| gamer1 | 04 Aug 2023 7:02 a.m. PST |
So as the title suggests I am finding alot of contradictory information on web sites. Some say an average brigade was around 2500 men, others say it was as high as 4K-5K, which other web sites suggest is the size of a division.
I know there is a huge difference between what the strength should be on paper vs what they actually where historically. So guess I am just asking for opinions on what folks more informed then me think is a fair and balanced, historic number. My impression is that a brigade is closer to the 2500 number with a division around 5K but thats just me.
Also have seen the average number of a corps vary from 20k to 30k+
Yes, I also know that southern divisions where often "fatter":) Thanks, Travis |
 KimRYoung  | 04 Aug 2023 7:28 a.m. PST |
By the time of Gettysburg the average size of a brigade on BOTH sides is around 1400-1600 men. Some were up to 2,000 men, but others less then a 1,000 In the west it was similar. Only very early in the war were brigades in the 2,500 to 3,000 range. A copy of Busey and Martin's Regimental Strengths and Losses is a must for anyone doing Civil War:
link Kim |
| HMS Exeter | 04 Aug 2023 8:38 a.m. PST |
Our old gaming group, long since exited from ACW, employed a simple expedient. We chose a template battle, in our case Gettysburg, and built out our divisions and brigades using the historical strengths. Given the variability of regimental assignments and the long term effects of operational friction, combat, illness, desertion…The only real generalization about Brigade strengths is that you really can't make mwaningful generalizations about Brigade strengths. |
| 79thPA | 04 Aug 2023 8:42 a.m. PST |
You really need to look at individual battles and campaigns to see what effective strength looked like for individual units. It could vary greatly from one action to the next. For example, the Iron Brigade had around 2,000 men at Brawner's Farm, 1300 at South Mountain, 800 at Antietam, and 1900 at Gettysburg.
Are you interested in making generic brigades for hypothetical battles?
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| 14Bore | 04 Aug 2023 8:42 a.m. PST |
Problem with at least the North armies, it was the point to keep recruiting new Regiment rather the filling in old ones.
I have done Gettysburg with my Napoleonic armies changing my OOB to the actual brigades, my Regiments often came out to full Brigades of the ACW, sometimes 1 Battalion. Might be a brigade |
| gamer1 | 04 Aug 2023 10:29 a.m. PST |
Thanks for all the help and input. Sounds like as long as I am in the "ballpark" I would be better off just making sure the ratios of strength is correct between the two forces rather than trying to get all the little details correct:):) …….and yes looking at doing something that could span couple years so "generic" would be a fair term with some randomness concerning quality. |
| Bill N | 04 Aug 2023 10:51 a.m. PST |
As others have said "it depends" would be the correct answer. There are instances as late as 1864 of brigades having in excess of 5,000 men. There are instances of brigades having 1,000 men or less. If you are looking for a sweat spot then 1,500, 2,000 or 2,400 are all good. |
| gamer1 | 04 Aug 2023 11:40 a.m. PST |
Yep, as others have said, think I will use 2500 as a sweet spot, probably a little generous but its a nice round number……kinda:) Besides its actually for a board game and I will be using counters so "combat strength" is the actual goal to represent. |
| Dn Jackson | 04 Aug 2023 8:48 p.m. PST |
If you want numbers I recommend the Great Battles of the American Civil War by SPI/TSR. There were a bunch of these games for both eastern and western theaters. Each counter is a regiment and the strength is in hundreds of men, (i.e. strength 4 is roughly 400 men). You can find pictures of the counter sheets on Board Game Geek so you don't need to buy the games. Here's Terrible Swift Sword – Gettysburg.
link |
| robert piepenbrink | 05 Aug 2023 8:12 a.m. PST |
Something to be said for the "Altar of Freedom" scenario system. They specify average brigade strength for that battle, and then adjust "weak" and "strong" accordingly. |
| Martin Rapier | 06 Aug 2023 1:50 a.m. PST |
Unlike European armies of the same era, regiment and brigade sizes in the ACW were all over the place and you almost need to look on a battle bu battle basis. I mainly do big battles so I just look at division headcounts, although in the.main, ACW units are far smaller than their European equivalents. A "regiment" with 300 men in it looks more like a company to me. As Robert says, taking an average brigade strength and adjust up and down is a good approach, although I do it for divisions or Corps, not brigades. |
