"Poll Results - Most Popular ACW Campaigns?" Topic

For the last two months we've been running a survey at 6mmACW.com to find out which campaigns players are most interesting in wargaming. We are talking about big campaign games, with a series of linked tabletop battles and free-ranging map movement. It's worth noting that is a slightly different question than asking for the most popular or interesting campaigns generally. Our survey ended on July 4th and we had a very nice response rate with some interesting results. All the survey data is available here:

link

While I understand Gettysburg's appeal, its been overdone, especially with the 150th anniversary in 2013. War was won in the west, Cozzen's books got me back into ACW, and the Vicksburg Campaign easily rivals Gettysburg, with the benefit of a naval aspect. Your Gibralter in the West Campaign was brilliant. If it has to be in the east then why not something less well known, Second Manassas or the Peninsula would be my preferences.

The strong east-coast bias continues to amaze me as an ACW buff. The war was clearly won in the west as you said, and for all the hero-worship-worthy personalities in the east, there are still plenty of fascinating characters in the west. I think the Tullahoma campaign, while almost bloodless, is an incredible feat of maneuver. But because no one has heard of it and the commanders aren't as cool as Lee or Jackson, no one really talks about it.

I agree about the West and would add to the list: The Chickamauga campaign, and the Atlanta Campaign -- especially the latter.

Hi I'm not familiar with Cozzen or the war in the west. Can you please suggest specific books to read? Thanks!

Antietam campaign.

'Round these parts we don't consider Tennessee and Georgia to be the West. Take Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and the territories – Indian and New Mexico – now you're talkin' the "real West!" Just kidding! But there were lots of interesting campaigns in this region, although smaller compared to the two main theaters.

For Recruits in September I'm putting on a 15mm game of Westport, which was fought only a few miles from the con site in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Most folks don't know it, but this was the largest battle ever fought west of the Mississippi, with over 30,000 troops involved as compared to 26,500 at Pea Ridge and 24,100 at Pleasant Hill.

Peter Cozzens has written several books, "No Better Place to Die" about Stone's River, "This Terrible Sound" on Chickamagua, "The Shipwreck of Their Hopes" on Chatanooga and "The Darkest Day of the War" on Corinth and Iuka, among others. To me they are some of the finest descriptions of battles in the Civil War and are accompanied by extensive and detailed maps and OOB's.

Hi

My favorite ACW campaign is New Mexico. Okiegamer what rules are you going to uses for westport?

Vicksburg not even in the list? I'm astonished. The loss of the city, the river and the army was fatal to the Confederacy. It also pushed Grant along the path to command of all the Union armies, ending amateur grand strategy.

War was won in the west,

There is nothing inherent about the western theatre that made it decisive. The west just happened to be where the U.S. managed to win some decisive actions, while in the east after First Manassas the two sides fought to a near stalemate. If JE Johnston managed to lose half of his army in an unsuccessful defense of Richmond, we'd probably be talking about how the U.S. won the war in the east. Likewise if Lee manages to destroy the AoP, you would likely have a Confederate victory.

For wargaming my standard would be a campaign where either side has the potential to win without the other side doing something stupid. In the west Atlanta fits. Another good candidate is Van Dorn, Price and Brechinridge's efforts to recover middle Tennessee and also the Red River campaign. In the east I like the Second Manassas campaign. If you are willing to go for something smaller I think the campaigns in western Virginia in early 1864 that resulted in New Market and Piedmont have potential.

Definitely the Western Theater. It destroyed the South's ability to wage war. Virginia alone could not sustain the Confederacy.

The Tennessee campaign from Stones River to Chickamauga would be my choice. As was mentioned, a campaign of maneuver with several major battles, plus many "what if" opportunities, especially with regards to command and control.

And of course, there were the exploits of Wilder's Lightning Brigade, arguably the most effective brigade in the ACW.

Stones River to Chickamauga as already stated, Chickamauga to Atlanta Sterling Prices campaign to take St. Louis in 1864 which eventually leads to the Battle of Westport mentioned above, Braggs Invasion of Kentucky and finally Hoods attempt to rise up out of Alabama to take Nashville.

I have a new fascination with the Red River campaign, admittedly because I have multiple ancestors who served in it. I've been doing genealogy research and you find the most amazing things.

Most, if not all, of the battles I wargame these days are generic. I.e., "Somewhere in Virginia 1862."

Hi I'm not familiar with Cozzen or the war in the west. Can you please suggest specific books to read? Thanks!

Peter Cozzens has an excellent series

The Darkest Days of the War: Iuka and Corinth
No Better Place to Die: Stones River
The Terrible Sound: Chickamauga
The Shipwreck of their Hopes: Chattanooga.

I'd also recommend Thomas L. Connelly two books:

Army of the Heartland: The Army of Tennessee, 1861-1862
Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee, 1862-1865

Put me down as a "Western" man too.

Cozzens didn't limit himself to the western theatre. He also wrote Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign

I have Connelly's two books, but I'm not sure I would recommend them. Before investing in them you might want to look through them first to make sure they are what you are looking fot.

I recommend Connelly because the books give an overview of the main Confederate Army in the Western theater. They remain two interesting volumes.

Yes, but not a lot of detail on any one campaign.