by Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Lyle
and Richard Hasenauer
This scenario recreates the Union outflanking maneuver down the Sudley Road on July 21, 1861. Jackson's Brigade stands like a "stonewall" against repeated Union assaults on Henry Hill. The opening action between Evans and Burnside has already occurred and fresh troops on both sides are arriving. The battle is played in half hour increments, beginning at 10:00 with the Confederate player turn. Victory conditions are determined at the end of the 5:00 Union player turn. By that time of day both armies were badly disorganized and exhausted after several hours of fighting in hot summer weather. Terrain. Terrain should be laid out as shown in the scenario map. Important terrain features are Bull Run Creek, Youngs Branch, Holkum Branch, Chinn Branch, Henry Hill, Mathews Hill, Buck Hill, Bald Hill, Chinn Ridge, Farm Ford, Lewis Ford, the Warrenton Turnpike, the Sudley-Manassas Road and the small trails leading up to the Henry Hill from the Lewis House. The Henry Hill is a plateau. Units placed on the plateau and at least 2" in from the edge of the contour cannot be scene by the enemy below. A unit more than 2" from the edge can only be fired upon by enemy units that have advance onto the plateau. Enemy artillery on other hills may fire upon units on Henry Hill. Units may only ford Bull Run at the Farm Ford in march column. The bridge over Bull Run is blocked by an abatis and cannot be crossed during the course of the game. The Lewis Ford cannot be used in this scenario. The other streams marked on the map are fordable along their entire lengths. All woods are considered to be rough terrain, reducing movement, and give a -1 fire modifier for cover. Units defending higher ground, behind streams or in woods add a +1 charge modifier for favorable ground. Favorable ground modifiers are not cumulative. Order of Battle. A complete listing for each army is provided, including units which were not engaged. For this scenado players need only to provide the brigades, batteries and leaders thatare deployed initially on the board or arrive later as reinforcements. Units and leaders marked with an asterisk (*) are not used in this scenario. They are listed for those players who choose to alter the scenario or expand the battlefield to include the Confederate and Union forces in the Blackburn Ford/Centerville area. Brigade strengths and effectiveness ratings and exceptional leader ratings are listed on the OB. Labels must be prepared for each brigade command stand, leader stand and battery stand before beginning the battle. One stand of infantry or cavalry represents 200 men, One artillery stand equals 8 guns. Starting Positions. The scenario map indicates the starting positions of all units as of 10 AM. The Union forces deployed at start consist of division commander Hunter with Burnside's Brigade, Porter's Brigade, Syke's Regulars, Palmer's Cavalry and two batteries. The Confederates deploy at start the brigades of Bee, Bartow and Evans. One battery is positioned on Henry Hill. Cocke's Brigade, and a battery are deployed in breastworks facing the Lewis Ford and cannot be moved until 2:00 or immediately atteran enemy unit moves into the area between the Warrenton Turnpike, Young's Branch and Bull Run. Reinforcements. Additional units and leaders march onto the battlefield during their turn, at the time and location listed below. A brigade must enter in march column at the letter location specified on the map or it may spend the designated turn of entry offboard to change into a different formation. On the following turn that unit may enter within six inches to either side of the letter location. A brigade does not require a die roll on the Maneuver Table on the turn it moves onto the battlefield. Additional reinforcements may be brought into play. If players agree to continue the battle past the 5:00 turn the Confederates may bring in Ewell's Brigade and one battery at location C at 5:00, followed by Holme's Brigade at 5:30. By 2:00 Union engineers had cleared the abatis blocking the Stone Bridge. This could have allowed Tylerto cross with Schenck's Brigade and one battery. Historically these troops were not commited but could be brought into play as an option to counter the arrival of Ewell and Holmes. UNION REINFORCEMENTS
10:30 A McDowell 11:00 A Heintzelmann, Franklin's Brigade 11:00 B Sherman's Brigade 12:00 A1 Battery, Wilcox's Brigade 12:00 B Keye's Brigade 1:30 A Howard's Brigade, 1 Battery CONFEDERATE REINFORCEMENTS
10:30 C Hampton's Legion 11:00 C Jackson's Brigade 11:30 C Johnston, Beauregard, 1 Battery 12:30 D Stuart's Cavalry 1:00 D Cocke's (-) Brigade 2:00 D Kershaw's (Bohnam -) Brigade 2:00 Lewis Ford Cocke's Brigade, 1 Battery 3:00 D Smith's Brigade, 1 Battery 3:30 E Early's Brigade Special leader rules. The Union army commanded by McDowell and the Confederates lead by Beauregard and Johnston were closer in size and organization to a corps. Therefore, the three army commanders are each represented by a corp leader stand. The divisions and many of the brigade organizations were newly formed and functioned poorly during the battle. To reflect the difficulties of commanding these amateur armies the unattached leader modifier for corp and division commanders is suspended. Leader modifiers may only apply when a leader is attached directly to a brigade. Johnston and Beauregard may attach to a brigade from either 'corps." When a fallen leader is removed from play he is not replaced for the duration of the battle. Victory conditions. Casualty points are accumulated as listed in the Casualty Points Chart in FIRE and FURY. In addition the Confederates receive 10 victory points for having at least one infantry brigade occupying the Henry Hill at the end of the 5:00 Union turn. The Union receive 10 points for clearing the plateau of of all Confederate brigades by the end of the 5:00 turn.
Tactical Victory- accumulate more victory points than the opposing side. Draw- both sides accumulate the same number of victory points. First Bull Run ACW Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. IX No. 5 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com |