The Tennessee Brigade The Tennessee Brigade: Flags In the early morning hours of July 1, 1863, Major General Henry Heth began moving his division, along with Major W.J. Pegram's artillery battalion, down the Chambersburg Pike from Cashtown to Gettysburg. Heth's superior, Lt. Genl. A.P. Hill, had ordered him to take his division to the town and search it for supplies. His other objective was to make a reconnaissance of Union forces in the vicinity. Neither general expected a major fight. As the two leading brigades, under Archer and Davis, neared Gettysburg, skirmishing broke out with Union troopers under John Buford. The Confederates continued to advance as Davis deployed north of the pike and Archer south. Under continuous Confederate pressure, the Union troopers fell back to McPherson's Ridge. Unable to hold, the situation was saved by the timely arrival of the Ist Division, I Corps. Composed of the famed Iron Brigade and another under Brig. Genl. Lysander Cutler, they rushed to the fight. Directing them was the I Corps commander, Major Genl. John Reynolds. As the Tennessee Brigade crossed Willoughby Run and ascended the western slope of the ridge, the first regiments of the Iron Brigade reached the crest. The Confederates fired the first volley and it struck home with good effect (it was probably around this time that Genl. Reynolds was killed by one of Archer's men). Nevertheless, the Iron Brigade surged forward, outflanking Archer on his right. The Confederates retreated but were held up by the stream and a fence on the opposite side. The Iron Brigade pursued and nearly half of Archer's Brigade was taken prisoner, including Archer himself. The survivors regrouped on Herr ridge to the west. Meanwhile, north of the pike, Davis' Brigade had some initial success against the brigade of Cutler, supported by Hall's Maine Battery. However, it was counterattacked by the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade (which had been in divisional reserve), along with several of Cutler's regiments. Forced back into the railroad cut, Davis' troops were soon caught in a crossfire. Several hundred of his men surrendered while the rest escaped westward. The morning I s engagement had ended in Union victory, but it did not have to end so. THE SCENARIO: The scenario opens at the point when Buford's cavalry has withdrawn from the ridge. It lasts 8 turns (from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon), at which time larger forces from both sides arrived on the scene. Victory can be gained in either of two ways: a decisive victory is obtained by whichever side is the sole occupier of McPherson's Ridge, OR victory can be obtained by the side with the most victory points. 1 VP is earned for each enemy figure or gun section eliminated. All woods on the table are considered light, and thus are broken terrain. Willoughby Run and all slopes are broken terrain (exception: the insides of the railroad cut are impassable to all troops). A NOTE ON THE MAP: The map is drawn to conform with pieces from the Geo-Hex basic set. I did this because I found that it is much easier for a person who does not have Geo-Hex to reproduce the terrain set-up from a Geo-Hex map, than for a Geo-Hex owner to reproduce terrain from a grid map. For those Geo-Hex owners that have rough terrain pieces, a couple of these can be substituted for the sides of the railroad cut. DEPLOYMENT: All troops should be set up in their brigade areas as shown on the map. Union forces enter the table in the southeast corner where the map is shaded. Cutler's Brigade and Hall's Battery on turn 1, the Iron Brigade on turn 2. In the orders of battle below, only brigade strengths have been included. This allows players to fit their particular figure organization to the strength of the actual brigade. ORDERS OF BATTLE CONFEDERATE: Major General Henry Heth (+2) Tennessee Brigade: James J. Archer (+1) (Brigade Strength - 1132 men) 5th Alabama Btn Avg. RM 13th Alabama Avg. RM 1st Tenn. (P.A.) Avg. RM 7th Tennessee Avg. RM 14th Tennessee Avg. RM Davis' Brigade: J.R. Davis (+1) (Brigade Strength - 2000 men) 2nd Mississippi Avg. RM 42nd Mississippi Avg. RM 55th North Carolina Avg. RM Artillery: 2 batteries, each Average with: two 12 pdr. Napoleons, two 3" Rifles. UNION: Major General John F. Reynolds (+3) 1st Division: Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth (+2) Iron Brigade: Solomon Meredith (+1) (Brigade Strength - 1883 men) 19th Indiana Elite RM 24th Michigan Elite RM 2nd Wisconsin Elite RM 6th Wisconsin Elite RM 7th Wisconsin Elite RM 2nd Brigade: Lysander Cutler (+1) (Brigade Strength - 1626 men) 76th New York Avg. RM 84th New York Avg. RM 95th New York Avg. RM 147th New York Avg. RM 56th Pennsylvania Avg. RM Artillery: Hall's 2nd Maine Battery: Average - six 3" Rifles Map Shaded areas represent Confederate Set-up or Union Entrance locations. BIBLIOGRAPHY ATLAS TO ACCOMPANY THE OFFICIAL RECORDS, Washington, 1891-95. Boatner, Mark M., 111; THE CIVIL WAR DICTIONARY, New York, 1959. Coddington, Edwin B.; THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN, New York, 1968. Freeman, Douglas Southall; LEE'S LIEUTENANTS, Vols. 1-3, New York, 1970-72. McBrien, Joe Bennett; THE TENNESSEE BRIGADE, Chattanooga, 1977. Sears, Stephen W.; LANDSCAPE TURNED RED, New Haven, 1983. Tanner, Robert G.; STONEWALL IN THE VALLEY, New York, 1976. OFFICIAL RECORDS, Vol. 27, Washington, 1880-1901. Back to The Zouave Vol II No. 4 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1988 The American Civil War Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com