PBEM: CSA vs. Jagger/USA April '61

[KillCalvalry]

Late March, 1862:

No screenshots the last couple turns, as there isn't a whole lot to report. Very quiet, but I'm sure Jagger is busy building and organizing troops for a big push. I expect major moves next turn, as the snow thaws and the Union Army moves!

EAST:

Absolutely nothing happening. I am building a few troops here, and next turn should finally be able to assemble a Cavalry Division under Stuart. I will use them to chase Union Cavalry away from the upper Valley (that's the southern part), and keep union raiders off the railways.

TENNESSE:

Also quiet, though this turn I got a key piece of intelligence: According to Rebel spies in Bowling Green, there are 3 army corps under McClellan, led by Grant, Thomas, and Whipple. Knowing where Grant is is important, as he will certainly lead any offensive. With this information, I decided to move Polk's division from the Army of Miss. in Columbus, to Ft. Donelson, and maybe toward Nashville. I screwed up in Nashville, I moved all my troops out by accident! That means moving them back, and having to dig new trenches. Hopefully that won't kill me.

Basic dispositions, are 2 Div. in Donelson, 1 Corps in Humphreys, and 1 corps in Nashville. JE Johnston's army of Miss. is down to 17K men now, as there is no activity at all to that front. If he intended a descent down the Mississippi, I think I would see a buildup at Paducah.

In Kentucky, I still hold Lexington because he doesn't want to end KY neutrality. I am sending raiders into KY to base out of Lexington, and they will be busy cutting rail lines behind Bowling Green.

LOUISIANNA:

I can't figure out how he is getting supplies to Pearl, LA. There is a Union Fleet in the adjacent River, I know because we had an inconclusive fight between it and my 2 ironclads. His cavalry took Berwick. I think maybe the supply line is from Berwick to Pearl, because he also has Cav in the area in between.

Knowing this, I am moving a brigade toward Berwick from New Orleans. Another force under WHF Lee is loading on Transports at Memphis, and will land at Baton Rouge. I hope to chase away that Cav and cut the supplies. In the meantime, I have ordered Hardee and Stewart to attack again. In early Mar, in a series of small battles, we exchanged about 4800 casualties apeice, which is a fair amount given the size of forces engaged.

WEST:

McCulloch should attack Tuscon next turn. The Arizona Militia has made a breech in the wall there, so hopefully we take it.

Once the Yankees start moving, I will post another Sit Map showing where my forces are.

[Sven6345789]

general advice: remember that you can win the war by not loosing. This means using Wahington's strategy during the War of Independence. In short it means only attack if you are stronger (although a good general can outwit a stronger enemy, see Jacksons Valley campaign). Hit him were he ain't. If a major battle appears, let him attack; this will cost him dearly, even if you loose. Otherwise, trade space for time.
"During 1862 and 1863, Confederate armies went on the tactical offensive in 6 of the 9 battles in which the killed and wounded of both sides together exceeded 15000. Although they won two of these battles (Chancellorsville and Chickamauga) and archieved strategic success in a third (the Seven Days'), their total casualties exceeded Union casualties by 20000 men (89000 to 69000). In the spring of 1864 the situation was reversed as Grant's men suffered nearly twice the casualties of Lee's army when the Yankees took the offensive from the Wilderness to Petersburg." (Quote from "Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson). atually, union morale was on an alltime low with Grant bottled up in Petersburg and Sherman stalled in front of Atlanta. Without the help of Hood( who attacked Sherman and ruined his army in the process, loosing Atlanta), Lincoln might have lost the election in 1864.
So the defensive/offensive strategy imposed by Lee can be very expensive for you. Do not try to defend everything (like the CSA historically tried in the Tennessee region in 1862), since the union will break through somewhere along the line. As long as your armies are alive, the Confederacy is alive. If you are able to cancentrate and win battles were he is attacking his NM will suffer. A better NM might improve the chance of foreign intervention. foreign intervention will win the war for you.

[KillCalvalry]

Late Mar, 1862:

I misspoke earlier, THIS is late mar. Last turn was early Mar. The Union Offensive begins!

TENNESSEE:

Bad turn for me in Tennessee. Grant and Thomas crossed the Tennessee at Humphreys, and engaged the AoT. The result was a few hundred casualties a side, and a retreat! Very bad result for AS Johnston. Now, the AoT is split, with Grant in the middle right between them. Not good!

Next turn, he will surely move on either Nashville or Donelson, probably Nashville. With my inexperience, I am not sure how to handle multiple Corps, but here goes with the strategy:

1. Gunboats will patrol the river behind Grant. That should prevent supplies and reinforcements, unless he brings the navy; not much I can do about that.
2. Forrest will take his division accross and clear Galatin. I want to threaten his supply line from Bowling Green.
3. The RR line from Louisville to Bowling Green is CUT.
4. I am moving Johnson's corp back into Humphreys on defense, and leaving a force in Donelson. Not sure if that's smart or not. I figure if there is a fight, GW Smith will join them for a fight there. We won't win, but might beat him up enough to pull back. An attack with the AoT I don't want to do right now, we don't have the strenghth.

Here is the map, suggestions anyone?
[ATTACH]957[/ATTACH]

Let's see how this pans out! But that easy crossing really hurt.

LOUISIANNA:

Union forces successfully withdrew accross the Mississippi toward Berwick. We had a last shot at them, but they missed us. I think they are getting away now. Another good turn for the Union. I expect them to load up on ships and go back east, or maybe land somewhere else. We shall see.

WEST:

McCulloch failed completely at Tucson. That town is really pissing me off, and it's only held by one US Regt. I need to take it soon or forget about it.

[KillCalvalry]

Early April 1862:

TENNESSEE:

More disasters on the Cumberland. Two large battles at Nashville cost us 2 NM, and probably secured Grant's promotion to 3***. I had accidently moved those forces the turn before which took out the trenches, a rookie mistake! I would like to do this again sometime, but too late for today.

In the meantime, what to do? The AoT is not strong enough to take on Grant and company directly at Nashville. We also need to get together with AS Johnston and HQ, which is way over on the other side. This is very bad. We are concentrating at the region SE of Nashville, and probably Nashville is lost. Forrest is going to raid Clarkville though in hopes of severing Union supplies, and maybe keeping Grant off my back a little longer.

[ATTACH]965[/ATTACH]

At any rate, this is pretty botched, and I learned a hard lesson about defense in depth.

Longstreet is on his way to Tennessee to pick up some experience and bring reinforcements.

LOUISIANNA:

The divisions of Shields and Wallace are no longer visible. I beleive they have re-embarked, and the cavalry there will soon follow. Hardee is on his way to Tennessee. This campaign may be coming to a close soon. I wonder if they will re-appear elsewhere on the coast.....

WEST:

Raiders have entered Missouri, to find out intel, and divine US intentions. There is a large division at Springfield, but so far they are staying put.

[fremen]

I don't know exactly was is your situation in Nashville, what number of troops you have there and if they are supported by guns, but i think your situation is not so bad as you see.

If Grant really had 60.000 men near and take Nashville finally and IF he take a lot of supplies there, you will be a small problem.

But 60.000 men EAT a lot of supplies and ammo, and seeing your picture is obvious that Grant is isolated from their suply lines. If Nashville resist and if you evade contact with Grant (he is very fortified i seems) may be you can easly cut their legs and force him to return north.

[aryaman]

I think your strategic position is not bad, Nashville is going to fall, but from there the options to advance are not easy, I would advice you to fall back and concentrate around Corinth your main force. If he advances towards Chattanooga you can move on his flank, if he goes after CXorinth you will have time to fortify, and if he moves towards Memphis you can reinforce it from Corinth quickly.
IMO Nashville is a very bad base for a Union offensive, every move strectch vulnerable supply lines, especially if he moves towards Chattanooga (that would be a mistake). For Union it is better to strike along the Mississippi, where a chain of cities form a much more secure supply line for the advance on memphis, and from there to Corinth.
As for Amphibious strategy, in my experience it is only worth it in combination with a land offensive, for instance attack Memphis and New orleans at the same time, so thet CSA can´t easily assemble forces for a counterattack.

[Jabberwock]

If I was Jagger, I would try to take Sumner (Gallatin) next, opening a 'cracker line' to Nashville by that route, then go after Ft Donelson.

Unless he can do one or both and push gunboats into the Cumberland, he is overextended for further offensive ops after taking Nashville. Cav/sharpshooter/militia raids to blow up rail in Humphreys, Montgomery (Clarksville), and Warren (Bowling Green) should keep him away from Donelson for a few turns, and give him supply problems. Humphreys is still first priority. The rail there is still the key to Donelson.

Try to take out Barren and Muhlenberg rail as well. Put more gunboats under the guns of Donelson. Too bad you can't destroy the Nashville depot. Can you see how many supply wagons he brought with him?

You are doing right by consolidating land forces at Rutherford. Start preparing fallback positions between there and Pulaski / Winchester now. Do you have the rail capacity to shuttle a few troops up from Louisiana?

[KillCalvalry]

Great advice guys, thank you! I'm not sweating giving up Nashville, as I was bound to lose it this year anyway, I just hoped to hang on a bit more. The loss of Nashville though is forcing my hand in several ways.

You're right in that he is barely opening a cracker line. A big problem though is that there are a ton of Union ships in the Tennessee; so many, I can barely find a crossing point. If Ft. Donelson isn't preventing the Union Navy from cutting me off, and if Nashville is already gone, what is the point in keeping it?

At this point, and correct me if I am wrong, I don't feel there is any. I'm pulling out of most of Tennessee, down to Memphis/Corinth/Chattanooga.

At any rate, catching up on a couple turns:

Late May 1862

TENNESSEE:

Forrest did take Clarksville, but the next turn a Corps re-occupied the town, and infantry is on the north bank in force, opening a cracker line. That also allowed Grant just enough time to dig-in, and raiders to appear in my rear, courtesy of the Union River Fleet. There are Gunboats all over the Tennessee, making a presence on the North Bank hazardous. That insidious River is literally a thorn in the side of the Confederacy. I have some Union Cavalry on the ropes, but otherwise, didn't feel I had the strength to attack Nashville directly. Perhaps I should have given it a shot.

VIRGINIA:

I learned a valuable rookie lesson last turn: Don't attack heavily entrenched units. It doesn't work. I thought the corps at Manassas was un-entrenched, but turns out it was entrenched; when the ANV attacked at Manassas, the result was very one-sided, though I didn't lose any NM points.

I feel like so far all I've done is give up ground. On the flip side, I think the ground I have given up (Central Tennessee, Missouri, The Valley), is not the easiest ground to hold for the CSA.

[KillCalvalry]

Late May 1862

I keep mixing up the months, sorry, this is LATE MAY. The Army of the Potomac is on the move, and I may have goofed big time by reinforcing Tennessee so strongly. I now have alot of troops out there, but no enough in VA, and that could be critical. After last turn's debacle at Manassas, he decided to side-step Fredericksburg, and attempt to turn my flank. Couting all the troops, the AoP is about DOUBLE what I have, not counting the 10K or so in Richmond under Lee. I have also neglected to build entrenchments in depth, another rookie mistake. To restore the situation, I have ordered the ANV to attack Franklin's corps and push them back. At least they won't be dug-in:
[ATTACH]972[/ATTACH]

Hopefully that is the correct decision, the alternatives were to fall back, attack Stafford and hope to cut those guys off, (2 corp there dug-in), or stay-put. Let's see what happens!

TENNESSEE:

I evacuated Ft. Donelson, they weren't stopping Union boats from sailing down both rivers, and without Nashville, it was vulnerable to being cut off and all forces destroyed. At this point, I think he is going to pause in Nashville for awhile. I regret sending so many troops to Tennessee as Nashville was falling, big mistake, because I took to many from VA when I needed them most. I am sending Hardee's Vets to Viriginia, big waste of RR resources, though I do have plenty of that at the moment.

WEST:

Tuscon fell finally. That took way too long. In the meantime, all is quiet in Missouri. Attached is a sit map. I have cut all the rail lines from St. Louis to Rolla, and have raiders a plenty in Missouri. The more I look at this theatre, the more I conclude (though I would welcome other opinions):
1. The Union has alot of trouble building a viable supply line from Springfield. You can get to Fayetteville, but after that it is very difficult to build supplies to go much further.
2. Other than Fayetteville, which isn't worth much, there is nothing to defend up there. There is plenty in Central Arkansas though.
3. Once Memphis falls, the Union can land in your rear on the Arkansas River, making Fayetteville tricky to hold.
4. One thing I do get is plenty of Indians, Raiders, and other Cavalry. Using Oklahoma as a base, we can keep up enough raiding pressure that they will likely not advance here.
[ATTACH]973[/ATTACH]
At some point, I am going to abandon NW Arkansas. I need to keep his cavalry away from Fayetteville, so he can't tell that the garrison is dwindling; that will be Watie and Walker's job, with about 4500 Cav and Indians. Otherwise, Hindman is down to 7500 effectives after detachments, basically one 3-unit brigade and some AR State Militia.

[KillCalvalry]

LATE JULY 1862:

Looks like I skipped a couple months! Been busy, so I am going to include a complete update

OVERALL SITUATION: I have had setbacks, due to not being smart about entrenchments. I am now using small units to dig-in in depth, but I feel like I would not have lost Nashville so early, or had so many problems in Viriginia, if I had mastered handling Corps a little better. I am still pretty fuzzy on how CORPS work together, attacking one seems to bring several in the battle.

EAST:

Lots going on here. Jagger has alot of troops here, organized into 4 Corps; they are side-stepping us and buildling a long-line, to threaten our flanks. Clearly he doesn't want to take on the ANV directly in entrenchments. I am not sure how CORPS work together as stated above; a couple turns, I have attacked a single Union corps with a bunch of units, only to get the entire AoP in that hex, in trenches. I have suffered alot of casualites. The only NM loss though was a point from the destruction of a Partisan unit! Doesn't seem right, but there it is. Anyway, here is the situation:

[ATTACH]977[/ATTACH]
As you can see, several Union Corps, and for some reason, a division by itself in the rear (circled in RED). I am going to squash it with Beauregard's Corps, and hopefully get a cheap victory. Jackson and Bomham have Corps in defensive posture. I have maybe 90K troops in total, which is maybe HALF the Federals I can see: Not good.

WEST:

Tennesse is fairly quiet. He is reducing Donelson before proceeding further. I am slowly moving the Army of Mississippi back on Corinth and Memphis, as Donelson is about to fall, and once it does that entire area is indefensible. I have enough troops in Central Tennessee to keep Grant at bay for now, though I am wary of moves into my rear. The battle I lost at Nashville was very important, as that basically cost my Ft. Donelson.
[ATTACH]978[/ATTACH]

One very satisfying result: He dropped a bunch of Cavalry in my rear in Alabama/Tennessee, courtesy of the Union Navy. The bulk of them ran into Forrest, though, and got wiped out, for a gain of +2 NM. I also got some free units out of it, so overall not bad result!

I am not convinced large cavalry raids make sense, unless they are supporting a specific operation. 2 Cav units trigger alot of Freebies; I have gotten at least 8 Militia, 4 Art, and 8 Cavalry units from Raids, that is quite a haul. And he has lost at least 5 units so far, and ALL my NM gains are from wiping out raiders.

TRANS MISS:

Very quiet. Sumner's Corps in Springfield briefly came out, I thought to move on Fayetteville, but really just to chase away Watie's Units. I need to keep Union Cavalry away from Fayetteville if I can, because I don't want him to be able to tell how weak we are there. I detached a brigade from Hindman's Division to send to Memphis, so he is down to a handful of Arkansas State Troops. Watie has about 5000 Cavalry and Indians, that is my main force. They are screening Springfield, and sending raiders into the rear to cut the Rail Line to St. Louis. At some point I am sure I will abandon NW Arkansas, I hope to hold it though until next spring.
[ATTACH]979[/ATTACH]

If anyone has any advice on handling multiple Corps effectively, lay it on me. Is it possible to "bite off" a single Union Corps?

[boajack]

As a rule every corp with connection to the battlefield can march to the guns. I would atack the units on his flanks where you can mass 3 corps and he only two, or take out the single divisions he has. Only corps of the same army are highly effektiv in supporting each other.

[aryaman]

LATE JULY 1862:


I am not convinced large cavalry raids make sense, unless they are supporting a specific operation. 2 Cav units trigger alot of Freebies; I have gotten at least 8 Militia, 4 Art, and 8 Cavalry units from Raids, that is quite a haul. And he has lost at least 5 units so far, and ALL my NM gains are from wiping out raiders.

Raids make sense, as you said, with a claer goal, for instance to cut off an important railroad before an offensive in order to make difficult enemy movements. However there is another type of deep raid I have tried with enormous success in a PBEM, playing as CSA, you can also try.
I created a cavalry corps under Forrest, 2 cavalry divisions, in all about 700 power. Then I waited for my opponent to advance until I saw the chance. He made the mistake not occupy Livingstone TN, and when he was advancing down TN and weakening the garrisons of KY, using as a stage Livingstone, I launched a raid with my corps, assaulting both Lexington and Louisville!

[KillCalvalry]

LATE SEPT 1862

After a few days break for real-life work, the war is back on! And it's getting interesting out West. Jagger dropped 2 divisions under Rosecrans right on Chattanooga in my rear, attempting to cut off the AoT! Plus another division under Curtis at Rome, GA. This doesn't bother me too much, because there isn't alot to defend in Central Tennessee anyway; just a couple War Supplies in Pulaski, and that's it. I intended to fall back toward Chattanooga at some point. But we need to recapture Chattanooga, that's for sure! So, the AoT is converging on Chattanooga!

A CORPS under GW Smith is attacking Chattanooga next turn. A division under Taylor is blocking the way to Atlanta, and one under Longstreet is up the tracks toward Knoxville. The Army of Miss. has cannon on the Tennessee upstream, so the only supplies for him will have to come via Transport Ships. Let's see if we can bag these guys:
[ATTACH]1010[/ATTACH]

Out East, we have a problem related to the retreat bug. I attacked with Jackson's corps at Stafford from Culpepper; they won the battle, then retreated East on that Peninsula. They are completely cut off now. Jagger realizes that was the retreat bug, and removed his ships so they can get back accross. There is still not a march path though, so this could be a problem, as Jackson is running out of ammo. Let's see if we can fix this problem.

[KillCalvalry]

UPDATE:

Because of that persistent bug, and because we both learned a few things, we agreed to conclude this game and start over.

It was a good learning experience, and Jagger is already reading the AAR.

Thanks for paying attention, and I am encouraged that more PBEM AAR's are on the forum now.