"Fences at Shiloh" Topic

In preparation for my upcoming Shiloh game I've been building some 15mm wood fences. I'm building a mix of straight post-and-rail and zig-zag worm fencing.

I'm wondering whether I should be bothering with fences at all, especially since my scenario will depict Buell's attack on April 7. Considering that Grant's army had been camped in the area prior to the battle, wouldn't at least some of the fencing have been consumed for firewood? And wouldn't the fierce fighting of April 6 have destroyed much of any remaining fences?

Anyway, I will probably go ahead and use my fences. After all, I'm going to the trouble to build them! And they are just cosmetic in Fire & Fury.

Fencing is like trees. You can never have too many of either.

Scott, you are probably correct. I finished reading a book on the campaign recently, and a lot of fence was burned in areas that troops camped. That said, it will pretty up the table.

If you're doing brigade Fire and Fury then I would NOT kill myself maling fences as they're just ornamental anyway. Just put out what you have and what looks nice.

Are you using the Shiloh mat from Cigar Box?

The fences at the Peach Orchard were specifically mentioned as worm fences in, I think, Col. Pugh's report. Or possibly Hurlbut's. While that is the only specific mention of the type of fence, I would suspect the majority of them would be worm fences. Its just easier for backwoods farmers to build, maintain, and move/adjust if necessary.

There is plenty of literature describing how the Union Army cleared large swaths of forests to make their camp. I actually think most of the fences would still be there. There wasn't yet that type of animosity toward Confederate civilians yet. Many general officers forbade the burning of civilian fences until mid-war. Which, of course, wasn't always followed. Still, concerning Shiloh, I haven't read of any animosity toward the local farms. Most of the civilians were still there tending the farms until the morning of the battle itself, although some had left in the days before hand.

There weren't all that many locals there anyway. Just a few farms scattered through the woods and the church house which was little more than a shack anyway.

There is plenty of literature describing how the Union Army cleared large swaths of forests to make their camp. I actually think most of the fences would still be there. There wasn't yet that type of animosity toward Confederate civilians yet. Many general officers forbade the burning of civilian fences until mid-war. Which, of course, wasn't always followed. Still, concerning Shiloh, I haven't read of any animosity toward the local farms. Most of the civilians were still there tending the farms until the morning of the battle itself, although some had left in the days before hand.

Perhaps the soldiers would sneak about stealing just the top rails, leaving the fences intact but just a bit shorter!

and the Civil War gaming world always needs more wood fences.

It is surprising how fast a battalion can take a fence down. We were doing a tactical reenactment on the cedar creek battlefield. A severe cold snap came on us. They had a brand new fence along the road. People were eyeing it up, then somewhere the rumor started to make a windbreak out of it. The men broke camp and ran for it. It was down and most of the wood was in camp before most of the officers even were aware what was happening. A good 100 yards of the fence was down in under 5 minutes. I remember the Major Running out of his tent screaming in terror. It was a sight to see as he happened to be on the board of the battlefield and knew how much it was going to cost if we started burning it. We were just a bunch of reenactors, I could imagine what 10 times the number of men, 20 years younger, and more experienced could do. It was like locust.

"Fencing is like trees. You can never have too many of either"

but you surely can put too many of them on a gaming table.