The Battle for Petersburg - Union Bled White
20 Feb 2000
A game played at John's, debuting his terrain efforts.  This battle was generated by the map campaign and was a surprise attack on Petersburg by Union troops.  The Confederates had fortified their positions outside the town. 
Umpire - Dave
Union - John
Confederate - Derek


Click on any picture below to get a full size image:
The Union approach the defenses. Union hits the line, Confederate regiment leaps across to hit Union flank. Union regiment, filled with battlelust, chases after routing Rebel survivors. The final Union survivors face the Rebel artillery.
Commentary (no English translation provided)
April 13  1862 General John  sees an opening and throws remainder of 
the army of Petersburg in to the lightly defended trenches of the city of 
Petersburg .It turned out to be the closest and most hotly contested 
battles of the war so far.  [Dave - campaign moderator]
''All hope now lies with the Generals new army ,the people have given him 
everything ,their finest sons and their best provisions , all the north is 
praying for victory . 

Mary Chestnut Noseworthy   1862 
 Stop eating our chickens  ' general joe ' 
[Dave - campaign moderator]
It was indeed a very exciting game. Initially, John 
arrived on the table exactly where I had hoped - right 
in line with my best troops. However, amusingly 
enough, these proved catastrophically incompetant at 
shooting and melee (and were indeed the first of my 
units to bite the dust). 

I thought I was stuffed when, being outnumbered over 
2-1 (before reinforcements), he managed to take out 
more of my troops from shooting and he was already at 
my defence wall (which was supposed to give me loads 
of cover). I reasoned that my only chance was to 
whittle him down a large amount before he got in close 
and trounced me. 

When he charged over the top of the wall, his unit was 
then routed, and indeed they continued to run until 
they left the playing area. And in rather an amusing 
twist of fate, my weakest (battle weary) unit was 
unengaged on the right flank, with nothing to shoot 
at, so they scrambled over the wall, formed up into 
battle column, and went off on a killing spree, 
rolling through 2 full units and 2 half-units before 
grinding to a stop in the open. 

John had one more unit repelled in melee, before he 
finally breached the wall. Things were looking pretty 
bad for me at this point, but my reinforcements turned 
up, formed up, shot a few guys, and then charged, only 
to become thoroughly beated in melee at stupidly low 
odds. They must have dropped their swords or 
something. Immediately disorganising another unit with 
their crazed run, they left the battle area, ruining 
the morale of my troops. 

Simultaneously to this, John formed one of his units 
up into battle column, and in a revenge attack 
clobbered my white unit which had done so well in 
pounding his troops. He then routed a unit next to the 
wall, and chased them half way off the board. 
Everything looked hopeless, until my cannon, which had 
been sitting around doing arse-all, finally woke up 
and shot his battle-column unit in the back, breaking 
them. Another set of reinforcements then arrived, who 
finished things off which some shooting. 

All in all it was a great game, back and forth too 
many times to count. There were several times when 
what looked like a decisive action had been taken, 
only for things to swing back the next turn. All that 
was left at the end were a few battered troops and the 
bodies of the dead littering the battlefield. 

[Derek]
''I was lounging around a Petersburg tavern when the alarm bells started 
going off, well we all thought it was another dam blasted drill , Then 
suddenly this officer's riding down the road screaming for everyone to get 
to the northern wall .When we got there here was a fair size union force 
less than 500 yards away deploying for  an attack . well they came at us 
like posessed devils 3 times they got over the wall, twice we drove them 
back we just couldn't kill them fast enough.If it had'nt of been for Majors 
Harts forging party catching them in the back they would have taken this 
dam city. 

                   private  D J Janes      4 Knownlings farm rifles. 
 [Dave - campaign moderator]
That's Private D _P_ Janes to you. 

And if I ever get back to play I want a promotion to at least full Colonel. 
[Dave J]
It is both with great relief and sorrow that i watch the flag lowered from 
the wall. The rebs informed us last night that the attack on Petersburg had 
been a failure ,there was now no union army in the west to save 
Fredricksburg . General Joe had given his ultimatum surrender by noon or 
the city would be burned .  The surrender was accepted

           Mary chestnut Noseworthy  1862 
    'General John is a bum'  Marystown herald. 
 [Dave - campaign moderator]

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