Here's a scenario for Civil War naval action that I haven't found listed in IRONCLADS or IC EXPANSION or SHOT AND SHELL; it may be old news to some but it was new to me. And it makes a fun game.

My source for this is E. Milby Burton, THE SEIGE OF CHARLESTON (1970), pp. 190-194.

Historical background

On the night of September 6-7, 1863, the Confederates evacuated Morris Island and Battery Wagner. Fort Sumter had by this time been pounded into rubble by Union artillery, but the Rebels still maintained a garrison and signal station there. Two nights later (September 8-9) the Union was to launch an unsuccessful small-boat assault in an attempt to capture the fort. As preparation for this, Union Admiral Dahlgren on Sept. 7 ordered the monitor WEEHAWKEN to maneuver around Fort Sumter into a position from which her guns could interdict any Confederate reenforcements which might be sent to the island fort. And late in the afternoon the WEEHAWKEN ran hard aground, within range of Confederate batteries on Sullivan's Island. Dahlgren ordered a diversionary attack by the NEW IRONSIDES and five monitors as sailors worked all night to free the ship.

On the morning of September 8, the Rebels could see that the WEEHAWKEN was still aground. What happened then historically was a prolonged (five hour) firefight at long range between the Rebel forts and the Union fleet. What did not happen, but might have, was a sortie by the Confederate ironclads PALMETTO STATE and CHICORA.

I don't know (does anyone?) why the Rebs did not sortie to take advantage of the WEEHAWKEN's vulnerability. (She had a slight list -- not so great that she could not bring her guns to bear, but enough to expose part of her unarmored hull.) One possibility might be the presence of Confederate torpedoes/mines, which the Rebs feared to run across. (Does anyone know of a map showing the placement of Confederate mines in Charleston Harbor?) Another possibility is that the Confederate crews were exhausted; the two Rebel ships had no doubt been at battle stations for several days covering the withdrawal from Morris Island.

It is certain that the Union crews were very fatigued for much the same reason. I decided that both torpedoes and fatigue were factors that would affect both sides equally, and could therefore be ignored on the "it all comes out in the wash" principle.

Simulation

This situation makes for an exciting game. The Union has seven ironclads (one aground to start); the Confederates have two ironclads and a lot of fortress guns. The Rebel ships have some excellent rifled guns which can be effective at long range, but also carry spar torpedoes, and of course are equipped with rams. It was normally very difficult to ram a maneuvering enemy effectively, but the WEEHAWKEN is aground. Of course, it is entirely possible that an attacking Confederate ram might run aground itself, as might other Union ships. The Union commanders must decide how close to keep the other ships to the WEEHAWKEN. In particular, the NEW IRONSIDES (which carries more guns that the rest of the Union fleet combined, in two broadsides) is the only ship large enough to shield the grounded WEEHAWKEN, but doing so is likely to deprive her of half her firepower.

It is easy to imagine this general situation (a grounded Union ship and its escorts facing a Confederate sortie under cover of a Rebel fort) occuring in other places and at any time over a period of several years. This specific Charleston scenario could be expanded to include a third Rebel ironclad, and even a flotilla of "Davids" in a night attack. Gamers who may not own models of precisely the correct ships for an "historical" (or nearly so) battle can probably use whatever they have without feeling they are stretching reality too far.