Sunday 2 June 2013

Cutler's Farm - a bloody defeat!

Flags at half mast on the streets of Richmond today ...

The concluding turns of the Battle of Cutlers Farm - which you can find analysed in detail at http://wargameswithmybrother.blogspot.co.uk -  have been played out, and General Pope has managed to triumph over the Army of Northern Virginia. He has won the second battle in a row and gained the total of 10 VPs that he needed to claim a campaign victory. A bitter pill for the Rebels to swallow and, as I have been frequently heard to say (since about 1964) just after I have been trounced yet again on the battlefield by my brother ... " How can anyone stand against the industrial might and infinite manpower resources of the economically dominant yet spiritually bankrupt North ...? "

A complicated post-mortem is unecessary this time - there were no tactical errors or massive sequences of unfavourable die rolls ! General Lee had used up all his command points conducting a 'clever' manoeuvre around the Union northern flank on the strategic map, and bamboozled by his own brilliance he didn't think it necessary to spend command points on restoring the combat effectiveness of Anderson's division. Consequently it was not present on table, with er,.... Lee arrogantly assuming he could work his magic without it. The Rebs fielded 20 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigades and 9 batteries against Pope's 27 infantry brigades, 5 cavalry brigades and 14 batteries - and the mathematical result, to paraphrase Dicken's Mr Micawber .... "misery" !

If you want to witness the unedifying spectacle of General Pope gloating over his triumph, feel free to visit http://roadtoappomatox.blogspot.co.uk . This campaign may be over, but somehow, somewhere the war will go on ....... in glorious 6mm.

No comments:

Post a Comment