Lo scontro è stata una sonora batosta tattica per noi confederati con pedite quasi tre volte quelle nordiste, ma abbiamo comunque raggiunto degli obbiettivi importanti mentre i federali anno perso di vista la visione più ampia, per cui la battaglia della prossima volta sarà influenzata da tutto ciò.
Ecco il replay:
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The engagement at Gettysburg became a full scale battle and the confederates received a hard tactical defeat, but the night comes to separate the troops and the stop the fighting. Longstreet Corps has been forced to a desparate defence but now the Northern troops of VI Corps in their hurry to press ahead resulted cutted from their line of communication with rest of army and still the flank at west is not fully secured against the enemy cavalry; they ended in a "cul de sac" where they are sufficiently strong to move but only in a direction. During the night the commanders took their decisions about what do the day after. The biggest Corps of Army fo Potomac is for the moment isolated from the rest of army also if only by light screen of enemy troops but also few hours could permit to Jackson Corps to make a flank attack on the right wing of army at Hanover; at the same time the confederate retreat line at South is in danger and if lost the confederate could retreat only to east to Hanover but this only if they can hold a sufficient number of hours for permit Jackson to advance. In the meantime the western reinforcements are advancing.
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Ed ecco un po' di commenti dal forum di kriegspiel:
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It was a very fluid and interesting battle, one of the few that involved Culps Hill but no maniac battle for it. The action my division saw on Cemetery Hill was a real whirlwind fight, and fortunately I was able to push the Rebs back to the South-West without much difficulty after Martin's (Buford's) cavalry had weakened them a lot. We did almost lose the hill in the second Reb assault but one of the other Union divisions (I am not sure if it was Josh or Blackstreet) managed to threaten the west side from the town and we secured it. Jeb Stuart's cavalry was a constant nuisance on the western and north-western flanks and our plan to push Buford from his early lodgement on Cemetery Hill out to the north-west to secure the other objectives never even materialised.
After the Reb attack from Culps Hill towards the south-east flank of the cemetery was beaten back my division was down from 12 battalions to 6 but I made up for it by capturing a few Confederate guns. The weight of Union artillery atop Cemetery Hill must have lowered the summit by a couple of feet!
I fear that the Rebs paid more attention to the overall strategic objectives though and that the next day's fight will be harder for the Union.
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The original Union plan was for the cavalry to push ahead and secure the high ground S of G/burg. When the infantry arrived it was to relieve the cavalry and then advance S and take up a defensive position between the Leister and Spangler Farms. The cavalry was then to move towards the SW to screen the objectives in the NW portion of the map.
I initially commanded the cavalry division, and our leading brigade was arriving on Cemetery Hill when two things happened. Our CinC had to leave the game and passed command to me, and Rebel infantry appeared and advanced against both the unoccupied Culp’s Hill and our position on Cemetery Hill. At a personal level, I confess this combination almost overwhelmed me. I was simultaneously trying to defend the hill and also work out where the rest of the army was. [I’m sure there is a headless chicken emoticon somewhere]
The struggle for Cemetery Hill was desperate and I thought we were about to be pushed off it. Infantry of our 1st division arrived in the nick of time, but the enemy continued to advance, and in desperation I ordered the cavalry to charge. We weathered that storm, but later on there was a further major enemy attack which reached our gun-line. The cavalry charged again, and that worked, perhaps because the Reb infantry was weakened by our artillery fire on their approach? In all honesty I’m not sure it should have done. It seemed more Napoleonic than ACW. Could Buford’s men have done that at G/burg in reality?
The question of the objectives was the subject of discussion amongst the Union team during the game. At various times all 3 of my subordinates raised concerns about enemy threats to Culp’s Hill, Herr’s Tavern, The Hagerstown Road, and our LOC back to the NE of G/burg. Rightly or wrongly I took the view that we should focus all our efforts on defeating the enemy forces attacking Cemetery Hill, and constantly pushed the divisional commanders to keep focused on that sector. I felt that we did not have the strength to both defeat the enemy and simultaneously control all of the objectives. If we won the battle, I thought we could retake any of the objectives which had been lost. This tension, which was no doubt intentional, was one of the reasons why this was a good scenario.
Eventually the tide turned on Cemetery Hill, and we were able to go on the offensive. The enemy appeared to hold a strong position on Culp’s Hill, so we decided to ignore that. Our relatively fresh 2nd Division launched an attack to the south which penetrated the Confederate centre. The cavalry was by now largely rested, and one brigade was directed to reinforce our 3rd Division in their thrust west towards Herr Tavern. The other 2 bgds were directed S towards the Confederate LOC on the southern edge of the map. By this point, it appeared that the enemy to the S and W of us had shot its bolt and fell back whenever we advanced. At this point dusk fell however.
I would like to thank all of the divisional commanders for an excellent team effort, after a somewhat chaotic start. Our 1st Division (Digby) worked valiantly with the cavalry to defend the hill. The 2nd Division (Josh) initially helped cover our eastern flank facing Culp’s Hill, and their late game advance split the Reb army in two. Our 3rd Division (Ollie) both countered the enemy cavalry on our western flank, and also helped turn the tide on Cemetery Hill.
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This is a good point Martin, yes there was to make a choice and think this is the good of sequential battles. You're idea work pretty well, but of course after have broke me and Berthier you had the resources and the time for protect also the objectives. Pressing ahead like this leaved two middle strong forces on your both flanks creating a not happy form of your area for the next day deployment. If Richard won't dropped the situation on the ohter flanks could be worse for you also if not in decisive mode.
So also the next time there will be to do choices, also if those of confederate are harder.
Paradoxily if I moved slower it should be better, if I found the hill not so undefended I would have remained on the defensive according to the Neal orders. But unluckily I have also undervalueted the distance between mine and the other divisions and so Berthier joined me later than I expected when I asked his support.
I think the cavalry charges won mainly because the attacked regiments are not strong as number of men; cavalry has a bonus in melee but the number of men count also.
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