My God, We Are Attacked!

Having wrapped up the five game Cheriton series, time to turn my attention to the next battle to tackle.  With at least one request for a return to the ACW, that is what I will do.  With First Manassas and Hood's attack at Gettysburg in the logbook, I thought a Western Theater battle would offer a different and interesting challenge.  The early Western battles featured fighting in woods and few battle-hardened formations.  Thumbing through books on the shelf, I settled upon the Battle of Shiloh for consideration.  Rereading Jay Luvaas' Guide to the Battle of Shiloh and O. Edward Cunningham's Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862, I gained enough perspective to develop a scenario.  Helping out was Brad Butkovich's This Bloody Field scenario book.  Butkovich's Sherman Attacked! will lay the foundation for my battle interpretation in addition to studying several hex-and-counter wargame treatments of the battle.  I have four such games to use in this study.

Since the full battle is too large for a full battle recreation via a normal remote session, I settled upon the early morning attack on Sherman at Shiloh Church on 06 April.

While scenario preparation is still in work, the battlefield has been laid out on the table.  Hopefully, the battlefield image below stands up to scenario development.  For now, the battlefield looks like,

For a brief overview of the situation Sherman faced, the Confederate attack began early on Sunday morning, 6 April, catching many Federal troops unprepared in their camps.  The Confederate plan was to drive Federal forces away from the Tennessee River and cut off their line of retreat.  Sherman's division was one of the first Federal formations to be hit, as it was encamped near the main approaches to Pittsburg Landing around Shiloh Church.  Despite being caught off guard, Sherman's men were not completely surprised.  A patrol sent out very early in the morning had engaged Confederate forces and alerted the division.  When the main Confederate assault began around 7:00 AM, Sherman's troops were able to form battle lines to receive the attack, though they were initially out of position.

Outnumbered by about two to one, Sherman personally led his division with "poise and coolness" throughout the day, riding along the lines to direct the defense.  He was wounded twice and had three horses shot out from under him.  The Confederate forces pushed Sherman's division back, forcing Sherman to give ground throughout the morning.  By afternoon, Sherman's remaining regiments were low on ammunition and had taken heavy casualties.  Despite putting up stiff resistance, Sherman's division was eventually pushed back to the area around Jones Field by late afternoon.

Will our latter-day Sherman manage to repeat this fighting withdrawal?  Stay tuned.