The Battle of Buena Vista (Mexicans call it La Angostura, The Narrows) is the biggest and best known battle of the Mexican-American War. It is sort of a Mexican Waterloo, as it was Santa Anna's best chance for a victory.
However it is difficult to recreate the battle in miniature because of the lack of information on the Mexican Army, the three to one disproportion in numbers, and the challenge of setting up a table top that can simulate the numerous ravines and gullies on the battlefield. I hope this article will help those who want to re-fight this battle.
CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND
At the end of 1846, all of notheastern Mexico had been conquered by the United States Army. The American leaders agreed that it would not be feasible to advance across the barren desert of Northern Mexico, so General Winfield Scott's plan for an amphibious invasion at Vera Cruz was adopted. General Zachary Taylor was ordered to remain on the defensive at Monterrey, and most of his Regular troops were ordered to march to the coast for embarkation. Mexican irregular cavalry intercepted a copy of these orders and General Santa Anna learned of the American plans and the weakness of Taylor's army.
Meanwhile, Santa Anna had slipped into Mexico, overthrown the government, set up his own man as President and began reorganizing the Mexican Army at San Luis Potosi. The charismatic Santa Anna was an inefficient administrator, but an able organizer. With little money and few resources he created an army of over 20,000 men. Most were raw conscripts, but some effort had been made to drill them. However, the training was limited to maneuvering units no larger than cavalry regiments or infantry brigades. Not enough powder was available for firing practice.
Santa Anna saw Taylor's vulnerability as an opportunity for a prestigious, morale-raising victory. His plan was based more on opportunism than on any sound strategic idea. Taylor's army was never a threat to central Mexico, and to attack him was a waste of resources. A movement to counter the Vera Cruz landing would have a been a better plan. (This would make an interesting "What if" campaign.)
If Santa Anna's strategy was poor, his plan of campaign appears sound. General Vasquez's small brigade was detached to guard Tula Pass against a possible enemy advance from Victoria or Tampico. General Urrea's brigade of irregular cavalry, together with some rancheros under Canales, were sent out with the mission of harassing the American line of communications, which they did rather effectively. General Minon's cavalry effectively screened the advance, capturing or defeating several American patrols. The vanguard of the main army marched out of San Luis Potosi January 27th, with each division following at one day intervals to facilitate the 200 mile desert crossing. Despite the severe winter weather, the scarcity of water and food, and the consequent losses due to sickness and desertion, Santa Anna arrived at La Encarnacion on February 20th still in command of an army of over 16,000 men.
General Taylor doubted the reports of Santa Anna's advance, but finally Texas Ranger Captain Ben McCulloch slipped into the Mexican camp at La Encarnacion and brought back an accurate estimate of enemy numbers. Taylor had advanced to a position at Agua Nueva, but upon receipt of this intelligence, plus the fact that it could be bypassed, he ordered a withdrawal to a better defensive position at La Angostura. The Arkansas Cavalry was left at Agua Nueva as a rear guard, but upon the approach of the Mexican cavalry they panicked, set fire to some remaining supplies, and fled.
This gave Santa Anna the impression that the entire American army was retreating in disorder. Minon's Cavalry was sent off via Camero Pass to Saltillo to interdict the American line of retreat at Saltillo. On the morning of the 21st he ordered his soldiers to draw three days rations and go on a forced march in pursuit. This exhausting forty-eight mile march cost the army 2 to 3,000 stragglers.
At 9:00 the Mexican advance guard cavalry came upon the American position at La Angostura and Santa Anna was shocked to find the enemy not in flight, but deployed for battle! At 11:00 a.m., while the Mexican Army was deploying, Santa Anna sent forward under a white flag, Surgeon General Pedro Vanderlinden, with a surrender demand. General Taylor's expletive reply was polished up by his aide, Major William "Perfect" Bliss to read: "I beg leave to say that I decline acceding to your request." (Bauer, p. 210).
TERRAIN
I visited the battle site in 1974. It is a barren, gravelly plateau. The name La Angostura comes form the fact that this pass through the rugged Sierra Madre mountaisn is even more narrow where the road passes along the bluffs of an eroded plateau and a deeply entrenched stream bed (an arroyo). At one point the distance between the arroyo and the bluff is only forty feet. The maze like pattern of the arroyo has sheer sides forty feet deep. While it could be bridged, it precluded any fighting west of the road. This part of the battlefield can be left off the table.
The plateau is cut up by a number of sheer sided ravines that are only about five feet deep in the east, where they begin at the foot of the mountains, but are forty or fifty feet deep at the western end. Troops couldn't cross these except at the shallow parts. The mountain side also is much scarred by erosion, which provided plenty of cover and impeded movement. At a scale of 1 1/2" or 2" = 120', a 5 x 10 or 6 x 12 foot table is needed. A sand table is ideal for this battle or a lot of GeoHex © rugged terrain pieces! Lacking these, I set up the battlefield years ago, using a lot of pieces of foam rubber, books and such to form the bluffs, and then threw a tan table cloth over the whole thing.
ARMIES
A figure ratio of 1 to 30 seems best. Four 25mm figures on a two inch wide stand (or four 15mm on a 1 1/2" stand) would represent 120 men in two ranks, with a frontage of 120 feet. A 1 to 20 ratio miniature army would require too large a table top battlefield. The ratio works well for making up units, 10 company U.S. regiments have 20 figures for 600 men, and 480 Mexican 8 company battalions are represented by 16 figures. Artillerymen are 1 to 15.
The Mexican Army: It is very difficult to figure out Santa Anna's order of battle. No source that I know of gives a complete list, and much information is contradictory. According to Ripley (I, p. 377), on January 26th, General Santa Anna had the following troops at San Luis Potosi:
| The Mexican Army per Ripley | |
|---|---|
| Sappers and Artillerymen:(20 guns) | 900 |
| 2nd Div.(?) | . |
| 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th Line, 1st Lt. & 2nd Lt.: [780 per Btn.] | 6240 |
| 3rd Div.(?) | . |
| 4th Lt., Mixed Santa Anna, Activo Btns. of Celaya, Guadalajara, Lagos, Queretaro, 1st & 2nd Mexico: [400 per Btn.] | 3200 |
| Parrodi's Bde.: | . |
| 12th Line, Tampico Coast Gd. & Vet. Co., Puebla Act. [333 per Btn.] | 1000 |
| 1st Div.(?) | . |
| Mejia's Div.: 1st & 2nd Guanajuato Aux., Activos of Leon, San Luis Potosi, Morelia, Aquascalientes, [500 per Btn.] | 4000 |
| Total | 15340 |
Lieutenant Balbontin (p. 56) states that the 1st Lt., 3rd Lt., 4th Lt. and 11th Line were Santa Anna's favorites, well supplied with equipment and manpower. The Sappers, 2nd Lt., 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 12th Line were in small force and not well equipped. The Activos of Mexico, Queratero, San Luis, Aguascalientes, and Morelia were all "in square". The Auxiliaries of Guanajuato, the Activos of Leon, Celaya, and Guadalajara were also in good force, but were "almost naked" (probably means they only had the canvas uniform with nothing underneath), with poor armament, especially the first three. Balbontin seems to contradict Ripley as to which of the line and Light Btns. were in good strength. The Mixed Santa Anna Btn. apparently was a combined unit of various detachments, probably the remnants of the 6th, 7th, and 8th Line.
Ramon Alcaraz (p. 94) lists Santa Anna's Army as follows:
| The Mexican Army per Alcaraz | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| INFANTRY: | |||
| Sappers: | Col. Blanco | 324 | |
| Reserve Artillery: | 1 Bty. 3 - 16# San Patricio Bty. 3 - 24# Total Artillerymen in Army |
. 80 584 | |
| Vanguard Div.: | Pacheco (8 Btns. "raw" troops) | 4839 | |
| 3rd Bde. -- Mejia, 4th Bde. -- Uraga | |||
| 1 Bty. 4 - 8 pdrs. | |||
| Center Div.: | Lombardini (8 Btns. "best" troops) | 4300 | |
| 1st Bde. -- Conde, 2nd Bde. -- Perez | |||
| 1 Bty. 4-12pdrs. | |||
| Rear Div.: | Guzman [later Ortega] (8 Btns.) | 3187 | |
| 4th Bde. -- Guzman, 6th Bde. -- Mejia | |||
| later + 6th Bde. -- Parrodi's Bde. (1000) | |||
| 1 Bty. 4 - 8 pdrs., 1 - 12 pdr., 1 How. | |||
| CAVALRY: | |||
| Guard Hussars: | (Santa Anna's Escort) | 466 | |
| 1st Cav. Bde.: | Minon (4th, Mtd. Cazadores, Jalisco Lancers, Puebla Sdn. +?) | 1418 | |
| 2nd Cav. Bde.: | Juvera (Cuirassiers, 5th, 9th, Morelia Act) | 1094 | |
| 3rd Cav. Bde.: | Torrejon (3rd, 7th, 8th, Guanajuato Act) | 808 | |
| 4th Cav. Bde.: | Andrade (Presidials +?) | 390 | |
| [Cav. Bde. unknown:] | Activos of Michoacan, Oaxaca, San Luis] | ? | |
| DIV. OF OBSERVATION: | |||
| Vasquez Bde.: | (Fijo de Mexico [Regular "Fixed" Btn.], Republicano Btn., Guanajuato Vol. Cav. [disbanded], Jalisco Lancers, San Luis Sdn., Peejamo Aux.) | 1783 | |
| Urrea's Cav.: | (Irregulars) | 2224 | |
| TOTAL | 22417 | ||
See Ripley above for probable composition of infantry Divs. and also Roa Barcena (pp.95-104). Apparently, Ampudia's Light Bde. was formed later on by combining the Light Btns. Minon's Bde. must have had more units than those listed in Hefter's book (p. 79).
As mentioned earlier, Urrea's Cavalry Brigade and Vasquez's Brigade were detached. The Fijo de Mexico was attached to Parrodi's Bde., the Jalisco and probably the San Luis Sdn. to Minon's Cavalry. General Santa Anna marched out of San Luis Potosi with 13,432 infantry in 28 Btns. [@ 480 each], 4338 Cavalry in 40 Sdns. [@ 111 each], and 413 Artillerymen, for a total of 18,183 men (Mansfield, pp. 153-157). It seems like there should be more artillerymen and what about the sappers?
Due to attrition and detachments along the line of communications, when Santa Anna reached La Encarnacion he had 14,048 enlisted men and N.C.O.s plus 1,104 officers, or 15,152 in all. (3,666 cav., sappers & arty., 2,347 in 2 Bdes. of the 3rd Div., 9,139 in the 1st, 2nd Div. & Parrodi's Bde.) In addition to these were Minion's 1,200 to 1,500 cavalry (Rives, p. 362).
My suggested organization for a wargame army as it stood at La Encarnacion is listed below. If you fight the battle as "what if there was no forced march", then use these numbers of troops. For the historical battle, deduct about 60 figures from the infantry. If you want to do a campaign starting at San Luis Potosi, add about 60 figures or more.
Generally each Btn. has 12 Fusiliers, 2 Cazadores (Rifles), and 2 Grenadiers (none in Lt. Btns. or Aux.), or similar proportions for larger or smaller units.
Key for Unit Efficiency Rating (E.R.): E = Elite, K = Crack, V = Veteran, C = Conscript, M = Militia. Grenadiers are +1 the Regt's. E.R. "figs." is the number of figures in the unit. [Artillery pieces for the game are in square brackets].
5th Bde. Uraga: San Luis Activos [M], Morelia Activos [M] (2x16=32) I Bty. : 2 - 8 pdr., 8 gunners] [V]
The soldiers of General Zachary Taylor's army were mostly Volunteers. The Mississippi Rifles were the only Volunteers who had already seen combat. However, they had benefited by extensive training under U.S. Regular Army drill instructors, much target practice had improved their marksmanship, they had good morale, and confidence in their leaders. West Pointers Jefferson Davis and William McKee, made their regiments very efficient, as did Regular Army General Wool with the Illinois troops under his command. However, no one could do anything with the disorderly Arkansas Cavalry! The Regular artillerymen were excellent in training, firepower, and mobility.
Note that the two flank companies of each regiment are armed with rifles and can be detached for independent service (1st Miss. all Rifles in 8 Cos.). The Dragoons were armed with Hall Breech-loading Rifled Carbines, single shot pistols and sabers. From the Regiment's title, the Kentuckians appear to have had both sabers and rifles. The Arkansas troops seem to have percussion carbines and sabers. All the Texans had rifles and revolvers. Due to the large size of the American horses (16 hands high versus 12 hands for Mexican horses), the Volunteer Cavalry should be rated as medium cavalry and the Dragoons as heavies.
According to Jack Bauer, Taylor had 4,594 men engaged at Buena Vista, but the list below totals 4,778. For a campaign game add 50 men to the 1st Ark. who were captured at Encarnacion and the 1st Ky. lost Capt. Clay's 21 men and a similar number under Capt. Heady (Bauer, pp. 207, 217). I fudged a little on the strength of the 1st Miss. to give it 8 companies.
Key for Unit Efficiency Rating (E.R.): E = Elite, K = Crack, V = Veteran, C = Conscript, M = Militia. Grenadiers are +1 the Regt's. E.R. "figs." is the number of figures in the unit. Artillery pieces for the game are also shown in the "figs." column.
(Furber, p. 488; Conner, p. 57; Bauer, pp. 210-217)
During the afternoon of February 22nd, Santa Anna began preparations for the battle. With the assistance of Engineer General Mora y Villamill and Artillery General Corona, he carefully selected sites for the artillery, where they would have the best fields of fire. Mejia's Bde. was ordered to make its way across the stream as a feint against the American right. Ampudia's Light Infantry were dispatched to seize the mountain that dominated the American left.
Taylor responded to these movements by sending the 2nd Ky. and a section of Bragg's Bty. to his right. He did not realize that a deep gorge made an attack there impossible. In order to protect the left flank on the mountain, Wool sent Col. Marshall with some dismounted cavalry, three Kentucky companies, four Arkansas companies, plus four Rifle companies from the Indiana Brigade under Major Gorman. About 3:30 p.m., Marshall's and Ampudia's men began skirmishing on the mountainside. This action continued until dark, as each side extended their line up the slope in an attempt to outflank. The troops spent a miserable night in the open under a cold rain, protecting their muskets with their bodies.
At 2:00a.m. Santa Anna aroused his weary soldiers to form up for a dawn attack. Mejia was brought back to the east side of the valley. The 1st and 2nd Divisions, supported by cavalry, formed columns in the large ravine in front of the batteries, while the 3rd Division formed behind the batteries. Santa Anna's plan was to concentrate against the American left and roll up their line. Reinforcements were sent to the mountain slopes, so that Ampudia had over 2,000 men.
La Angostura, February 22-23, 1847
Large Map 2 (slow: 112K)
Meanwhile, Taylor was aware of Minon's threat to his rear, and had gone back to Saltillo with Davis's regiment and May's Squadron, to check on the defenses. At dawn they began the return march. Also, at this time the American skirmishers on the mountain were reinforced to a strength of about 1,000, when Wool sent up two Illinois rifle companies under Major Trail together with Conner's Texans.
The battle began as Ampudia's superior numbers slowly forced the Americans back. Meanwhile on the road, Parrodi's Bde. and the Sapper Btn. made a demonstration against Washington's Bty., but the deadly iron hail from the guns broke up the attack. Then the main attack began as Lombardini's infantry suddenly spilled out of the ravine and in a well executed maneuver, formed a column of brigades. Pacheco's Division followed and formed up on Lombardini's right, with Juvera's and Torrejon's cavalry in support. As they deployed, the Mexican batteries provided covering fire.
Facing this mass of some 7,000 men, was the 2nd Indiana and Lt. O'Brien's three gun section (1 - 6 pdr., 1 - 12 pdr. How. & 1 - 4 pdr.). Sherman's Battery and the 2nd Illinois fired in support. In order to bring the deploying Mexicans into more effective range, General Lane ordered O'Brien and the Indianians to advance. As the artillery moved forward, Col. Bowles either misunderstood or panicked and ordered "Cease Fire and retreat". Having suffered 90 casualties already, the regiment broke and ran. O'Brien was left without support and had to withdraw, abandon ing his 4 pdr. due to heavy gunner casualties. The 2nd Illinois and a section of Sherman's Battery conducted a fighting withdrawal under pressure from Lombardini's Division. Wool rushed over the 2nd Kentucky and a section of Bragg's Battery to stabilize the situation.
The rout of the Hoosiers left the troops on the mountain isolated and Marshall ordered a withdrawal, which also became a rout. The troopers scrambled to their horses and galloped all the way to the Buena Vista Rancho, where they were rallied by Colonels Yell and Marshall. The Colonels formed a line to protect the Rancho and proceeded to argue over seniority. They had been followed by Juvera's cavalry, which charged them in mid-discussion. Apparently Minon's men were advancing in a column of regiments led by Tulancingo Cuirassiers, with the flanks covered by part of the Guard Hussars and the 5th Cavalry. As the Mexicans came on, Yell ordered the troopers to hold their fire for a close range volley, and Marshall shouted "Fire!". The resulting ineffective fire did not stop the charge, and the Gringos were hit while at a halt. Yell was killed in the melee and the Americans broken. But, Wool had sent Captain Steen's squadron north, and they charged into the Mexican flank, splitting the column in two. Half the Mexicans continued forward in pursuit of the Volunteer cavalry to the rancho, where they were repulsed by the defenders' fire. The other half, pursued by the Dragoons, retreated whence they had come and threw into confusion the Mexican troops that were just coming up.
Pacheco's Division, a large part of Lombardini's Division, Torrejon's Cavalry, and possibly some of Ampudia's men (The West Point Atlas says the Light Infantry remained on the mountain), had advanced along the foot of the mountains. Taylor observed the movement and sent the Mississippi Rifles eastward. The Rifles came to the edge of one of the ravines just as a mass of Mexican troops were attempting to move through. Davis' men fired into the masses below and forced them back in disorder. The 3rd Indiana, remnants of the 2nd lndiana and one of Bragg's guns joined Davis. Due to lack of space between ravines, he formed them in a "V" shaped line. Torrejon's Cavalry came charging along the ridge toward the open end of the "V". They expected to receive long range fire and charge home, but the silence and steadiness of the line caused them to slow to a trot, then a walk, finally, 80 yards away, they halted. Then the Americans fired a devastating volley, which knocked many from the saddle and threw the rest into confusion. Davis shouted "Charge!" and his men swept forward with bayonets and Bowie Knives (the Miss. Rifles had no bayonets), driving the Mexicans back against the foot of the steep mountains. Here they were pinned down by infantry and artillery fire, as Sherman's and Bragg's guns came up to add to the slaughter. A rain squall wet the pans of the Mexican muskets, but had less effect on the artillery and the percussion cap locks of the Mississippi Rifles. Lieutenant Jose Maria Montoya cleverly extricated them from the trap, by riding forward with a white flag, pretending Santa Anna was asking for terms. Although Taylor was suspicious, by the time he realized he had been tricked, the Mexicans had escaped to their lines.
About this time General Minon's brigade debouched from the pass east of Saltillo. Reportedly, Minon was late due to a dalliance with Miss Caroline Porter, an American teacher living at Molino de Arizpe. Minon did not find the Americans in flight as expected, and his cavalry could not tackle the barricades at Saltillo or fortified buildings at Buena Vista. Unable to reply to the shelling by Lt. Shover's piece, he retired the way he had come, pursued by Lt. Shover and a few Illinois infantry.
Santa Anna was not finished yet. He brought up Ortega's Division and although Pacheco's raw troops had scattered, the remnants of Lombardini's Regulars were rallied. General Perez was given command of this force. The San Patricio Company rolled their heavy guns forward to a better position on the plateau. Taylor ordered May's Squadron to charge the deserters, but as they galloped forward, they suddenly saw a deep ravine between them and their target and managed to veer off just in time!
About 4:00 or 5:00 Perez launched his attack. The head of the column was shattered by the guns of O'Brien and Lt. Thomas (of Sherman's Bty.). Thinking the Mexicans were retreating, Colonel Hardin attacked with the Illinois Regiments and the 2nd Kentucky. The attack crashed into the main body of Perez's troops debouching from the ravine. In furious hand to hand fighting Hardin captured the colors of either the Hidalgo Btn. or the San Luis Potosi Btn., but he and many others fell to the overwhelming numbers of Mexicans. When the Mexican cavalry came up, the survivors jumped into one of the ravines for shelter. but Torrejon's lancers followed, slaughtering many until their pursuit brought them out onto the road, where they were blasted by Washington's battery.
Perez's victorious masses rolled towards the only opposition left on the plateau -- the American artillery. O'Brien and Thomas fired round after round of canister into the attackers but they kept advancing and their fire was picking off gunners. Finally, with the Mexicans at the very muzzles of the cannon, O'Brien and his few surviving gunners abandoned their pieces. With shouts of 'Viva!" the exulting Mexicans raced forward, but then Bragg's Battery galloped onto the plateau and unlimbered. About the same time Davis with his Mississippi and Indiana troops arrived on the flank and began pouring in volleys. However, the Mexican troops closed up the bloody gaps and kept coming. Taylor asked Bragg whether he was using single or double canister. Bragg replied, "Single." Taylor made his legendary remark: "Well, double-shot your guns and give 'em hell, Bragg." (Bauer, p. 216). The first salvo staggered the Mexicans, and the second and third blew them back. A heavy cloudburst put an end to the fighting.
That night as the exhausted Americans tried to sleep without fires, many felt they had been whipped. The Mexican campfires burned all night, but dawn revealed that they had retreated. Joseph Hefter wrote that the Mexican soldiers were clamoring to finish the battle (p. 77), but Santa Anna decided that 3 captured cannon and some flags as trophies were enough of a victory, and then there was the coming Vera Cruz landing to worry about. The Mexican casualties at Buena Vista were a total of 3494 of which 1854 were missing (Balbontin, pp. 91-92).
According to Jack Bauer the U.S. lost 272 killed, 387 wounded and 6 missing for a totel of 665 or 14% of the 4,594 engaged (p. 217).
U.S. Regulars: The uniforms of the Regulars are described in issue IX No. 2 of The Courier. I have one exception to the description of the uniform of the Foot Artillery. As Katchers' Osprey book shows, they did have yellow trim on the collar and shoulder straps of their sky blue jackets (Kredel, Plate 13; Elting, p. 122). This would be the uniform of Webster's Co.
2nd Kentucky Cavalry: Broad brim hat looped up with gold lace into a tricorne and ornamented with several gold stars. Hip boots faced with red Morocco leather. All wore full beards. No description of uniform (Katcher, p. 14).
2nd Kentucky Inf.: Officially the uniform was cut like the regulars, but in deep blue. Headgear was the forage cap or a brim hat (Katcher, p. 14).
1st Illinois Inf.: "The uniforms, which differ with every company, consist of short jackets or coats, usually blue or gray with red or yellow facings." (Katcher, p. 14).
2nd Illinois Inf.: Similar to above. "A" Co. had a blue uniform with yellow stripes across the chest. (Chamberlain, p. 32)
Indiana Inf.: >Officially the uniform was to have been gray or sky blue frock coat, pants and forage cap, with a double row (one row for officers) of white metal buttons, and white collar trim and pants stripes for officers and N.C.O.s. But the 1st and 3rd Indiana had medium or dark blue uniforms. General Lane and the Colonels may have worn bicornes (Elting, pp.132-133).
Mississippi Rifles: Red shirts worn outside white pants, black belting, and black hats (some say straw hats). Large Bowie knives (Chamber lain, p. 32).
Texas Rangers: Brim hats, buckskins, red or white shirts, or various colors of jackets. Boots or leather leggings. Most bearded (Elting, p. 134).
Texas Ranger Flag (Conner's Co.?): At Chapultepec there is a flag on display supposed to have been taken at Buena Vista. It is about 2'X3' rectangle, gray (faded blue?) with a white star in the center and white lettering: above the star "Galveston Invincibles" and below "Our Independence".
The Mexican-American War rules used by our wargame group are a variant of our Unit Efficiency Napoleonic Rules. These are based on some old rules of Jack Scruby and Mike Frank. It is a system for playing large multi-corps Napoleonic battles in a few hours, but is satisfying for smaller battles too.
The Unit Efficiency Value is a numerical abstraction of a unit's morale, training, firepower, melee ability, etc. This U.E. number is the unit's morale, fire and melee combat value. You only have to remember one number for a unit, instead of wasting time consulting various charts to compute combats. It is also the die roll number needed fora unit to perform in an emergency situation, such as can the unit turn to face a flank attack or form square against attacking cavalry. Also, a unit begining movement within 10" of the enemy must roll to do any formation change, advance or withdrawal in good order. A unit rolling higher than its U.E. number becomes disordered (½ combat value). We normally use a D8, but in the Mexican War games a standard D6 is used. Generally speaking, the U.E. values of various troops are: militia 2, conscripts 3, regulars 4, elites and line cavalry 5, grenadiers and cuirassiers 6, and guards 7 or 8.
The U.E. number is the number of "kills" inflicted by fire or melee. (Melee kills are divided by 10 as most historical melees were not very lethal, since one side or the other usually broke before actual contact). A stand is destroyed when either it receives 40 "kills" (30 for cav.) or its U. E. is reduced to "0" as a result of losing combats. Generally the U.E. and "kills" are not kept track of by stand, but by regiment or brigade. Thus, when a brigade loses 40 "kills", one stand is removed.
Combats are calculated by comparing the total U.E. of the opposing stands involved in the fire or melee combat. If one side's total is double the other, it is an automatic victory. Otherwise, each player rolls a D6 and multiplies his points, the higher total is the winner. The players with superior points may elect to use "3.5" as a multiplier instead of rolling. In a fire fight the loser subtracts one from the U.E. of all units involved. In a melee a die is rolled on the Loser's Chart, which gives various levels of additional casualties, U.E. loss, and retreat movement. The Winner rolls for the Victory Chart and may receive a U.E. increase or decrease, and may get a "bonus move" for pursuit or exploitation of a victory. The bonus move idea is somewhat controversial, but I feel it is a good compromise between a rigid segmental move game and the variable length bound game. It also provides a lot of excitement to the game!
In Melee, Light Cavalry's U.E. is multiplied by 3, dragoons (& lancers who roll their U.E. to order their lances) x 4, and heavy cavalry x 4.5. Infantry squares divide the cavalry melee value by 4.
Artillery fire is made simple by having the canister "kills" equal to the poundage of the cannon (6 pdr. = 6 kills), and ball shot is half. Canister kills are automatic, but for ball shot, the U.E. must be rolled, failure results in half kills.
The scale of the game is for one 20mm figure representing 100 men, with 4 infantry or three cavalry or one cannon (represents 12 guns) per stand. For the Mexican War, I have rather small armies of old Scruby 20mm figures. Not wanting to substitute with Napoleonics, I used a 1 to 60 ratio for the game.
Our wargame version of the battle of Buena Vista was played on Brian Lum's sand table, which is the "cadillac" of game tables: 6 x 12 ft. with cupboards underneath for troops and pullout shelves for game equipment and food. Brian's playing surface is never littered with dice, rulers, charts, rosters, paper cups, etc. It is a true living diorama. He is an artist in doing realistic looking terrain. Each hill and valley is carefully sculpted, smoothed, sprayed with mist to set it, and then sprinked with various colors of artificial grass, earth and lichen.
I had hoped to do the game with three American players for Taylor, Lane and Wool, with the troops divided among them. I believe the cavalry should be under different players to simulate the disharmony between Yell and Marshall. For the Mexicans the players would be Santa Anna, and the three Division Generals, each with a cavalry brigade. However, due to other commitments by some of our regular players, three of us showed up to play, which was actually about right for the number of figures in play, but made the game a little slower. David Lippincott was General Taylor, Brian Lum played Santa Anna and played with the 1st and 2nd Divisions, while I was General Ortega and Ampudia.
The soldiers were set up in their historical positions at dawn of Feb. 23rd, except the American infantry was rearranged to put the brigades together. The Illinois were near the mountain, the Indianians in the center, and the 2nd Kentucky in support of Washington's Bty. Two D6 were rolled secretly to determine how long Minon would be delayed by Miss Porter! A "2" forsecond turn arrival, and so on. In setting up the game you might want to leave Minon and Saltillo out and off the board, especially if you have a smaller table top.
The battle began historically as Pacheco's and Lombardini's columns deployed out of the ravine, behind a screen of skirmishers. The Mexican Light troops advanced on the mountain. The Volunteer riflemen fired a volley at Torrejon's cavalry, destroying the Morelia Regiment. In our rules to simulate the rifle's accuracy and slower loading, they get double fire power, but take one turn to reload. So on the next turn the "unloaded" riflemen were pulled back behind the dismounted Arkansas Cavalry, but they failed their U.E. roll and the withdrawal turned into a rout! Then some of the Mexican skirmishers charged the flank of the Arkies, who failed their roll to change front, and they also ran away in confusion. Note: A unit hit in the flank or rear has a melee value of "0".
Meanwhile, the Mexican artillery concentrated their fire on O'Brien's section and destroyed it. Ball shot is half effect into massed artillery or one third into artillery deployed at standard intervals. One half the number of kills is the percentage chance to dismount or silence a battery (i.e., 4 kills is a 20% chance). Since O'Brien had been covering a gap between infantry brigades, Taylor sought to move the 2nd Indiana laterally to close the gap, but they rolled a "6" and became disordered!
The Mexican plan was to form up all the troops before attacking and half the units were still locked in the "traffic jam" in the ravine. But seeing the exposed position of the Illinois, Bde., Santa Anna ordered an attack. Only Pacheco's div., Perez's Bde., and Torrejon's Cavalry were within charge range. Because the Illinois left was anchored on the rocky slope, only one column of cavalry and two infantry columns could attack. (Note: There must be at least 2" between columns. Infantry can count 6 stands deep and cavalry 2.) Still there were 4,200 Mexicans charging 960 defenders. Can their fire stop the attackers? Our Repulse By Fire Rule compares the total fire of the defenders (4 stds. @ 5 UE + 1 for U.S. fire, doubled for point-blank range, add 50% for firing into a mass = 72 kills) vs. the total melee value of the attackers (2 Cav. @ 3 UE x 3 = 18; 6 militia (a 2 UE + 1 for column impetus = 18; 6 Inf. @ 3 UE + 1 = 24; for a total of 60 melee points). Dice are rolled as for a combat. If the defender has the highest total, the attacker is repulsed in disorder and -2 U.E. loss. If the attacker wins he takes his losses, but closes with the defender for melee, which is resolved immediately. In this case Wool used the 3.5 average, but Pacheco rolled a 6, and waded into the Illinois, who automatically lost the melee (they only had 20 points) and retreated in confusion.
Pacheco's troops rolled a "must pursue" on the Victory Chart, but sitting behind the former Indiana position was the Kentucky Cavalry! Our rules never allow infantry to initiate a melee with formed cavalry, so the Mexicans had to check their U.E. and went into disorder. One stand of Mexican cavalry had been shot away, leaving the surviving stand to charge into an automatic defeat!
In the next turn, to prevent the Kentuckians from hitting the disordered infantry, Santa Anna threw in the rest of Torrejon's Bde. and the head of Juvera's Column. With the infantry in the way, there was only room for two columns to attack. General Wool led the cavalry in person, 2 points which gave the American 42 points vs. 42 points forthe Mexicans. Wool won the dice roll, but the Mexicans retreated in good order with only a -1 U.E. loss. Also, during this turn the San Patricio Bty. was knocked out.
Santa Anna was vexed by this delay in the advance, so the infantry were moved out of the way, with their flank covered by a square of the 4th Lt. lnf. The rest of Juvera's Bde. (Cuirassiers and the 9th Cav.) and the rallied 3rd Cav. (56 points) attacked the Kentuckians (42 points). Once again the Americans rolled a hot die, threw back their attackers, and received a plus one U.E. on the Victory Chart. I have never seen such a situation, nor do we usually make such piecemeal attacks! To make the situation worse, this turn the American destroyed the 12 pdr. and 16 pdr. batteries with some very low percentage rolls!
Now Santa Anna was furious at the Kentuckians! He charged in his Guard Hussars and the rallied 5th, 7th, and 8th Cav., while Andrade's small Bde. hit the Kentucky flank. Although the Kentucky left wing managed to face Andrade, they were still facing odds of 75 to 42, and this time their luck had run out. The Kentuckians were routed, and in the pursuit, they were wiped out and Wool was killed.
At the same time, the infantry of Pacheco and Lombardini hit the Indiana Bde. Since some of Pacheco's men turned the flank of the 2nd Ind., they had to roll to change front, but Col. Bowles blew it again -- a 6 was rolled, and the Hoosiers dissolved into a confused mass and the Brigade was rolled up. Sherman's Bty. managed to limber up and barely escape the debacle, with Perez's Bde. (+1 U.E.) on their heels. The battery retired to rally behind the 2nd Kentucky, which had moved up on the plateau, and formed an oblique line on the narrow tongue of land (maybe a "V" would have been better!).
With Parrodi's Bde. advancing up the road and Perez threatening to capture the plateau, Bragg's and Washington's Btys. limbered up to displace to the rear. The firepower of the Kentuckians (36 x a low die roll) was not enough to stop Perez's (36) attack. The Kentuckians were driven off the plateau and Sherman's Bty. was overrun.
While the U.S. right flank was dissolving, on the left, the American rifle men had rallied and with the U.S. Dragoons in support, were slowly withdrawing before Ampudia's advance. The victorious Mexican Guard Hussars (now 6 U.E.) attacked the Dragoons and defeated them. The 7th and 8th Cavalry swooped on to the flank of the riflemen, as Ampudia charged them frontally. The riflemen in skirmish order tried to form close order to repel the attack, but again failed their roll and were badly cut up.
Meanwhile, Taylor had come up with the Mississippi Rifles and rallied the Illinois, Indiana, and Arkansas troops, forming a line on the lip of the long shallow ravine. Mexican skirmishers approached and briefly sniped at the line, before the infantry columns came up. Taylor tried to drive the skirmishers off with firepower, but as most of the units had rolled badly on the Loser's Chart, their 2 U.E. firepower divided by 3 into skirmishers, was not sufficient to defeat the combined U.E. of the Mexican Light troops.
Then Pacheco's, Conde's and Ortega's Bdes., plus all the Mexican cavalry charged the American line. Many of the American units failed their roll to hold fire for a point-blank volley, and fired at long range. The Mexican ploughed through the ineffective fire, and broke the Americans. With all but the artillery and the 2nd Ky. routing off the field with "0" U.E., Taylor ordered a retreat, his hopes of Presidential nomination in ruins. But his back luck was not ended yet, for finally on game move eight, General Minon had arrived and his 1200 cavalry were blocking the road! After 4 hours game time combat, played in about 3 hours, honorable surrender was the only choice for Taylor. In the game the Mexicans had lost about 1,800 casualties and the Americans about 1,000.
Sources for Battle Map:
Alcaraz, Ramon & others, eds. The Other Side: Notes for the History of the War between Mexico and the United States, trans. Albert C. Ramsey. 1850; rpt. New York: Burt Franklin, 1970.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.GENERAL SANTA ANNA'S ARMY
General Santa Anna's Army
Unattached
Guard Hussars [E] (15)
Zappadore Btn. [E] (12)
16# Bty.: 2 - 16 pdr., 8 gunners][V]
San Patricio Bty.: [2 - 24 pdr., 8 gunners] [E]
Ampudia's Bde.: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Lt. [all V] (4x16=64)
I DIV. -- PACHECO
3rd Bde. Mejia: 1st and 2nd Guanajuato Aux. [M], Calaya Activos [M], Leon Act. [M] (4x16=64)
II DIV. -- LOMBARDINI
1st Bde. Conde: 1st, 3rd, 5th Line [all C] (3x24=72)
2nd Bde. Perez: 10th [C], 11th [V], (2x24=72)
II Bty.: [2 - 12 pdr., 8 gunners] [V]
Hildago Bttn. [M] (1x16=16)
III DIV. -- ORTEGA
4th Bde. Guzman: 1st and 2nd Mexico Activos [C], Lagos [M], (3x8=24)
4th Line [C] (1x16=16)
5th Bde. Terres: Mixed Santa Anna Bttn [C] (1x16=16)
Aguascalientes [C], Guadalajara [M], Queretaro [M] (3x8=24)
7th Bde. Parrodi: Fijo de Mexico, 12th Line, Tampico Coast Gd., Puebla Activos [all C] (4x8=32)
III Bty.: [2 - 8 pdr., 8 gunners] [V]
CAVALRY
1st Bde. Minion: 4th {C] (8) and Mtd. Cazadores [V] (8), Jalisco Lancers [V] (8),
Puebla Sdn. [C] (4), Oaxaca Activos [M] (8), San Luis Activos [M] (4)
2nd Bde. Juvera: Cuirassiers [V] (10), 5th [C] (8), 9th [C] (8), Morelia Activos [M] (8)
3rd Bde. Torrejon: 3rd [C] (6), 7th [V] (6), 8th [C] (6), Guanajuato Activos [M] (6), Lt. Mexico [C] (4)
4th Bde. Andrade: Presidials [M] (4), Michoacan Activos [M] (8)
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
MAJOR-GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR'S ARMY
Maj. Gen. Zachary Taylor's Army
GENERAL WOOL'S BDE.:
1st Illinois Inf.: Col. Hardin 580 [E] (20)
2nd Illinois Inf.: Col. Bissell 573 [E] (20)
GENERAL LANE'S BDE.:
2nd Indiana Inf. Col. Bowles 1253 [K] (20)
3rd Indiana Inf. Col. Lane [K] (20)
UNBRIGADED:
1st Mississippi Rifles Col. Davis 368 [E] (16)
2nd Kentucky Inf. Col. McKee 571 [E] (20)
MOUNTED TROOPS:
1st Arkansas Mounted Col. Yell [V] (16)
1st Kentucky Cav. & Mtd. Rifles Col. Marshall 330 [K] (11)
Capt. Conner's Texas Rangers Attached 2nd Ill. 61, Attached 2nd Ill. [K] (2)
Capt. McCulloch's Texas Rangers w/ 1st Drag. 27 [E] (1)
1st U.S. Dragoons, A & E co.s Capt. Steen 133 [E] (4)
2nd U.S. Dragoons, D & F co.s Lt. Col. May 76 [E] (3)
ARTILLERY:
B Bty., 4th U.S. Arty. Capt. Washington 117 [E] (8)
4-6#, 2-12# How., 2-4# [2-6#,
C Bty., 3rd U.S. Arty. Capt. Bragg 75 [E] (5)
1-4#,
1-How.]
4-6# [2-6#]
E Bty., 3rd U.S. Arty. Capt. Sherman 75 [E] (5)
4-6# [2-6#]
GARRISON AT BUENA VISTA RANCHO:
Major Warren (1st Ill.)
2 or 4 co.s 1st Illinois (strength included in Regt. above)
C co., 1st U.S. Arty. Capt. Webster (60?) [E] (4)
2-24# How. [1 How.]
Note: American Supply Train Parked Here.
SALTILLO GARRISON:
2 co.s Miss. Rifles (See Regt. above) (4)
Lt. Shover's 6 pdr. of Bragg's Bty.
Note: Main American Camp here.
REINFORCEMENTS & LINE OF COMMUNICATIONS:
Garrison of Rinconda Pass: (400 Inf. & 2 - 18# arrived at Buena Vista at 3:00 pm. Feb.
Garrison of Monterrey: 1st Ohio & 1st Ky. (800)
Garrisons of Mann & Cerralvo: 2nd Ohio
Garrisons of Punta Aguda, Mier & Carmago: 1st Ohio & 1st Ky.
THE BATTLE
Jumbo Map 2 (very slow: 201K)
U.S. UNIFORMS AT BUENA VISTA
BUENA VISTA AS A WARGAME
SOURCES
Vincent Esposito, ed., The West Point Atlas of American Wars (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959), Map 14c;
and
Jack Bauer, The Mexican War, 1846-1848 (New York: Macmillan, 1974), p. 213.
Balbontin, Manuel, Lt. La Invasion Americana, 1846 a 1848. Mexico: Gonzalo A. Esteva, 1883.
Bauer, Jack. The Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: Macmillan, 1974.
Conner, Seymour. North America Divided, The Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Elting, John, Editor. Military Uniforms in America. II. San Rafael: Presidio Press, 1977.
Esposito, Vincent, ed. The West Point Atlas ot American Wars, I. New York: Fredrick A. Praeger, 1968.
Furber, George C. The Twelve Months Volunteer. Cincinnati: J. P. James, 1857.
Hefter, Joseph, Angelina Neito and John N. Brown, eds. El Soldado Mexicano, 1837-1847. Mexico: Neito, Brown and Hefter, 1958.
Katcher, Philip. "Some Volunteer Uniforms of the Mexican War." Campaigns. No. 42, Sept. Oct., 1982.
Mansfield, Edward. The Mexican War. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1851.
Miller, Robert Ryal. Shamrock and Sword, The Saint Patrick Battalion in the U.S-Mexican War. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
Ripley, Rosweil S. The War With Mexico. I. New York: Harper & Brothres. 1849.
Rives, George. The United States and Mexico, 1821-1848. II. New York: Charles Scribners Sons 1911.
Roa Barcena, Jose Maria Recuerdos de la Invasion Norte-Americana, 1846-1848. 3 vols. Mexico: La Liberia Madrilena de Juan Buxo y Ca., 1883.
Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de. Detail de las Operaciones Ocurridas en la Defensa de la Capital de la Republica Atacada por el Ejercito de los Estados Unidos del Norte, Ano de 1847. 1848; rpt. Mexico: Quesada Brandi, 1961.
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