InvitationToACW-PartTwo

7/27/2019 InvitationToACW-PartTwo

1/6

Words: R.Neil Smith. Photos by Cyrille Barillot and Alan Perry

An Invitation to The

AMERICAN CIVIL WARPart 2

Introduction

In Part I of your invitation we

worked out that unlike the

Confederacy we could stock our

miniature armies quite easily and

cheaply; painting them is simple and

fun; and getting them out on the

table is no hardship either . We now

turn to figuring out who all these

inch-high warriors represent and

what to do with them.

StrategiesIf you wargame the Civil War, you

will never run out of campaigns to

fight. When the American Civil War

broke out, the two capital cities,

Washington and Richmond, lay 120

miles apart with two significant

rivers, the Potomac and

Rappahannock, dividing the space

between. For most of the war in the

east, the question was how to get

across those rivers and defeat the

enemy in the field; it took five years

to find the correct combination of

leadership, organization, and

fortitude before the Union unlocked

the answer. Controlling the arterial

Mississippi River and finding the

back door into the Confederacy were

the challenges in the west. The Unionstrategy also incorporated strangling

the South in the appropriately named

Operation Anaconda which sought to

blockade Confederate shipping,

never quite successfully.

The Confederates in the east won the

first major battle at First Manassas

but were too weak to pursue the

retreating Federals, and the cavalcade

of sightseers that came to watch

them, back to Washington. From that

point on, with the exception of a

couple of significant forays, the

Confederacy stood on the defensive,

checking and repulsing Union efforts

along the Rappahannock. The

resultant fighting was often

spectacular with the wily Robert E.

Lee pulling off some wildly irregular

methods of beating the Union armies

sent against him; and a rotating door

of Union commanders willing to try

their hand, confident in their belief

that they were the ones to save the

Union. Only in 1864 would a scruffy,misfit of a general, US Grant, come

along with a simple theorem that

finally dislodged the rebels from their

limpet-like attachment to the

Rappahannock.

The fighting was equally absorbing in

the west. At first, the Confederates

fought stubbornly, pushing into

Tennessee and Kentucky and

defending the Mississippi from forts

at various key points. But they lost

New Orleans early , and the

Above: Perry

Miniatures

plastic

figures.

Photo by

Alan Perry.

Painted by

Jim Bowen.

The figures

seen in the

other photos

are by; Dixon,

Sash and

Saber, PerryMiniatures,

Redoubt

Enterprises,

Renegade and

Foundry, and

are from the

collection of

Cyrille

Barillot.

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where

your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can.

Strike as hard as you can, and keep moving on.Ulysses S.Grant

34

WI251 ACW Invite Part Two:Article Template 27/8/08 12:59 Page 1


2/6

aforementioned US Grant and

William Tecumseh Sherman broke

free from traditional means of waging

war, capturing a succession of forts.

Losing control of the Mississippi cut

the Confederacy in two and

prevented the west to east transfer of

supplies. Then the vital Confederate

stronghold of Chattanooga in

Tennessee fell, opening the gateway

to Atlanta and the Confederate

underbelly.

Smaller campaigns swirled around

those two leviathans. In the far west,

Confederates, Unionists, and Native-

Americans mixed it up in the vast

expanses of New Mexico and theArizona Territory. More conventional

forces fought along the Carolinian

coastlines for control of forts

protecting southern harbours; one at

Fort Wagner was the final battle for

Colonel Robert Shaw commanding

his Black 54th Massachusetts

regiment that would later be

memorialized in the movie Glory.

Smaller but no less vicious fights

took place along the often confused

border between North and South,

particularly in mountain regions.

Tactics

One of the criticisms leveled at

wargaming the American Civil War

is, Why fight Napoleonic lite

when you can recreate the real thing?

That argument has a tradition going

all the way back to the war itself.

The major European powers sent

observers to the American Civil War,

but they came home unimpressed.

The volunteer armies were a poorly

led rabble they said, and their

opinions still hold sway in some

quarters. Perhaps they were

underwhelmed by the raggedy

American soldiers who looked

nothing like their European

counterparts, or drill was not being

"It's all a damned mess! And our

two armies ain't nothing but howl-

ing mobs!"Confederate POW,

Battle of the Wilderness 1864.

35



3/6

conducted properly. The Europeancriticisms were too harsh, however; the

Americans were not a martial people but

they learned to fight, and quick.

Both the Union and Confederates fought

using the Napoleonic model. That is

hardly surprising given their senior

officers almost all went to West Point and

the technology, at least in the beginning,

had changed little since Borodino and

Austerlitz. Indeed, other than the

uniforms, when Civil War armies squared

up to each other the scene probably looked

little different from those historic fields.At Gettysburg, Monocacy, Antietam, and

other battles, infantry lined up in

regiments with artillery batteries sited

alongside and on the high ground, and

cavalry often securing the flanks. Staf f

officers and messengers galloped around,

delivering orders and maintaining

communications.

Battles too looked somewhat Napoleonic.

Artillery softened up the enemy for a

while before the infantry regiments

advanced in their lines to within ef fective

musket range. An exchange of musketryfollowed, then a char ge if the firing was

effectual, or a hasty retreat otherwise. The

horse-drawn artillery would advance with

the infantry, firing canister and grape in

support. Cavalry fought cavalry around

the edges. On campaign, the infantry and

artillery marched in columns, usually

behind cavalry screens; horses, wagons,

and old-fashioned legwork took men into

battle. So far, so Napoleonic.

But wait! By 1862, there were already

significant differences between the ACW

and true Napoleonic warfare. Twodevelopments in particular, one strategic

and one tactical, made the Civil War a

looming shadow on modern warfare. The

strategic use of railroads was still a

relatively new phenomenon in war in the

1860s. Trains shunted supplies and

soldiers around both the North and the

South, and railroad hubs, such as

Petersburg and Atlanta, became important

targets, as were the railway lines that

connected them. When planning your

miniature campaigns, do not for get the

railroads.

The major tactical development was thegreater use of rifled weapons, both for

artillery and musketry. In the Civil War,

rifled artillery could be ef fective at 1200

yards and was especially useful in

counter-battery fire. Rifled muskets had a

greater impact, not because they had an

effective range of 500 yards it is hard to

find a firefight in the ACW that began at

such a distance but because they were

more accurate at short ranges. That partly

explains the horrendous casualty rates in

Civil War battles and why cavalry

charges against infantry were no longer

the potent weapon they were inNapoleons day.

None of these developments were enough

to change the prevailing paradigm for

how the Civil War was fought, but they

helped bring about later changes that

would be significant when industrial

capacity matched technological

innovation. Moreover, tactical changes

followed the technology , perhaps most

notably in the greater willingness of

ACW troops to dig trenches and utilize

fieldworks.

36



4/6

War of Character & CharactersTo see the American Civil War from the

command level is to find new

understanding on what this war meant

from both sides and how it was fought.

Moreover, to know who is commanding

your tabletop brigades brings texture to

your wargames and makes the Civil War a

more interesting gaming experience.

If you wrote a novel about war that had

half the cast of characters that commanded

in the American Civil War, no one would

publish it. On the Confederate side, Robert

E. Lee took char ge of the Army ofNorthern Virginia in early 1862 and

transformed the war by running rings

around his Union counterparts for over

two years. Lee was the ideal of a Virginia

gentleman, yet ruthless in his pursuit of

the victory that might bring peace. Servingunder him was the redoubtable Longstreet,

Lees old war horse; the wildly eccentric

Christian fundamentalist Stonewall

Jackson; and Lee s bold cavalier JEB

Stuart. They were all brilliant

commanders. In the West, the Confederate

command was riven by factionalism, but

still produced very good commanders in

Bragg and Hood.

The Union commanders were a mixed bag

that drove Lincoln to distraction as he

looked for the right formula to win the

war. He pinned his hopes on the self-congratulatory George McLellan, who

was equipped to organize soldiers but less

so to command them; the seemingly

perennially befuddled John Pope;

Ambrose Burnside, out of his depth

commanding an army; Fighting Joe

Hooker who was swept aside by Lee at

Chancellorsville; George Meade, who

won but could not follow up; then

Sherman and Grant who did.

A wide range of characters served beyond

the high commands; cowards and heroes;

drunkards and chaplains; the gallantPelham; the unfortunate Pickett; the heroic

Joshua Chamberlain; the dashing Custer;

the noble Robert Gould Shaw; too many to

discuss adequately here. Many of those

that survived wrote memoirs and

biographies abound.

Soldiers

When you place your miniature soldiers

on the table, you want to know that your

painstakingly painted wee men are

unlikely to skedaddle at the first whiff of

grape all that lovely artwork, routing.

When two sides are evenly matched,morale often becomes the determinant of

victory or defeat. You might think that two

newly raised armies might not last past the

first blast of the cannons, but accounts of

Civil War fighting show a high degree of

determination on both sides.

No one sacrificed more in the American

Civil War than the soldiers who stood

almost toe to toe with their enemies,

exchanging volleys of musket fire until

one side could take no more. Here too you

are well served by historians who have

General Grant habitually wears an

expression as if he had determined to

drive his head through a brick wall

and was about to do it.Anonymous Union soldier

37



5/6

spilt gallons of ink, examining how

they fought and what made them do ittime after time. It is fair to say that

the Confederate soldiers had a

tougher time on campaign. They had

inferior weaponry for the most part,

and lacked shoes and food. The

Union men were better equipped and

better served logistically . Desertion

rates, however, were relatively low

on both sides, with a greater increase

on the Confederate side when it

became clear the South was losing.

That means that most men who

flocked to the colours stood and

fought through the carnage

enveloping them. Why?

The Confederacy broke from theUnion to defend the institution of

slavery, but that does not mean the

majority of the soldiers believed that.

The United States went to war to

preserve the Union, but that does not

mean to say that motivated Union

soldiers on the ground. African-

American soldiers fought for respect

as men, but they fought alongside

many soldiers who had no interest in

that agenda. The common

denominator seems to have been that

all soldiers believed they were

defending something - their homes,

families, communities, state, and

country - and that made them fight

harder and stay in danger longer . To

read their letters, diaries, and

memoirs is to enter a world of

courage, determination, and duty.

It is worth remembering, however ,

that your tabletop opponent s menare also going to stand and fight. The

key to winning is to find your

opponents weak spot and pile in, or

try and get on his flank while

retaining the integrity of your own

battle line, and understand he is

trying to do the same to you.

Battles

The American Civil War saw some

of the most astounding and

audacious battlefield victories in all

of military history , most of them

attributable to Robert E. Lee. Hestarted in early 1862 by pushing

George McClellans invasion of the

Peninsula from the environs of

Richmond back to its starting point.

Then he crushed Popes army with a

bold flanking manoeuvre at Second

Manassas in August 1862. At

Fredericksburg, in December that

year, Burnside walked the Army of

the Potomac onto Lee s carefully

prepared slaughter field in front of

Maryes Heights at Fredericksbur g.

A second stunning flank march by

Stonewall Jacksons Foot Cavalrydemolished Fighting Joe Hooker s

army at Chancellorsville in May

1863. Three incredible battles, but

my favourite of Lee s battles is

Antietam where an outnumbered

Lee, his army split in five parts,

fought McClellan (again) to a

standstill. More Americans died at

Antietam than in any other single

day of warfare involving this

country. Lees genius did not serve

him well at Gettysburg in July 1863

and from then on he was fighting off

Just as I

gave the com-

mand to

charge I felt a

stunning blow

and found a

musket ball

had struck my

left arm just

above the

elbow.

Fearing that

an artery

might be cut, I

asked a sol-

dier near me

to tie my

handkerchief

above the

wound. I soon

felt weak,

faint, and sick

at the stom-

ach. I laid

down and was

pretty com-

fortable ...

[but] seeing

something

going wrong

and feeling a

little easier, I

got up and

began to give

directionsabout things;

but after a few

moments, get-

ting very

weak, I again

laid down.

While I was

lying down I

had consider-

able talk with

a wounded

[Confederate]

soldier lying

near me. I

gave him mes-

sages for my

wife and

friends in caseI should not

get up. We

were right

friendly and

jolly; it was

by no means

an unpleasant

experience.

Rutherford

Birchard

Hayes

We have shared the incommunic-

able experience of war. We felt, we

still feel, the passion of life to its

top. In our youths, our hearts were

touched by fire.Oliver Wendell Holmes

38



6/6

a massive and increasing disparity in

resources and the relentless US

Grant. But there was still hardfighting to do, most notably at the

Wilderness and Spotsylvania. In the

West, Shiloh stands out as the most

destructive and hard-fought battle,

but there were others, at Franklin,

Chickamauga, and Kennesaw

Mountain. On 6 April 1862, the

Confederates caught the bulk of the

Union army literally napping at

Shiloh and all but destroyed it, only

to be pushed back the next day by

the reinforced and angry Union men.

There were other battles equally

intense, many of them, and they allreward your research ef forts and

provide fascinating scenarios.

But you do not need to buy

thousands of figures and play to the

limits of your endurance refighting

the American Civil Wars major

battles. You will likely find fightable

vignettes in all of them. Gettysbur g,

for example, has the Peach Orchard,

Devils Den, Little Round Top, the

Wheatfield, and, of course, Picketts

Charge. Antietam has the Sunken

Road, Dunkell Church, andBurnsides Bridge. Another sunken

road saw prominent action at

Fredericksburg. Spotsylvania had

the Bloody Angle. All of them are

accessible to intrepid wargamers. Or

you can fight the more limited

campaigns; Jackson in the

Shenandoah Valley in 1862 springs

to mind. That is the beauty of the

American Civil War for wargamers;

it has something interesting for all

tastes and budgets.

A Final Thought

So there it is; my invitation to you to

the American Civil War. In reviewing

this piece, I noticed three things; I

have an eastern theatre bias; the more

I study him, the more I admire Robert

E. Lees generalship; and overall I

have barely scratched the surface of

what the Civil War has to offer. But I

hope your interest has been peakedand that you accept my invitation to

consider the American Civil War as

an alternative way of spending your

Sunday afternoons: R.S.V.P at your

convenience.

Further Reading

(where to begin?)

Emory Thomas,

Robert E. Lee

Edwin Bearss,

Fields of Honor

William McFeely,

Grant: A biography

Joseph Glatthaar,

Partners in CommandJames MacPherson,

For Cause and Comrades

On Battles: Gordon C. Rhea,

Stephen W. Sears, J. J. Hennessy,

Robert G. Tanner

"General Pickett, finding the

battle broken while the enemy was

still reinforcing, called the troops

off. There was no indication of

panic. The broken files marched

back in steady step. The effort was

nobly made and failed from the

blows that could not be fended."General James Longstreet

(Gettysburg)

Oh, I am

heartily sick

of hearing

what Lee is

going to do.

Some of you

always seem

to think that

he is going to

turn a double

somersault,

and land in

our rear and

on both of our

flanks at the

same time. Go

back to your

command, and

try to think

what we are

going to do

ourselves,

instead of

what Lee is

going to do.

Ulysses S.

Grant on the

evening of the

first day of

the battle of

the Wilder-

ness, when

told that Lee

would surely

deliver a dev-astating coun-

terattack

I have

agreed to go

into the serv-

ice for the war

... [feeling]

that this was a

just and nec-

essary war

and that it

demanded the

whole power

of the country;

that I would

prefer to go

into it if Iknew I was to

die or be

killed in the

course of it,

than to live

through and

after it with-

out taking any

part in it

Rutherford

Birchard

Hayes

39


Date post:	02-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	grimsigroggs
View:	216 times
Download:	0 times

InvitationToACW-PartTwo

Documents