WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862

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A savage battle began, with considerable melee action with rifle butts and bayonets due to short visibility in the corn. Officers rode about cursing and yelling orders no one could hear in the noise. Rifles became hot and fouled from too much firing; the air was filled with a hail of bullets and shells.

Starting this turn with the left flank of Hooker's 1st Corps, I see I lost the US Regular battery I had moved to Mumma Lane, destroyed by cannon fire from Bachman's German South Carolina battery. I rush the Rhode Island battery there anyway, then move the caisson two hexes away. It's vital that Ewell is stopped from reaching the East Woods, thereby flanking the 1st Corps. Truman's brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, by now the longest-suffering unit in this fight, has to hold its position, while Magilton's brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, detached from Meade, files into line on Truman's left flank.

The rebs have some damn big guns around the Dunker Church.. the German battery is even fielding a 6.3-inch Blakely Rifle!

The fighting in the cornfield has become a bloody mess, both sides having been standing and blasting away at each other two full turns. I keep trying to advance deeper into the cornfield but the reb musketry and cannonades are too intense. My artillery can't do any good here, because the nearest high ground is out of range of Hood's line and they can't see into the cornfield through all the smoke. On the Hagerstown Pike, I send a brigade, in column formation, from Meade's division to drive into the gap between Hood's division in the cornfield and Jones's division in the West Woods.


Back at Doubleday's line, Phelps's New Yorkers launch a charge that causes Taliaferro's brigade of Alabamians and Virginians to break! Two regiments from Patrick's brigade also charge, seizing an objective flag, and it's bayonets and rifle butts between the 19th Indiana and the 48th Alabama. The Alabamians, stunned by the Yankee charge, disperse and cease to exist as a regiment for the rest of this battle. The other two regiments of Patrick's brigade are shot to pieces, and are too suppressed to participate. The remaining regiments comprising Doubleday's right flank are also pretty damaged, and there are still lots of rebels securing Jones's left flank, so for now they'll trade volleys while Phelps's brigade does what it can. Between them and Anderson's brigade driving toward the Hagerstown Pike, I can split Jones and Hood, thereby causing a serious rift in Jackson's line. nb - I really doubt Jackson would have allowed this to happen in real life.

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I estimate that the brigades of Phelps, Gibbon, and Patrick have easily lost half their numbers. In an earlier post, I confused Hoffman's brigade with one of Meade's detached brigades. Regardless, his is the only intact brigade in Doubleday's division. Despite Phelps's successes, hard-won with even more bayonets and rifle butts, the division is too mauled and the rebs still in too much strength in the woods to continue the assault. With so many losses, I decide to call off the attack and establish a line in the North Woods.


At the cornfield, the fighting continues to be a brutal slugfest. Maneuver is almost impossible, as earch move forward initiates a hail of musketry and cannon fire, but Ricketts keeps his regiments fighting and giving it just as hard to the rebs. The Pennsylvania Reserves have checked Ewell, and backed by artillery, they establish a line in the East Woods, straddling Mumma Lane, and begin exchanging volleys with Ewell's Georgia regiments. End of turn 4.

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It continues to be a slugfest in the cornfield, and the Pennsylvania Reserves continue to check Ewell along the Mumma Road. To the west, the line has largely stabilized and I make plans to hit Jackson's left flank again.

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I've decided to pull Meade's division from the cornfield and let the rebels come at me for a change. The losses have been too great - Christian's Brigade (2nd/2nd/First Corps AoP) has been almost entirely destroyed.

Doubleday on the left has to move now - the constant trading of volleys has severely reduced his ammunition, and Jackson has sent Jones's Brigade against him. I send Doubleday's line out to meet Jones, though Early is still advancing from the West. However, First Corps artillery has forced him to a halt. If he continues to be a problem, I may have to assign a brigade of Doubleday's to help, which will be dicey given Jones's position in the trees.

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Though Doubleday has mostly halted Jones, Early continues to advance from the west, but First Corps artillery needs to cease firing for a turn to replenish their ammunition.


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I've managed to establish a reasonably intact line at the northern edge of the cornfield.


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[mkr8683]

Though I've yielded immediate command of the cornfield to the rebels, they're close enough that Meade's artillery can hit them hard. His two remaining batteries, by virtue of their own unsupported fire, managed to drive away the entire brigade of Hays's Louisiana Tigers. However, on Meade's left flank, Ewell's artillery has gotten a clear view through the smoke and opened up on Pennsylvania Reserves.


I impulsively ordered a charge by Doubleday over on the right, but that was a mistake, as many of his regiments are out of ammunition or are too suppressed to move. Predictably, most of the regiments were driven away, and Jackson's artillery suddenly reappeared to the west and knocked out the remainder of my supporting artillery on that flank. Doubleday has met with disaster, and with the situation on the left going only a little better, it looks like I'll have to give it all up.