Battle Report

Last night at the club both my union and confederate forces got a taste of action. I commanded the union while my 2 nephews commaded the Rebel forces. It was a small scenario where 4 confederate divisions were converging on a cross road, currently held by a single union division, who were awaiting support from 3 further divisions in reserve.

The battle started with 2 confederate divisions, that of Rodes and Early advancing on the union division of Davies. The union defenders split their forces with 2 brigades and artillery defending a stonewall while Baldwins brigade defended the fields next to the cross roads. As the confederates advanced with Early taking the pass to assault the union right flank, while Rodes advanced upon the centre. The lack of union artillery was easily felt as they could not hinder the advance.

Eventually to the succour of the union reinforcements arrived, however this was Buford's division of 1 cavalry brigade and 1 artillery piece, who quickly headed for the cross roads to support Baldwins brigade just as Rodes was beginning his assault. Early meanwhile had managed to get part of his division across the stream and promptly launch a devastating assault against the stonewall. To make matters worse for the union a 3rd confederate division of Maury had also arrived and were quickly following the roads to press the union centre.

Early's assault quickly swept the 2 brigades of Hackleman and Oglesby from the stonewall and captured a battery of artillery. Their advanced was only partially checked by the timely arrival of Birney's division. In the Centre it was taking time for Rodes to get his troops in order, Hampton's cavalry were promptly devastated by telling fire from Buford's cavalry and retreated in earnest.

Birney's Division began the union counter attack and promptly destroyed Smith's brigade and shattered Hay's brigade. however they were then checked by the 2 remaining brigades of Early's division. In the Centre Buford's cavalry were forced to retire by pressure from Rodes, Baldwin also fell back. The 2 brigades of Hackleman and Oglesby which had already suffered much at the hands of Early found themselves assault by the lead elements of Rodes Division and both brigades were promptly destroyed.

While running out of troops to hold the confederate assault, the last thing the union needed was the arrival of Johnson division, following the route that Early had taken. Even the arrival of the last union division of Humphrey was not enough to hold their positions. Both flanks had collapsed and the centre was under intense pressure. The union then promptly abandoned their positions and fell back, leaving the field to the rebels.

Below are some of the pictures I took of the battle.

Progress report

After finishing the 2 Corps that I need to provide for the re fight of Gettysburg, I've made a start on the 2 cavalry brigades from Buford's division. I hope to have the first of these finished over the weekend. I've also constructed a smaller cornfield that is in the process of being undercoated along with 2 new buildings courtesy of Peter Pig. That will give me four set fields for any club games with 2 small farms.

As I've been enjoying this project I've decided that I want to expand my forces, however with the rest of the army at Gettysburg being painted by the others I don't want to repeat the units (these will most probably be my main opponents with these forces). To get around this I've started to paint up some of the units from the Western Theatre, mainly for the Battle of Corinth. This is a relatively small affair with only 4 union and 3 confederate divisions. So far I've already got the 3 brigades of Maury's division painted, just need to add the artillery. For the union I've got enough unpainted figures to put together the 2 divisions of Hamilton and Davies. Whether I actually go on to finish all the divisions will depend on how my enthusiasm holds for this project before the new new thing comes along.

Fields

Finally managed to finish the cornfield. The fencing and ground areas were completed like the earlier field. The corn field was teddy bear fur, covered in PVA glue and then painted chocolate brown. It was then given successive highlights of Yellow ochre and finally sunburst yellow. I'm more than happy with the results.



I also managed to complete another plain field, constructed in the same way.


These are 2 buildings I picked up from EBay, I'm not too sure of the make, but they are rather nice little models.

John Buford

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Buford, who had been promoted to command of the 1st Division, is credited with selecting the field of battle at Gettysburg. On June 30, his command rode into the small town of Gettysburg. Very soon, Buford realized that he was facing a superior force of rebels to his front and set about creating a defense against the Confederate advance. He was acutely aware of the importance of holding the tactically important high ground about Gettysburg and so he did.

His skillful defensive troop dispositions, coupled with the bravery and tenacity of his dismounted men, allowed the Union I Corps, under Maj. Gen. Reynolds, time to come up in support and thus maintain a Union foothold at strategically important positions. The importance of Buford's leadership and tactical foresight on July 1 cannot be overstated in its contribution to the eventual union victory

Confederate II Corps

Finally finished the Confederate II Corps

Daniels' Brigade

Finally finished the last Brigade of Rodes' Division. This unit is 11 stands, all the figures are from Peter Pig. The brigade consists of the following regiments

- 32nd North Carolina
- 43rd North Carolina
- 45th North Carolina
- 53rd North Carolina
- 2nd North Carolina

Modelling

I've spent some time putting together a number of fields for use in my Civil war battles. For the base I've just used the backs out of some old drawers, nice and easy to cut. The fencing is matchsticks, painted chocolate brown and dry brushed with some cream for a weathered effect. The base is sand covered in wood varnish with some static grass added.



This second field is work in progress. I have added some teddy bear fur which has been covered in watered down PVA glue to give the effect of a corn field. I'll post some more pictures of it when finished.