Salem Church Game #2

After seeing Sedgwick call off his efforts to break through the Confederate line at Salem Church and skedaddle back across the Rappahannock River (see Sedgwick REJECTed at Salem Church), Matt (wargamesinthedungeon) took up the challenge in Game #2 to lead Sedgwick forward into battle.  Game was fought on 20 September.  As a reminder, the battlefield map and opening battle deployments are shown in the battlefield photos below.

Battlefield map 

Initial dispositions

Sedgwick's objective is to break through Rebel positions and move west to flank Lee and relieve Hooker at Chancellorsville.  Does Sedgwick fare better in this clash?  Let's find out.

Sedgwick opens battle with his artillery.
Newton and Brooks bring up guns on the Orange Plank Road.
Wilcox's men at Salem Church take a pounding.
McLaws counters by putting Wofford into motion against the Federal Left.

Bartlett takes fire from Wofford
as Rebels advance through the dense woods.

While one of McLaws' guns rains down on Brown's 1NJ,
Bartlett orders his men forward into an all-out attack.
Rather than see his flank turned as in Game #1,
Bartlett takes the fight to the enemy!

Wofford is driven back into the woods with Bartlett in hot pursuit. 
While Bartlett's pursuit is checked...

Cobb's Legion is destroyed and Wofford is killed!

In the Federal Center and Right,
 Sedgwick orders a general advance as Browne and Shaler
plunge into the woods near Golin run. 
Wheaton is ordered to cover the center.

Pressure mounts on Wofford as
Bartlett's Federal attacks in the woods continue.

Outnumbered by about two-to-one,
the 16GA and Phillip's Legion dissolve in the heavy fighting.
Wofford's Brigade is wrecked!

Bartlett swings his 96PA to the right.
The Rebel Right is turned!

In Kershaw's attacks, the defenders of the farm throw the enemy back
but the remnants of 1NJ are overrun.
Brown brings up reserves to plug the gap.

The gap is plugged and Kershaw is driven off!

With the Rebels back in the woods,
Brown decides not to follow up to pursue into the unknown.

Wheaton brings his brigade up in the center.

Kershaw sends two more regiments forward to Williams' Farm,
while, to the right, Bartlett attacks into the woods against
an already wavering 15SC.

The 15SC is destroyed and the 3SC Battalion is thrown back.

Federal attacks are relentless.
The Rebels are driven back again.

While Brown maintains pressure to the front...

Bartlett continues his rampage against the enemy right.

Another of Kershaw's regiments is destroyed in the fighting.

Now Wheaton brings his brigade into action...

and the enemy is scattered.
Kershaw's Brigade is wavering...

and then breaks!

The entire Rebel Right has collapsed
with Wilcox only clinging on by a thread.
Federal artillery sees to it that Wilcox has had enough!
Wilcox is wrecked!

With three Rebel brigades now wrecked, the Rebels must retire from the field and try to slow Sedgwick's advance down the Orange Plank Road to Lee's flank.

Wow!  A decisive Federal victory for Sedgwick and Matt.  My poor Rebel army was completely manhandled by Sedgwick's XI Corps.  Looking at the detritus of battle, there was hardly any action north of the OPR.  Rather than seeing Bartlett dismantled in total as in Game #1, Matt put Bartlett on the offensive and he never let up!  Wofford was completely mauled by Bartlett and when Brown (and at the end) Wheaton joined in, the battle was decided quickly.

The Butcher's Bill tells the sorry tale for the Confederacy.  Unit losses were more than three-to-one against.  What a bloody game.  Very impressive victory, Matt!  I wonder if I can repay this pounding when we swap sides and take to the field again?  

Butcher's Bill

Great job, Matt, and a really entertaining game!  Game duration was a little over three hours and we played four turns.

Sedgwick REJECTed at Salem Church

In a reminder to just how far I have fallen behind in duties to write and post battle reports, the calendar shows that the following game was played on 14 September with five of Postie's Rejects.  Gaming in September has picked up after a more relaxed summer and I am behind the curve already.

Armies arrayed for battle.

Anyway, the game on the 14th featured five Rejects taking their seats at the remote table to refight the 1863 Battle of Salem Church.  Lee (three brigades of McLaws' Division of Kershaw, Semmes, and Wofford) and Dan (McLaw, himself, Wilcox and Mahone's Brigades) would command elements of the Rebel Army while Richard (Sedgwick, Russell and Wheaton's Brigades), Steve (Newton's Division of Shaler and Browne), and Ray (Brooks' Division of Brown and Bartlett's Brigades) would take the helm of Sedgwick's Federal XI Corps.  After two weeks and three more Salem Church battles in the books since then, let's see how much of this battle I recall.

The Rebels await the attack they know is coming.

With the Rebel Army lined up in a mostly north-to-south line passing through Salem Church on the Orange Plank Road, the Federals waste no time in bringing the fight to the enemy.

Rebel army is poised to respond to the attacks.

Brown launches a frontal assault against the Rebels
hunkered down in the dense woods.

One of Wilcox's regiments is driven out of the woods
 and Rebel guns are overrun.
Payback is a B*** and Brown is stopped by canister.

The attack at Salem Church stalls.

Russell leads an attack against the enemy in from of Perry Farm.

The Rebels are thrown back into the farmstead but before

that attack can be carried out...

Bartlett attacks Wofford on the Federal Left.

Despite some success,
 Kershaw's large Brigade is stirred into action.

Kershaw advances from his defensive positions
to put Bartlett under pressure.

Bartlett looks vastly outnumbered!

In fact, he is!
His brigade is thrown back with heavy casualties.

Bartlett is spent.

Seeing another stalled attack, Sedwick looks elsewhere.
Federals are reinforcing success north of the Orange Plank Road.

Russell and Browne coordinate attacks
 against the Rebel held Perry Farm.

Attacks on the right grind down gaining little ground.

With Bartlett wrecked and attacks against Salem Church and Perry Farm going nowhere, Sedgwick orders his Corps to disengage and head north to cross the Rappahannock before that escape route is severed.  This fight is over, but Sedgwick lives to fight another day as he moves to join Hooker.

Butcher's Bill

The Butcher's Bill shows a relatively low number of destroyed regiments in both armies, but first impressions are deceiving.  Brook's Division has suffered the brunt of the heavy fighting.  Bartlett's Brigade is wrecked and Browne's Brigade is teetering on being wrecked, itself.  For the Confederates, Wofford's Brigade is wrecked from the tussle with Bartlett, but the Federal Left has collapsed. 

Congratulations to Dan and Lee for fighting back the Federal hordes!  Still, with the relatively light casualties across both armies, I reckon that the fighting could have continued.  Sedgwick (Richard) assessed that continued fighting here against Reels in the woods would only precipitate wrecking his entire Corps.  Given that he still had an escape route available before that door was slammed shut, Sedgwick opted to disengage and move north across the Rappahannock.

This battle only saw two game turns played.  That was a lot of fighting and decision making contained in only two turns.

Thank you, Gentlemen for an engaging session!  The Rebels are 1-0, thus far, at Salem Church.  Is this a fight the Federals can win?  Stay tuned...

Prelude to Salem Church

The first Battle of Salem Church is in the books after a short/sharp fight on Monday.  How did Sedgwick fare?  That is a tale for another time.

Sedgwick on the attack!

Today's post is but a brief update to the Blog List to test that I can follow up with another successful post after having changed my url from "http" to "https".  While my url had been "http" since inception, the HTTPS Redirect toggle ensured that my "http" was redirected to "https".  Since the populated "Original feed" url in Feedburner is a fixed entity, that redirect may not be honored.  

Heavy fighting at Perry Farm.

To guarantee that you pick up your own blog in Blog List and that others can find you after using the Feedburner bypass, the Blog List entry in the gadget must match the "Original feed" path in Configure Proxy page.  If your Original feed path shows "http" then the Blog List entry must reference "http" as well and vice versa.  This works similarly for following other blogs in the gadget.  Your url entry in the Blog List gadget must match the author of the other blog's url if that author is using the Feedburner bypass.  If another's recent post is not appearing in your Blog List and that person has used the Feedburner bypass, try editing that Blog List entry by changing either "http" to "https" or from "https" to "http".

Clear as mud?

Let's see if PWJ still updates after switching to "https".  Yep!  Looks good in my Blogroll.  How about in yours?

Action at Pitzer Woods

After having restarted remote gaming with Matt (see Battle of Germantown) after a seemingly long hiatus, Matt hosted a second game without hesitation.  On Wednesday, Matt brought his 28mm ACW collection to the table for a Rebels & Patriots game to refight the action at Pitzer Wood at Gettysburg on Day 2. 

Federal OB
photo courtesy wargamesinthedungeon

Matt sent a scenario briefing and my Federal command for the day.  Rebel troops were unknown, but Matt hinted that opposing forces were about equal in size.  Notice that the Federals field two units of Berdan Sharpshooters.  Sharpshooters are powerful having +1 DRM to fire and a longer, 24-inch range.  All Federal infantry are veterans.  This is a far cry from the American rabble I see in our long-running AWI campaign.  You will see how the sharpshooters controlled the narrative.  

Battlefield and Federal objectives
photo courtesy wargamesinthedungeon

The Federal objective is to scout the woods and pick off as many of the objectives (yellow circles) as possible.  The Federals need to scout three such objectives for victory without seeing their command broken.  Federals arrive at the bottom of the table while Rebels come onto the table at the top.

Now, I know that Matt will provide a BatRep with in-house photos, but for now, I provide my brief impression of the action from a remote viewer's perspective. 

Federals approach Pitzer Wood
 but the US Cavalry fails to move.

Federals continue their advance into the woods.
Rebels are seen in the distance.
Federal Left is having trouble getting started!

All Federals are now on the field with
 two of the five objectives reached.

Rebels come within range of the US Sharpshooters
and Federals open up on the enemy at long range.
Two objectives successfully scouted.
Keep an eye on the Rebel Dead Pile in the top left corner.

Taking fire from Rebels on the left,
US cavalry retires as more Rebels move up to contest the ground.
Sharpshooters in center retire to keep the enemy at arms' length.

Reb casualties mount as US Regulars in the woods open fire
in coordination with sharpshooters. 

More Rebels fall as Federal fire concentrates. 

Sharpshooters continuing picking off the enemy from a distance.
Federal concentration of fire is beginning to tell
as Federals gain fire superiority.

US Cavalry takes losses, but the enemy Dead Pile continues to grow.
Constant sharpshooter covering fire disorders the enemy
as the Federals advance into the woods. 

US cavalry advances to the objective on the left
while Federal skirmishers press on into the woods.
Federals dominate the firefight!

Fire from the Rebs forces the US Cavalry to withdraw
 from the objective before it can successfully be scouted.
Taking much fire in the open field,
 Rebels are forced to seek cover.

Having pushed up into the woods,
concentrated Federal fire causes much disorder among the Rebs.
Are the Rebs nearing their breaking point?

Yes!
Having to take morale tests, the Rebels withdraw from battle!

Victory to the Federals!  With the collapse of the Confederate positions in this part of the line, there may be no Day 3 of Gettysburg!

This was a short and sharp action in which the US Sharpshooters dominated the field of battle.  The Federals kept the sharpshooters back so that they could reach the enemy, but the enemy could not reach them.  With their +1DRM to fire they were expected to cause six hits with every volley.  Sometimes they managed even better than expectations.  The Rebels were being ground down with each volley.  Compound that with Matt's uncanny ability to roll poorly on almost every morale test and the Rebels did not stand much of a chance. 

Good fun (for me!) and a nice change of pace from the AWI fighting.

Thanks, Matt, for a very entertaining game!