"Small campaigns - divisional level" Topic

I'm building 3mm armies for the Civil War at the moment and, with only a small playing area, I'm planning on one regt. per stand with maybe a division in the field.

I always like to play campaigns, and I was thinking of Burnside's Carolina campaign – that's about 13,000 Union and, I think, roughly 15,000 Confederate, although they are spread thinly across the land and most were never used as Huger decided to keep them to defend Norfolk.

Has anyone got any other suggestions for similarly small campaigns? I'm happy to do the research, but if anyone can point me in the right direction to begin with, that would be a blessing.

Nick

Take a look at the TransMississippi

New Mexico campaign would be worth your time.

Early events that occurred in what became West Virginia. Also look at the area northeast of Knoxville TN. Lots of little fights all around there, one that comes to mind is Cloyd's Mountain. Finally, as already mentioned, there is the Trans Mississippi Region. Look at Sterling Price's attempt to take St. Louis in 1864. That's a wild campaign.

The early valley campaigns of 1864 will work

link

Kim

Tran-Mississippi campaigns are small.
Perhaps the Knoxville campaign between
Longstreet and Burnside. Early's 1864 march
on Washington.

Fantastic! Cheers guys.

Plenty to go on there – the Red River and Valley campaigns look particularly interesting, and plenty of one-off battles to fill the time while working on a full campaign.

Many thanks :)

Nick

Some time back our gaming group made plans to mount an ACW campaign. I put together four proposals for such a campaign. The choice was as follows:

Shenandoah Valley VA – July 1864

Union

Army of West Virginia

-3 infantry divisions of 2 brigades each – 6 brigades, total of 8000 infantry
-2 cavalry divisions of 2 brigades each – 4 brigades, total of 3200 cavalry

Confederate

Army of the Valley District

-4 infantry divisions of 3, 3, 4 and 3 brigades – 13 brigades, total of 10300 infantry
-1 cavalry division of 5 brigades – total 5000 cavalry

The Army of the Valley takes the offensive to advance 20 miles down the Valley to engage the Army of West Virginia.

Scott Patchan, Shenandoah Summer, The 1864 Valley Campaign, 2007.

Wise's Forks NC – March 1864

Union

Cox's Provisional Corps

-3 infantry divisions of 3 brigades each – 9 brigades, total of 9000 infantry
-2 cavalry regiments – total of 800 cavalry

Confederate

Department of NC

-2 infantry divisions of 4 and 2 brigades plus1 independent brigade – 7 brigades, total of 7100 infantry
-1 cavalry brigade – 800 cavalry

Cox's Provisional Corps takes the offensive on 2 March 1865 and marches out of New Bern NC, moving 20 miles along a rail line to engage the Confederate troops in position behind Southwest Creek. Historically there were 4 days of maneuvering for several attacks and counter-attacks in an area approximately 5 miles square in front of this line. The campaign could either start from the initial advance or concentrate on the maneuvering along the Southwest Creek line.

Wade Sokolosky and Mark Smith, "To Prepare for Sherman's Coming" The Battle of Wise's Forks, March 1865, 2015.

Prairie Grove AR – November / December 1862

Union

Army of the Frontier

-3 divisions of 3, 2 and 2 brigades each – 7 brigades, total of 4950 Infantry and 5700 cavalry

-note that all but 1 of the brigades included one or more cavalry regiments and 2 brigades were all cavalry

Confederate

Army of the Trans-Mississippi

-2 infantry divisions of 2 and 3 brigades each – 5 brigades, total of 4400 infantry
-1 cavalry division of 3 brigades – total of 4200 cavalry

The campaign begins on 27 November 1862 with one Union division on the map to move against elements of the Confederate cavalry. Both sides then call in reinforcements to establish control of north-west Arkansas/south-west Missouri.

Michael Banasik, Embattled Arkansas, The Prairie Grove Campaign of 1862, 1996.
William Shea, Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign, 2009.

Corinth MS –September / October 1862

Union

Army of the Mississippi

-2 infantry divisions of 2 brigades each – 4 brigades
-1 cavalry brigade

Army of West Tennessee
-3 infantry divisions, 1 of 2 brigades and 2 of 3 brigades each – 8 brigades

Surprisingly, Union records are a mess with vague reports both on the OoB and troop numbers. However. It looks as if total Northern strength is about 23000 men.

Confederate

Army of West Tennessee

-3 infantry divisions, 1 of 4 brigades and 2 of 3 brigades – 10 brigades, total 17000 infantry.
-2 cavalry brigades – total 3500 cavalry

The campaign begins on 15 September with the Union advance on Iuka MS. After this the Confederates will be reinforced and can mount a counterattack to try to turn the Northerners out of the Corinth/southern West Tennessee area. Although the Union force in the area is larger, this is balanced by the Union need to maintain garrisons in the major centres.

Peter Cozzens, The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth, 1997.

Thanks Ryan – and especially for including the sources and such an easily digestible overview of forces; with that level of clarity, maybe you should consider publishing a guide specifically for gamers? I, for one, would pay good money for such a thing!

Been looking at some of these because of your suggestions and they look perfect.

I will mull, read, and mull some more.

Nick

Hello Nick,

From the list our group went with the Prairie Grove Campaign. The first couple of turns went well until it was all derailed with some health issues. I hope to pick it up again in the future.

If you are interested shoot me an e-mail at ritoews(at)mts.net and I'll send you a copy of the OoB and map we were using.

Ryan

Cheers Ryan – looks ideal – email sent :)