This represents the dramatic early morning attack of the Union I Corps against the ragged rebels of Stonewall Jackson on September 17, 1862. It can be used with any rules set the players see fit. The fighting here was some of the bitterest of the war and mundane localities like the East Woods, West Woods, and the Cornfield became infamous. Since these events are well documented and well known by most readers, it is unnecessary to give the details again here. However, in order to get an idea of what it was like to the actual participants, I have included an account written by Major Rufus Dawes, commander of the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade during the battle. I have slightly abridged his version, and all comments in parentheses are mine. "Our companies were marching forward through the thick corn, on the right of a long line of battle. Closely following was a second line. At the front edge of the cornfield was a low Virginia rail fence. Before the corn were open fields, beyond which was a strip of woods surrounding a little church, the Dunkard (sic) Church. As we appeared at the edge of the corn, a long line of men in butternut and gray rose up from the ground. Simultaneously, the hostile battle lines opened up a tremendous fire upon each other. Men, I can not say fell; they were knocked out of the ranks by dozens. But we jumped over the fence, and pushed on, loading, firing, and shouting as we advanced. There was, on the part of the men, great hysterical excitement, eagerness to go forward, and a reckless disregard of life, of everything but victory. The 14th Brooklyn Regiment (84th N.Y.), red legged Zouaves, came into our line, closing the awful gaps. Now is the pinch. Men and officers of New York and Wisconsin are fused into a common mass, in the frantic struggle to shoot fast. Everybody tears cartridges, loads, passes guns, or shoots. Men are falling in their places or running back into the corn. The soldier who is shooting is furious in his energy. The soldier who is shot looks around for help with an imploring agony of death on his face. After a few rods of advance, the line stopped and, by common impulse, fell back to the edge of the corn and lay down on the ground behind the low rail fence. Another line of our men came up through the corn. We all joined together, jumped over the fence, and again pushed out into the open field. There is a rattling fusilade and loud cheers. 'Forward' is the word. The men are loading and firing with demoniacal fury and shouting and laughing hysterically, and the whole field before us is covered with rebels fleeing for life, into the woods. Great numbers of them are shot while climbing over the high post and rail fences along the turnpike. We push on over the open fields half way to the little church. The powder is bad, and the guns have become very dirty. It takes hard pounding to get the bullets down, and our firing is becoming slow. A long and steady line of rebel gray (Hood's Division), unbroken by the fugitives who fly before us, comes sweeping down through the woods around the church. They raise the yell and fire. It is like a scythe running through our line. 'Now, save, who can.' It is a race for life that each man runs for the cornfield. A sharp cut, as of a switch, stings the calf of my leg as I run. Back to the corn, and back through the corn, the headlong flight continues. At the bottom of the hill, I took the blue color of the state of Wisconsin, and waving it, called a rally of Wisconsin men. Two hundred men gathered around the flag of the Badger state. Across the turnpike, two guns of Battery "B", 4th U.S. Artillery, were in action.The pursuing rebels were upon them. General John Gibbon, our brigade commander, (was) grimed and black with powder smoke in himself sighting these guns of his old battery As I entered the field, a report as of a thunderclap in my ear fairly stunned me. This was Gibbon's last shot at the advancing rebels. The cannon was double charged with canister. The rails of the fence flew high in the air. A line of Union blue charged swiftly forward from our right across the field in front of the battery, and into the cornfield. They drove back the rebels who were firing upon us. It was our own gallant 19th Indiana I gathered my men on the turnpike, reorganized them, and reported to General Doubleday, who was himself there. He ordered me to move back to the next woods in the rear, to remain and await instructions. Bullets, shot, and shell, fired by the enemy in the cornfield, were still flying thickly around us, striking the trees in this woods, and cutting off the limbs. I placed my men under the best shelter I could find, and here we figured up, as nearly as we could, our dreadful losses in the battle. Three hundred and fourteen officers and men had marched with us into battle. There had been killed and wounded, one hundred and fifty—two. This was the most dreadful slaughter to which our regiment was subjected in the war. We were joined in the woods by Captain Ely, with the colors and eighteen men of the Second Wisconsin. They represented what remained for duty of that gallant regiment. --(Rufus R. Dawes, SERVICE WITH THE SIXTH WISCONSIN VOLUNTEERS) THE SCENARIO LENGTH OF GAME: The action begins around 5:00 A.M., when preliminary skirmishing erupted, and ends around 8:00 A.M., when Mansfield's Corps first appeared in force. Thus, the scenario lasts three hours. OBJECTIVES: The Union player must break the Confederate defenses in the area of the West Woods and across the turnpike. The Confederate player must prevent his lines from being broken. To this end, Victory Points are awarded: 10 vp's for the sole occupant of Nicodemus Hill (the small,second contour portion); 10 vp's each for the sole occupant of the heights south of the cornfield. These heights each straddle a road. 5 vp's for each good order infantry unit (rgt. or brigade, depending on the rules) in the West Woods at game's end. 1 vp for each good order unit (inf. or art.) left on table at game's end. The Union side does not count of f board artillery. At the end of the scenario, subtract the smaller vp total from the larger. The results for the winner are: 0 to 15 vp's = DRAW 16 to 35 vp's = MARGINAL VICTORY 36 & up vp's = GREAT VICTORY (Note: The Union player starts with a great disadvantage in points, so this ensures that he will attack vigorously). TERRAIN DESCRIPTION: The country is of a very rolling nature, which blocks a constant line of sight. All contours are gentle slopes, providing a slight reduction to movement. They are high enough to shoot from one to the other and over any intervening troops on a lower level. The brooks are fordable. All orchards and woods are light. All cornfields are ripe and block sight between units on the same level. For sighting between units in the same field, treat them as if they were in dense woods. Both cornfields and plowed fields impair movement to a small degree. The Mumma farm is on fire and cannot be entered by troops. All roads are considered to have fences bordering both sides. SPECIAL RULES: Ripley's Confederate brigade cannot be ordered to move forward from its initial position until 7:00 A.M. The Union player has four batteries of off board artillery. These are always considered to fire at extreme range for their type. On the map is a circle with a cross. From this point, the batteries can fire up to half a mile. Mark the spot on the table with a coin or something. For Johnny Reb rules, these guns always operate under a First Fire order. For Stars n Bars rules, they will fire when their side has the initiative (only once per impulse). For On To Richmond rules, make a separate card for these four batteries. For other rules sets, do whatever is logical, making sure that they only fire once per turn. DEPLOYMENT: The units of both sides set up in their divisional areas as shown on the map. For the Confederates, it will be noticed that Lawton has two areas. Two brigades are to set up in each area. S.D. Lee's batteries are set up between the Dunker Church and Ripley's brigade. Pelham's battery of horse artillery sets up on Nicodemus Hill. The Confederate player has the option of placing three more batteries (from any command) here at the start. Regardless, all artillery in this sector falls under Stuart's command. The reserve artillery units can be placed anywhere. For the Union player, Meade also has two set up areas. One brigade is placed in the East Woods, while the rest are positioned in the North Woods. Because the Confederate positions were relatively unknown to the attacking Federals, the Union player sets up first. NOTES ON THE ORDERS OF BATTLE: The units at Antietam were very understrength. Like many scenarios, it may be necessary to combine regiments in order to make one that is respectable. For brigade level rules, it may also be necessary to combine brigades. This is fine, as it was done during the actual battle. Regimental names and strengths have been included for information purposes. Commander and unit ratings are given as an alphabetical letter from A (the best) to F (the worst). For Stars n Bars each letter conforms exactly to a leader/unit rating. For example, a B leader/unit would be Excellent/elite. Inspirational impacts are also included in this rules set. The unit ratings for other rules sets can be done as follows: On To Richmond: A & B = Elite, C = Veteran, D = Regular, E & F = Green Johnny Reb: A & B = Elite, C & D = Avg., E = Green, F= Militia Other rules sets should follow a similar pattern. SOURCES: Many sources were consulted, the most important being, THE OFFICIAL RECORDS, ATLAS TO THE OFFICIAL RECORDS, LANDSCAPE TURNED RED by Stephen W. Sears, and SPI's boardgame A GLEAM OF BAYONETS. Regimental strengths were taken from here and outside research has confirmed that they are fairly accurate, even though they are rounded off to the nearest multiple of 50. Orders of Battle: Union and Confederate Back to The Zouave Vol III No. 3 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1989 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