We played Shiloh one more time Tuesday evening. The game had been requested by Ken, but he was under the weather. Bill played the Confederate Albert Sidney Johnston while Rick took the part of Ulysses S. Grant. I umpired. Rick opted to advance Prentiss' division, which forced the Confederates to deploy 6 inches further south, representing Peabody's early morning scout. We haven't done that before but Bill's smashing attack on Sherman last week woke us up. Here are the starting positions.
Bill came on but was dogged by slow movement rolls. Hardee moved half speed while Withers decided it was time to check equipment out and didn't move at all. Ruggles moved to flank Prentiss, who called his troops to order but didn't notice the flank threat.
Sherman formed deep, awaiting the onslaught.
Hardee's charge was stopped by rifle fire. Prentiss managed to drive back Ruggles' anemic flank attack. Breckinridge and Polk arrived.
Withers charged Prentiss and was held off while Ruggles rallied his troops. Cheatham relieved Hardee's men, who received fresh cartridges.
The Confederates now made a concerted push all along the line. Sherman was whipped, falling back to the Union second line. Clark's division looted his camp. They were distracted by the bacon, hardtack and coffee for a few turns. Hardee's corps went right though the camp and hit McClernand. A tough fight saw each side suffer loss and then the Union troops fell back in disorder. Prentiss was also defeated and ran back behind the second line.
Panic broke out in McClernand's division, which fell back quite a way, shedding stragglers. This would continue for a couple turns. while the unit didn't quite flee the field, they might as well have been in Indiana for the rest of the battle. A division of trained troops was out of action.
Bill was having trouble getting troops forward – they must have been celebrating their victory a little early. Hardee's guns rushed forward and unlimbered within musket range of Sherman's troops, who aimed high and missed.
Sherman then tried to rush the guns but was stopped with losses.
A burst of well-aimed rifle fire silenced the guns. Pressure built up against the Hornet's Nest.
An attack finally got into the Hornet's Nest and threw Hurlbut back.
In the fading light, the Confederates made another rush forward with empty cartridge boxes. Union fire held them on the left and right, but Hurlbut and Sherman collapsed in the center, Sherman's division scattered to the winds. In the confusion Grant went down.
Our house rules determined afterwards that he had been injured by his falling horse and would be out of action for a few days. The Confederates advance had stopped short of Pittsburg landing, so victory was gone. They had a good shot at the nominal tie on the second day. We played the night turn (probably a mistake as we were all tired).
We played 9 turns in about 3 hours 45 minutes. Confederate losses were 6,000. Union losses were an astounding 16,000, with another 4,000 troops fleeing the field. Still, the second day would see a lot of blue coats on the field as Buell's army and Lew Wallace's division filed into line.
We really like this scenario but will probably give it a rest for a while. Franco-Prussian battles beckon, and our ancient armies might be wanting a turn on the table. There is a slim chance of another game next Tuesday, otherwise that's it for this year.