Designer James Dietz, of Jolly Roger Games, kindly gave his permission to the ZOUAVE to publish this scenario, which appears in his supplement, BLOW! BUGLES! BLOW! Besides this scenario, there are five more that can used with his game system, A NATION ON TRIAL. Please see his ad in this issue for information on where to order these fine products.

Shortly after the escape of Lee from Antietam, Lincoln's patience with his commander, McClellan, came to an end. The decision to change McClellan was easy for the President, but who should replace McClellan? That was the difficulty. Taking stock of the leaders available in the eastern theatre at the time, Lincoln decided on Ambrose Burnside. Burnside had achieved some success in North Carolina, was liked by his men, and had handled command of IX Corps with reasonable success. Thus, to Lincoln, the choice was obvious.

To Burnside though, the choice was not. And to his credit, Burnside refused the position several times, noting that he felt uncomfortable enough commanding a corps and that an army was beyond him. He relented only when he found that Hooker was the alternative, and Burnside hated Hooker. Burnside's assessment of his personal abilities was candid, self-critical, and unfortunately for Lincoln and the Union, correct.

Burnside knew that McClellan was replaced because he had not acted quickly enough in the eyes of policymakers. Knowing this, Burnside decided to launch a winter offensive and try and seize Richmond by marching on a more or less direct path toward the Confederate capital. To do this required quick troop movements, corps commanders able to show initiative and flawless logistics. And cooperative weather.

Burnside was able to launch his offensive quickly, and Burnside had confused Lee. Lee had no idea what Burnside intended, even wondering if the Union intended to move the whole Army of the Potomac to North Carolina! But then things began unravelling.

The winter rains fell in Virginia turning even the best roads into knee or hip-deep muck, but still the troops kept going, supplied mainly by rail, so few Union soldiers went hungry and there was no shortage of ammunition.

But there was a shortage of pontoon bridges. The commander in Washington, Halleck, failed to provide pontoon bridges for Burnside to use in crossing rivers, so that Burnside's offensive bogged down on the Rappahannock River at the town of Fredericksburg.

Burnside could have fought the battle on better terms if he crossed the Rappahannock in force earlier in December, but Burnside had grown cautious and frustrated by the lack of pontoon equipment. This was enough time for Lee to unite the Army of North Virginia once again.

And because Burnside failed to cross the river in time, Lee was able to man and fortify Marye's Heights outside of Fredericksburg, a defensive position strengthened by a stone wall and a sunken road in front of it. Any frontal assault would be slaughtered. Lee wondered what Burnside would do.

Burnside saw the Confederates manning the ridge and decided that the best alternative would be to surprise the Confederates with a frontal assault. That assault came on the morning of December 13, 1862.

The battle was one-sided. Although Union soldiers again fought valiantly, they stood no chance against a refreshed army commanding every advantage the area's terrain provided. When the day ended, the Union had lost 13,000 men killed and wounded while the Confederates suffered only 5,000 casualties.

Stung by the defeat and the gravity of the situation, Burnside considered personally leading a suicide charge of his old IX Corps up the heights, but calmed down soon enough to not waste more lives in a reckless charge to save a winless situation.

There is little that can be said of the fight at Fredericksburg. Burnside's initial plan was sound and caught the rebel army off-guard, but due to miscommunication and hesitant officers from Halleck down to corps commanders, the offensive slowed and then ground to a halt. Rather than give up on his plan, Burnside chose to carry out the attack where other commanders would have surely retreated or sought a different battleground.

But Burnside knew he didn't belong in command of an army and the battle showed it. By the time of the next campaign in the spring, the Union Army of the Potomac would have yet another commander, one of Burnside's loudest critics: Joseph Hooker.

PLAYING SOLO

Fredericksburg can easily be played solitaire. In the solitaire scenario, the player runs the Union forces. The Confederate forces will hold their positions, changing formation and moving only if dislodged from their initial positions. If dislodged, CSA forces will move towards Marye's Heights. To win, the Union player must seize the heights located west of Confederate starting locations 2 and 3 on the map.

One of the most frustrating battles

It took place during the American Civil War just before Christmas in 1862. That fight is called the Battle of Fredericksburg. Unfortunately it is not really much of a fight and several Confederate officers wrote in their memoirs of their pity for the Union soldiers sent charging into sure death with no hope of throwing the Confederates off of the heights overlooking Fredericksburg. So the question is, "Why would you ever want to replay this battle using miniatures considering the lopsided nature of the battle?"

The answer is twofold. One, to have fun. Two, to learn something about history.

To this end, there are scads of intriguing alternatives to the way the battle developed historically. These include the issue of Lincoln's choice of army commanders ... what would have happened if Hooker was in charge? Other issues include the arrival time of the pontoon bridges and the incompetence of several Union officers.

Part of the challenge of historical miniatures (and thus, the fun) is being placed in a situation where you KNOW one side had no chance. This battle gives players an insight into the power of works and entrenchments and their effectiveness in equalizing the fighting strength of two disparately-sized forces.

Special Rules

INITIAL UNION SETUP

The Union player has certain restrictions on his setup. The artillery batteries assigned to Burnside must be set up at locations designated with an *. It is the Union player's choice in determining which batteries start where. They can never be moved.

Union troops beginning at locations A & B may be setup freely within the areas listed on the map, but all units must be within 8" of the Rappahannock when placed.

INITIAL CONFEDERATE SETUP

Confederates beginning at locations 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 are allowed to setup freely within the areas listed on the map. At least one unit designated for location 4 must be placed in the spot in front of location 3 (there are two location 4 areas on the map).

The Confederates also receive defensive works per the table.

LOCATION	LEVELS
1	4
2	5
3	3
4	3
5	6
7	2

BRIDGES

There were limited places where Union troops could cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg. Between fords, pontoon bridges, and standard bridges, there were a total of nine places units could cross. Each location can be used to move one Union regiment across the river each turn. Priority in bridge usage goes to routing units, then infantry, then artillery, then cavalry. If a routing unit's use of a bridge would affect another unit's movement, that unit's order is changed to "confused" instead.

The bridges can not be targeted by the Confederates. But, if a Confederate unit spends one turn within 1 inch of a bridge, taking no action, and without failing a morale check, the bridge is considered destroyed and may not be used.

GRAND DIVISIONS

For the battle, Burnside created three "grand divisions," each consisting of two corps. This structure adds one level of leaders to the Union force. The order for chain of command thus goes: division to corps to grand division to army CO.

Grand division commanders have a command radius of 6". The Union player may use all four possible leader ratings to modify a die roll.

INCOMPETENT UNION OFFICERS

When playing beyond your normal circle of friends, it is rare to see negative leaders used. Thus, if a leader with a -5 or -10 modifier does not use it on a given turn AND was within 12" of Confederate forces, the Union player loses one victory point (for EACH leader not used).

"WHAT IF?" OPTIONAL RULES

1. Rather than have Burnside replace McClellan, Lincoln chooses Grant. Grant receives a rating of +20 for this battle. There are no grand divisions; instead, Hooker becomes I Corps commander with a rating of +15 and Reynolds is placed in command of I Corps' 2nd Division instead of Gibbon. Franklin commands VI Corps with a rating of +0. Sumner commands 11 Corps with a rating of +0. In addition, Grant may freely position all Union troops as long as they are within 8 inches of the Rappahannock.

The bridges not directly crossing to Fredericksburg may be moved to any location on the river as well. Using this Optional Rule #1 gives the Confederates 20 victory points.

2. Burnside wanted to attack much earlier than mid-December, Assuming the pontoons arrived as Burnside requested, the battle would have occurred in November. To this end, use the setup as given, but no Confederates begin with works, except for Ransom's division (representing the terrain advantage of the Sunken Road).

3. The Confederates were waiting for the assault. The only limiting condition on the "slaughter" was the number of bullets. To represent the sheer number of Confederates deployed on Marye's Heights, units in McLaws' or Anderson's division do NOT run out of ammunition if they roll doubles. A brigade of these two divisions only runs out if it rolls doubles twice during the battle. If the unit leaves Marye's Heights, this rule no longer applies and the unit runs out of ammunition as per the normal rules.

HISTORICAL VICTORY CONDITIONS

Whoever holds Marye's Heights (1 & 2 on map) at the conclusion of the battle is the victor.

ALTERNATE VICTORY CONDITIONS

Use the victory points available in the rulebook. Grand division commanders are considered corps commanders for victory determination. The Union player assigns 20 vp. to any of the hills initially occupied by the Confederate forces (EXCEPTION: Location 5 may NOT be chosen.).

Additional terrain values are as follows:

Fredericksburg 5 pts.
Location 5 5 pts.

The Confederate player receives 5 vp. for every bridge destroyed during the battle.

SCENARIO LENGTH

0700-1800 - (11 turns)

Order of Battle

A Nation on Trial - ACW Miniature Rules and Blow Bugles Blow - Scenario Supplement

Battle of Fredericksburg Large Map (slow: 152K)
Battle of Fredericksburg Order of Battle Sheets (very slow: 309K)

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