ACW: Pea Ridge

Possibly the first historical ACW battle I ever wargamed was Pea Ridge, the biggest battle of the war west of the Mississippi, fought in Missouri in 1862. In a nutshell (pea-pod?), Confederate General Earl Van Dorn launched an audacious attack with his Army of the West against the rear of Samuel Curtis's Union Army of the South West, encamped on the escarpment above Little Sugar Creek; in a two-day battle, the Union counterattacked and drove the tired, hungry and poorly-led Confederates from the field; Van Dorn's battered force was subsequently transferred east of the Mississippi.

On that occasion all those years ago, we were not using miniatures but playing the SPI boardgame. Now at last I have fought it with figures. This was Crispin's latest creation as part of our project to design scenarios for all the major battles of the American Civil War. Both the scenario and his custom battlemat were beautifully crafted. They produced a wonderfully tense and absorbing game.

Ten photos briefly recount the action. Some reflections follow.

I thought this was a particularly lovely battlefield with all its colourful patches of woods. White lines are roads and tracks. The seven victory locations are marked with red stars. (The US gets to move its camp during the game.) The Confederates need to hold only 2 for a draw and 3 for a win at game end, so although the Rebs need to move initially and seize a few, they can then go on the defensive, as the onus will be on the Union to take them back.

Two of the four US divisions start on-table, top centre of pic. The other two march on from the top edge halfway through. The two Confederate columns under Price and McCulloch march on via the two roads on the bottom edge on Turns 1 & 2.

The pink counters on some of McCulloch's units indicate that half his force is Fragile. Furthermore, most of the Confederate troops are rated Raw, whereas the Union is all Trained. 

 This quality advantage will tell.

I was Price, facing Mark; Phil was McCulloch, facing Dave W. Crispin GM'd. All the figures are Baccus 6mm from Crispin's collection.

Price's column seizes Elkhorn Tavern and pushes up the track through the woods to the left of it. Mark's Union columns are visible in the distance. Our main advantage was plentiful artillery, so my basic plan was to park my guns on the objectives and dare the Union to brave the cannister.

On our right, McCulloch occupies the line of woods in front of Foster's Farm. Unfortunately, he's done so with dismounted cavalry who only have short-ranged weapons, as indicated by purple counters. These are going to be outranged and outgunned by Dave's riflemen and artillery. Phil and I had talked about using our more numerous cavalry to get around flanks and pin the enemy that way, rather than stand-up fights. Oh well. At least there's one Confederate cavalry unit following that plan, upper left. This is Albert Pike's brigade of Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians.

As well as establishing guns on two objectives, I wanted to set up a line in front of them to disrupt and delay the Union advance. It wasn't easy in the difficult wooded country, but Mark's troops weren't moving as fast as he'd have liked them to either. Top left you can see my only 2-base cavalry unit trying to pester the Union flank. They managed to distract the opposing Union cavalry for most of the game.

Over on our right wing, Phil's line looks solid now - everyone has moved up, his guns have deployed, and his Injuns have descended on Osterhaus's 1st Brigade and pushed it back Disrupted (yellow counter).

Unfortunately, Dave's guns are on line too, and his mass of infantry is about to scare off the Indians and smash into Phil's left wing.

With my forward line having obliged Mark to deploy, and my sharpshooters having driven back his guns, it was time for me to fall back on my main line of resistance. Getting that battery up onto Big Mountain on my right was important to protect my right flank. That infantry unit by it will climb the mountain as well next turn.

This was a real game of chess in the woods. Understandably, Mark didn't want to take on that formidable gun line directly. One large brigade is out of shot to the right, trying to clear me off Big Mountain. He launches an assault through the trees between my battery positions. That US unit with a green counter is armed with deadly breechloaders. That firepower hurts and they will push my infantry back, but my line holds.

Interesting things happening in the centre. Look towards the top left and you will see the remnants of Pike's brigade. His Indians have rallied from their initial rout and snuck through the gap in the Union lines, hoping to find plunder and scalps (and Objectives) at Pratt's Store and the Union camp. Mark has been obliged to divert a 3-base brigade (left centre) to deal with them. The US fire will finally see them off but they have played a useful part and written their own story.

McCulloch pushes for victory! Actually, not McCulloch - he got killed on Turn 3. Anyway: by now, the Union has battered a lot of Phil's units and has captured Foster's Farm. Phil sends his last two intact brigades in to retake it. The odds were good but the dice were not. With that repulse, the battle was effectively over on our right wing. The question now was whether we could hold on the left.

The usual last-turn drama! Mark had cleared Big Mountain (top right) but too late for the brigade there to reach the Elkhorn Tavern. The previous turn, he sacrificed his cavalry charging my massed guns. This meant his infantry among the trees in the centre could renew their charge without being cannistered, wipe out my small infantry unit there, and follow up onto my gun line. Although that assault bounced off with heavy loss, it did oblige my guns to limber up and find somewhere safer.

Consequently, with his final move, Mark was able to send one 3-base brigade (the one that had seen off Pike) into a frontal assault against my fragile Missouri State Guard. He pushed the Guard back and took the Tavern.

I was left holding the two road exits (left edge and bottom right corner, with my artillery streaming towards it), meaning we Confederates had hung on for a draw. Yeehaw!

Reflections

Fencing (1). Snake rail fences and a tavern nestling among the rich greens and browns of extensive Missouri woods - it really looked lovely, a striking sight to greet me when I walked into the village hall. The aesthetic matters and it was a pleasure to play on this battlefield.

Fencing (2). I really enjoyed fencing against Mark in our chess match in the woods. He's a sharp player who I knew would take full advantage of any errors I might make in my defensive deployment. The wooded terrain and steep hills limiting visibility made it tricky to cover the approaches and avoid exposing any flanks. It was just as tricky for him, trying to find a way to get at me without being cannistered to bits. Consequently, every move mattered and every turn was full of tension. The pleasure of this mental exercise matched the pleasure of the aesthetic.

Character! This is hardly the first time I've been pushing the blue and the gray around in the woods. Still, a couple of elements gave it a very distinctive and different character and feel from the usual. One factor was the poor quality of the Confederate troops (a boot that is more often on the other foot); another was the particular layout of the terrain and the victory conditions that made it a special tactical challenge; and then of course Pike's brigade doing their thing.

Creative Comrades. These days I am writing about one scenario a year. I don't need to do any more - I am surrounded by clever creative friends who keep churning them out, and painting new armies to fight them, at an impressive rate. Crispin excelled himself this time. Bravo!