Invasion Maryland - Turn 32

Strategic situation - 6:20pm - Turn 32

D.H.Hill has finally completely cleared the Yankee cavalry out of Williamsport, and established himself on the East bank of the Potomac. It has been a slow process though, and I would have preferred him to be in a better position to threaten either Hagerstown or McClellan's flank before nightfall. Regardless of that, I am still willing to bet that he is making the Union commander nervous!

Yankee troopers driven off, Hill consolidates his perimeter as dusk approaches.

Lee is patiently assembling his battle lines. It will be limited visibility from 7pm to 8pm then nightfall, after which any kind of movement carries a high cost in fatigue. The Confederates cannot compete with massed long-range Federal artillery so much of my deployment is an attempt to avoid those fields of fire.

The Rebel Left

The Rebel Centre

The Rebel Right

A tactic I have developed in previous games is to spread the rebel artillery thinly around the entire front line, stacking it with entrenched infantry to beef up their firepower in defence. This has proven to be a better use of it than getting into a large scale counter-battery combat that I can only lose. The artillery should mostly be in position before dark.

Overview of the Confederate lines.

Jones' division of Jackson's command is still moving up through Downsville, having been delayed by unusually audacious Union cavalry ! The left flank will not be fully secure until it is in place. Longstreet also has a division under a different General Jones which is being deployed as a reserve just north of Mount Moriah.

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Invasion Maryland - Turn 28

5:00pm - Turn 28 - strategic situation

Christmas festivities over - back to the battlefield! As more and more Union forces arrived at Jones Crossroads I remembered the massive disparity in artillery between the two armies. Yankee artillery units are mostly 6 guns, predominantly rifled weapons with massive ranges - stack three or four of those in hex and you can rout enemy units by artillery fire only. The Rebs quite often have artillery counters of only 2 or 3 guns with half the range. I decided that the Confederate position at Tilghmanton was becoming too exposed to massed Union batteries and began to withdraw Longstreet's forces to the west.

Jackson's men continue to arrive on Longstreet's left flank

Longstreet's divisions retire to the west while presenting a coherent front to the enemy
 A difficult manoeuvre causing some traffic chaos.

The collision between the two armies at Jones Crossroads had been a bit haphazard. To fight a defensive battle with any hope of winning I need to choose my ground a little better. Night is approaching and I hope to hold a more sustainable position by morning.

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Overview of A.P.Hill's Division as Jackson's men move up through
 Downsville on Longstreet's left.

D.H.Hill's Division  is finally across the Potomac at Williamsport, but it is hard work.
I think a large force of Federal cavalry is still embedded in the centre of the town
 but I may attempt to bypass them to the south.

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Invasion Maryland - Turn 25

Well, the Confederates have stuck to their original plan with only minimal interference from the enemy. The Army of Northern Virginia continues to converge on the area just east of Downsville between Jones Crossroads and Tilghmanton. General Lee himself is now present on the field and detailed deployments for a major battle are being made. Due to the time of day (3:40 pm) it is unlikely there will be any major action until tomorrow.

Both wings of the army deploying near Jones Crossroads.
All divisions will soon be present except D.H.Hill who is still west of the Potomac
 threatening Williamsport and Hagerstown.

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Invasion Maryland - Turn 21

Strategic situation

Turn 21 - 2:40pm, September 12th. At Williamsport a token force stays to engage the Union troopers on the east bank. The bulk of Jackson's men continue to cross at Falling Waters and head for Downsville, where Yankee cavalry opposition has melted away.

Rebel guns continue to bombard across the river

Jackson's wing of the army ploughs on through Downsville

At Jones Crossroads the Federals have been digging in and keeping their units out of range of massed Rebel artillery. But more and more forces from both sides are arriving on the scene.

Longstreet faces the enemy to the north and to the south.

Union columns are also advancing on Jones Crossroads from the south, creating a big tactical headache for Longstreet. The good news is that JEB Stuart's cavalry has been rampaging across that area, destroying limbered guns and supply wagons on the roads and generally causing delay and mayhem.

Union forces head north from Sharpsburg, approaching Bakersville.

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Invasion Maryland - Turn 17

It is now Turn 17 - 1:20pm on 12th September. Multiple engagements are developing across a broad front. Firstly - D.H. Hill has been attempting to force a crossing of the Potomac at Williamsport but the river and general terrain here are making it easy for large numbers of Yankee Cavalry and horse guns to delay us substantially. Artillery has been brought up, but Hill has diverted part of his column back down the western side of the Potomac towards Lee and Jackson's crossing point at Falling Waters a few miles south.

Williamsport : strategic situation

Williamsport : tactical situation

At Downsville, Jackson pushes the brigades of Ewell's Division forward as quickly as he can to envelop the Federal troopers and secure the town.  Union cavalry are being used very effectively to delay us and buy time for McClellan to march all his corps to the scene of the action.

Downsville : strategic situation

Downsville : tactical situation

But the main event is shaping up to be at Jones Crossroads, some five miles north of Sharpsburg on the Hagerstown/Sharpsburg Pike. Here the two armies are colliding with enough friction to bring on an engagement that could draw in a lot of troops on both sides. Longstreet is present on the field and has deployed the divisions of Hood and McLaws against an as-yet unidentified Union corps. A large scale artillery exchange has begun.

Jones Crossroads : strategic situation

Jones Crossroads : tactical situation

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Invasion Maryland - Turn 13

Union forces were becoming so 'pesky' close to Sharpsburg that Longstreet has ordered his remaining divisions west of the Potomac (Walker & Jones) to stay on that side and find a ford further north.
D.H.Hill is now on the west bank preparing to cross at Williamsport. His men captured a Union cavalry officer who had stopped for a pee in the bushes, obviously completely unaware that an entire enemy division was coming up the pike from the south! McClellan finally seems to realise that Rebel forces are attempting to cross at multiple locations, and Pleasonton's troopers appear to be criss-crossing the landscape like headless chickens trying to make sense of it all ....

More and more Union forces emerge from the 'fog of war', but the plan is just
about still intact - consolidate near Downsville.

Invasion Maryland - Turn 10

Scouting has revealed that a large chunk of the Union Army seems to be converging quickly on Sharpsburg. Another corps is moving northwest towards Williamsport, and quite probably yet another could be making due north for Hagerstown. As McClellan is being unexpectedly aggressive, Lee needs to consolidate his army quickly to avoid being caught at a numerical disadvantage - I am thinking maybe in the area just east of Downsville.

As Longstreet continues to push his divisions northwards up through Sharpsburg to meet with Lee and Jackson, more and more Union infantry are starting to appear just beyond Antietam Creek, a little too close to the town for comfort. Stuart's troopers are starting to incur some losses holding them at bay, and it could be that elements of Longstreet's command will have to deploy soon to counter this. I don't really want to get into a major engagement here.

SHARPSBURG - 11:00am, Turn 10. Fitzhugh Lee's troopers under serious pressure at the Rohrbach Bridge.
Wade Hampton's men at the Middle Bridge may soon be facing the same.

                                                               Click on images to enlarge.