Battle of Hackett's Farm, 1863

1863 dawns for Thaddeus P Hardtack's Brigade, just outside of Fredericksburg in Northern Virginia.  The rest of the army is of to the west, tangling with Lee's army in the woods around Chancellorsville.  While waiting on this undoubted triumph for Union arms, Hardtack's force has been sent out into far more open and favourable country, to push a small rebel force back from his objective.  The place: the small walled enclosure of Hackett's Farm.  The enemy: wily Rebels under J. B. Gordon.  Time to get the fight on!

Bare minimum of terrain - only a small wood to cover the approach!

Initially Hardtack opts for a left-flank attack, swinging most of his larger regiments to the left around the wood, while his veterans hold the rest of the line and his artillery gets to work.  Sadly the gunners find that the rebels have concealed themselves mostly in the fields, with only a few Rebel guns positioned behind the walls to cover the front.  The Federals are soon blazing away, but even with Hardtack's help they struggle to land hits on the well-concealed Rebs.

Despite no signs of life to the front, the Confederate rear is a hive of activity!  One regiment sets to work frantically digging a fall-back trench to their rear, while another regiment double-quicks its way to the Rebel right, to Meet the oncoming Blue-bellies.

"Run!  Dig!  Run and dig!"

Three Federal regiments approach the end of their line, and firing breaks out.  A sniper very nearly brings down Hardtack himself, but thankfully his personal physician  Dr. Hackett intervenes and saves the day, by getting himself shot instead.  "He died doing what he loved: saving my life!" says a visibly stirred Hardtack.

Poor Surveying.  Again.  Where's that Yankee engineering genius when you need it?

The 27th Pennsylvania moves ahead but then discovers - shock! - that the army surveyors haven't been doing their job right.  A broken area of difficult ground lies ahead of them, bringing all forward movement to a halt in favour of a firefight while they also try to extract themselves from the confusion.  To their right, the freshly-raised 122nd New York moves through the wood and then plunges headlong straight at the wall where a rebel regiment has popped up.  With the bravery that only comes from a complete misapprehension of the dangers being faced, they storm dead ahead and send the Rebels reeling back.  Inspirational stuff!  

The 122nd New York goes in with its best, manliest 'Hurrah!'

Taking a larger view of the area, the 27th Pennsylvania struggles through the fallen timbers while a lone Rebel regiment fires away at them.  (Now that's just unfair...)

With the numerical odds heavily in favour of the Union, things seem to be going well.  To heighten the pressure, the Artillery continues to blaze away (although admittedly with more noise than actual results) and the veteran regiments begin to nudge forward to threaten the other end of the rebel line.  The luckless Reb diggers in the rear keep on extending their trench-line.

Approximately two hundred cannon-balls fired, and naught to show for it - although I believe a mule in the rebel baggage may have been decisively killed...

The rebel artillery continues to shoot down luckless US infantry in the distance and dodge incoming shells for a while before, accepting that it's hopelessly outclassed.  It tries to limber up, and at this very last moment it (finally!) takes the hits to wreck a gun that Hardtack was expecting from the get-go.  A valiant show from them, at any rate - they battered the poor 1st Massachusetts, despite having to battle with Bad Fuses.  

Elsewhere, the 122nd NY tries to push on beyond the scene of its earlier triumph, but stupid rivalries between the officers stop them from properly coordinating.  Firing along the line sees casualties mounting - can the Union push on?

In a further development, some Rebel cavalry arrive late on the field as reinforcements.  "Never mind lads, they'll never have an effect!"

With the Veteran Federals closing in on the other side of the farm, the rebel 31st Georgia - veterans, and the toughest unit on the other side - come out of the field and man the stone wall to prevent themselves from being outflanked.  Sadly this does bring them into view of the guns, who prove their ability to shoot the whiskers off a cat by landing six hits on them, sending brickwork and Rebel veterans flying through the air in all directions (war is hell, of course - but distinctly less so when it only involves 15mm lead models!)

Annoyingly, they also managed to pass most of their 'to kill' rolls!

A further stroke of luck for the Federals is that, after managing to extract themselves from the broken ground between their lines, the Confederate regiment itself is swept up in Confusion and rushes forward itself right into the same tangled mess!  Being hit with the Withering Fire of the Federals wasn't helping either (It's not unfair now - just tactics...  What?)

By this stage most Federal regiments had been whittled down by losses, but the Rebels were falling back.  Their rear-ward defensive position was prepared, and the regiments began to fall back through the fields to benefit from the new protection.  However, the luckless rebel regiment caught in the rough ground wasn't able to make it.  The rebel commander had only one option - move At The Double for a counter-attack, and try to rescue them from the Federal jaws!  

The battle-line, just before the counter-attack on the Federals

The Rebels in the fields doubled back into a defence like a Stone Wall, with the 31st Georgia repulsed by the 8th New Jersey.  The depleted 122nd New York also repelled its attackers through the crops thanks to the emergence of a truly patriotic hero, in the form of their Colonel Thucydides Ganderpoke.  Surely the Federal line would hold out, with two of the three regiments attacked standing firm?

Nope!  On the end of the line, the 27th Pennsylvania is engaged to the front by the Rebels-in-the-Rough.  All seems to be going well, until that tardy regiment of Confederate cavalry joins in by descending at speed on their flank!  Too much to handle, frankly.  The green recruits of the 27th take to their heels and flee - although frankly it's hard to see how even veterans could have withstood the avalanche of Grey heading their way.  With the collapse of one of their larger remaining regiments, it becomes clear that the Federal machine has run out of steam for the day.  

The 27th Pennsylvania, about to disappear - as if by magic!  And swords.

As night falls, the Rebels continue to hold their objective in their new trench-line behind the farm, while the Federals dig in by the captured stone wall.  The farmers' fields are now the new No Man's Land, so although Hardtack lost the battle he can (and does) at least claim that a cereals-rich diet has been denied to the Confederacy.  Amazingly, this seems to be enough for the War Department, who promote Hardtack for his work and bump him up to divisional command level!

Attending to his division, Hardtack is gladdened to see that what's left of the 27th Pennsylvania and 122nd New York have endured being bloodily mis-handled for long enough to be considered veterans.  His 1st Massachusetts veterans are disbanded due to expired enlistments and combined with the 11th Massachusetts, forming a provisional regiment.  To go with this, his constant pestering of the ordnance office sees a two-section battery of the massive 20-pounder Parrotts, adding even more heavy metal to Hardtack's artillery.  As well as this, he gets the 13th Delaware Cavalry regiment attached (causing some raised eyebrows - Hardtack was glad to be rid of cavalry last time, so surely the rout of the 27th Pa. hasn't changed his mind about the value of having some?) and also another remarkable new unit - the 45th Massachusetts Colored Infantry Regiment.  Naturally a profoundly old school, pre-war-Army type like Hardtack will have about as dim a view of them as he does of any new recruits, but they'll be keen to defeat the Confederacy at any rate - which definitely counts for a lot in his eyes!  

[Next up, if all goes as planned, Hardtack will be commanding on the field of Gettysburg in a multi-player game of Longstreet being played out by the FDWC!]

A field, somewhere in England, 1461

Some time ago, I mentioned that my Wars of the Roses campaign was heading towards a monster, everybody-fights-for-the-crown battle spectacular, which would definitely be deciding the fate of the Lancastrian and Yorkist houses.  This idea was first floated in - I am amazed to say - April of last year!  Over the summer I organised and gathered miniatures, then over autumn I painted them up.  Now, in winter, I have finally been able to resolve the great clash of arms.  

First, I thought that I should take a bit of time and explain what the thinking was behind me setting up the field.  I wanted to pick somewhere that was vaguely semi-plausible as a historic battlefield, and hopefully add in a little 'flavour' to the terrain.  

I knew from the campaign that the Lancastrians were marching from London to attack the Yorkists massing at Gloucester.  I searched maps along the rough route of the land where they might have met, and wound up selecting - basically at random - an area slightly to the north of Cirencester.  Partly it was from 'old fashioned' roads in the area such as the Fosse Way, and partly it was because of a nearby small river (I had river sections of terrain I wanted to use!)  I settled on an area close to a tiny village called Baunton, just east of the river Churn.  

The pic above is from Google Maps, of course.

After looking around a little, and checking old historical WOTR battle maps on wikipedia, I reasoned that I had a good notion on an approximate realistic 'size' of battlefield.  Here's the rough sketch, with the proposed wards in place for 'The Battle of Baunton', very roughly to scale:

It assumes, as per the scenario setup, that the Lancastrians have marched west and the York army has adopted a defensive position from which to fight, and where Henry VI's army cannot simply bypass them.  I then sketched up a rough notion of the significant battlefield terrain:

The Yorkists are on gently rising farmland, with the River Churn protecting their right flank and a roughly-wooded and steep-banked area, called Wiggold Covert, protecting their left.  To their front are the odd isolated clump of trees, perfect for breaking up the formations of any attacking army.  The trees, and indeed most of the terrain, is straight off a modern map and therefore probably has only the lightest resemblance to how it would have been historically, of course - what we're after here is inspiration, not an accuracy which is probably impossible anyway!  Here it is, done up with a bit of colouring-in:

And when realised on the tabletop, it looks like this!

Viewed from the north-west, so the Yorkist table-edge is on the left and the Lancastrian edge is on the right

Also, I have added in captains for all the units.  I actually managed to do them all historically, with appropriate 'real' people - I only had to add in three fictional ones, which were for the Burgundian mercenary pikemen (I used an online medieval German name-generator) and one captain for some mercenary spearmen who I named after a friend of mine that stays up near Dingwall - so I named him Lord Walldingham, to give him something suitably Anglicized.  

That's it: nothing left for it now but to heat up some dice, get on the tabletop and have ourselves a game!

The Battle of Antietam, 1862

The tides of war have rolled Thaddeus P Hardtack up against the Confederacy once again.  September 1862, the Maryland Campaign.  Hardtack has missed out on the disaster of Second Bull Run, while he had to retire briefly on sick-leave to shake a hankering for 'Hackett's Nerve Elixir'.  Still, with his personal doctor now firmly briefed to confine his efforts to bullets alone, he'c back to the war.  Not a moment too soon, since the Army of Northern Virginia is invading Union soil!  Hardtack marches off with McClellan once again, arriving for the battle along Antietam Creek.  After a morning waiting before crossing the creek and advancing forward, Hardtack is brought out of reserve and ordered to seize one of the low ridges around Sharpsburg which a Rebel force is defending.  

The Deployment

On deploying, it quickly becomes obvious that Hardtack has got a serious numerical advantage - very nearly twice as many infantry as his opponent, and a full artillery compliment.  Only in cavalry, and the advantages of terrain, do the Rebels have the edge.   

The 'old' regiments are in the centre, while the rookies are on the right where a small stream can watch their flank

"Courage lads!  Your bravery shall be well reflected in my promotion prospects!"

The advance begins cautiously enough, so it turns out to be the rebels who move the most!  A few blasts from the artillery batteries - directed by Hardtack's experienced eye - shows just what Yankee artillery is capable of.  The rebels pull back, getting behind the hill-crest and with their cavalry pulled back into reserve, to save themselves from an unnecessary pummeling.  

 Working with the terrain, the original Massachusetts regiments slip in behind each other, into the woods between the two hills.  The rebel artillery moves up opposite, to try and get a few oblique return-shots on the Union, but without exposing themselves to the more numerous cannon firing back at them.  

 The battery in front of the main Rebel hill redeploys slightly, as the right-flank peak is obviously going to be the focus of the battle (the left-flank peak is covered in woods, and basically impregnable - most of the rebel force is massed on the other).

Suddenly, the response that Hardtack has been probing for gets provoked!  When one rebel regiment falls victim to confusion and exposes itself on the forward slopes, the Confederate general clearly decides 'what the hell' and throws the rest forward!   

Who'd have thought it?  The Rebel cavalry is thwarted in its attempt to charge the weaker of the rookie regiments by a marshy area around the stream, which nobody has noticed before now.  Good fortune indeed!  The 27th Pennsylvania gets charged, but the simple size of the regiment allows it to resist the impact and throw them back.

In the woods however, less of a good show!  The 11th Massachusetts tries to skirmish with the Rebels on the left-flank wooded hill, only to realise that the Rebel regiment has companies of sharpshooters attached.  A few minutes' firing reveals how badly outclassed they are!  This is followed up by the Rebel charge off the right-flank hill bearing down on them, as it turns to enter the wood.  In turning, the rebel line exposes its flank to the artillery, who are not slow to take the chance.  

 The Rebel line charges in, yelling away.  The 1st Mass. gets sent reeling, and then after it the 16th Mass. is similarly flung back.  The Confederate infantry has swept the woods clear.

 Hardtack is frustrated in his efforts to get a charge of his own going, as the numerous rookie infantry can't charge against cavalry - most annoying!  Still, they keep blazing away, and over time the numbers firing and the artillery support means that there is a steady drain of Confederate casualties each turn.

 Desperate fighting continues around the fringes of the wood, as the three Massachusetts regiments try to hold the line and stop the centre of Hardtack's brigade from collapsing.  Things aren't helped by the pesky Rebels, who seem to have found some local assistance from pro-secession Marylanders.  

 Having lost almost half their strength, the rebel cavalry gives up against the rookies and joins the fight against the centre, where things appear more hopeful.  

The fighting is close-up and personal; rebels charging forward and falling back, only to charge again.  Their losses are steadily mounting, but the same applies on both sides.  Major Hercules Spatchcock is cut down in the middle of the line, where his regiment - the 16th Mass. - gets overrun and routed by the Rebs.  Finally, the Union pulls back in much-reduced form from the woods.  The Rebels can't exploit any further forward however, as the rookies on the flank have now pressed forward.  The rebs are caught in a salient in the woods, with artillery batteries firing away at them, and the hill to their rear now in danger of being taken while most of its defenders are down in the woods.

Finally, the rebels have to pull back as their losses become insupportably heavy - rather in-keeping with the general Confederate experience at Antietam, you might say.   The Union has won, and Hardtack has his first ever battlefield victory under his belt.   True, he never even went near the hilltop objective, and scored precisely no Epic charges of note, but a win's a win, in his eyes!  The Confederates can even console themselves that they racked up twice as many Epic Points as their enemies (or at least the survivors can.)

Hardtack finished the year satisfied with his progress.  Divisional command still eludes him after such a 'workmanlike' victory, but his brigade has gained a certain 'something' to its reputation.  Experience, in a word - the two surviving 'original' regiments, the 1st & 11th Mass. are now seasoned veterans.  So too is the relatively new arrival 8th New Jersey Infantry.  Other names drop off the brigade lists - the 16th Mass. and 15th New York Infantry are both disbanded as their losses prove so high, and so is the 3rd Pennsylvania cavalry - Hardtack now unambiguously commands an infantry force alone, with no mounted force.  To strengthen him up, two new Rookie infantry regiments are drafted in: the 122nd New York, and the 83rd Ohio.  Hardtack looks forward to a decisive 1863, and hopefully an end to the war.  

The Battle of Ramsay's Farm, 1862

1862 now beckons for Brigadier General Hardtack and his loyal brigade.  Following his fight in the fall of 1861, he's been spending the winter in and around Washington under a new commander: 'Little Mac', George McClellan himself, has been knocking the Army of the Potomac into shape over the winter.  Now it's high time to take the war to the rebels: Hardtack has sailed down to Fort Monroe with the army, marched and dug his way up the Yorktown peninsula, and is now on the very doorstep of Richmond - right in time for the start of the 'Seven Days Battles'.  As the rebels close in, Hardtack's brigade is ordered to hold his portion of the line around a small homestead called 'Ramsay's Farm'...  

The opening conditions

Hardtack initially keeps his artillery on his flanks, but their fields of fire are frustrated by the cornfields.  For the arch-artillerist Hardtack, this is clearly going to be a frustrating day!  The Confederate commander obviously has a healthy respect for them too, and he keeps himself hidden from sight all morning long.

Hardtack pushes very slightly forward with the 11th and 16th Massachusetts regiments, into the cornfields - the Confederates respond by moving forward themselves.  Hardtack is satisfied the 'lure' has worked, and pulls back his regiments.  The three rebel regiments are all tightly bunched in the centre, so whatever else happens there won't be much in the way of awkward maneuvering or flanking this day!

"The perfect 'Arc of Death', Sir!  Shame we can't see them..."

Hardtack angles in his flank infantry regiment and lines up his cannon 'just so'.  The three rebel regiments are packed into a perfect 'killing zone' from all sides.  If the cornfields weren't there, it'd be over in an instant.  However, despite Hardtack's earnest wishes, it insists on still being there!  "How long until the harvest?"  

A close-up on one of the rebel regiments, hiding ignobly - but undeniably effectively - in the field

The hours tick by, with Hardtack increasingly fuming at the rebels who refuse to emerge into his waiting arms.  Seriously, what's to stop his artillery just flinging cannon-balls into the corn?!  Protests about line of sight, ammunition supply etc. rave back and forth between Hardtack and his luckless staff.  His nerves must be stretched to breaking-point by this!

"I refuse to accept there is any problem to which more cannon is not the answer!

With the day growing late, and the initial 'blocking' task pretty well accomplished, Hardtack decides to take a chance and prod the Confederate hornet's nest.  The 11th and 16th are ordered forward again, this time at an angle to strike the end of the three Confederate regiments and prod them into action.  It's heroic stuff to make the papers, which is of course the main objective.

"Where are the enemy?  I can't see them anywh - Aargh!"

The two lines collide practically point-blank in the cornfield, and close-range fighting breaks out!  The Union reel back from the contact, and now the grey-clad Rebels come pouring out of the field all along the line.  It's a headlong attack by the screaming and yelling Confederates!

"Advance rearwards!  Keep firing!"

Benefiting from some local cornstalk-chewing, slack-jawed local, the rebs get the lie of the land and come headlong into the waiting Union line.  Things aren't perfect with the withdrawal however, as the colonel of the 11th Massachusetts gets it into his head that falling back into plentiful supporting lines is a bad idea, and he stays rooted to the spot in a cornfield that is now near-totally filled with rebels - oh, you heroic fool!

Finally visible, the Union lines begin blazing away at the Confederate horde rushing onwards at them, yelling as they come.  This one's gonna hurt!

Crashing into the 6th Massachusetts and the 15th New York, the recruits are driven back with heavy losses by the concentrated rebel mass!  In return however, they fire frantically into the oncoming graybacks.  The Confederates are a heroically determined bunch and take their losses as they keep coming, however - one rebel regiment is led forwards by a hero, who is then shot down, only to be replaced moments later by yet another hero stepping out of the ranks!

Despite taking heavy losses, all Hardtack's regiments manage to stay on the field.  The much-battered 16th Massachusetts is kept going by the Colonel, Hercules Spatchcock - clearly a man to rely on in hard times!  The union regiments even manage a counter-attack at the last minute, charging into the depleted rebels with their even-more depleted forces - what a show of fighting spirit!  Even so, Hardtack is in no doubt that with the farm lost, the sooner the day ends, the better.  The day ends with a stroke of luck: while the rebels are poised to charge yet again and wipe out several union regiments, a sniper shoots the enemy commander's horse out from under him!  By the time the dazed commander is recovered and the Rebel assault prepared, Hardtack has slipped away in the gathering dusk.

So, Hardtack has been defeated, pretty much like the rest of the Union army in the Seven Days Battles.  Time to take stock: he's lost 15 bases in combat, but inflicted about 10 in return.  Decent, but not enough to convince the War Department to give him that promotion he's been after.  All regiments recover, more or less, although the 16th Ma and 15th NY are rather light with only around 200-odd men left.  Time for reinforcements, so Hardtack starts lobbying away at army HQ and gets two new infantry regiments transferred to his command - the 27th Pa and the 8th NJ.  He also keeps on with his favourite hobby-horse, and manages to rig a ridiculous boost to his artillery park: the 6-pounders are replaced with Napoleons, and the number of Light Rifles are doubled from two to four sections.  Hardtack has a rather mediocre infantry force (still no veterans!) but enough artillery to put the moon out of orbit.

Hardtack's time in the field has strained his nerves, and while in the rear he advertises for, and finds, a personal physician to help look after his humors.  Dr. Hackett is added to his personal staff, and provides the great man with his own patented cure-all, 'Hackett's Nerve Elixir' (Ingredients: 2% Tar, 98% Cocaine Powders).  

Surely the next battle shall go better, with this marvel of modern medicine at his disposal?

Workbench WOTR

The last few weeks have seen various exploits at club, such as the 'Longstreet' ACW campaign, and discovering 'Bolt Action' for WW2 tactical games, but I thought it was high time that I posted something about non-club activities, since it's been a while.  

I've been busy painting up and organising a large amount of Wars of the Roses figures, for the impending climactic struggle between Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York (and soon to be Edward IV, should he win) and Henry VI's puppet-master Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. 

Here's what my painting table currently looks like:

At present, I have about 60-odd models to finish up painting, out of a grand total of something like 350-ish figures due to go on-table.  Although most of the others are painted, there seem to be a lot of rogue ones here and there which have been painted but then not 'dipped' to given them shading and a protective varnish coat, or properly finished with a grassy base.  So, I'm working away to bring them all up to finished 'army painted' standards.

However, if you're interested in something you can't just put it all on hold while you paint away - I've been looking into getting a pile of banners and standards prepared, to give the armies a good bit of heraldry on display.  It should add quite a lot to the visual appeal of the game, if it goes right!

I have also been reminded, after playing a game of 'Bloody Barons' with Ric at the club, of the importance of Captains to units.  Each unit has one, whose job is to motivate the men, spur them on to fight, and generally keep the whole unit actively involved in the fight!  It occurred to me that it would be a good opportunity to add a lot of character to the game if I could assign historical personages to these roles.  I turned to the superb 'Perfect Captain' database of personalities, and basically ransacked their lists of minor Lords and Barons.  Where possible I have lifted magnates who were at Towton (the nearest historical equivalent to my upcoming battle) and assigned them straight to the various units each magnate has brought to the field.  

With a bit of luck, I may even be able to meet my target of getting the battle played out before the Xmas holidays arrive (eight weeks to go!)

The Battle of Spizzler's Crossroads, 1861

The club has been full of talk for some time now, regarding the notion of carrying out a campaign for Sam Mustafa's 'Longstreet' rules.  It's basically a series of linked games, and we seem to have about 10 or 12 willing recruits prepared to raise a brigade and launch their careers, so - last Monday I was on the field for my inaugural fight!

In charge is my fictional and dapper commander, Colonel Thaddeus P Hardtack.  Sharp of eye, square of jawbone - his hobbies include amateur theatrics, overwrought poetic composition, and shooting anybody with inadequate enthusiasm for the Union.  An ex-military type of the old school, with a 'thing' for drilling his troops and a long passion for artillery theory, he finds himself brought swiftly out of military retirement at the outbreak of hostilities.  Volunteering his services to the United States' government, he quickly finds himself in charge of a brigade made up largely of Massachusetts recruits.

Fast-forward swiftly, and we find our intrepid hero leading his men into action for the first time!  An obscure crossroads has been occupied by Confederates - Driftwood's Brigade, to be precise - and Hardtack is set to drive them off!  

The two lines - Confederates on the left, Union on the right.  Most of the Union strength is on the right of their line, at the very top of the picture.

Planning a straight flanking sweep, he masses the 1st and 16th Massachusetts regiments to occupy a small hill out on the flank, which is defended by a regiment of Alabamians.

"Two against one - just how I like to fight!"

 The Union troops gamely marched ahead, only to be gripped by confusion right before the crest.  The intelligence handed over by the Pinkerton Detective Agency indicated that approximately 100,000 Confederates were certain to be in the area.  What lay behind that hill-top: a division of crazed Texans, waiting to pounce, perhaps?  As Hardtack steeled himself to find out, the Alabama regiment blazed away into the milling blue-coats.

Finally resolving to charge, the Massachusetts regiments surged ahead with a manly 'Hurrah!'  Driftwood himself even had a close shave, nearly being shot down but saved because he had cannily decided to bring along his personal physician.

I like to think I at least shot the doctor.

 Hardtack managed to get in his picture-book charge, thus giving the papers something to write about.  Strangely, the 16th Massachusetts seemed to have a bit of an 'off' day, and didn't give follow-up support (possibly an old rivalry between the colonels, perhaps?  No, surely not...)  It then topped this by failing to even fire helpfully, thanks to them having been issued with obsolete rifles.  Thankfully however the 1st Massachusetts proved equal to the job, and pushed the wavering Alabama regiment off the hilltop!  

"On to Richmond!"

However, this drama on the flank was only part of the tale.  In the centre, things were also going well as the third regiment held the line - and a battery of 'old army' artillery showed the benefits of Hardtack's leadership, blasting steadily away at a luckless regiment of Kentuckians opposite.

"Just like the practice range, but far more satisfying!"

 However, on the Union left the Confederates had been far more successful.  The Union flank was to be covered by the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry regiment, but when they advanced forward and dismounted under Rebel artillery fire, they were soon dramatically assailed by the charging grey horsemen, and scattered!

"Wait, men!  You're advancing the wrong way!"

 Infuriated at this turn of events, Hardtack could only watch as the Rebel cavalrymen began menacing the whole Union line - they were even aided by Southern-sympathizing civilians, just to add insult to injury!  (Honestly, you wonder why you bother sometimes...)

The hill (at the top of the picture) is in union hands, but the left flank (at the bottom of the pic) is now all grey! 

 Things were looking dicey, but luckily Hardtack's long drilling practice paid off - the 11th Massachusetts in the centre was able to wheel backwards, and pulled off the complex maneuver just in time to hit the cavalry with a volley, and repel them.  It was also fortunate that the cavalry colonel didn't obey his orders that closely - no doubt he and Driftwood had some sort of rivalry as well!

Marching, wheeling, and firing - all at once!

 The whole line had pivoted round, as each side had attacked on its right - now things were nearly at right angles, with the Kentucky regiment now getting flanked to add to its miseries.  Despite this, the Union had been stopped on its own right-wing and couldn't press on any further.  Casualties mounted, and what with the Pennsylvanian cavalry already galloping fast for Washington, Northern morale was getting shaky!

"These Rebs just keep coming!"

Finally, after clinging on to pass three break-rolls, the Union morale finally gave way.  The crossroads was out of reach, and Colonel Hardtack had to fall back and leave the field to the Rebels. 

The Rebs won, and with one of their regiments not even getting properly engaged!

 Still, it was a hard fight - and Hardtack gave as good as he got.  He'll be back, and no doubt next time he'll deal the forces of Secession an even sterner lesson!

Time to Skedaddle!

After the fight, Hardtack could at least point to the fighting spirit of his men as evidence of his own bold style, and he happily managed to secure a promotion in the rapidly expanding army!  Even better was to follow: thanks to the kudos attached to his name, the War Department favoured a Railway company he had been linked to in his pre-war days, and awarded them a massive contract.  Hardtack is rich, rich beyond his wildest dreams!  

The 'golden gaze of fortune' continued in military spheres too - the Army command attached a 4-gun battery of Light Rifles to his Brigade, to see what his proficiency in gunnery could do with them; and also transferred across the 15th New York Infantry Regiment to bolster his force.

Roll on 1862!