In terms of size, the battle of South Mountain on September 14, 1862, was not a large battle. However, a Union victory could have had a significant negative effect for the southern cause. In two passes through South Mountain, elements of the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia were able to delay the advance of the Union's Army of the Potomac sufficiently long enough to allow most of the southern army to consolidate in the area of Sharpsburg, Maryland. This delaying action allowed Lee to successfully fight the battle of Antietam two days later. The battle of South Mountain was an interesting situation, combining elements of a meeting engagement and delaying action over hilly, rough terrain.

John M. Priest continues his literary analysis of Lee's 1862 Maryland campaign in his new book Before Antietam: The Battle of South Mountain (White Mane Publishing Co., copyright 1992, ISBN 0-942597-37-0). Priest's earlier work on the battle of Antietam set a high standard for historical analysis and compilation of contemporary texts. Such trademarks are also found in his new volume on South Mountain. The book covers the movement and battles of the combatants from September 5 to 15, 1862. The hardback edition contains 433 pages, of which 319 are text with the balance of the book being appendices and indexes.

In addition, there are seventy maps, each with a scale and sufficient information to recreate your own battlefields. In other books, accounts of the battle of South Mountain are usually presented as a thumbnail sketch as a precursor to the battle of Antietam, rather than as the detailed account found in this book.

As I read the book, I was surprised by the amount of combat that occurred along the Frosttown Road, rather than along the National Pike, as the Union army approached Turner's Gap. I am not sure whether careless reading or the brevity of other material led to this wrong impression. If you enjoyed Priest's earlier work on Antietam, you'll like his new volume on South Mountain. If you have not read a book by this author, buy the new book. I think you will appreciate the historical accounts and interwoven poignant contemporary commentaries.

South Mountain..the Boardgame

About ten years ago, The Battle of South Mountain was the first release in a series of Civil War board games featuring two units per brigade. In time, the series also had games involving the battles of Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Chickamauga. At Christmas time last year, an updated version of all four games in the series was released by Decision Games in a boxed set entitled War of the Rebellion. The updated version of the board game series is very similar to the original, except for the addition of a command control system.

The command system involves the use of command rankings and die rolls to determine the movement allowance of units and the ability of those units to be committed to hand-to-hand combat. Casualties and fatigue are assessed by cohesion hits (ten steps per unit before its elimination), which leads to a progression reduction in morale and combat effectiveness. The game system is straight-forward, and once learned, allows for relatively rapid play. The graphics, counter mix, and rule book are professionally prepared and should appeal to most gamers. The box is sufficiently large to accommodate all of the components, including counter trays that you will supply to store the 800 or so chits. Overall, this boxed set is a real value for gamers at an approximate retail price of $50.00.

The Battle of South Mountain game seems to be a good recreation of the battle in cardboard. There are two scenarios. One features the initial assault by Reno on Fox's Gap, which can be played in less than an hour. The other scenario recreates the day-long battle for both Turner and Fox Gaps. The game is a fast-paced affair, with both players trying to deliver the optimum forces to the vital areas of the battle as rapidly as possible. The outcome of the short scenario seems a bit in favor of the Union. I kept wondering if this bias would have been different if the designers had not suspended the rules on commitment to melee for this game.

Visit the Battlefield

Finally, if you are traveling near Frederick, Maryland, I would implore you to make a visit to the South Mountain Battlefield. There is an information center in downtown Frederick, which has a pamphlet with a satisfactory map to locate the battlefield. The battlefield is private land today. But one can not imagine that the terrain has changed much in the last 130 years.

The area is still mostly wooded hillsides. The steep slopes of South Mountain and the density of the forest gives one an appreciation for the roughness of the terrain. You should make a detour off U.S. 40, the National Highway or National Pike of old, to visit Fox Gap. At Fox Gap, memorials commemorate the spot where General Reno was mortally wounded and the stone wall that provided the Confederates with protection from Union charges. A lack of other memorials and Civil War era equipment does not make this land any less hallowed that that of battle sites that have been incorporated into major national parks, like either Gettysburg or Antietam, especially when one visits South Mountain after reading Priest's accounts of the battle.