ACW: Battle of Port Republic June 1862

The Brothers gathered for some more ACW and the battle chosen  was Port Republic fought in 1862. One of Stonewall Jackson's battles it provided a nice compact game for 6 of the brothers. Geoff, Ralph and Chris played the Rebs and Phil, Liam and Paul were the boys in blue.

The Table- the Union at the Far end and the Rebs this end advancing.

The scenario was taken straight from a booklet on ACW scenarios and the OOB was worked out (see the end of the blog). 
The Rank and File rules are very quick and give a fast game. With the ACW booklet you get a good flavour for the period and a fast result.
As this was a historical scenario I was able to rate the commanders of both sides.

2 Regiments from Winder's Brigade

BACKGROUND BRIEFING:

By June 1862, Jackson’s Valley campaign saw him being penned in by two enemy forces and although in a position to escape towards Richmond via Brown's Gap, Jackson first wished to deal with the approaching Union forces. Seeking to prevent Frémont and Shields from combining, he sought to control or destroy the bridges and fords where the North and South Rivers flowed together to form the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. As Union troops approached, Jackson placed part of his army on the heights overlooking Port Republic from the south bank of the North River while Major General Ewell's division assumed a position behind Mill Creek to the north near Cross Keys. Ewell defeated Frémont at  Cross Keys. 

Having dealt with Frémont, Jackson turned his attention to Shields. Advancing over muddy roads, Shields' division had become strung out on the Luray road with only the brigades of Brigadier General Erastus Tyler and Colonel Samuel Carroll concentrated just above Lewiston. Seeing an opportunity, Jackson directed his engineers to build a bridge over the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and began moving to attack the two isolated Union brigades. While he intended to use Brigadier General Charles S. Winder's Stonewall Brigade for the assault, he also recalled the bulk of Ewell's men from Cross Keys. On the morning of June 9, Tyler, commanding the combined Union force, advanced around dawn. Forming for battle, he placed his right flank on the river and anchored his left on Lewiston Coaling. This position faced woods to the southwest and south.

Main Union Line- the main position behind  the fences - The Big hill on the right with the artillery is the Lewiston Coaling.

The main Union line.

The game started with the Reb's waiting for more reinforcements. As Taylor's brigade arrived- made up from tough fighters from Louisiana, they joined with Winder's 2nd and 4th Virginia and launched themselves at the Union guns on the large hill known as the Coaling. Charging through a hail of shot and canister the Virginians were shredded but the Louisiana regts got to the top of the hill and took the guns only to find a couple of regiments of Union cavalry dismounted and deployed to take them on

Union reserve- 66th Ohio

The Reb reinforcements- Taylors' Brigade all from Louisiana

The Reb's deploy

The Rebs on the left advance- 3 Regts from Winder's Brigade

On the Rebel left, the other 3 regiments of Winder's Brigade (5th and 27th Virginia and the 7th Louisiana) under Chris' command  boldly left the safety of the wall, fences and hedges and advanced to pin the main Union force so that reinforcements would not be sent so the desperate fighting on the Coaling. Chris' forces, outnumbered and in the open performed extremely well although Liam's and Phil's boys in blue got the upper hand eventually. By this stage the fighting on the Coaling had reach a crescendo with the 66th Ohio being fed into the mix as the Rebs struggled to get up the difficult slope in the face of musketry and artillery.

The scenario had called for the Rebs to break the Union position on the Coaling....which they came very close to doing, and to pierce the Union line along the laneway. They were a whisker away, but the buzzer went for the end of  12 turns.....and the Union boys claimed the victory.

View from the Union lines. Shenandoah River in the foreground

Winder's 2nd and 4th Virginia advance

Firefight over the fences- Chris's Rebs vs Paul and Phil's bluecoats

Taliaferro's brigade arrives.

Chris' (Winder) rebs on the left with artillery were whittled away by Paul and Phil's Union troops.



After helping to capture the guns, the Louisiana Tigers charge into the dismounted Union cavalry.

Add caption

Confederates advancing en masse

Walker's Brigade arrives

US cavalry and guns on the Coaling

Battle Of Port Republic  9^th June 1862 Refight OOB:

UNION FORCES

BRIGADIER GEN. E B Tyler

Carroll’s Brigade ( Brig Carroll)
7^th Indiana  (6 Stands)
84^th Pensylvania (4 Stands)
110^th Pennsylvania (3 Stands)
1^st Virginia (Union) 7 Stands.

 Tyler’s Brigade

5^th Ohio (7 stands)
7^th Ohio (6 stands)
29^th Ohio (7 Stands)
66^th Ohio (9 Stands)

 BAYARDS CAVALRY
1st Virginia                  (4 stands Mtd)
1^st New Jersey             (4 stands Mtd)

ARTILLERY
Robinson’s Battery
Huntington’s Battery

 

CSA Forces
MAJ Gen T J Jackson
WINDER’s BRIGADE
2^nd Virginia (4 stands)
4^th Virginia (4 stands)
5^th Virginia (8 stands)
27^th Virginia (4 Stands)
7^th Louisiana (7 stands)

STEUART’s BRIGADE
1^st Maryland (4 stands)
44^th Virginia (4 stands)
52^nd Virginia (4 stands)
58^th Virginia (5 stands)

TALIAFERRO’s BRIGADE
10^th Virginia(5 stands)
23^rd Virginia(5 stands)
27^th Virginia(5 stands)

WALKER’s BRIGADE
12^th Georgia (7 stands)
13^th Virginia(4 stands)
25^th Virginia(4 stands)
21^st Virginia (7 stands)

TAYLOR’s BRIGADE
6^th Louisiana   (9 stands)
8^th Louisiana  (10 stands)
9^th Louisiana (9 stands)
Louisiana Tigers (4 stands)

 Poague’s Battery
Carpenter’s Battery
Raines’ Battery
Wooding’s Battery
Chew’s Battery