The Confederate Deployments in the East - July 1861

 

Into the home straight now for the initial deployments. I am wondering whether (a) anyone will ever see or read this or (b) make a comment. I won't bore you with the IT details but I have had problems with every website I have ever built with people being able to find them or leave a comment etc. Initially this is for me - a record or my project so if I ever get to January 1862 and have done two dozen tabletop battles and things are going swimmingly with the system I will hire an IT consultant so that it shows up on Google and can be read and commented on. 

Back to the final deployments in the War Between the States Decision Games/Volley and Bayonet mash up. We are with the confederates in the East. I quite like the look of major deployments on the big map being shown by my generic  Johnny Reb sized 20 mm square command stands. July 1861 and the centre of both political and martial life in the South has centred on Virginia. It is the most important City in the confederacy from a military/industrial point of view hosting the famous Tredeger ironworks (which in turn hosts the American Civil War Museum - a trip for me someday). The ironworks provided fully half the cannon for the Confederacy throughout the war as well as the iron plates to armour the "ironclad" CSS Virginia which battled in the Hampton Roads. Richmond was of course the capital of the Confederacy and the "seat" of the President Jefferson Davies. 

There are three substantial deployments in the East for the Confederacy at the commencement of hostilities. The main forces of course concentrate early on at Manassas Junction to oppose McDowels early invasion "Old Virginia". Beauregard **** (3-3-1) is in command of a Corps HQ counter so will be able to command three divisions attached to the counter and one additional leader (who in turn may command additional divisions) or another division. So 4 or more divisions dependent on whether another ** or *** leader is coupled to the command. The command rules are quite complex and I have adopted the historical variant in the Decision Games "living rules" as presumably this will produce either a more balanced or historically accurate simulation. The basic version allows for random draws of leaders from leader pools which leaves too much to chance. 

Along with Beauregard at Manassas junction are a 4-3 division and two further 3-3 divisions and 1-4 Cavalry brigade and four supply points in a train counter. There are also five 2-4 brigade counters.As far as the divisional counters go I do not think it good to reduce the the 3-3 divisional counter to two very understrength 3 pointy brigade bases for V&B on the tabletop. As a preference each will be represented as a single 6-4 PT NE base. The 4-3 counter can break down to two 4-4 PT NE bases on the tabletop. I have represented this in the photo below - fully 10,000 bayonets ! The final five two point counters can appear as 4-4 PT NE brigades. 

The cavalry brigade is presumably Stuart's cavalry across from the Valley. Still over in the valley at Winchester Jo Johnston **** (3-3-1) commands a 4-3 division and three further 2-3 brigade counters. Without a headquarters unit he is limited to his command span of 3 which will allow him to command the 4-3 division and two of the further brigade counters. You are not allowed to simply "merge" unit counters in the Boardgame as I understand the game so command and control and the use, generation and husbanding of leaders and HQ counters becomes crucial. In the Volley and Bayonet campaign the initial "corps" raised in Winchester is the Army of the Valley and has a better trained brigade (5 morale and not poorly drilled at the outset). I am assuming this includes the VMI and locally well drilled militia in Jacksons brigade. I don't think the counter mix is going to allow me to present a 6-5 elite division without leaving just 2 spare base points (1 counter point) from the 4-3 divisional counter. I am going to reduce the 4-3 counter to a 3-3 counter initially which will model as the "first" or "stonewall" brigade/division on the tabletop - so 6-5 and not poorly trained and including elites. One of the three 2-3 counters can then be bumped up to a 3-3 which would be a 6-4 PT NE on the tabletop leaving two further 4-4 PT NE brigades. I think my Mannassas concentration will amount to a maximum of 13 brigade bases representing about 31,000 men which seems historically correct. This will be dependent on the Confederates getting a chit move (guaranteed moves) score of at least I think 3 or 4 and/or attempting a 50 % roll against Jo Johnston's initiative (3). I have described my debates over whether to allow rail or road movement as a reinforcing reaction to a battle within a weekly cycle. I will revisit the issue and cross that bridge I guess on turn one. Historically we know that the Confederates were able to force march and use rail transport to concentrate at the Manasses Junction by 21 June. Presumably the 3rd weekly turn of our 4 turn cycle in July. 

Will the Union attack at the outset and risk a full-scale battle ? Historically McDowel was unable to resist the pressure from the public and Lincoln to undertake an early adventure. It took 3 or 4 days to cover the twenty or so miles to Manasses junction (with stops for berry picking and picnicking of rations en route) but a single night in the "big Skedaddle" to stream back across the Potomac into the boulevards of the capital. The union has to attack at some point to fulfil its war aims and bring its greater material to bare. 

The final deployment is of Magruder ** (2-1) who can command a division and a brigade counter on the peninsula at Yorktown. The boardgame gives the confederates one 3-3 counter at that location which I expect should be modelled as a single full strength brigade 6-4 PT NE.

Again I will distribute appropriate artillery on the tabletop which I will then track as we go along. I think on average  7-9  + counter strength points  (14-18 brigade base points) should support a divisional artillery brigade and where there is a concentration equating to a "Corps" (with or without an HQ but definitely when a leader is present so an organisation) then we might include a command artillery brigade as well. 

There are 5 further locations with militia concentrations varying from 2 to 8 points - In the West Virginia mountains near Romney and also near Staunton, at the rail head at Aqua Creek, Richmond and Norfolk. There are small garrisons at Fort Sumter and Fort Pulaski protecting Charleston and Savannah respectively and Forts Hatteras & Clark off the coast. 

I can now set up and photograph the maps and counters and describe the war aims/victory conditions for the North initially and their expected strategy. 

Leadership in the Campaign

 

Above : Mclellen (see attributions below)

Perhaps the last thing I need to consider before I can possibly throw some counters on a map and set up my rosters of starting forces is how the War Between the States rules on leaders and my table top V&B battles will interplay. How and when does McClennen appear on the map and what will his board wargame counter translate to on the tabletop ? What abilities will they have on the tabletop as a result of their abilities at the strategic level. 

The strategic rules come complete with a set of counters which model 2 star to 5 star leaders right through the war. 2 star leaders are capable on the map of commanding a division plus one brigade (a X 1-3 or X2-3 counter). A 2 star leader can take temporary command of a Corps in the event that the corps commander becomes a casualty. 3 star leaders can command corps. 4 and 5 Star leaders may command either army or corps headquarters counters (which appear in a piecemeal fashion during strategic turns at historically appropriate times). In addition they are able to amplify command to separate commands held by 2 or 3 star leaders or further individual brigade or division counters up to their command span. 2 and 3 star leader counter have an initiative and a combat value (in that order) and 4 and 5 start leaders have an additional middle value of their command span. 

Both sides begin with a small  roster of leaders. For the confederacy  (Initiative - Command Span - Combat Value) :-

• J Johnston **** (3-3-1);
• Gustave Toutant-Beauregard **** (3-3-1);
• Magruder ** (3-1);
• Polk *** (2-1); 
• Price *** (commanding the Missouri forces described in a previous post) (2-1) 

There are 33 additional leader counters that appear between August 1861 and June 1864. Robert E Lee is appointed overall commander with 5 stars and some decent statistics in June 1861 - prior to that he had an unsucessful  junior command in the early moves in West Virginia and then acted as an advisor to Jefferson Davis and focused on the engineering defences for Richmond.  

On the Union side they begin with the following :-

• Butler **** (0-1-0);
• Lyon ** (4-2);
• McClellan ***** (1-5-2); and
• McDowell *** (2-0) 

A further 40 or so leaders are then generated from July 1861 to May 1864.

The star ratings, initiative and command start data will be useful for command and control on the map for strategic moves and the construction of field commands. In terms of actual battlefield performance I need to look to the V&B rules and campaign and House Divided campaign supplement to see what leadership effects need to be modelled on the table top from any counters present during a combat encounter. In general terms a set number of units or the units under a leader can move based on a chit draw from a pool for each weekly turn phase governed by the year in question or additionally by the a roll against an individual leaders initiative. The general rule is that you need to use up your free moves for individual "forces" first (counters, or the counters under the command of a commander) before rolling against the initiative value for each leader. So for Beauregard below you can either use one of the handful of free force moves allowed for the month or roll a 3 or less after then. The implication is that a side should make sure that any priority movements are given automatic moves as there is no guarantee that a particular leader will be able to move after. You are not permitted to ascertain which leaders will have initiative and then to provide free moves accordingly. It seems a good system forcing a proper consideration of priorities within a fixed resource of "focus" and "talent" within each sides command structure. On the union side any history of the war is replete with examples of Abraham Lincoln hounding his commanders to activity only to be faced with continued stasis. In the Western theatre the inability of confederate commanders such as Braxton Bragg to follow up any tactical success on the battlefield with strategic movement to secure a meaningful victory cost dearly. 

Within the V&B rules table top rules command bases operate at the Divisional, Corps and Army level. Those bases can apply command to a grouping of stands within 6 inches or 6 inches of each other. I will need to decide whether a force without a senior command stand available should have a generic two star general provided to it. I think not - leadership was a clear and decisive factor within phases of the war. At times certain leaders would just not behave in an aggressive way. At other times a good cadre of available leaders were able to create clear strategic and tactical advantages by the use of rapid and effective marches. Units that lack command on the battlefield will suffer a series of detriments :-

• They are unable to move closer to an enemy (i.e. they will need to simply remain on the defensive or withdraw from the battlefield);
• Movements are reduced by half and cause disorder - disordered units out of command not being able to recover from that status;
• Out of command units can never become "stationary" - a designation which provides a firing bonus; and 
• Artillery is not able to limber or unlimber - I expect it might be liable to capture then

Units are able to have commanders attached. This confers a + 1 morale bonus but does cause the potential for a casualty on a die roll of 6 if casualties occur. I think it could be possible to use the actual combat value which varies from 0 to 3. A handful only of leaders have values of 0 or 2 or 3 - the vast majority confer a + 1 bonus.  But higher value/starred leaders should not be leading individual combats such as George Meade at Gettysburg. I will then roll a D6 if a casualty occurs with a roll or 1-2 being killed 3-4 being wounded and unavailable for D6 strategic turns and 5-6 being captured. Captured leaders can under the rules of the strategic game be substituted or "paroled" as a replacement leader for any potential leader that the other side wishes to deploy. i.e. you can provide a lower ability leader on parole. Presumably the union player would keep Robert E Lee under lock and key for the table remainder of the war. This would at best cause a delay for a better commander appearing as a side can withdraw leaders from command. 

Stands which are in command are able to lose any temporary disorder status on the expenditure of half of their movement allowance. Units with a permanent disorder marker rout (essentially if a disordered unit suffers further disorder). Routing units can be rallied if simply touched by a command stand.

I do not propose to use the combat values of leaders to confer advantages on individual units for shooting or melee. The ability to stand a result of pressure or "Rally behind the Virginians" because Jackson is "standing there like a Stonewall" is the effect we want. Equally Hood who is + 2 for combat on the map will stiffen his Texans to persist with an advance through a hail of musketry. The major ability of commanders on the field then will be to allow a ORBAT to simply operate and to rally routed units and increase resolve of morale. The absence of leaders will prevent a side from executing anything other than a static defence or withdrawal - i.e. not to apply a mobile battlefield strategy and again that feels accurate. At the map level leaders will be crucial for efficiently moving large bodies of men in concert which will simply not be possible without them. 

Apart from some detail from the rules around promotion for morale and specialist equipment and exhaustion levels in troops - recovery of casualties after battle or between battle days I think I have now considered or covered the bulk of the rules I will need to get the system to operate. 

I now feel ready to deploy the initial counters on the map and describe and analyse the starting position which a fairly detailed depiction of the two side stances in July 1861. 

Exciting doesn't describe it ! See you in hell Johnny Reb ! See you in hell Billy Yank !