At 5 a.m. on the morning of 17th March 1863 Federal Genaal William W. Averill's cavalry division forced its way across the Rappahannock River at Kelley's Ford, capturing a number of Rebel pickets in the process. Once across Averill seems to have forgotten that he was to initiate an attack on Confederates encamped around Culpeper, and duly set up a defensive cordon athwart the approaches to the ford. Rebel cavalry under Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee responded to the Yankee threat and although outnumbered made a spirited, almost foolhardy assault on the Federal lines. The whole action was watched from the sidelines by J.E.B. Stuart and his artillery chief John Pelham. The latter joined in a charge with the 3rd Va. and was mortally wounded by a shell fragment. The action lasted throughout the day and despite pushing the Rebels back Averill withdrew his forces around 5.30 p.m.. This action was a prelude to Brandy Station and the coming of age of the Union mounted arm. Federal casualties were numbered at 78, Confederate at 133. THE WARGAME Starts at 9 a.m. and finishes at 5.30 p.m., the late start is due to the fact that it took Averill over two hours to cross the swift flowing river then he had to deploy on the other side. Averill also complained of defective artillery ammunition, it may have become waterlogged on crossing, therefore the Federal artillery will suffer a down l shift on all firing and run out of ammo on a die ro1l of four or below. Should Lee be killed or wounded then J.E.B. Stuart may take command, otherwise he should remain well in the rear, Pelham can join any Rebel regiment. I do not know which Confederate battery was involved in this action, only that it numbered four guns (drop the Ed. a note if you know.). DEPLOYMENT As shown on the map, the 3rd Pa. and 1st Mass. are dismounted in skirmish formation. TERRAIN The Rappahannock can only be crossed in disorder at Kelley's Ford which is rough, Carter's Run is broken. All woods are light. VICTORY CONDITIONS To blunt the offensive capabilities of the enemy, therefore both sides need to inflict 40% casualties to win. ORDER OF BATTLE UNION 2nd Cavalry Division Brigadier General W.W. Averill, average, +2 1st Brigade Colonel H.B. Sergeant, average, + 1 1st Mass. 220 men, RC, average 4th N.Y. 200 men, BLC, average 6th Oh. 240 men, BLC, average 1st R.I. 240 men, BLC, average 2nd Brigade Colonel J.B. McIntosh, average, + 1 3rd Pa. 200 men, RC, average 4th Pa. 240 men, BLC, average 16th Pa. 240 men, BLC, green Artillery 6th N.Y. Independent Bty. 6x3" R, average CONFEDERATE Lee's Brigade Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee, superior, + 1 1st Va. 200 men, MLC, elite 2nd Va. 180 men, MLC, elite 3rd Va. 220 men, MLC, elite 4th Va. 180 men, MLC, elite 5th Va. 220 men, MLC, elite Battery' 4x3" R, average Unattached Major General J.E.B. Stuart, superior, +2 Major John Pelham, average, +1 Jumbo Map (very slow: 242K) Back to The Zouave Vol VII No. 2 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 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