A Portable Shiloh

The table set up: CSA advancing; the Union Army in their 
camps. Only one Union brigade would be allowed to 
organise automatically and at once (Peabody's); the rest
had to be diced for.

 

Several months ago - back in April, at the beginning of my rather slack blogging period - I played out the Battle of Shiloh on my well used, much fought over, hex battlefield. This game used the conventions I had developed for my Gettysburg battles as published in the Third Wargames Compendium (2024), and in this blog spot in January 2024. This time, though, the unit formations were brigades, rather than Divisions.

With the exception of W.T. Sherman's 5th, all Union Divisions comprised three brigades, to all of which were assigned 4 stands, and hence 4 Strength Points. All sixteen Confederate brigades were also 4SP strong. Within each Division, the artillery were concentrated in one stand, each with four-man gun crews. The Union also had an independent heavy piece close by Pittsburgh Landing.

Instead of three 4-stand brigades, Sherman got four 3-stand brigades. Actually, Stuart's brigade was separated from Sherman's main body by Prentiss's Division, and stood not far from the Tennessee River bank. It seemed reasonable to give  Stuart a cannon with a single crew figure to represent his allotment of guns.

The table set up with CSA brigades and Union 
Divisional camps labelled. 

The Armies comprised:

Union Army of the Tennessee:

Commanding: Brigadier-General Ulysses S. Grant#
1st Division: Major-Genl J.A. McClernand
    3 Brigades (Hare, Marsh and Raith) each 4 stands (each 4SP)
    1 small cavalry unit of 1 stand (1SP)
    1 cannon with 4-man crew (4SP)
2nd Division: Brig-Genl W.H.L. Wallace 
    3 Brigades (Tuttle, McArthur, Sweeny) (each 4SP)
    1 cavalry unit (1SP)
    1 cannon with 4-man crew (4SP)
3rd Division:    Major-Genl Lew Wallace*
    3 Brigades (Smith, Thayer, Whittlesey) (each 4SP)
    1 cavalry unit (1SP)
    1 cannon with 4-man crew (4SP)
4th Division: Brig-Genl S.A. Hurlbut
    3 Brigades (Williams, Veatch, Lauman) (each 4SP)
    1 cavalry unit (1SP)
    1 cannon (4SP)

5th Division: Brig-Genl W.T. Sherman**
    4 Brigades (McDowell, Stuart**, Hildebrand, Buckland) (each 3SP)
    1 cavalry unit (1SP)
    1 cannon with 3-man crew (3SP)

    1 cannon with 1-man crew (1SP)**

6th Division: Brig-Genl B.M. Prentiss
    3 Brigades (Peabody##, Miller, unattached infantry***) (each 4SP)
    1 cavalry unit (1SP)
    1 cannon with 4-man crew (4SP)
Reserve Artillery:

    1 heavy cannon with 4-man crew (4SP)

Total Army Strength: 106 Strength Points.


Notes:
* Lew Wallace's Division is a few miles away at Adamsville and Stoney Lonesome settlements. They spend almost the whole day marching to the battlefield. 

** Stuart's Brigade was separated from Sherman's camps on the right flank, beyond Prentiss's Division to the left, near the river.

*** For the purposes of this action I have supposed the unattached infantry to have been brigaded together 

# General Grant was himself not with his army as the Confederates began their early morning assault, having to board a boat to transport himself from Crump's Landing a few miles down-river.

## The Confederates managed to pull off an almost complete surprise, but one formation commander, smelling a large, hairy and early-rising rat, gathered together his brigade shortly before the attack. His was the only brigade of the 'front line' Divisions (Sherman and Prentiss) not surprised. How this is enacted will be told in due course.

Confederate Army of the Mississippi

Commanders: General A.S. Johnston (GoC); General P.G.T Beauregard (2iC)

I Army Corps: Major-Genl Leonidas Polk
    1st Division: Brig-Genl C. Clark 

        2 Brigades (Russell, A.P. Stewart) (each 4SP) 

        1 cannon (4SP)

    2nd Division: Major-Genl B.F. Cheatham 

        2 Brigades (B.R. Johnson, Stephens) (each 4SP)

        1 cannon (4SP)

    Cavalry: (1SP)

II Army Corps: Major-Genl Braxton Bragg

    1st Division: Brig-Genl Dan Ruggles

        3 Brigades (Gibson, Anderson, Pond) (each 4SP)

        1 cannon (4SP)

    2nd Division: Brig-Genl J.M. Withers

        3 Brigades (Gladden, Chalmers, J.K. Jackson) (each 4SP)
        1 cannon (4SP)

    Cavalry: (Col Joe Wheeler) (2SP)

III Army Corps*: Major-Genl Wm J. Hardee

    3 Brigades only (Shaver, Cleburne, Wood) (each 4SP)

    1 cavalry (1SP)
    1 cannon (4SP) 

IV Army Corps*: Brig-Genl J.C. Breckinridge
    3 Brigades (Trabue, Bowen, Statham) (each 4SP)
    1 cavalry (N. Bedford Forrest) (2SP)
    1 cannon (4SP) 

Total Army Strength: 94 Strength Points

Notes:
* The Corps of Hardee and Breckinridge were really only Division sized - roughly the same size as any of the Union Divisions.

The commencement of the battle, looking west to east
towards the Tennessee River

The same, looking east to west.

The Union army was attacked in its camps, only Colonel Everett Peabody (Prentiss's Division) being more or less ready to face the onslaught. He begins the battle with his brigade in the process of rallying; the rest of the Union army has to dice to rally and form up, which takes a turn to achieve. Dice rolls required a 6 for move 1, 5-6 for turn 2, 4-6 for turn 3, automatic thereafter. During the early stages of the battle, only Buckland's brigade of Sherman's Division was ready for action when Hardee's Corps struck, though at the eastern end of the line, Stuart was able to rally long before the Confederates got close.

Poor Peabody got embroiled in an unequal fight with the rest of Prentiss's Division seeming unable to sort themselves out betimes. By the time Prentiss get his command together, Peabody's brigade had gone under, and there wasn't a whole lot left of the rest of it!

Sherman's (nearest), McClernand's and Hurlbut's (distant)
Divisions still more or less recumbent.

W.H.L Wallace's Division close by Pittsburgh Landing. To the left of the 
picture, Hurlbut's Division, with McClernand in the distance.

First contact! S.A.M. Wood's brigade strikes Hildebrand's brigade (Sherman's Division)
near Shiloh Church. The surprise was enough to scatter Hildebrand's command
to the winds.

I'll probably write up only a very brief summary of events, though this refight was as eventful as the historical battle. I took far too many pictures!

To be continued...