Finally finished with my degree for the time being, I'm just starting to find time to get back into things that I enjoy ... slowly that is. Long neglected as this place has been thus far, I'm deciding on a manageable new series, I'm hoping. Still stuck in Brooklyn for the time being, my ability to break out my board games (most of which are in another state) is quite limited. As such, I figure I don't necessarily have to limit my AARs to just board games and miniatures, so perhaps it's time I include some of the other games that I can play for the moment, and one game - Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) - seems like a good one to start with.
Hoping that I can keep this manageable, The Courier's Bulletin will be a short and sweet AAR of every battle and skirmish that I fight in my new campaign for The Civil War (1861-1865), provided my save games aren't lost to the void like my last game. We're starting this in the summer of 1861, right as war between the North and South has been declared. In my previous campaign (the one that has forever been lost) I was pretty much steam rolling the South, playing as the North. By December 1861, I had captured Richmond, liberated West Virginia, and encircled most of the Eastern Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley with three of my armies. This time, hoping for more of a challenge, I have taken up command of the Southern forces, and indeed we shall see how long I last.
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We start July 1861. From the Atlantic to the unsettled territories out West, the Confederacy has less than 50,000 men under arms. Blockades stretch from the Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys, and already forces move to engage one another.
Reports indicate the conclusion of early skirmishes between two armies just south of Harpers Ferry, VA at Winchester as the Army of Occupation (N) further west drives the Confederate militia from their pickets at Bartow, WV, falling back on Staunton, VA. Now there is no stopping the war that is to come.
... standby for telegram from Winchester.
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Courier's Bulletin -- #01
- Early reports from the field suggest that the Department of Pennsylvania (N) crossed the Maryland border into Virginia, occupied Harpers Ferry, and continued on to Winchester where its advance was checked by the Confederate forces of the Army of the Shenandoah on July 17, 1861.
Strength Report:
The Union Department of Pennsylvania:
Men under arms: 18,152
Cavalry: 0
Guns: Unknown
The Confederate Army of the Shenandoah:
Men under arms: 10,068
Cavalry: 352
Guns: 20
Telegram(s):
- Major General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of the Shenandoah advanced on the north of Kernstown and deployed for combat along the stream just south of Winchester. The artillery batteries deployed between the two main roads leading north, with one brigade of infantry on either flank and one in between them, with Jackson's brigade held in reserve by Jonhston's HQ. The Union column appeared marching south, exiting the town of Winchester as anticipated. The Confederate guns opened the engagement as the First Union Division (commander unknown) deployed before them. Union skirmishers approached the stream but were sent back under fire from Mississippi rifles.
- The Union brigades of the first division advanced under heavy fire from the Confederate howitzers until in range of the main Confederate body. The volley exchange was quick and fierce. A charge by Stewart's (S) cavalry detachment on the extreme right flank was repulsed, but Bee's (S) charge on Thomas (N) behind Stewart's attack carried the day. Thomas was sent in flight, soon followed by the Union brigade on the far left as the entire Confederate line charged across the stream. With Patterson's First division whipped, the Union general ordered a withdrawal from the field before his second division had even arrived.
Bulletin #01:
Union Casualties: 2,673 (365 killed)
Confederate Casualties: 594 (103 killed)
- Johnston is reportedly pursuing Patterson north and has stopped at Harpers Ferry. The Union forces have continued north, as far as Frederick Maryland.
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