On September 4, 1862, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had crossed the Potomac River into Maryland. General Robert E. Lee intended to march through Maryland, Pennsylvania and eventually to Washington. Ultimately, it was hoped that a great Confederate victory on this campaign would bring much needed French and British recognition to the fledgling Confederacy.
In the meantime, "Little Napoleon" McClellan had received Lee's famous "Lost Order" and had boasted that he would soon ".....Whip Bobby Lee....With unusual alacrity, McClellan marched his Army of the Potomac, over 70,000 strong, in an effort to defeat Lee's divided army in detail.
General Longstreet had left General Daniel Harvey Hill at Boonsborough with about 5,000 men. One of Hill's responsibilities was to guard the passes over South Mountain. On September 13, J.E.B. Stuart reported to Hill that Union cavalry were advancing towards the South Mountain passes. Hill immediately dispatched about 1,200 men under Colonel A.H. Colquitt to Turner's Gap. He was joined shortly thereafter by another 1,000 Confederates under Brig. General Samuel Garland. Although initially placed in the Turner's Gap area the two brigades were eventually advanced and positioned in a line from the Old Hagerstown Road to Fox's Gap.
Hill arrived on the scene on Sunday morning, September 14, and made some adjustments to the Confederate deployment. From his vantage point, Hill could see elements of the Army of the Potomac deploying and called for further reinforcements from his division in the Boonsborough area and from Longstreet's Corps, still many miles away.
At about 6:00 a.m. on the 14th, the brigade under Union Colonel E.P. Scammon began to move towards Fox's Gap. Scammon's Brigade was attached to Jacob Cox's IX Corps and formed a portion of the Kanawah Division of Ohioans. He was soon reinforced by Crook's Brigade and the Kanawah Division's artillery. A lively fight developed between these units and some of Stuart's dismounted cavalry, soon to be reinforced by Garland's Brigade.
During the hand-to-hand combat between the Ohioans and the North Carolinians, Garland was struck and mortally wounded. His brigade collapsed and fled back towards Turner's Gap. Cox's advance, up the steep slopes of the mountain, ran out of steam at Fox's Gap, slowed by determined resistance from Coquitt's Brigade.
Cox was unable to move any further without support from other IX Corps units, which were still several hours away. McClellan, and other Union commanders, had been slow in ordering troops to move to the assistance of Cox. General Hill who had earlier called for his remaining brigades, now directed them as they arrived on the scene. These units were immediately placed in advantageous defensive positions.
The other divisions of the Union IX Corps, under Willcox and Sturgis, did not arrive on the field until after 2:00 p.m., fully seven hours after the Kanawha Division's initial contact with the Confederates. This delay had given Longstreet time to deploy General David R. Jones' Division to the field.
Willcox immediately went into action and a breakthrough was effected in the Confederate lines. At times, heavy see-saw fighting threatened to envelop both the Union and Confederate flanks. Around 4:00 p.m., Sturgis' Division arrived and once again the Union forces had the numerical advantage. Only limited progress was made towards Turner's Gap while in the meantime, the hard marching John Bell Hood had begun to deploy his small but crack division. Union General Jesse Reno had also arrived on the field and had taken command of the Union left flank. While engaged in a personal reconnaissance towards his front, Reno was hit and killed instantly by Confederate small arms fire.
Late in the afternoon, General "Fighting Joe" Hooker brought up his I Corps on the Union right and a powerful Federal push attempted to dislodge the Rebel left from the Turner's Gap area. There was heavy fighting into the evening but by around 10:00 p.m., the fighting petered out. As the battle ended, both sides were simply trying to hold the ground that they currently occupied. The Federals held Fox's Gap and the crest of the mountain but the Rebels still held on in the Turner's Gap area, the main route across the mountain.
After Hooker's push the engagement at South Mountain was essentially over. Out of about 20,000 Confederates engaged, over 2,600 men were lost. The Union had lost over 2,300 men out of about 30,000 engaged. Little Mac's "slows" had cost the Union an opportunity to destroy the fighting ability of the Army of Northern Virginia. He would bungle another opportunity three days later along Antietam Creek.
Game Information
General Hill, Colquitt's and Garland's brigades, along with Hill's divisional artillery start as Activated units. All other Confederate units are Reinforcements. Activated units may set- up anywhere west of Turner's Gap, inclusive.
All Confederate Reinforcements arrive in march column along the road to Boonsborough according to the following schedule:
- 12:00 p.m. - G.B. Anderson's Brigade
1:30 p.m. - Ripley's, Rodes' Brigades
3:30 p.m. - Drayton's, G.T. Anderson's Brigades, Jones' Artillery
5:30 p.m. - Garnett's Jenkins', Kemper's Brigades, Longstreet
6:30 p.m - Evans', Wofford's, Law's Brigades, Hood, Hood's Artillery
Brigades from Jones' Division may be controlled by Hill or Longstreet. Players may opt to use the random reinforcement schedule on page 14 of the rulebook.
The game begins on the 7:00 a.m. turn and ends after the 9:00 p.m. turn for a total of 29 turns. At some points during the game there is a substantial delay between reinforcements. Upon agreement of both commanders, turns may by "skipped" if nothing is happening on the field to the point where something "happens. "
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Use the standard point system on page 16 of the rulebook. In addition, the player that owns Turner's and Fox's Gap at game end receives 20 points for each. Ownership is defined as having no non-disordered enemy brigades, within 4" of the feature.
The Union player also receives 5 points for each brigade that exits the table off of the road that leads to Boonsborough. He also receives 5 points for each area of the table (marked by an X) that he owns. Ownership is defined above. Confederate ownership of these X areas does not grant them points but denies the points to the Union players. The side with the greater point total at game end is the winner.
Union General Reno and the Kanawah Division are the only Activated units at game start. All other Union units are Reinforcements. Activated Union units may enter on Turn 1 in march column along the Old Nation Road, Old Sharpsburg Road, or the Old Hagerstown Road.
The Union commander must designate the arrival roads(s) of all Reinforcements prior to turn 1 and units arrive according to the following schedule:
- 4:00 p.m - 2nd Division, IX Corps/3rd Division, I
Corps/Hooker
4:00 p.m. - 3rd Division, IX Corps/1st Division, I Corps
5:00 p.m - 2nd Division, I Corps
The order of battle and map are set-up to the 200 scale.
In charge combat, there is a +1 bonus for defending higher
ground, defending behind a ford, and defending within a
woods. There is a + 2 bonus for defending behind a stone wall.
IX Corps Major General Jesse L.
Reno, Exceptional
Kanawha Division Brig. General Jacob D.
Cox, Exceptional
1st Division Brig. General Orlando
B. Willcox
2nd Division Brig. General L. Samuel
D. Sturgis
3rd Division Brig. General Issac
P.Rodman
I Corps Major
General Joseph Hooker
1st Division Brig. General
John P. Hatch
2nd Division Brig. General James
B. Ricketts
3rd Division Brig. General George G. Meade,
exceptional
Overall Conunand Lt. General James Longstreet, Exceptional
Hill's Division
Brig. General D.H. Hill
Jones' Division Brig. General D.R. Jones (not
present on the field)
Hood's Division Brig. General
John B. Hood, Exceptional
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.UNION ORDER OF BATTLE
1st Brigade (Scammon), 1,600 men,
8/6/4
2n Brigade (Crook), 1,600 men, 8/6/4
Divisional Artillery 1 X
Artillery Stand1st Brigade (Christ), 1,600 men,
8/6/4
2nd Brigade (Welsh), 1,600 men, 8/6/4
Divisional Artillery 1 X Artillery Stand1st Brigade (Nagle), 1,600 men, 8/6/4
2nd Brigade (Ferrero), 1,600 men, Green, 8/7/5
Divisional artillery 1 X Artillery Stand1st Brigade (Fairchild), 1,400 men, green,
7/6/4
2nd Brigade (Harland), 1,400 men, Green, 7/6/41st Brigade (King), 600 men, 3/-/2
2nd Brigade (Doubleday), 600 men, 3/-/2
3rd Brigade (Patrick), 600 men, 3/-/2
4th "Iron" Brigade (Gibbon), 1,600 men, Crack,
Exceptional, 8/5/3
Divisional artillery 3 X Artillery Stands1st Brigade (Duryea), 1000 men,
5/4/3
2nd Brigade (Christian), 1000 men, 5/4/3
3rd Brigade (Hartsuff), 1000 men, 5/4/3
Divisional Artillery
1 X Artillery
Stand1st Brigade (Seymour), 1000 men,
5/4/3
2nd Brigade (Magilton), 1000 men, 5/4/3
3rd Brigade (Gallagher), 1000 men, 5/4/3
Divisional Artillery 2 X Artillery StandsCONFEDERATE ORDER OF
BATTLE
Colquitt's Brigade, 1,200 men, 6/5/3
Garland's Brigade, 1000 men, 5/4/3
G.B. Anderson's Brigade, 1,200 men, 6/5/3
Rodes' Brigade, 1,200 men, 6/5/3
Attached to Hill's Division
Evans' Brigade, 600 men, 3/-/2
Divisional artillery 2X
Artillery StandsDrayton's Brigade, 1000 men, 5/4/3
G.T. Anderson's Brigade, 1000 men, 5/4/3
Kempner's Brigade, 600 men, 3/-/2
Garnett's "Stonewall" Brigade, 600 men, Brack, 3/2/-
Jenkins' Brigade, 600 men, 3/-/2Wofford's "Texas" Brigade, 1,200 men, Crack, 6/4/2
Law's Brigade, 1,200 men, Crack, 6/4/2
Divisional Artillery 2 X Artillery Stands
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© Copyright 1992 The American Civil War Society
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