Last time, the Union managed to oust the rebels that had broken north in Indiana and Illinois.

This week, we’re finally evicting the Confederate armies from Maryland. Actually, this time.

ED. Note: If you missed the start of this AAR, don’t worry! You can catch up from the beginning here.

SEP 2, 1861

While the battles out west still rage, the Battle of Leonardtown in Maryland is about to commence; this will likely be the biggest battle in the war so far. The Union here has several thousand less soldiers than the Confederates do, but the Union also has over 70 more guns than the Confederates do. I expect to quite literally blow them away.

AUG 31, 1861

6:32 PM

Here’s what things look like the first evening of the battle.

The enemy holds the high ground south of the town. It’s good, defensible ground, and there are a lot of them, somewhere, up in those hills. The large forests are going to cut down on the effectiveness of my guns, as they will have worse sightlines. Hopefully, I can set them up on a  road and have them shell something further down the road. I suppose we’ll see.

As for my overall strategy, I’m going for a three-pronged attack, with the center division supported by the artillery division. My hope is that with my cavalry being sent out as scouts, we’ll be able to locate the enemy and can then concentrate our energy onto their flank, or if not the flank, at least a corner in their defensive line.

7:03 PM

What the.

An enemy divisional commander just wandered down the road, directly into my left column. I don’t think I can target them, unfortunately, but at the very least their division won’t be going anywhere anytime soon (if you didn’t know, this game models commanders writing orders and sending them off to their units. The farther the commander, the longer the order takes to arrive.).

7:46 PM

Only a few minutes before the battle will wind down for the day, and the enemy surprises me.

They started marching down the road towards my center. I think they may have been trying to take ground before I arrived, and to fortify it overnight, but now we have a bit of a standoff.

8:15 PM

The battle is going later tonight than I realized. Off to the left, one of my cavalry regiments broke and ran after stumbling into a very large contingent of rebels. In the center however, the force that was coming down the road has turned around and is trying to beat a hasty retreat. Some skirmishers from my closest brigades are pursuing closely, and are inflicting harsher casualties than I expected, about 50 in only the last few minutes. More importantly, damaging the enemy’s morale early will make it easier to rout them in the morning.

8:38 PM

I just pulled my skirmishers back, after hounding the rebel brigade that retreated slowly back up the road, they inflicted 450 casualties on them in the last 40 minutes or so. The enemy clearly isn’t ready to fight yet, but unfortunately, neither am I. 

My center divisions are stuck in traffic in these thick woods, and only a few of my brigades are “on line.” The most I can do right now is try to seize the edge of the creek and the fence around that farm up the road before night falls. Holding the farm in the morning means that I could have a nice open area to set up my guns, which I’m counting on to win us the battle.

SEP 1, 1861

7:00 AM

Day 2

It just occurred to me that the battle technically began in August, not in September. I suppose it backdated the battle to when the skirmishing began. In any case, here’s what the battle lines look like for the Union on the first day of September.

I have a very heavy concentration of troops in the center, with somewhere around 90 guns focused up the road. On the left, I have Montgomery’s 3rd Division, and on the right, Hunter’s 1st Division. I plan to have the two execute a pincer movement on the farm in the center. The 1st Division in particular has a few brigades with the very rare rifled-muskets, so I will likely rely on them to be the hammer to the anvil of my batteries.

7:18 AM

The rebels pulled back overnight, something I’m seeing for the first time now. They only learned how to do that in the recent 1.9 update, and I’m happy to be fighting a smarter opponent, though my strategy of crushing them in the middle of my army is now moot.

It was such a good defensive line too…

7:53 AM

A small battle has erupted on my extreme left. The rebels saw my advancing division and are doing their best to stomp on it before we’re properly set up.

So far, however, the Union brigade under Wilcox has accounted well for itself, routing a Confederate cavalry regiment, and they’re now falling back to a more defensible position in the woods.

8:17 AM

Things are heating up on the left, both my left division and a rebel division are duking it out over the stream crossing.

This whole battle seems to have escalated completely by accident; there’s a bit of advancing and falling back from both sides as we try to reform our lines. Fortunately, the trees are providing cover for my men, so we have the upper hand so far.

Meanwhile, my artillery division is slowly working its way through the wheatfields of Cox’s farm. Once in position, they’ll be able to pin the rebel center. That’s the hope, anyway.

8:54 AM

After a fight that lasted for most of the hour, the rebels have started to pull back from the fight in the woods. They took significant casualties and are wavering, but are still certainly combat effective.

I’m going to press the advantage by moving the artillery further up. If we can use the woods as a base of fire, it’ll be difficult for the rebels to respond.

9:04 AM

The orderly retreat turned into a rout for several of the enemy brigades.

9:21 AM

The scrap on the left has been wrapped up, only one rebel brigade left intact.

Meanwhile in the center, the rebels have launched what I assume must be a probing attack on my brigades at the fenceline. I brought some of my guns up, which are doing heavy damage to their brigade; an easy target, out there in the open.

9:47 AM

After the Confederate right collapsed, we saw that brief skirmish in the center, but now things are heating up on the other side of the battlefield.

The 1st Division is working its way across the creek, and the rebels are being very slow to respond so far. If they don’t quickly sort out their lines, they may fall apart shortly.

10:14 AM

The Confederate left is crumbling as well, they’ve lost a brigade already, though the others haven’t been engaged yet. They’re still struggling to form up to respond, whereas the 1st Division just needs to keep marching forward.

10:27 AM

The rebels launched a sudden attack on the center, I believe in an attempt to relieve their left.

10:54 AM

The rebels have become more concentrated as their flanks have broken down, which is making the center more dangerous.

11:32 AM

The battle has turned into a brawl, the center is an absolute mess now.

We’re winning, but this is turning into a battle of attrition, and those are always ugly.

–

Shortly after, the rebels ordered a retreat, I can only assume the troops on both sides breathed a sigh of relief. The battle was costly for both sides.

My batteries continued to pound the rebels as their remaining brigades held the line.

Whew! After that slugfest, I’m going to wrap it up here for this week. Join us next time as we figure out how we can capitalize on the gains we made from the Battle of Leonardtown…

-Jack