To reproduce the morning fight between Thomas' Brigade and the Confederate forces in exact composition or style is impossible. Not only are definite troop numbers unavailable in most cases, but most rules sets cannot reproduce the hand to hand fighting that took place. Therefore, I have chosen to set up a workable scenario with guesstimate troop strengths and a somewhat artificial terrain setup. The scenario is designed to reproduce the FEEL of the battle rather than historical accuracy. To make the scenario playable, the Union troops have been given higher morale levels than their Confederate counterparts. This will help to overcome the tremendous numbers advantage held by the rebels. A further alteration comes in the form of minor terrain changes that make it difficult for the Confederates to totally surround the lone Federal brigade. Some woods have been placed on the rear—flanks of the Union position for this purpose. Also, the Confederate units must charge in line formation, no columns or wave assaults being allowed. In essence, the rebels will pour in as much fire as they can, and will charge in as often as possible. To make sure that there is more "clash" than "crash", Confederate units MUST charge as soon as they are within potential charge reach, such being determined by the rules set being used. THE SCENARIO CONCEPT Time is of the essence to both sides. The Confederates, already being somewhat fatigued, need to rout the Union brigade as quickly as possible to follow up their initial success of the morning. The Federal brigade, alone in its ordeal, hopes only to keep from being swept from its position blocking the road. The scenario lasts two hours. Victory conditions are quite simple... .a Decisive Union victory would be to hold on to the road (even if pushed back, and to have at least one regiment NOT in rout at the end of the scenario) for the full two hours. A Decisive Confederate Victory would be to have routed all Union forces by the end of the first hour. Anything else is a draw. The purpose of the scenario is to give you the feel of desperation on each side. Casualties are irrelevant in that neither army cared about anything other than the total defeat of the opponent. General Emory threw Thomas' Brigade out to block the rebel advance in what he described as a suicide mission. The Confederates wanted nothing short of complete victory after they swept away Crook's men. NOTES ON THE TROOPS: Colonel Stephen Thomas would have to be considered a highly rated commander, especially since he won the Medal of Honor for his actions at Cedar Creek. For example, if using JR rules, Thomas would be a +2 leader. All Confederate commanders should be rated at the average for this scenario. The Union troops should be rated as Elite because of their fine performance at Cedar Creek, while Confederate troops would be average in quality (again, based on performance). One of the real mysteries in contemporary accounts of the part played by Thomas Brigade at Cedar Creek is the fact that the 47th Pennsylvania, while part of the brigade, is not mentioned in the fighting. It is assumed for the sake of this scenario that they were in the battle, since there is no account of them being detached. Remember that the number of effectives listed in the following orders of battle is somewhat arbitrary due to the fact that only the 8th Vermont's number of engaged men is known (Herbert Hill stated that the regiment had 159 men in the struggle). Players may wish to combine many of the regiments into consolidated units because of the small number of men in each. If this is done, no regiment should be larger than 300 men. ORDERS OF BATTLE (All troops armed with rifled muskets) Union Forces: XIX Corps, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade; Col. Stephen Thomas (If using a brigade level rules set, give this brigade 900 men) 8th Vermont 200 men 12th Connecticut 300 men 160th New York 200 men 47th Pennsylvania 200 men Confederate Forces (There will be no division commanders) Cook's Brigade, Ramseur' s Division: Brig. Genl. Philip Cook 4th, 12th, 21st, and 44th Georgia: Average of 150 men per regiment. Stonewall Brigade, Gordon's Division: Col. J.H.S. Funk 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th, and 33rd Virginia: Average of 100 men per regiment. Jones's Brigade, Gordon's Division: Col. R.H. Dungan 21st, 25th, 42nd, 44th, 48th, and 50th Virginia: Average of 100 men per regiment. Steuart 's Brigade, Gordon's Division: Lt. Col. S.H. Saunders 10th, 23rd, and 37th Virginia: Average of 100 men per regiment. NOTE ON DEPLOYMENT: The Union brigade must set up in line at the very middle of the map. The Confederate units will set up sixteen inches away from the closest Union figures as shown. A Short History of the 8th Vermont Infantry 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