Introduction

To show that with the Fire and Fury rules, the effect of advanced Civil War weapons is negligible, this article will conclude with methods of taking into account sickness in a game.

Advanced Civil War Weapons

One of the more interesting aspects of the Civil War was the use of more exotic weapons, which, one hundred years later, are standard within modern armies. These include the hand grenade, the land mine, the machine gun, and many others. For example, the land mine, according to Griffith (1986) "came in two different varieties" (page 34). The first was the centuries-old siege mine, such as that used at Petersburg in 1865. The second was "the more innovative contact mine (called the torpedo in the 1860's)" (Griffith, 1986, page 34).

However, the problem with siege mines lay in the time it took to prepare their use. Contrary to current use, in the nineteenth century, "The contact mine was never used for more than nuisance value" (Griffith, 1986, page 34). Machine guns came in all shapes and forms, from the Vandenburg Volley-Gun which had 85 barrels firing musket balls" (Haythornthwaite, 1975, page 115), to hand-cranked weapons using a cartridge case, such as the well-known Gatling gun.

The problem with the volley-gun was the risk of premature explosion, igniting all the barrels at once. Most were ineffective in rain. The hand-cranked weapons, however, were prone to jamming, unpopular with their users, and were never used in sufficient numbers (Haythornthwaite, 1975, page 113).

Hand grenades came in two types. The first as a six-pound artillery spherical shell, and the second were the Union's hand grenades. Some of the latter types had a reputation for exploding before being thrown, whilst the former were "rolled down inclines after their fuses were ignited" (Haythornthwaite, 1975, page 113). Also, there was some doubt as to the danger of the grenades exploding in the users' hands, if they were not fast enough in throwing.

An indication of the ineffectiveness of these three different types of innovations can be achieved with a comparison against the bayonet, which was carried by the vast majority of infantry. The bayonet accounted for about 0.1% of the casualties during the 1864 spring campaign in the Army of the Potomac (Griffith, 1986, pages 40 and 41).

Effect of Sickness on Civil War Units

According to McPherson (1988), illness killed far more men than any battle injuries. Estimates suggest that for every man killed in battle, two died from disease (page 487) .During the war, about 224,586 died of disease in Union service, as compared to 67,058 killed in action and 43,012 who died of combat wounds (Haythornthwaite, 1975, page 31). The statistics for the South are comparable. Also on top of those who died from sickness, these would have been those who have become invalids from their armies due to permanent ill health. The four major illnesses of the Civil war years were diarrhea or dysentery, typhoid, pneumonia, and malaria (in the south during the summer).

The latter illness could cripple a campaign. For example, the first attempt to capture Vicksburg in 1861 was abandoned, in part, because over half the Union forces were on the sick list (McPherson, 1988, pages 487 and 488). The reasons for ill health were many and varied, but poor hygiene and sanitation, lack of or polluted water, and inadequate rations, all made major contributions to poor health, as well as the effects of the weather. In addition, during enlistment or in winter quarters, "the crowding together of thousands of men from various backgrounds into new and highly diseased environments, had predictable results" (McPherson, 1988, page 487).

Gaming and Illness

It is the opinion of the author that with the low casualty effect from the innovative weapons and the low numbers of them actually used, they should not be considered for any Civil War games when using Fire and Fury rules. The same could be said about sickness, as it is assumed that the sick and malingerers have already been expunged from unit strengths. However, if players wish to take sickness into account, the following idea is offered. At the start of the game, both players/sides roll a d10, the result of throwing being the percentage of troops that are removed from the armies' units at the start of the game.

References

Griffith, P. (1986.) Battle in the Civil War. Camberly, England, Field Books.
Haythornthwaite, P. (1975.) Uniforms of the Civil War. Poole, England, Blandford Press.
Hockley, K. (1995.) Expanding on Fire and Fury. Miniature Wargames Magazine, September, 1995, pages 12 and 13.
McPherson, J. (1988.) Battle Cry of Freedom: The American Civil War. London, Penguin Books.

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