Thursday 20 November 2014

The Battle of Boonville - 17th June 1861

We payed a small Longstreet scenario this evening - the Battle of Boonville (fought in Missouri, and not to be confused with the Battle of Booneville, fought a couple of weeks later in Mississippi). Although small, this was one of the first significant land actions of the war.

We played it through twice. In the first game I took the defending Confederates, whilst Ralph took the Union.


The Union columns march into battle.


The Confederates await the attack. Virtually all units were Recruits, with the Union troops being rated Seasoned and the Confederates Cautious.


As the Union stumble into an unmapped patch of rocky ground, the Confederates fire their first volley. Caesar (umpiring) forgot the cotton-wool, so we used torn-up tissues as smoke.


The Union continue to push forward under fire, and a second unit comes up in support.


Charge!


The Confederates held and the casualties they had inflicted on the Union force (including a firefight on the other flank) were sufficient to cause the Union commander to order a retreat.

In the second game Ralph took the Union again, and Caesar the Confederates. A confused Confederate unit left the cover of a fence to engage the advancing Union army more directly.



The Union attacked.


The Confederates retreated.


Confederate cavalry. Didn't do anything.


The Union attacked again and the Confederates retreated again.


A Confederate unit broke, and with it the morale of the army. The second game was a Union victory.


This was a fun and very quick, scenario, although the balance was suspect, with the Confederates ensconced behind a network of fences that gave them a bit of an edge when it came to close combat, plus in position of a deck that favoured them in terms of cards that could totally bugger up the opponent's plans. Great to see Ralph playing a battle set in the Trans-Mississippi theatre though.

Dave, Peter and Geoff played DBA - Greeks vs Sea Peoples.


It featured Goliath, seen here taking on some Greek light horse.



4 comments:

  1. That battle is from my neighborhood. I always like to see Trans-Mississippi battles represented. That's the first thing I look for in most history books I pick up. How do they cover the more remote theaters of the war.
    Great job on the Boonville Steeple chase.

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    Replies
    1. I must confess it's my favourite theatre as well. If I ever come the US I have told my wife that we'll be touring the Trans-Mississippi states visiting battlefields.

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  2. Hello,

    I am not sure if my previous comment went through, so forgive my repeat if it did. I am also from Missouri and a big ACW buff for the Trans-MS / Frontier. I have visited a lot of battle sites and museums over the past few years. I started a website for putting pictures up, especially for individuals like you who might not be able to travel to them. I have not updated it in 4 years and don't have a lot on it yet. One of my 2015 commitments is to start uploading more pictures up on it, so you might want to check it every once in a while. https://sites.google.com/site/missouricivilwartraveller/

    I am major buff of Lyon's '61 campaign. While I understand why you used the generic US & CS uniforms and flags for your figures, if you ever interested in getting the correct info, just ask. Also, if you ever to get to travel to Missouri, let me know. I will see if I can take a week off to show you around Wilson Creek and Fort Davidson, my two favorite battles, and some of other hard to find battlefields.

    Cheers,

    Sapper Joe

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much. It's good to see people promoting the lesser-known theatres of the war!

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