A Portable Shiloh - The narrative begins...

 

In the leading map, the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, under General A.S. Johnston advances in the pre-dawn upon the slumbering Union camps. The army, in accordance with the plan devised by General P.G.T. Beauregard, Johnston's 2iC, advances in successive lines of Army Corps, Hardee's three brigades leading, followed by Braxton Bragg's six brigades in line abreast, Leonidas Polk's four and Breckinridge's three brigades behind, as a reserve.

The Confederate array seen from the east. I am tempted to use whatever spare figures I can find to identify the Army Corps by flag design: Blue with white roundels for Hardee; the Stars and Bars for Bragg, and the Polk designed battle flag (upon a field azure, a cross gules, fimbriated argent and charged with 11 stars) for, you guessed it: Polk's Corps. Beckinridge's three brigades could be given variants of the traditional (and, broadly speaking, wrong) CSA battle flag.

With one exception, the Union Army begins the day unprepared, the brigades' constituent stands scattered about their individual camp squares. If caught unprepared, this will impair their fighting ability. To rally, they will have to roll a 6 on Turn 1, 5-6 turn 2, 50-50 Turn 3; automatic thereafter. I think I was a trifle ungenerous, here, as historically the Union army pulled itself reasonably quickly together. The above picture shows Sherman's 5th Division encamped close by Owl Creek; McClernand's 1st beyond. and Hurlbut's 4th in the distance.

The situation close by Pittsburgh Landing: W.H.L. Wallace's 2nd Division camps, and heavy artillery at the Landing itself. To the left of the picture, Hurlbut's Division.

First contact: S.A.M. Wood's brigade hits Hildebrand's brigade whilst attempting to rally. The Union's '5' rolls would have been useful, but the disorganised formation needs 6's to hit. Meanwhile, as Maj-Genl Hardee is with the brigade, the '4' counts. Much of Hildebrand is destroyed; the rest retreats past Shiloh Church.

Of Sherman's other brigades, Sherman rallies Buckland's in time to ready themselves for attack. McDowell's brigade, nearer Owl Creek, is still in the process of organising. By the time the Confederates reach them, they still are unable to form a coherent line.

On Prentiss's front, Colonel Everett Peabody was far more apprehensive than his Division commander of the likelihood of a Confederate surprise attack, was early organising his brigade. Historically, he sent a small force to scout out the situation to the west and south of his position, which soon discovered Peabody's fears to be well founded. I omitted this detail, and the result was that it was Chalmers's Brigade that eventually struck Peabody's.

Of Brigadier Hurlbut's Division, the brigades of Veatch (nearest camera at bottom right of picture above and Williams (further towards the upper middle), along with the Divisional artillery, have been awakened by the sounds of musketry and gunfire to the southwest. Lauman's brigade is slower to react. 
In the far distance, Marsh's brigade was the first to rally. Raith's command nearer the enemy, and Hare's, more distant are much slower to apprehend the danger.

Chalmers's Brigade of Withers's Division strikes at Peabody's brigade attempting to cover the rallying of the rest of Prentiss's Division. CS cavalry companies from Bragg's and Polk's Corps harass the flanks of Peabody's position.

Polk's small force of cavalry encounter hastily organised units of Prentiss's Division west of the Peach Orchard. Inflicting some loss upon the Union infantry, the Confederates are finally repulsed (the 4 Union dice scored 1 hit; the single Confederate rolled a 6!).

The fight is beginning to develop along a wider front. Having driven off Chalmer's Brigade, Peabody is in turn being driven back beyond the Shiloh Church by the brigades of Shaver (Hardee) and Gladden (Withers/Bragg), the latter supported by artillery. More infantry brigades move up behind the lead Confederate forces. In the distance, Cleburne and Wood continue to press Sherman's Division hard. Sherman himself is by this time MIA. 

Alongside and to the right of Gladden, Bragg's cavalry push against the crowd of milling and leaderless Union infantry. Though disorganised the latter are putting up a stout fight.

Having thrown back Peabody's brigade, Gladden's push is interrupted by a desperate - and futile - counter-attack by a few companies of Union cavalry. 

As the Confederate sweep continues, the whole of Breckinridge's command, the brigades of Bowen, Statham and Trabue, led by Forrest's cavalry, are marching directly towards the Tennessee River, thence to sweep up the river bank towards Pittsburgh Landing. This was the original plan for the army, but encounters with the Union army have tended to draw the Confederates northward - in effect, into frontal attacks all along the line.

Seeing off the weak cavalry attack, Gladden pushes on towards the Peach Orchard, where Prentiss has gathered what remains of his Division. A considerable blood letting immediately ensues.

The sweep up the line of the Owl Creek continues. Wood's brigade presses ahead past Shiloh Church to strike at Raith's brigade of McClernand's Division. Cleburne presses back the remnants of Buckland's brigade, leaving the still unorganised brigade of McDowell to the attentions of Pond and Anderson of Ruggles's Division. The brigades of Gibson (Ruggles/Bragg) and Stephens (Cheatham's Division/ Polk's Corps) push up the Shiloh Church road.

Cleburne, Anderson and Pond complete the rout of McDowell and Buckland. The dice show 7 hits on the two brigades, enough to wipe them out, with change. The '1's indicate (a) McDowell's continued failure to form an organised body, and (b) that they scored no hits by way of reply. Farther off, close by Shiloh Church, Wood overwhelms Raith's brigade at once, but Raith's men hand out a few licks of their own before going under. Meanwhile, Hardee's other brigade, Shavers's holds a crossroad between the church and Gladden's brigade. Moving up towards the church itself, Stephens, of Polk's Corps, has pushed ahead even of Bragg's line.

Following up the rout of Raith's brigade, Wood runs into Marsh's brigade. Though Marsh is ready for the fight, with Hardee there to encourage them, the Confederates get the better of this firefight as well. All the same, having advanced rapidly with such success, Wood's brigade has become isolated, and is about to face a much stiffer fight.

Having overcome Sherman's Division, Cleburne, Anderson and Pond have nothing facing them to oppose a continued sweep p the like of Owl Creek. In the far distance, The Confederates have stalled in front of Peach Orchard. Badly knocked about, Gladden needs help from Cheatham's Division. Bushrod Johnson is not far off, and Chalmers has switched across to face Stuart's brigade. 

That isolated brigade does have a battery in support (detached from Sherman's Divisional park), and 4th Ohio Cavalry is also there to help . For the moment Chalmers is on his own...

The fighting about the Peach Orchard have depleted both sides: Gladden's brigade and the troops Prentiss had managed to gather about him. Nearby, Williams's brigade of Hurlbut's Division is attacking Shavers's depleted brigade behind Gladden. Covered by Prentiss's resistance, Lauman's brigade occupies the Peach Orchard area. 

Reduced to half its original strength, Shaver's brigade apprehends as assault by Williams's fresh command. The Confederacy is not having it all its own way.

S.A.M. Wood's brigade has also run into trouble. Having rolled up Raith and Marsh, he has still to overcome Hare's brigade. But now Major-General McClernand has gathered together the artillery of his own and Sherman's Divisions, together with the remains of Sherman's last surviving brigade, Hildebrand's, which also joins the fight. Having lost 25% of his force in his headlong advance, Wood (and Hardee) will be lucky to progress further... unless Cleburne and the others can come up betimes

All this while, Grant, who began the day several miles downriver, arrives to take command. Brig-Genl W.H.L. Wallace hasn't moved his troops off the heights above Pittsburgh Landing, but all his brigades are by now in hand, and ready to march or fight as seems right. Meanwhile crowds of fugitives mill around the riverbank by the Landing itself. In the picture, the fugitives are depicted by the flags of the brigades that have so far been destroyed....

We're only about half-way through the narrative, but this seemed a good place to pause, and await the next instalment.
To be continued...