualties occur when the Rebels have 56 losses, and the Union has 50 losses (infantry and guns).  The Rebels hit their number on turn 5 while the Union did not reach theirs until turn 7.

Ultimate casualties were for the Confederates 69 infantry, 1 gun, 1 colonel dead and 1 captured.  The Union had 48 infantry and 2 guns lost.  Points are Confederates get 2 points for Union heavy casualties and 1 point for finally taking the fence line position; total 3 points.

The Union gets 2 points for Confederate heavy casualties and 1 point for the Confederates having more losses than the Union; total 3 points.  So, at the end, a tie game.

Historically Sheridan was pushed back to the final Union defensive line, while disrupting and delaying the Confederate attacks.  Our result appears very historical.

A note on the casualty figures.  An infantry casualty replaces each infantry stand eliminated.  When a gun is silenced per the rules, an artillery crew is dropped.  If a gun is damaged, another crew plus a horse casualty is placed.  A destroyed gun gets a damaged gun or caisson stand and another horse figure.

Infantry stands are 4 figures representing 40 men, so I call the casualty figure 10 dead, with 30 wounded and missing retreating out of the fight.

[Techno 3]

Great report !

[Steve J]

Absolutely cracking looking game and AAR !!!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

What an amazing looking fight!
Brilliant report

[paulr]

      

[pierre the shy]

Brilliant looking game Kipt and a great AAR too