Confederate Order of Battle for the Campaign First Manassas

 

I have not managed to post at all on this website since before Xmas. Life has got away from me a little bit with my parents who are unwell and family. 

I hopefully have some blue water for a few months and can refocus on this project. The "state of play" is that it is turn 1 of August 1861. I am off on holiday to Mull with my wife and a few friends in the first week of May. A great target would be to get the first big battle done by then or have it ready to be soon after my return. 

I have now purchased 6 of the cheap plastic fold down tables. I do have a silver wedding anniversary next year coming up so hopefully they won't go to waste as bars or buffet tables if we had some sort of celebration here. Another huge order of roads, creeks and hills from my basic scenery supplier of choice S&S in the UK have arrived. They are superb and will do me a lifetime at all scales up to 15 mmm. I have also purchased a large amount of foam board for creating contours under my printed terrain cloths. 

I have started to plan out the roads and main creek from a number of resources. On the above photo Henry House Hill is the small hill in the in the rectangle of roads on the left hand edge of the table. 

I have had one supplier disappointment. Geek Gaming Mats printing machine broke (according to their website and information) and once it was replaced I made the exact same order of two more  "Autumn" fleece 6 x 4 mats so that I could make a huge 12 x 6 foot table. Unfortunately the new prints are coming up a different tone as you can see in the above picture. It's not terrible I know but I can see it and and it is offending my OCD ! I am investing in kit for a retirement of gaming but I don't have bottomless resources. It will be fine once the whole table is "dressed". If I add a little bit more to the look for each battle and continue to paint my bases I should be able to create some wonderful Civil War "soldier porn" of legendary Scott Mingus proportions ! This is all aspirational unless I get my head down and paint. They only have to paint themselves once and the scenery is super fun.

I think I just need to set aside 2 hours for three times a week and one of the weekend days for the rest of May. The rest of May and June should provide some good opportunities but I am conscious that the anniversary of creating this site may soon roll around with my having taken a year to game the first month. It really doesn't matter though. Back to the main event !  

Confederate Order of Battle 

The Confederates  at the historic battle were comprised of two "armies" which were made up in effect of single Corps sized components. By the 21 July 1861  the Army of the Shenandoah under Jo Johnston had managed to slip away from the Union forces outside Winchester and move across by rail to Manassas Junction. This was occurring from about 3 days before the battle with the final forces arriving as the battle was occurring. Famously Jackson arrived at Henry House Hill as General Bee's brigade was falling out. They rallied behind Jackson and the Virginians "standing like a Stone Wall" and the tide was turned. 

In my campaign Jo Johnston has been at Manassas Junction since the second week of July. Jo Johnston was the senior general and will take overall command of the forces on the day. I will allow however Beauregard also to act as a "corps" commander (without an HQ up to his counter command span 3). Like the Federals I will model each division counter as 2 or 3 "named" brigades and list the regiments as appropriate and provide each division with a divisional commander. 

The main difference I can see in the starting Corps permitted by the V&Bayonet campaign rules for the early war is that confederate Corps have a small cavalry reserve whereas Union corps have a small corps artillery brigade as a reserve (usually rifled pieces so parrot guns). Cavalry is modelled from counters in my campaign as separate purchases under the War Between the States boardame rules. My union Order of battle has provided them with 5 brigades of artillery (roughly ten batteries). I don't believe that the Confederates had less artillery per se. The difference in the model corps in the V&B campaign reflects the greater preponderance of Confederate cavalry in the early war which is already a "thing" in my game with the cheaper confederate cavalry points. I think I will allow confederate HQ's (only) not leaders) an artillery reserve but limit this to a SB-H PT brigade rather than rifled field artillery at this stage of the war. I am not purchasing artillery within the boardgame recruitment cycle so I just have to come up with something fair and representative. Overall union artillery was superior in numbers and effectiveness in the war as a whole as I understand it. Certainly in terms of "kit" and quality of ordanance until large amounts of Union material was captured. There was no criticism of confederate gun crews but they were hampered by inconsistent charges with a tendency to explode early and confederate battalions were known during the war to plead with the artillery not to fire over their heads ! 

Army of the Potomac & Army of the Shenandoah (operates as two small Corps on the tabletop) 

The big line from the Order of Battle and Unit Tracker for Manassas reads as follows. As the counters are not marked "0" against their PT status they have all clicked up to "1" in their time based progress from Green to Veteran status :-

C2409 Manassas Junction, Beauregard****3-3-1, Depot 6-6, 1stCorpsHQ, ST4, C1 (Stuart  Cavalry 2-5) I6 (3 x 4-4 PT NE) I7 (2 x 5-4 PT NE, 4-4 PT NE), I5 (4-4 PT NE, 2 x 3-4 PT NE), Corps Artillery 2-5 R-F , Divisional Artillery 2-5 SB-F PT, 2-5 SB-H PT and J.Johnston****3-3-1, I5 (4-4 PT NE, 2 x 3-4 PT NE) I5 (Stonewall), (Jackson "Stonewall" Brigade (50%)  6-5, 4-4 PT NE) Divisional Artillery 2-5 SH-H PT) (High morale 6-5 first stonewall brigade is allowed from House Divided campaign rules set up and now augmented within a mixed brigade).

So the confederates have 14 brigade stands in total and I think the Union 13. I am assigning Divisional commanders for the sake of the game effectively promoting some of the brigade commanders from the actual day to command groups of  around 3 brigades. 

Confederate Forces at Manassas 

Joseph E Johnston overall command - this essentially has no "game" effect on the tabletop 

Army of the Potomac  (technically a Corps) - P.G.T Beauregard - "1" 

Corps Artillery - Alexander 2-5 R-F PT - Purcell (Virginia) Artillery, Lynchburg (Virginia) Artillery

First Division - James Longstreet "1" 

 

We have a mini galaxy of confederate 2,3 and 4 stars appearing on the battlefield for this battle. I will take the time over coming posts to do my usual introductions but for now I will consign myself to a few pictures. I spent an inordinate amount of time introducing Lyons for the union for the battle of Rolla only to have him suffer the same fate as in real life ! Once elevated by General Lee a little later in the war Longstreet was one of the few commanders in the confederate roll call of the Army of Virginia not to come from that State. He was a Georgia man.  

Divisional Artillery - Shields - Washington (Louisiana) Artillery 2-5 SB S-H PT

Bonham First (Carolina) Brigade 4-4 PT NE, 11 th North Carolina, 2,3,7,8 South Carolina 

Milledge Bonham was appointed major general and commander of the forces of South Carolina at the outset of the war. He commanded the first brigade at Manassas. In 1862 he resigned his commission to take up his post as a representative for South Carolina in the Confederate congress. 

Ewell Second (Alabama/Louisiana) Brigade 4-4 PT NE 5,6 Alabama, 6,8 Louisiana 

Baldy Ewell is another star making his appearance. A regular army officer like many he resigned his commission at the outset of the war when his native Virginia seceded. Throughout the war Ewell petitioned the Confederate government for black slaves to be freed in return for service in the Army of the Confederacy. He was raised as a child in Manassas so should have known the ground well. In the actual battle his brigade was guarding one of the fords a long way downstream and did not see actual combat which was concentrated in and around Henry Hill. 

Jones Third (Mississipi) Brigade 4-4 PT NE 17, 18 Mississippi, 5th South Carolina 

Stuart's Cavalry 2-5 

Second Division - Jubal Early "1"

Jubal Early began life as the commander of the 24th Virginia Regiment but I will give him a one of the divisions for Manassas as he was promoted immediately after the battle. I will hand over command of his brigade to Kemper.

Divisional Artillery 2-5 SB-H PT

Kemper First (Virginia) Brigade 5-4 PT NE 7th Louisiana, 13th Mississippi, 7th and 24th Virginia 

Cocke Second (Virginia) Brigade 5-4 PT NE 8,18, 19 28 and 49 Virginia 

Wheat Third brigade 4-4 PT NE 1st Louisiana (not yet the crack "Wheat's Tigers" I don't believe who gave service in the valley but I will paint them as fancy zoaves for some variation from grey and butternut and a little elan, 4th South Carolina

Third Division - Nathan Evans "1"

Divisional Artillery 2-5 SB-H PT

Holmes first (Arkansas/Tennessee)  Brigade 4-4 PT NE 1st Arkansas, 2nd Tennessee

Garland second (Virginia) Brigade 3-4 PT NE 5th North Carolina, 1, 11, 17 Virginia 

Wade Hampton's South Carolina "Legion" third brigade 3-4 PT NE 

Whilst unassigned in the ORBAT for Manassas we will designate the Hampton Legion as a brigade and give it a run out at Manassas. The "Legion" was a fully independent force consisting of cavalry, artillery and infantry but for the purposes of the game we will assign it as a brigade to one of Beuregard's divisions. 

Army of the Shenandoah - technically a "corps" Joseph E Johnston "1"

Corps Artillery Pendleton 2-5 R F 

First Division Thomas Jackson "1"

I have promoted Jackson to command a division early for game purposes. He can gather the the forces to hold the "Stonewall" on Henry Hill. It is unclear as to whether Bee below was refering to a physical stonewall on the battlefield or describing Jackson as a stonewall. In any event the name stuck and was passed on from the man to the Brigade he led.

Divisional Artillery Rockbridge Artillery (Brokenbrough) 2-5 SB-F PT

First "Stonewall" Brigade (Virginia Cummings) 6-5 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th, 33d Virginia

Second Brigade (Georgia) Gardner 4-4 PT NE 7th, 8th Georgia

Second Division Bartow "1"

Divisional Artillery (Culpepper/Staunton Virginia Artillery) Imboden 2-5 SB-H PT

First Brigade Bee (Mixed) 4-4 PT NE 4th Alabama, 11th 2nd Mississipi 

"Mississipi ! There is Jackson standing like a stonewall. Let us determine to die here and we will conquer ! Rally behind the Virginians". And the rest is history. 

Second Brigade Kirby Smith 3-4 PT NE 1st Maryland, 3d Tennessee 

Third Brigade Col. Fisher/Gibbons (tbc)  3-4 PT NE 6th North Carolina, 10th Virginia 

That concludes the Union and Confederate orders of battle. With 27 individual brigades to model I need to paint now something like 480 10 mm figures as well as an awful lot more artillery and caissons. This will actually break the back on the painting I need to do for a long while with the game. They will not paint themselves butI will try and both enjoy the exercise and listen to some more educational material on the War. 

See you in hell Billy Yank ! See you in hell Johny Reb ! 

Week 2 July 1861 - McDowell Crosses the Potomac

 

"Colonel there is no use dodging. When you hear them they have passed"  

Joseph E. Johnson to a flinching Colonel on the Peninsula before he was hit himself. (see site footer)

Northern newspapers are trumpeting the victory in Missouri and there are outpourings of celebration but also national grief in respect of the fallen hero Lyons. Lyons is the first General Officer to die in the war (again and thanks to my stupidity in attaching him to a confederate brigade in the thick off it - history repeats itself and the Union loses its highest initiative commander).  News also reaches Richmond of the set back at Rolla. Jefferson Davis is under pressure from the public and there are calls to eject the Yankee invader from Virginia. The Confederates can wait for the Union to make a move. The historical reality at this point is that both hoped thought that one decisive battle in the East would settle the matter. I could be cautious for the Union however tying down large amounts of troops to protect Richmond is an end in itself. 

Joseph E Johnston is technically the senior officer in the field on the confederate side. I am not sure of the extent to which he and P.T.E Beauregard would have cooperated daily but we know historically how they managed to mass their troops at Mannasses junction to defeat the first union thrust at Bull Run. 

In essence the strategic position on the map overall is largely unchanged apart from the set-back for the confederacy in Missouri. I discussed the overall strategic position in my post for the first turn here . It's almost 3 months since I wrote this piece so I have had to remind myself of my initial conclusions. 

The CSA elects to take a guaranteed "2" as their initiative chit drawer. The options then for the Union are 0,1 or 3. I let my wife draw the chit to avoid any bias karma infiltrating the cardboard and a "1" arrives. The union will finally be able to perform some guaranteed movement but after the Confederate turn. 

Confederate Moves 

(1) Price uses a Confederate initiative and orders the M2 and C1 counters (The surviving elements of Weightman and Cawthorn's brigades of the  Missouri State Guard) with him to move. The Cawthorn's cavalry counter moves as far as Ironton A2517. Weightmans Missouri State Guard brigade (M2) marches as far as A2117. Ironton is in supply (being 3 infantry move points from the Mississippi). It also continues to threaten St. Louis as the Missouri railroads can be used by either side while Missouri remains neutral. Although Price's force is possibly no longer a real threat but could be reinforced by Polk in the South. 

(2) As a backfill to logistics (I forgot to consider combat supply in the first turn I am going to allow the confederates to broadcast 6 points to a new depot at Manassas Junction. An I2 counter will be lost to make the depot. 

(3) For the second initiative move the supply train at Manassas Junction is going to ship 4 supply points to Winchester.  I think the stack at Winchester C2108  requires access to combat points in case it is attacked or wants to attack 

Jo Johnston is able to roll a move initiative - 3 or less on a D6. 

(4) One of the I5 divisions sloughs off an I2 brigade which will remain at Winchester and Jo Johnston and an I5 and I3 march to reinforce Beauregard at Manassas junction. If McDowel decides to attack he will be facing a much more even fight now that 8,000 troops have joined Beauregard at Mannassas junction 

Those are all the confederate moves.

Union Moves

McDowell in command of the first corps HQ can move 3 divisions within the corps and an additional unit or division as a *** leader. He crosses the Potomac with the I9, I6 I6, I6 counters. I think it could be wise to concentrate additional forces before an attack. There is an I5 division next door in Alexandria and a further I3 veteran division in Washington. It may be worthwhile switching in Mclennon  prior to attack but then again McLennan has an initiative of 1 so he may not be able to attack in any event ? The command and control in War Between the States is somewhat frustrating but I quite accurately. In early 1862 for example Lincoln was unable to get McLennan to attack for many months and then again on the Peninsula he was continually plagued by over-caution and over-estimation of the force opposing him. Lincoln was continually frustrated that having built an army McLennan was not particularly disposed to use it. 

McDowell has an initiative of "2" so on a D6 he should be able to give combat on average at least once every 3 months.  Any battle at the moment would be a broadly equal one. 

From a personal point of view it will commit me to a good 1-2 month's painting as I think I will need about 50-60 more small 20 mm square bases each of Union and Confederate infantry (4 x 10 mm figures to a base and 4-6 making up a 3 inch square volley and bayonet brigade bases. As the war progresses the figure requirement is only going to increase. By 1862 both sides could have as many as 80,000-100,000 men in the biggest field armies in the East and West. An 80,000 strong force will need around 40 x 3 " stands on each side which is 240 bases or close to 1,000 figures a side. There is no getting around it. I think the table sizes will also increase to about 9-12 feet x 4-6 feet for some of the battles with a corresponding requirement for scenery. This is the whole point. If I can get to that point then essentially with whatever rules I ever use I will be able to field two decent size armies. I will be set up for good. 

The Bull Run size battle will be a good half way point to reach for with my modelling. 

Despite my immediate concern over the painting logistics I think the pressure from Lincoln would be too much and for historical accuracy I roll for an attack. McDowell fails for this turn but already the conveyor belt for infantry stands is back in motion. 

Heintzleman who is currently at Evansville in Illinois manages to activate (roll of 1 on an initiative 2). A leader can travel normally by rail without having to use a rail point. He moves to Rolla to take command of  the Trans-Mississippi theatre. 

That ends the Union movements and the weekly turn. I will update the living tracker. If the Union can make a combat initiative roll next turn they can attack ! 

Confederate Cavalry Units

 

I am waiting on one or two more scenery pieces and have a few more union bases to complete and artillery to paint but in the meantime the Prices' Missouri guard units for my battle of Rolla are complete including the mounted cavalry. 

I went for a very "dressed" and new 1861 look with the yellow cavalry cuffs. I will add some much more tousled and ragtag cavalry units later for the wars progression. These are Pendraken 10 mm confederate cavalry. They come with essentially two poses - carrying carbines at the ready and with sabres drawn for the troopers and then 3 different style command figures - an officer with a curved sabre and a standard bearer and a bugler. I am really pleased with how these have turned out. A few clear rules for painting 10 mm are emerging. Firstly paint the unit and not the figures. Secondly keep the figures tidy but less really is more with the details. A good flag and some shiny weapons and decent cuffs and all is good. Finally keep the paints as bright and light as possible. Any small figure will come up "dark" especially when using a wash - and with washes use a very soft or light shade. I think I am using medium brown from Army Painter. Any darker with the wash and the figures just turn to mud. 

Under the ACW Volley and Bayonet Rules cavalry can be 2 to 4  strength points on a 3 inch square base and is designated as "light cavalry". I am using two rows of 3 bases (20 x 30 mm) with 2 mounted figures on each. The back two bases are mounted as full light cavalry brigades. A full light cavalry base will dismount as a 3 inch x 1.5 inch linear infantry base.  I have yet to settle on the size of my infill dismounted bases. I may just use two 30 mm square bases as two of these will fill up a linear infantry tray. I might be able to fit a horse holder on each at the back and perhaps 4 or 5 other dismounted cavalry figures - possibly also dismounted command. This may not convert across to other rule systems such as Fire and Fury or Johnny Reb III or Alter of Freedom, but I can always do something else for my cavalry with those rules. I will make up some 20 mm squares as well and see what I prefer later. Given my 5 year timespan with this project I am in it for some detail. 

Light cavalry can throw off skirmish cavalry bases of a point each. A 1 point V & B cavalry stand is actually also on a 3 inch square base. So I can use blanks on a big base or  try  a smaller linear base which might be easier ? This would denote the 1 point value and be less confusing and less needy for  blank filler bases. A 1 point cavalry base dismounts as a 1.5 inch square base which would take one 30 mm square base. Can I get 6 figures on a base with a horse holder ? I think so as a small vignette and this would work well for occupying a village or section of wall or fence.  So I think this settles the issue of what to do for dismounted cavalry for other games. Just buy some more dismounted figures and make nice horse handlers etc. and prepare smaller bases. 

The OOB for Rolla has the confederates with a 2 point cavalry counter on tree map (4 strength points for V & B or 2,000 horses) which will come into the game as two separate 2-5 PT cavalry bases. These can of course be broken down each into 4 cavalry 1 points skirmish bases. I think given their numerical superiority it might be preferable to have just two 2-5 bases which will dismount as a 2 point linear infantry base. Either way I will need to make 4 30 mm dismounted cavalry bases. 

I am keen now to crack on with the battle so will not wait too much longer for further supplies of scenery, finish of the extra couple of units (mostly union now) decide the future of Missouri ! 

See you in hell Johnny Reb ! See you in hell Billy Yank !