In early August of 1862, newly appointed Union General John Pope was trying to concentrate the acattered elements of his command near Culpeper, Virginia. Stonewall Jackson, reinforced by A.P. Hill's division, saw an opportunity to strike before that concentration could be completed. Moving quickly, he found the advance Federal units deployed on a broad plateau in the shadow of Cedar Mountain, under the immediate command of Nathaniel Banks. On the morning of August 9th, Banks had received a note from Pope regarding the Confederate forcea in front, "...attack him immediately as he approaches." Possibly seeing a chance to reverse the embarrasement that he'd suffered at the hands of Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley the previous spring, he took the order literally. Unfortunately, he was outnumbered more than two to one. Jackson's lead division, under the command of Richard Ewell, occupied the slopes of Cedar Mountain and anchored the Rebel right. Jubal Early's brigade advanced cautiously into the valley to link up with two brigades of Charles Winder's division, the famed Stonewall brigade being held in reserve. Since Jackson anticipated action to his right, he positioned these troops to face south and east. And either due to haste or carelessness, he had neglected to tell any of his divisional commanders of his strategy for the upcoming fight. Bank's small corps had been further weakened by the number of units on detached duty. But he aggressively seized the initiative. Christopher Augur's division was deployed in the pastures south of the Culpeper Road, while the two brigades of Alpheus Williams' elite division were hidden in the dense woods to the north. After a two hour artillery duel, Augur's troops struck the Rebel right at 6 PM, south of the road, with little success. Charles Crawford's brigade had much better luck. Undetected, they had managed to flank the Confederate left. Bursting out of the woods across a wheatfield, they put three successive brigades to flight, including the proud Stonewall brigade. Only Early's regiments held their ground. Jackson was everywhere, rallying individual regiments and leading brigades into action. When the leading elements of Hill's Light Division entered the battle, the tide began to turn against the exhausted Federals. With no reserves to call upon, they were forced back by the superior Confederate numbers, withdrawing across Cedar Run. Jackson pressed his advantage until exhaustion, nightfall, and a fresh Union division under James Ricketts brought the gray troops to a halt. The Rebels suffered 1366 casua1ties, the Federa1 units 2381. Nathaniel Banks failed to redeem his reputation. Fire and Fury BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN SCENARIO TERRAIN: Terrain should be laid out as shown on the map. The battlefield will require a 5 x 5 gaming area. All woods affect combat, movement, and 1ine-of-sight. All hills are high enough so that artillery may fire over woods in the valleys. The central plateau affects fire and charge combat modifiers only from west to east, when Union troops defending. Both streams are fordable at all points, paying normal penalties. Large Map (slow: 140K) Jumbo Map (very slow: 209K) STARTING POSITIONS: The map indicates all starting positions as of 1700 August 9th. All troops are free to move except the Confederate units listed in the rules below. ORDER OF APPEARANCE: Confederate reinforcements enter in march column at A. Any unit may spend the designated turn of entry to change formation, then entering within six inches of the Culpeper Road. 1800---Branch, A.P. Hill, Archer 1830---Pender, 2 arty btys GAME LENGTH: Play begins with the Union 1700 turn and concludes with the Confederate 2100 turn. There are 8 turns, which can be played in 3-5 hours by 2-4 players. VICTORY CONDITIONS: Either side wins by accumulating more victory points than the other. In addition to points awarded for enemy casualties, points are awarded for the following key geographic objectives. 5 POINTS -- Union control of crossroads for each 1/2 hour turn from 1930 on (20 PT max) 5 POINTS -- Confederate control of each bridge across Cedar Run by the end of the game. CONFEDERATE COMMAND CONFUSION: Stonewall Jackson's subordinates were unaware of his battle plans. In addition, divisional commander Winder was mortally wounded during the artillery barrage immediately preceding the Union attack. To simulate this confusion, have Jackson represented by a divisional command stand, but able to direct any artillery battery within normal control distance. Early's brigade may receive divisional modifiers from either Jackson or Ewell, but not both at the same time. Thomas' brigade may not move until A.P. Hill's arrival, unless Jackson is attached to lead it. And finally, the rest of Ewell's division may not move until 1800. NIGHT FIGHTING: Jackson pushed his forces to pursue the beaten Federals well into the night, finally halting the advance at 11 pm. To recreate the problems of night fighting, have the 2000 turn be a dusk turn. Command control distances are halved. Artillery batteries may not fire shot at new targets, but they may fire cannister. At 2030, night falls and command control ia further reduced to 2 inches for the last two turns. Also, all inches for the last two turns. Also, all fire points are halved for fire combat beyond 2 inches. DESIGNER'S NOTES: Most Fire and Fury scenarios that I've seen are large, sprawling engagements that take many hours to play, and require several commanders to marshal all the troops. Not all gaming clubs have that luxury. I chose to create this acenario because it can be gamed by two people in a relatively short period of time. One note on troop quality may be in order. Giving the Stonewall brigade only veteran status may raise some eyebrows, but in this fight, they weren't exceptional. Thanks to Mike Patterson and Hal Goff for their help and suggestions. UNION ORDER OF BATTLE BANKS--1 corps ldr std WILLIAMS--l div ldr.std CRAWFORD'S brigade-(E) 9/6/4 inf stds GORDON'S brigade--10/7/4 inf stds Division artillery---2 arty stds AUGUR--1 div ldr std GEARY'S brigade--(E) 9/7/6 inf stds PRINCE'S brigade--10/8/46 inf stds GREEN'S brigade-(E) 4/8/2 inf stds Division artillery---3 arty stds Unattached BAYARD'S brigade (+ )--4/3/2/cav stds BARARD'S brigade (-)--4/3/2/ cav stds CONFEDERATE ORDER OF BATTLE JACKSON--1 (E) div ldr std RONALD'S brigade---8/6/4 inf stds GARNETT'S brigade---8/6/d inf stds TALIAFERRO'S brigade-10/8/6 inf stds Division Artillery---2 arty stds EWELL---1 (E) div ldr std EARLY'S brigade--(E) 13/10/7 inf stds TRIMBLE'S brigade---7/6/4 inf stds FORNO'S brigade---10/8/6 inf stds Division Artillery---2 arty stds AP HILL-- 1 (E) div ldr std BRANCH'S brigade--10/8/6 inf stds ARCHER'S brigade-(E) 9/7/5/ inf stds THOMAS' brigade--8/6/4 inf stds PENDER'S brigade-(E) 8/6/4inf stds Division Artillery--2 arty stds BIBLIOGRAPHY: THE ANTIETAM CAMPAIGN---John Cannan BATTLE AND LEADERS, Vol. 2---Ed. Johnson, Buel CAMPAIGNS OF THE CIVIL WAR---Thomas, Yoseloff CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY--- Thomas, Yoseloff LEE TAKES COMMAND---Ed. TIME LIFE Books OFFICIAL MILITARY ATLAS OF THE CIVIL WAR---Ed. David, Kirkley, Perry PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR--Ed. Miller WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES Back to The Zouave Vol VII No. 4 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