Scourge of War: Gettysburg AAR: Devil's Den


The Devil's Den scenario is an hour long, and for me so far, it is one of the toughest scenarios I have played.  You command the 2nd Union brigade in the First Division of Second Corps.  Four regiments are at your immediate disposal and two more regiments (1st, 2nd US Sharpshooters) are detached from your main body of men.

You are charged with defending the rocky spur known as Devil's den and the Rose woods in the center and on the right flank of your position as well as maintaining a line of defense to the left of Devil's Den across some rocky, sloping ground up into the woods of Little Roundtop.

That's a tall order for just four regiments. I was stretched thin with gaps on my flanks and in the center. 

The fighting takes place on the 2nd day of Gettysburg, July 2nd at 4:30PM and for me, it went like this:

I did not know I had two additional detached regiments I could give orders to, so I defended the ground I had with four regiments for the duration of the battle.  I kept two atop Devil's Den and two more (incl. 4th Maine, see below) drawn up straddling the gap between the rocky outcrop pictured below and the woods of Little Roundtop on my extreme left flank.

Historically General Ward didn't extend his flanks to cover the gap.  He drew all four regiments up on the ground in front of the Devil's Den and in the Rose Woods.  

The 4th Maine heads to the right flank.

Combat engaged quickly with at least one brigade arriving opposite my 99th Pennsylvania Regiment.

99th Pennsylvania takes position as Confederates arrive.

The 99th took position behind a stone wall to face Robertson's brigade (Hood's Texas division).  Behind me is a battery of  10 lb guns under an independent command. To the right of the 99th, I stationed the 124th New York Regiment to cover the Rose Woods approach to the Den.
The battery is fully engaged.
The right flank engages.
The 4th Maine held the left flank and quickly became fully engaged.  Swarms of Confederate regiments made their way up the open slope in an attempt to outflank the battery and my position.

The 4th Maine locked in hand to hand combat as Rebel troops push towards the summit.
In the center the fighting took a turn for the worse.  The 99th Pennsylvania surrendered and the 20th Indiana after becoming hotly engaged fled in panic.

The 99th Pennsylvania surrenders.
Rose woods fighting.
The 20th Indiana breaks and the Devil's den falls to Hood's Texans.

20th Indiana flees the field.


The Devil's Den falls.
While the Den falls, the 4th Maine fights until the end.
The 4th Maine surrenders.
The dead.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Tiller's Campaign Series - Buy It Now

Image
John Tiller's campaign series game for $9.99 at  Matrix Games Ltd.  is a steal. There are so many great scenarios. I have been playing a Fastov scenario this morning detailing the 25th Panzer Division probe into a Soviet armor formation in 1943. If my memory is correct, the division commander is killed and the reconnaissance battalion is wiped out. The Campaign Series game lays this meeting engagement out on a beautiful map with the full OOB (over 300 unit counters are present). I have considered setting up this battle before for Panzer Battles and Command Ops, so to find it in this title's scenario list this morning was very exciting! This is a zoomed out view of the northern portion of the Fastov map in the map editor. Each hex is 250 meters. In the image below, 25th Panzer is probing north towards Fastov along both sides of the Unava river. The scenario designer set a minor victory at 600 objective points and a major victory at 1200 points. You can technically achieve
Read more

Maxwell's Marauders: Find the Observation Post

Image
Maxwell’s Marauders, 1st Platoon, C Company of the 7th Marine Regiment is a fictional unit, filled with characters that I have created to deepen my connection to my Squad Battles “ Proud and the Few ” gaming. The New York boys, Bullseye, Sgt. Rock and the rest are going to be persistent characters (unless they die on my digital battlefields) that take me through the War in the Pacific. From Guadalcanal to New Britain to Peleliu and finally Okinawa, the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment served with distinction and so too will Maxwell’s Marauders. Along the way, my hope is that by investing in the backstories of the soldiers on the map, I will play smarter and take fewer risks with them, enjoy my gaming and appreciate this great Squad Battles system in a deeper way. About these scenarios The scenarios are short (under 20 turns (100 minutes or less of combat). They are historical, even though the unit is fictional. Each battlefield map is an approximation of the terrain Frisbie’s
Read more

Edson's Ridge

Image
September 12, 1942, just before sunset: [Historical scenario] Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi has come to Guadalcanal to lead the attack against the Marine foothold on the island at Henderson Airfield. The I and III battalions of the 124th Infantry regiment are to attack from the south, along with the Kuma Battalion, II battalion of the 4th infantry regiment 19th engineer battalion. Kawaguchi will personally lead these battalions. A composite of Japanese engineers, special naval landing troops and the Oka Force, II Bn 124 Inf Rgt are to attack from the West. The Japanese objectives are the Marine bridge over the Lunga, the air traffic control tower on Pagoda Hill, the main runway hangars, and the Fighter One airstrip. Kawaguchi has grossly underestimated the strength of the Marine force facing him. The Marines have also disrupted his supply base along the coast at Tasimboko, dispersing a small reserve force, his artillery, and supplies. Special Terrain rules: The Lunga River
Read more