1862. Somewhere in the Shenandoah. Two Union corps engaged Confederate troops under Jackson yesterday, vying for the control of a key crossroads. The men of McCall's division (Alan), I Corps, drew the brunt of a hard day's work (and most of the Union casualties) rejecting aggressive Confederate advances in the center of the Union lines. Meade's and Seymore's brigades were especially hard hit. After repulsing several Confederate charges, they were finally driven in when Jackson (Steven) personally took command of a single brigade and threw them to headlong against the Union center. The timely arrival of Butterfield's brigade from Morell's division (Carl), I Corps, prevented a disaster. Jackson, having routed Meade and Seymore and destroying their brigades as fighting forces, threatened to breach the Union center and overrun Morell's artillery. On the left center, Confederate charges fared less well as Morrell's troops arrived in time to stiffen McCall's surviving brigades and preventing them from folding in the face of the hard charging Confederates. On the Union right, Sykes' division (Carl) managed to flank the Confederate lines anchored in a strong position along a stone wall. The Confederates repulsed a flanking charge by Warren's brigade, then began withdrawing in the face of the Union flanking maneuver. Confederate cavalry (Bryan) on the right initially tried to draw off Federal strength, but Cooke's 1st Cavalry brigade (Alan) drove them off, inflicting nurnerous casualties before the Confederates fled. Very little action occurred on the left flank where the Union II Corps (Anthony) faced off against another Confederate force (Bryan) separated by a creek and a stretch of woods. When skirmishers reported that the Federal troops occupied strong defensive positions behind a creek and had superior forces, the Confederate advance stalled out of sight of the main Union position, then eventually withdrew without firing a shot. Both sides basically prevented each other from reinforcing the main action in the center. Rules: Fire & Fury Scale: 15mm ACW Order of battle Union I Corps: Morell's Division--three brigades of infantry (23 stands), two batteries; McCall's Division --four brigades (28 stands), two batteries; Syke's Division--three brigades (23 stands), three batteries. Union II Corps: Sedgwick's Division--three brigades (21 stands), two batteries; Slocum's Division--three brigades (22 stands), two batteries. Confederate I Corps: Jackson's Division--three brigades (23 stands), two batteries; 2d Division--three brigades (22 stands), two batteries. Confederate II Corps: 1st Division--three brigades (25 stands), two batteries. Analysis While the Union enjoyed the tactical advantage of initiative, it squandered a chance to occupy strong defensive positions in the center behind a stone wall by deploying too early. Jackson's forces thus arrived at the crossroads first and initially took advantage of strong defensive positions from which to threaten the Union center. Jackson's corps aggressively attacked McCall (taking advantage of the Confederate melee ability) and nearly succeeded in overwhelming his division. McCall's early deployment, while initially preventing Morell's division from moving into position to threaten the Confederate line, eventually forced Morel] to deploy behind McCall's wounded brigades. That deployment prevented a Confederate breakthrough when two of McCall's brigades, exhausted after holding off several Confederate charges, broke and retreated, leaving a two brigade-wide breach in the Union center. Butterfield's brigade plugged the gap, broke the Confederate charge, and captured Jackson. The cavalry skirmish on the Union right drove the Confederate cavalry off into the woods in disorder and successfully prevented them from drawing off Syke's division while it executed a flanking march around the end of the Confederate line. Once the Confederate charges in the center were thwarted and the defensive position along the stone wall flanked, the Confederates had no choice but to retire. Neither of the other two corps on both sides ever entered the fray, choosing instead to watch each other and drawing off significant forces that might have made a difference had they been able to support one side or the other. Losses were high on both sides with the Union losing ten infantry stands killed, one battery damaged and another silenced, and three infantry stands captured; the Confederates lost fourteen infantry and two cavalry stands killed and Jackson and one infantry stand captured. Back to Dispatch October 2003 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS Mid-South 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