Dawn at Chickamauga

 Last week Fran and I started this 'what if' scenario from the original Johnny Reb II rule book and after four hours of heavy fighting decided to leave the game up and finish it this week as the result was still very much in the wind. The Confederates had to inflict 40% casualties on the Federals or capture a crossroads, the Union had to stop them. At the beginning the Federal forces are widely spread out with one brigade a long way away heading north while another was nearer the Rebs but in disarray, only one was in a fit state to receive an assault. The Rebs on the other hand had to try and sweep away the nearest Union forces in order to make room for their reserves and make some movement towards the objective before the Union line solidified.

 As the Union commander I decided to hold as far forward as possible and began to rearrange my right flank brigade and send orders to the one disappearing to the north to come back as quickly as possible. I got away with this as the Rebs decided to bring up a decent firing line with artillery before assaulting. The opening volleys gave me hope as the 4th Va. ran for the rear and a Confederate gun was lost to counter battery fire, I also moved Sirwell's brigade along to meet with Stanley and form a much stronger line. Before long however I was forced to move back as the pressure built to my front, The Rebs were now concentrating on my right flank and more and more of them were turning up, both sides stood trading volleys in the woods. 

The battlefield.

The Rebs appear from the morning mist.

 

The Rebs advance.

 I was very nervous as my thin line began to suffer, but somehow my two defending regiments, 8th NYSM and 11th Mass. stood like rocks under the pressure and refused to budge. The 8th eventually broke but nothing the Rebs could throw at the Massachusetts men could shift them, the log jam of Confederate troops behind the line did not help as they maneuvered to get to the front. Just in time Beatty's brigade arrived behind my shaky line to close off the Confederate flanking move, as I looked over the field of battle I was feeling more and more confident as a solid line of blue now stretched into the distance.  

Union line forms up.

Log jam in the Confederate rear.

Beatty arrives.

Federal line under pressure.

 Now I got carried away, I ordered my left flank brigade to move forward and engage the enemy around the small farm, the lure of cutting the Rebs off and encircling them beckoned. What I did not notice however was that although many of the Confederate units were taking heavy casualties, and I was knocking out their artillery none of them broke. With Beatty now in position and the Rebs scrambling to build up a decent firing line I decided to start pushing in the centre as well. Hubris.

 Just as my confidence reached meteoric levels the Bucktails took a hit and fled for the rear leaving a hole in my line and the 11th NY out on my right with no support at the same time a sharpshooter took out Stanley. Taking advantage of my bad luck in the next turn Rebel Yells broke out from the smoke enshrouded woods. One after the other I lost the 11th NY, 12th USCT and 13th KY along with a gun battery, my right flank was now shattered and my left didn't look too hot either, the 44th NY held on in an island of Confederates but was being flanked. I was reduced to calling on the stalwart 11th Mass. whom I had pulled out of the line to give them a break, the survivors moved gallantly forward but I doubted whether this time they could stop the grey flood. Two moves before I thought the battle was mine and now the lead Rebs could almost touch the crossroads. 

Advance boys.

Bucktails flee.

Union left collapses.

Confederate festung.

Over the two evenings we had spent eight hours fighting this game, at a leisurely pace mind you and although we could have spun it out for another couple we decided to call a halt, Fran offered a draw but on looking over the ruins of my line this morning it was going to be a Confederate victory. There is no time limit to this game as it starts at dawn so I reckoned my line failed some time just after noon, all my brigades had lost one regiment and at least another couple were teetering on the brink, this would eventually prove fatal to the morale of the remainder even if they stood. The Confederates had not got off lightly and out of fourteen regiments only three still had their full complement of men, I too only had three, but although many of the enemy were down to two or three stands or teetering on losing another none of them routed.

 This has been the third Johnny Reb game we have played and like the last one it was a tough but exciting tussle. The 11th Mass. were the men of the match for me while the 42nd Penn. (Bucktails) will forever live with the shame of precipitating the Union defeat.