The Battle of Williamsburg

For our first big game of the year, I wanted to do something a bit different. I chose a scenario based on the American Civil War Battle of Williamsburg, fought on May 5, 1862.

For those unfamiliar with this battle, it was the first significant action of the Peninsula Campaign. George McClellan had built the Army of the Potomac after taking command in July 1861, but he dithered. Having built his magnificent army, he was reluctant to move it from the safety of the Washington defenses for fear it might get "damaged." (It reminds me of the old aviation saying that a maintenance engineer never wants to release an aircraft to service because the pilot might break it). Eventually, political pressure forced his hand. Rather than attempting to maintain a 100-mile supply line along inferior Virginia railroads and poor roads—both highly vulnerable to attack—he decided to shift the army to the Virginia Peninsula. There, because the Confederates had no real naval presence, the Union could be moved and supplied safely by water.

However, once he reached the Peninsula, he found that the Confederates had dug in at the narrowest point just south of Yorktown. As time passed, that line was reinforced by the arrival of another 35,000 men under Joe Johnston. Always convinced he was outnumbered, McClellan ordered up his siege guns and prepared to bombard the rebel works. But just as he got everything into position, Johnston abandoned the line on the night of May 3–4 and fell back toward Richmond.

The Union troops began a pursuit, but pouring rain slowed them, and by noon on the 4th, it looked as though the Confederates would get clean away. Around 1:00 PM, the situation changed. J.E.B. Stuart’s Confederate cavalry was driven in just south of Williamsburg—a bottleneck on the line of retreat where the entire Confederate army had to funnel through a few roads turned to mud by troops, guns, and wagons. There was a real risk that the pursuing Union troops would catch the rear of the column, so Johnston turned back two brigades from Magruder’s Division. These troops quickly occupied some old earthworks Magruder had constructed the previous year. A sharp encounter developed; the Union cavalry was driven off and the rear was secured. Knowing more Union troops were coming, Johnston withdrew Magruder that night and ordered Longstreet’s Division, with D.H. Hill’s Division in support, to take over the rearguard.

This became the premise for our game: a classic rearguard action. I modified the history slightly by leaving Magruder in possession of the works and having Longstreet march to the field along a single road. The Union approach was restricted to two roads, meaning their four divisions would be slow to arrive and deploy—though they were permitted to use an "off-table" road leading to the northern edge of the table beyond the Confederate left.

This was not a battle the Union needed to win, but rather one the Confederates could not afford to lose. The Confederates started with 70 points. If all 70 points were lost, the Union would be considered to have severely damaged, if not destroyed, the retreating army. Points were lost as follows:

• 10 points for every battery lost (guns were particularly valuable to the Confederates at this point)
• 5 points for every cavalry unit lost
• 1 point for every infantry unit lost
• 1 point for every regiment or battery called forward from D.H. Hill's reserve division
• 40 points if the Union had 10 good order units within 600mm of the rear of Fort Magruder at the end of the game

The Union army could only lose if they lost three of their four cavalry units (this was the entire cavalry force in the army so its loss would severely hamper future operations.

My quick sketch map of the terrain is as follows:

In the center, on the ridge, is Fort Magruder with a number of smaller redoubts on either side are marked with a shallow ‘V’. While historically Fort Magruder was a significant structure with a bastion and a moat, I decided to treat all fortifications simply as cover. The fort could hold four regiments and two batteries, while each redoubt could hold only a single regiment or battery. The lines marked ‘XXXXX’ represent abatis, which would delay and disorder any troops passing through the area.

At the commencement of the game, the Union cavalry occupied the eastern edge, covering the roads where the Union divisions would arrive. The Confederate cavalry was posted in the southwest corner, and Magruder’s two brigades occupied the fort and the two redoubts immediately to its north. Longstreet’s brigades were marching up the road from Williamsburg, while D.H. Hill’s troops were off-table, available to be called forward once Longstreet had cleared the road.

The Union chose to move one division to their extreme right, utilizing the road behind their lines, while the other three divisions advanced in a line south of the centerline.

Players were given the choice between standard or large-sized units, but there was a catch if they chose large units. Because both armies were relatively untested, all units—except for the two regiments of US Regular cavalry—had to roll to see if they were classified as "Raw." This test was not made until after the brigade had deployed. For standard-sized units, a 1d6 roll of 5+ meant the regiment or battery was Raw; however, for a large regiment, they would be Raw on a roll of 3+... as a result, no one took any large regiments!

While one Union division moved north via the concealed route, three of Longstreet’s brigades headed in the same direction, while his remaining three brigades deployed south of the fort.

The Union flanking division arrives

Magruder's reginents man the Fort

More Union regiments deploy

Above and below, flanking force begins to form for the attack

Longstreet's brigade braces for the attack

Above and below..."here they come!"

The attack on the southern end of the field starts to build

Longstreet's brigades in the south are forming

Three Union divisions going forward

JEB Stuart's cavalry move out as the first of D.H. Hill's brigades is called forward

The advance against the Fort begins

The fight in the north heats up

"Steady boys!"

"Pour in into 'em lads!"

The Union troops overlap the Confederate right, in the south of the line

In front of the Fort...

Longstreet's boys counterattack in the south

Magruder's men are holding their own

At the end of the fight, the Union hold the western edge of the ravine.

At the conclusion of the action, the Confederates had called on one of Hill's brigades (-6 points), lost a cavalry regiment (-5 points), two batteries (-20 points), and five infantry regiments (-5 points). This resulted in a total loss of 36 points; however, since the Union had not managed to get behind the fort, the 70-point threshold was not reached. The rearguard had held.