Issue 13

Date: July 30, 1864
Game Rules: Johnny Reb 3
Scale: 15mm
Table Size: 5′ x 6′
Time (Turns): 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. (16 turns in JR3)
Units:
Union – Army of the Cumberland, 1st Cavalry Division
Confederate – Various Cavalry from the Army of Mississippi and Army of Tennessee

William T. Sherman sent a number of different cavalry raids against the supply lines running to John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee stationed in Atlanta.  Several of the raids ended in disaster or near disaster, including this one.  Brig. Gen. Edward M. McCook and his cavalry division had been sent to cut the railroads running into Atlanta from the southwest.  On his way back to Sherman’s army, McCook faced a large Confederate cavalry force at Brown’s Mill, near Newnan, Georgia, losing over 1,000 men in the ensuing fight.

Date: June 22, 1864
Game Rules: Rally Round the Flag
Scale: 15mm
Table Size: Unknown
Time (Turns): 12 turns in RRtF
Units:
Union – Alpheus Williams’ Division, XX Corps, Army of the Cumberland
Confederate – Stevenson’s Division, Hood’s Corps, Army of Tennessee

Scott Monsour, designer of the Rally Round the Flag set of miniatures rules, presents a scenario for use with these rules.  In what was a prelude to the big battle at Kennesaw Mountain, John Bell Hood launched a series of attacks against a Yankee column that was trying to get around the Confederate left flank.  Hood succeeded in stopping this probe, but he lost over 1,000 men at a cost to the Yankees of only 350.  Joe Johnston was not impressed with this performance, saying Hood had simply been trying to reclaim “his reputation as an aggressive commander.”

Date: February 20, 1864
Game Rules: Johnny Reb 2 (adaptable for other rules as well)
Scale: 1/72 Figures
Table Size: 6′ x 12′
Time (Turns): 10+ turns in JR2
Units:
Union – Seymour’s Division
Confederate – Finnegan’s Division

The Battle of Olustee occurred in early 1864 between to evenly matched forces.  However, the Confederates managed to drive the Yankees from the field, saving large portions of Florida for the Confederate cause.  The evenly matched nature of the battle allows this one to be refought many times with wildly different results.

Date: March 29, 1865
Game Rules: Johnny Reb 3
Scale: 15mm
Table Size: 5′ x 6′
Time (Turns): 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. (7 turns in JR3)
Units:
Union – Elements of V Corps, Army of the Potomac
Confederate – Johnson’s Division, Fourth Corps, Army of Northern Virginia

The Battle of Lewis’s Farm occurred as Grant’s spring offensive to force Lee out of the Petersburg trenches got underway.  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain led his two regiment brigade against the Confederate earthworks straddled across the Quaker Road.  These works protected the valuable Boydton Plank Road, one of the last remaining Confederate supply routes.  Chamberlain was wounded in the action, but his men managed to capture the enemy earthworks by the end of the action.

Date: May 19, 1864
Game Rules: Johnny Reb 2
Scale: 15mm
Table Size: ?
Time (Turns): 6:00 P.M. to 8:40 P.M. (9 turns in JR2)
Units:
Union – Elements of Tyler’s and Kitching’s Heavy Artillery Divisions, Army of the Potomac
Confederate – Rodes’ and Early’s Second Corps divisions, Army of Northern Virginia

The Battle of Harris Farm was a battle of contrasts.  The lean, mean fighting men of Ewell’s Second Corps had been through a lot in the war, from the Shenandoah Valley all the way to the Overland Campaign.  Their Union opponents were bloated Heavy Artillery regiments, large as veteran brigades in many cases, but still very green from their time manning the fortifications around Washington, D.C.  In this particular battle, Early was trying to locate the Union right flank.  Grant had mostly pulled out and was headed southeast to the North Anna River, but the Heavy Artillery regiments remained.  In a somewhat surprising outcome, the Heavies gave as good as they got and stopped Ewell’s veterans cold.