Battle of Antietam in the Grand Manner - Fire & Fury Brigade Second Edition

The festive season for 2021 got off to a grand start in fact a 'grand manner' start as I and friends travelled up to Chez Clive in deepest, darkest North Devon this week for an all day game of Fire & Fury Brigade Level, Version Two in glorious 28mm recreating the desperate fighting at the Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg depending on your preference on September 17th, 1862.

Confederate and Union soldiers lie dead together on the battlefield in front of Dunker Church, Antietam

The battle was the climax of General Robert E. Lee's Maryland campaign and resulted in his invasion being halted as General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac launched a furious attack on the Confederate defensive line behind Antietam Creek in front of Sharpsburg, that saw the bloodiest day in American history that left 22,717 men dead, wounded or missing on the field of battle and the Union army exhausted from its heavy losses; but rewarding them with a strategic victory as Lee's army, suffering a much higher loss proportionally, forced the Confederates to withdraw back to Virginia, abandoning their invasion.

Following this battle, President Lincoln was emboldened to make his famous Emancipation Proclamation freeing more that three and a half million slaves in the Confederate States and thus discouraging any support for them from the British and French governments, themselves strongly opposed to slavery having abolished it prior to the commencement of the American Civil War.

Map, courtesy of Hal Jespersen - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antietam_Overview.png

Below is our table capturing the key terrain features of the battlefield with the Confederate army arranged on the far table edge around the buildings representing the outskirts of Sharpsburg and the Dunker Church towards the top right.

The Middle and Burnside bridges together with the ford have also been squeezed in on the lower left corner of the table, and the dreaded 'sunken road' that marked the centre of the Confederate position can be seen snaking out from the Hagerstown Turnpike that runs along the front of their line and was penetrated by Union troops but only after suffering very heavy losses.

For our refight, Vince was on the Confederate left with the brigades of Generals  Lawton and John R. Jones', whilst Steve M. took the Confederate Right around the Sunken Road and facing the bridges with the brigades of Generals Hill, Anderson and Hood.

Chas launches Hooker's men towards Vince's awaiting Confederate's under a hail, of artillery fire from both sides

For the Union we needed commanders who were willing to attack and 'let the devil take the hindmost' so naturally Chas took command of the Union right commanding the brigades of Hooker's I Corps, myself in the centre with the brigades of Mansfield's and Sumner's XII and II Corps respectively, whilst Clive would take the Union left with Burnside's IX Corps.

Three turns passed before the centre Union attack commenced with the arrival of Mansfield and Sumner's corps

Our game reflected the rather piecemeal assault launched by McClellan's army as Chas threw I Corps forward under the barrage from his guns that started to cause gaps in the Confederate line right from the start as enemy batteries became silenced and damaged under the barrage allowing the Union infantry to barrel on forward towards the the fence line running the length of the Hagerstown turnpike.

Hookers men close on the rebel lines 

The irresistible force confronts the immovable object yet again

The Confederate line in front of Dunker Church

Steve has Anderson's brigades ready to hold the Sunken Road

'Disordered' and 'Worn' markers start to proliferate along the Union assault line as Hooker's men close

The Zouaves to the left took the first heavy casualties and were practically blown away as Chas stormed the rail fence

Still the advance continued amid the hail of fire

Bayonets crossed and with the rebel unit nearest to camera 'out of ammo' with the bullet marker close by after delivering a particularly heavy volley

As the range decreased and the firing intensified it looked touch and go whether Chas's men would reach the turnpike and I think Vince was equally focussed on his efforts to keep replacing damaged gun batteries from reserves in the rear as his troops kept pouring on as much hurt as they could, not helped by Vince having a tough day early on with the dice gods, slightly relieved as they took pity on him and allowed an extra bonus of results as Chas withdrew Hooker's battered forces.

Hooker's men recoiling back from the fence as Mansfield and Sumner advance on to the field of battle to resume the attack

Major General Edwin V. Sumner's Union II Corps advance on the Sunken Road with the veteran Irish brigade (green colours) to the fore behind the advanced gun line, already taking hits as the reversed (silenced) gun model in the centre testifies to.

As Chas was desperately contesting the fence line on the Rebel left, it was time for my forces to make their debut as I deployed Mansfield's and Sumner's corps in the centre in preparation for the next big attack as Steve dressed his ranks of rebels and greeted my unlimbering forward gun line with some saluting counterbattery fire that spoilt my deployment somewhat.

 

Despite the heavy casualties the Zouaves were first in and last out as the first Union assault recoiled back exhausted.

'No Mans Land' about to be contested yet again

Undeterred and determined to stretch the Confederate defences while Chas was trying to force a result out on the Union right, Sumner threw forward a six base experienced brigade against the Sunken Road, with another echeloned back, in an attempt to mask the flanking fire from the rebel position as the main assault was directed at the junction of the Sunken Road and Hagerstown Turnpike supported by massed Union guns that quickly destroyed a rebel gun battery holding said junction.

Sumner's brigades strike home against the rebel centre as the Sunken Road is assaulted with the bayonet. The gap on the road, dead centre marks the position of the Confederate battery destroyed in the pre-assault barrage.

Alongside Sumner's men were now deployed Mansfield's massed brigades in supported lines barrelling forward to try and force the position in front of Dunker Church. However no matter how quickly and effectively the Union massed batteries could cause gaps in the rebel line, the advantage of interior lines allowed for a quick replacement with a refreshed unit now with an enemy in much closer range.

An overview at mid afternoon of our game shows the Union line striking forward in the centre towards Dunker Church as its right flank recoils and it's left is starting to deploy. Note the massed lines of Union guns in the centre supporting the assault

The result of this second Union assault mirrored pretty much the result of the first as the Union line made its bayonet charge against the fence-lined turnpike in front of Dunker Church, with massed guns in the centre paving the way and a token force thrown against the Sunken Lane to mask the flank of this principle attack.

Like it's predecessor this Union attack was going nowhere fast after several turns of inconclusive hand to hand fighting along its length which seemed ready to culminate with the defeat and repulse of Sumner's advanced brigade, now up on the ramparts of the Sunken Road, experienced but spent, contesting possession of the position with a fresh veteran Confederate brigade.

The highwater mark of the Union assault as Sumner's Corps take part of the Sunken Road temporarily.

With Steve mustering plus three and myself a minus one on the contested die result, this little struggle within a much wider battle seemed to herald the collapse of the Union attack, only to see my die roll come up with a 10 to Steve's reply of 1 giving the battered Union brigade, only thrown in as a spoiling attack the victory, and seeing them take the position, all be it temporarily.

With that minor victory and with the Union forces just about done, we called our game which had produced the nail-biting bloodbath mirroring its historical predecessor, Sunken Road included, and with the collection of figures and terrain put together by Clive and Chas producing a feast for the eye that this scale of game can produce.

This is my second game playing the new version of Fire & Fury Brigade and has reinforced my opinion of them, that I concluded then, that these are a very fine, well crafted set of rules for playing the American Civil War at this big battle level, here in 28mm and in the previous game played back in 2019, looking at Gettysburg in 15mm played over at another of our club Steve's abode, and good friend Mr Steve L, see link below.

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Gettysburg, First Day, Fire & Fury Brigade II

Thank you to Clive for hosting our day in his lovely house and for laying on a delightful lunch interlude to the game and to Steve M, Vince and Chas for their company and input to producing a great game that had lots of laughs, banter and drama to chat about afterwards.

It is games like this that is what our hobby is all about and perfect way to spend a day when the weather outside was just the sort climate for being indoors and indeed a perfect way to start the Festive Season in the company of likeminded friends.

The festive fun continues this weekend, as I'm off to the club for the return of our annual Gus Murchie Memorial Game that succumbed to last year's lockdown but sees us regathering to play a mega WWII 15mm game with a Normandy theme with Monty's 21st Army trying to secure vital ground around Caen - more anon.

In addition I'm back to the AWI collection with some work progressing on the Hessian Jagers and a small group of American militia, so I hope to show them before getting into the Xmas festivities.