We've played a battle of the American Civil War
Joost Sander, Alexander and Abe played with the north, Justin, Alex and Erik with the south.
The North Placed Hancock's Corps (Joost) on the left flank, this flank was strewn with obstacles, Hancock's troops had the quality to be able to break through there. In the centre the battle field was separated by a stone wall, Northern cavalry was posted here, they were to move forward and take and retain the wall until the infantry of Sickles (Abe) could take over. On the right flank Burnside (Sander and Alexander) was placed, of all the troops he had the "least quality", this flank was more open and he wanted to lure the southern troops forward so that he could attack them with his artillery. The real breakthrough was to come from the Centre or the left flank.
The South had come up with the same plan as the North, they too wanted the Cavalry to occupy the stone wall in the Centre, General A.P. Hill (Alex) would then take over from the cavalry and protect the Centre. Longstreet's corps (Erik) had to roll up the left flank, Hood had to attack on the outer flank while Picket would provide support to Hood. On the right flank Jackson (Justin) had to force a breakthrough, now all the generals could do was wait and see which cavalry would reach the stone wall first.
The first turn was to the North, the cavalry was ordered to move towards the centre, they did this but the stone wall in the centre could not be reached, Hancock's troops moved further forward on the left flank, on the right flank Burnside moved his troops forward.
Jeb Stuart moved his cavalry forward and with a murderous pace they moved towards the stone wall, here they dismounted and took up positions behind the stone wall and pored a coordinated fire onto the onrushing Union cavalry. Hood's Division (Longstreet's Corps) moved forward towards the troops of Doubleday (Burnside's corps), Picket (Longstreet's corps) also moved forward and placed themselves in the Centre where they opened fire on the Division of Oliver Howard (Burnside's corps), the victims were limited. Jackson's entire corps placed itself in front of Hancock's corps and also opened fire.
The fire was quickly answered by the Northern line whose troops took up their positions opposite the southern lines, Hancock's troops had also reached the fences and fired back at the troops of Jackson. In the centre the troops of Sickles opened fire on the Southern cavalry but it failed to expel Stuart's cavalry. Howard formed a line and opened fire on the troops of Picket and inflicted heavy losses. Doubleday moved towards the troops of Hood.
Hood moved his troops forward, they opened fire on the move onto the Union forces but without halting the fire was less effective than he had hoped. Picket gave the order to the front line to replace those men that had suffered heavy losses by the troops of Howard but they failed to "pass through the lines" and they remained where they stood. Hill wanted to take the place of Stuart's cavalry troopers but Stuart refused to leave while they inflicted serious casualties onto the approaching enemy. On the other flank a deadly gunfight continued.
Doubleday now decided to pull back and with limited speed they moved backwards while another salvo was shot into the troops from Hood. Howard kept firing on an already weakened regiment of Picket that sustained more casualties. In the centre the union generals decided to pull their troops back, out of reach of the carbines of Stuart.
Hood could now no longer hold himself back, running with his sword in hand he pointed in the direction of the troops of Doubleday, his soldiers brought down their bayonets and rushed to the other side, the Union forces opened fire, and fought back against the troops from Hood. For a Union regiment it became too much and they broke under the violent southern attack, a second regiment held out and even managed to get the upper hand in the fight but the southern troops held their ground. Picket again tried to get order into his lines and although he was not exactly convincing he could finally move the weakened regiment backwards and he replaced it with a fresh infantry regiment. With no enemy troops left in range, the Cavalry of Stuart mounted their horses and made room for the troops of Hill that took up positions behind the stone wall.
Doubleday fought back and despite the fact that the southern troops now even held a majority in numbers they were unable to defeat the Union forces, Pickets Division was further shot at and also the centre and the left flank were fired upon but while the casualties rose the units held.
Hoods troops were finally able to push back the troops of Doubleday, while they were pushed back they marched past the Northern artillery that Burnside had placed there with the skill of foresight. Picket decided to increase the moral of one of his regiments but his charismatic and inspiring rhetoric not only managed to fill the hearts of his troops with pride but he also filled their hearts with indiscriminate anger, a blood-red haze formed in front of the eyes of his troops that all of a sudden decided to charge the enemy. As if suddenly possessed, they charged beyond their own lines but despite all their hatred the enemy could not be reached. An astonished Picket was dragged along by his men, panic formed in the eyes of the otherwise positive Picket while he tried to bring his troops back to their senses.
Oliver Howard looked on dumbfounded as a single southern regiment ran towards his troops. The surprise was even greater when he also saw how Picket, completely bewildered, ran after his troops trying to bring them back under control. This opportunity he could not let pass, he pulled out his colt revolver and aimed his weapon on Picket, a shot echoed and Picket grabbed for his leg, followed by a second shot after which Picket felt a painful stab in his arm, quickly followed by a third shot and a stab in his lower abdomen. Picket looked up towards the "one-armed" Northern General that fired a fourth shot.
Picket fell to his knees, the pain becoming unbearable, a fifth shot would finally release him from his suffering. Shocked his troops saw how their general went down, however, they were not allowed a long mourning process, the divisions of Howard now opened fire on the Confederate troops that fell by the dozens, and panic broke out while volley after volley felled the grey clad troops. The Division broke and those that survived fled the field.
Burnside opened fire with his artillery into the flank of a supporting unit of Hood, the unit was torn apart by the deadly fire but despite the many casualties that they suffered they refused to break. Sedgwick pulled back his troops in the Centre, they had more modern weapons than the southern troops that faced them and could fire over a longer range, out of the effective range of the southern troops they continued their fire on the Confederate troops that hid behind the stone wall in the centre. On the other Flank the casualties kept piling up without a clear winner emerging.
Hood continued his attacks and the Northern unit they fought finally broke and the Northern Division was broken, only one regiment remained that would withdraw fighting. The Cavalry of both sides now pulled to the left flank, this was where some manoeuvring space was finally emerging. The Musket fire continued unabated and units continued to sustain casualties but all units held their ground.
Burnside decided to launch a second artillery volley in the direction of the troops of Hood, at the front of Hoods division the last retreating troops of Doubleday also opened fire on Hoods troops. This deadly fire turned out to be too much for the heavily bloodied troops of Hood, no less than two regiments broke and thus his full Division was also broken, his last regiment withdrew. Both sides had lost a Division, while the fight continued the Generals thought hard on how they could still convert this battle into a victory.
By now Picket was succeeded by a new Commander (and with a very healthy amount of creativity we named him Picket II...) who was accompanied by his corps commander, Longstreet, Longstreet gave Picket II the order to take command of the second regiment, and the first regiment was now commanded by Longstreet himself. Longstreet took out a new cigar, knocked the sand from his dusty hat and stroke his hands through his long beard, then he drew his sabre, placed himself between his troops and with a loud cry he stormed towards the enemy, accompanied by his troops and followed by Picket II with his regiment.
The grey mass moved over broken terrain towards the enemy with only a few meters to go a deadly fire was opened by the boys in blue, this could not stop the Confederate forces, with bayonets and rifle butts they attacked the troops of Howard, Longstreet himself chopped up many a man, while Slicing and chopping through the enemy troops he came face to face with Howard who was shocked by what he had seen and decided not to want to experience the southern fury from up close, He ran off, accompanied by his remaining troops. A second division was broken, the entire corps of Burnside was now on the run. Longstreet's troops, however, were severely weakened and could only be of limited use during the remainder of the battle.
The Union forces were shocked by the sudden violent attack and they tried to move units forward to close the flank, the 54th Massachusetts completely misunderstood the orders and marched off the field, back towards the camp. Frantically the fight continued, Longstreet's troops now were about to suffer, the troops of Sedgwick knew no mercy and volley after volley was fired into the exhausted troops from Longstreet, but no matter the losses they suffered, they held.
General A.P. Hill decided that it was time to force a decision, he gave his troops the order to move out from cover, they crossed the wall, and launched a deadly fire on the Northern troops of Sedgwick, the Union troops suffered additional fire from the troops of Longstreet that, although severely weakened launched a deadly fire into the Northern regiments. A Northern regiment broke. Jackson on the other flank also decided to push the attack forward and started to push the Northern troops from Hancock slowly back, for the South now it was all or nothing.
But the North also refused to give up hope for a victory and again they opened a deadly onto the troops of Longstreet, eventually the losses became too great, a regiment broke and the second regiment withdrew. The North had managed to balance the tide, both armies had lost a corps, could there still be hope then? The 54th Massachusetts believed there was, they returned from the camp where they had consumed a delicious cup of hot coffee, they still had not discharged a single weapon but now they were ready to support their hard-fighting brethren.
A.P. Hill continued the attack and his troops moved further forward, by now Sedgwick's troops were attacked from all sides, panic broke out in his Division and terrified his troops left the field. Jackson also managed to break a Division from the corps of Hancock.
This was the final blow for the Union army, the order was given to withdraw, the South was not able to keep the pressure on the opponent, and they could not prevent the Union army from withdrawing to safety. It was a new Confederate victory, the Union army withdrew towards friendly terrain where they would reform and try again.
