Introduction
The Battle of Chancellorsville, in May of 1863, was a pivotal battle for both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. Robert E. Lee’s landmark victory came at a heavy price as his right arm, Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, had been mortally wounded in the battle. For the Army of the Potomac the loss of its army commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, killed while rallying his men outside of the Chancellorsville House, was an equally devastating loss. Maj. Gen. Darius Couch took command of the army and regrouped it north of the Rappahannock River.
In the aftermath of the battle the two main eastern armies reorganized and refitted after their prolonged struggle along the Rappahannock line dating back to the previous fall. Couch fell back northward to Centreville where he entrenched his army and met with President Lincoln to discuss the plans for the coming summer campaign. Lee did his own reorganization after the death of Jackson and prepared his own counteroffensive to take the war back into Maryland and away from the Virginia countryside.
But out west things were in dire straits for the Confederate cause. Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee had spent the summer being outmaneuvered by Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland and had fallen back all the way to Chattanooga, Tennessee. For President Davis the idea of losing this gateway to the deep south was unthinkable and he ordered Lee to send part of his own army to reinforce Bragg for an offensive to throw back the Union army from Chattanooga. Maj. Gen. James Longstreet departed with two divisions in mid-June leaving Lee without his most reliable commander just when he was needed most.
Federal spies and newspapers soon learned of the mass troop movement and Lincoln responded by ordering part of Couch’s own eastern army to reinforce Rosecrans. Lincoln dispatched the XI and XII Corps to the west and Couch cancelled his own offensive plans out of an abundance of caution.
Lee, always willing to take the initiative, saw an opportunity to strike after the departure of the two Union corps. In August he moved his army northward through the Shenandoah Valley and outflanked Couch’s army. Lee was soon moving east through Maryland unopposed and threatening to attack Washington’s defenses from the north. Washington’s fortifications were manned with only garrison soldiers and heavy artillerymen and Lincoln ordered Couch to further reinforce it by sending one of his veteran corps to the city’s defenses. With Lee so near to Washington DC Couch was under great pressure to attack and drive Lee out of Maryland and away from the large cities in the Mid-Atlantic region.
On September 5 Couch received word that Lee’s men were nearing Frederick City and the Monocacy River about 50 miles north of Washington DC. Couch decided to act at once by ordering his army to concentrate near the Monocacy River and attack Lee before he could cross to more defensible ground east of the river and threaten the capital.
Word soon reach Lee of the sudden activity in the Union camps. Lee had not anticipated the docile Couch to take the offensive and hurried his units forward to concentrate at Frederick City. Stuart’s Cavalry Division was the first to reach the city early on the 5th. Taking a position along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad the cavalrymen entrenched and awaited the arrival of Lee’s infantrymen marching to join them. To the east the columns of Federal infantrymen were also rapidly approaching the Monocacy River for a collision to determine the fate of Maryland, and perhaps the war.
Meanwhile, overhead… it began to rain.
[Editor's Note: there are weather effects in this scenario. Weather does not affect movement but does effect visibility in many cases. Rain would come in varying degrees of severity throughout day one and two before clearing up on day three.]
An overhead map of the battlefield without any forces on it. Note the three yellow stars representing the three objectives both sides will seek to control.
Confederate Info
Lee reorganized his army after the departure of Longstreet, with Pickett's and McLaws' divisions to Tennessee, and the death of Jackson after Chancellorsville. Needing two new corps commanders Lee had a bevy of proven divisional commanders to choose from. Hood had impressed Lee with his actions during 1862 and Lee desired a new and aggressive corps commander to replace Jackson. Hood was promoted to Lieutenant General and given the command of AP Hill’s, Heth’s, and Anderson’s divisions. For command of the other corps Lee chose a more conservative general known for his ability to take orders and achieve results, Maj. Gen. Richard Ewell. Ewell had been wounded at Second Manassas in late 1862 and was returning to active command with a promotion to Lieutenant General. He would command the divisions of Johnson, Rodes, and Early. Meanwhile, Hood’s old division was broken up with a different brigade distributed to each of the four divisions in the army with only four brigades. Lee now had six large divisions with five brigades apiece moving through Maryland.
Lee’s offensive in Maryland had gone well. Supplies had been plentiful and the army was in good spirits as it turned eastward towards Baltimore and Washington DC. Lee had expected Couch to remain overly cautious and defensive and he hoped to strike east for Baltimore or south at Washington DC while the Federals vacillated over how to respond. But once it was learned that Couch's Army of the Potomac was moving to intercept them Lee ordered his army to begin concentrating at Frederick City. Heavy rains though delayed his infantry columns and Stuart’s cavalrymen were the first to arrive at the Monocacy River early on the 5th. Stuart built abatis with his units and destroyed railroad supplies as he awaited the arrival of Lee with the main body. To the east the scouts of Col. John Mosby deployed throughout the countryside to give an early warning should any Union forces approach the river before infantry support arrived. As the sun began to go down on the 5th the first of the enemy columns were spotted east of the river just as Confederate infantry began to arrive.
Should Lee cross over the river to attack Couch or set up behind it to defend the town of Frederick? The higher ground east of the river would pose a major defensive problem but fighting with a river to his back was equally as challenging. Further, his columns were spread out as a result of the recent rains and his trailing division was still over a day’s march to the rear. There were no safe options and Lee would have to decide quickly what his plan would be.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
There are three objective flags on the battlefield (see above map). The Confederates begin the battle with a Victory status. In order to maintain this they must hold all three objectives. Should the Yankees capture one of the three it moves to a Draw. If they capture more than one they reach a Victory status. There are no minor losses or victories here. The goal is to hold all the flags to achieve a victory.
CASUALTY LIMITS
The reality is that many of the games we play are borderline unrealistic bloodbaths in which commanders have no need to rationalize their losses because there is "no tomorrow". Actual Civil War generals were constantly reminded about the importance of keeping their army intact and of minimizing losses for both political and military reasons. Even the most bloodiest of battles rarely saw casualties exceed 35% of the available men engaged for either side. Therefore, I have set casualty limits for both sides which will automatically result in a defeat should they lose too many men in the battle.
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​The Confederates have 60,000 men on the battlefield in total. They can afford to take 35% losses in the battle before being forced to abandon the field – this amounts to 21,000 men. Artillery losses do NOT count towards this total – only infantrymen and cavalrymen.
To the right is the overhead map showing the starting locations and arrival times and locations of Confederate reinforcements. The map may be clicked on to view in a larger format. Above is the Order of Battle for the Confederate Army.
Union Info
Couch’s army moved through the Maryland countryside to stay between Lee and Washington DC. But with Lincoln ordering Couch to take the offensive it was deemed too risky to leave the capital in the hands of green soldiers and so Meade’s V Corps had been detached to the Washington defenses. This left Couch with just four corps with which to strike at Lee's veterans. Couch had at least managed to detach the U.S. Infantry Regular brigades from the V Corps and used them to reinforce the I Corps before sending Meade to DC. Further, Sickles’ III Corps was reinforced by a division from the Shenandoah Valley which had been driven out of it by Lee’s offensive. Altogether Couch could field 77,000 men and 214 cannons with which to drive Lee out of Maryland.
Moving in advance of the army Sickles’ corps would be the first to approach the Monocacy River and Frederick City. Heavy rains and storms though had turned the roads into mud and had caused major delays for all of Couch’s units. Sickles' Corps was arriving piecemeal on the field and Sedgwick’s VI Corps was still at least a full day’s march from the battlefield. Couch's only consolation was that if the weather had caused such long delays in his columns that the situation must be the same for Lee. The Bureau of Military Intelligence placed Lee’s strength at six divisions of roughly 8,000 men apiece. Stuart was rumored to have roughly 5,000 men in addition to Lee’s 48,000. Couch felt that he would be able to defeat this reduced Army of Northern Virginia if he could just bring his numbers to bear at the right place at the right time.
As September 5 came to a close the first sightings of enemy cavalry occurred as Sickles’ men advanced towards the Monocacy River. The army would need time to concentrate Couch felt. But if he waited too long Lee might consolidate his own position more or take the initiative and attack his own army as it was strung out for miles back along the roads to DC. What would Couch do in his first battle as the commander of the Army of the Potomac?
VICTORY CONDITIONS
There are three objective flags on the battlefield. The Federals begin the battle with a Defeat status. In order to gain a Draw they must capture and hold one of the three objectives. For a Victory status they must take two of the three. There are no minor losses or victories here. Their goal should be to take at least two objective flags to secure a victory.
CASUALTY LIMITS
The reality is that many of the games we play are borderline unrealistic bloodbaths in which commanders have no need to rationalize their losses because there is "no tomorrow". Actual Civil War generals were constantly reminded about the importance of keeping their army intact and of minimizing losses for both political and military reasons. Even the most bloodiest of battles rarely saw casualties exceed 35% of the available men engaged for either side. Therefore I have set casualty limits for both sides which will automatically result in a defeat should they lose too many men in the battle.
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​The Federals have 77,000 men on the battlefield in total. They can afford to take 35% losses in the battle before being forced to abandon the field – this amounts to 26,950 men. Artillery losses do NOT count towards this total – only infantrymen and cavalrymen.
Above is the Union map complete with reinforcement locations and times which they will roughly begin to arrive. Note: The III Corps will begin to arrive at 5 PM but not completely arrive on the field until nearly dawn on the second day of battle.
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To the left is the Union Order of Battle for the scenario.