We fought Gettysburg 

By Phil Garner, Mosbrough & District Wargames Club

When we took the decision at MAD earlier in the year to re-fight Gettysburg in August 2004 I don’t think anyone fully appreciated the true size of this battle, we have done several ACW re-fights(Shiloh, Antietam, Chancelorsville, Stones River etc) over the years using Fire & Fury, mostly organised by Dave Taylor which have all been extremely successful but no one could foresee the sheer exhaustion that we would all feel after nearly 3 days of wargaming this epic battle.

At our last terrain build we had purposely built certain boards to represent some of the major features of this battle e.g the Round Tops and Cemetery Ridge so there was no longer any excuse on the terrain front and we certainly had the figures. Based on “Lee’s Grand Attack” scenario in Fire & Fury for Day 2 we needed some 282 Rebel stands (inc 20 cavalry stands) with 31 Artillery and 356 Union stands (inc 24 cavalry) with 39 Artillery.

A Weekend was scheduled in August when 10 club regulars could start on the Friday Morning and game through to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon with some members sleeping over in the “Hut” on Friday and Saturday for security reasons and most going out on Saturday for a well earned Chinese and several beers. The Saturday also clashed with Shaun’s stag night so whether this vital confederate player would be fit for battle on the Sunday was part of the “fog of war” – fortunately for us (yes I’m a Reb) he made it!!!

The Players


Army of Northern Virginia 

Martin – R E Lee & A P Hills Corps (less Heth)

Phil – Longstreets Corps (less Pickett)

Andy – Ewells Corps (less Johnson) & Picketts Div’n

Shaun – Johnsons & Heths Divn’s

Army of the Potomac

Dave – Meade & VI Corps

John – III Corps

Steve H – V Corps

Steve C – II Corps

Ian – I & XI Corps

Karl – XII Corps


Martin and Steve H were also to act as mediators to resolve any rule queries and keep the game moving.

The Scenario

I decided to start our re-fight on Day 2 with the intention being to continue on into Day 3 allowing for some overnight recovery of skedaddlers and tactical re-deployments etc and I introduced some special rules to cover the exhaustion of the Union VI Corps which had force marched 34 miles to the battlefield on day 2 ( the movement of this Corps was restricted to half speed unless a Divisional General attached themselves to a Brigade for Day 2) and the fact that once Stuart’s cavalry re-joined Lee it was extremely low on ammunition (thus they suffer a permanent –1 Low on ammunition). Stuarts cavalry did actually arrive mid afternoon on Day 2 but was too exhausted to take part in any further fighting until the following Day. Of course it is only fair to allow the arrival of Union cavalry which had been screening Stuart as well, so together with recovery of skedaddled stands overnight etc there would be a few surprises for the majority of players.

We arrived at the Hut for 10.00 and spent the next 4 hours setting up the table, laying out the terrain, putting the figures on the table and Drawing up our plans. The Table measured an impressive 20’ x 6’ extended to 8’ wide in the middle 12’ (Cemetery Ridge) sections and despite the inevitable “fudging” of certain areas of terrain remarkably felt and looked like Gettysburg. 



The Union Plan

As best as I understand it the Union plan was to not let us pin them on Cemetery Hill which would prevent the deployment of VI Corps – they would achieve this by seizing little Round Top to secure their left flank, rapidly supporting Sickles isolated III Corps with V Corps and attacking A P Hill on Seminary Hill with elements of I, II and XII Corps the theory being the often quoted “attack is the best form of defense”. The weak XI Corps would hold the line of breast works on the right flank including Culps Hill supported by elements of the other Corps. VI Corps was to be used as a “sledgehammer” on Day 3 to break the rebel line. Apologies to the Union if I have got any of this wrong but this is what my sources tell me.



The Confederate Plan

Longstreet with his 2 Divisions initially wanted to try and outflank the union left with Hoods Divn and take Little Round Top but he had to concede that the blue bellies would seize it first and it would thus probably prove to be untakeable. Lee therefore ordered him to concentrate on eliminating III Corps and to demonstrate towards the Round Tops to try and draw union forces away from the centre. Meanwhile AP Hill would move down the line to support Longstreets attack. Ewell would form a Grand battery of 10 Artillery Batteries along the Emmitsburg road and bombard the angle of Seminary Ridge whilst Pickett and Heths Divisions moved up from reserve. Johnson would form a smaller battery of 4 Artillery Batteries and support the bombardment. The plan being that once Pickett and Heth were up, 4 Divisions would assault the right corner of Seminary ridge and the as yet to be proven vital, Culp’s Hill.

It should be noted for those unfamiliar with the scenario if the Union held Seminary Ridge, Little Round Top and Culps Hill they receive 15 Victory points however should the Rebs seize just 1 of these the union would get nothing and the Rebs 10 points for any they held. Victory points are also awarded for worn, spent and eliminated Brigades and captured Generals, wrecked batteries etc.



So how did things go??

We started gaming at 2.00 pm (with the Confederate 1.00pm turn) and finished at 7.00 pm Friday having managed to complete 6 full turns. On the Saturday we started about 10.30 and again finished at about 6.30 pm which took us through to nightfall for Day 2, a further 8 turns and 1 night turn. This meant that on Sunday we were in a position to commence Day 3’s fighting in the morning.



Day 2 – July 2nd 1863

Longstreet’s initial attack on III Corps proved very costly, John playing Sickles rolling 10 after 10 after “unbelievable”10 and oh with the odd 9 thrown in as well. Longstreet became obsessed with the elimination of a particular union zouave brigade holding Devils Den and an adjacent wood which refused to be moved. When its flank was finally turned and it was forced to withdraw it had lost heavily and was certainly spent, many thought they saw General Hood saluting these gallant adversaries as they retired. 

McLaw’s Div’n found itself having to not only fight Sickles but also V Corps which had rapidly re-inforced him. By the end of Day 2’s fighting Longstreets 2 veteran Divisions had suffered 5,000 casualties(although 1,000 of these would be recovered overnight) over 1/3rd of there strength together with 2 lost batteries and an Exceptional Brigade General, Longstreet himself had had to attach himself to 1 brigade to shore up his centre at one point and to eliminate a union brigade of V Corps which seemed hell bent on reaching Richmond but the day still ended with a gaping hole between Longstreet and Hill. But III and V corps had suffered even heavier losses and were in no real position to exploit this. 

In summary on the rebel right flank Longstreet had fought III and V Corps to a very costly standstill. The Good news though was the Union appeared to be worried about this threat to there left flank and they had manoeuvred brigades and batteries onto Little Round Top which would all serve no part in the battle and would certainly be well away from where the Rebel High command aimed to win the battle – so the reb plan appeared to be working.

In the centre the Union advance on Seminary ridge to create “Lebensraum” meant that AP Hill was unable to support Longstreet as planned becoming unexpectedly heavily engaged trying to hold Seminary Ridge. Hill was confident he could repulse the union advance as it consisted of many weak brigades but the union artillery proved very effective and the rebel gun line started to take losses. Hill (martin) was having a bad day with the D10 and the Union took full advantage of this with at least 1 brigade of II Corps gaining a foothold on Seminary ridge. This did not worry the Reb High command to much as it carried no terrain victory point value and again was drawing union forces away from where as far as we were concerned it would matter.

Hill if my recollection serves me right suffered about 1000 casualties on day 2 but again the union lost more assaulting the hill with several weak union brigades being spent or eliminated. VI Corps was meanwhile arriving and slowly (due to its movement restrictions) moving towards the rebel centre.

On the Rebel left with the aid of some of AP Hills artillery Ewell formed up his “Mini” Grand battery and with Johnsons support began the bombardment of Cemetery hill. Once the union line had started to crumble under this weight of roundshot (it proved far more effective than Andersons original attempts to soften the union line) and Pickett and Heth were up in support the Rebs launched the main attack on the ridge line and Culps Hill, the Yankees were behind breastworks and as such with the hill were on +2 defense modifiers but hit from all sides XI Corps could not hold and with a shattering rebel yell a toe hold had been gained and Confederate standards could be seen fluttering on the high ground, with it has to be said fairly minimal losses. 

The combat had been vicious with Meade temporarily playing the part of Howard XI Corps (who had gone awol on the Saturday) fighting 10 rounds of melee in 1 turn!!! I’m not even sure if he won any either(sorry Dave I’m sure you must have won the odd one but it did appear to be going very badly for the union at this point). Meade had also meanwhile formed up a much stronger 2nd line behind XI Corps and was confident the next day they could retake the position with the aid of VI Corps.



As Darkness fell genuine fatigue came over all participants, many were hungry having not had a proper lunch and the Chinese restaurant and more importantly pub beckoned. Howard had returned in time to find his beloved Corps of German immigrants virtually annihilated and had to drown his sorrows over several pints of Guinness.

After a few pints tongues were loosened and both commands claimed that Day 2’s fighting had gone precisely as intended – so something had to give the next day. It became apparent that the Union were confident the powerful VI Corps would win the battle for them the next day and we Rebs were certainly confident of completing the task of taking Culps Hill, should this be achieved there would be 25 point swing in Victory points(the Union losing 15 pts and the Rebs gaining 10). Everybody could not wait to conclude the battle the next day.



Ian and myself slept on the battlefield on the Saturday and I have to say the union got the better nights sleep – modern airbeds beating my “creaking” 1970’s camp bed everytime – I certainly cannot claim I was refreshed and ready for Day 3 after what must go down as one of my worst nights kip ever, although I did feel better after a bacon & egg Mcmuffin!! 

Overnight recovery and Re-enforcements

“I have not heard a word from you for days, and you the eyes and ears of my army” 
RE Lee to General JEB Stuart Gettysburg 2nd July 1863

As mentioned earlier, and unbeknown to the majority of participants Skedaddled stands would be able to be recovered overnight (thus a separate tally had to be kept of casualty/captured stands and those which had skedaddled. Fresh Brigades are able to recover 3 stands, Worn 2 stands and spent 1, After Day 2 the rebs were able to recover all of their 9 skedaddled stands(5 of which were allocated to Longstreet he having suffered the heaviest losses) and the Union 21 from a possible 26 stands. This represents stragglers/deserters etc returning to their units.

Also overnight Brigades had up to 4 activity “segments” to use in order to be able to redeploy (up to 24”), recover ammunition or disorder, entrench etc but if they did not spend at least 2 segments resting would lose a stand to fatigue and bearing in mind it was compulsory to spend 1 segment retiring beyond musketry range and if a brigade is worn this costs a further 1 segment and spent 2 segments, so great care had to be taken to ensure this was carried out fairly, Steve H and Martin ensured this was done. The main tactical actions were Union VI Corps moved a further 12” towards the Rebel left and Picketts Division also moved 12” forward so these 2 formations were heading for a clash in the centre of the battlefield along the Emmitsburg Road, nobody elected to use the entrench option, something the union may have regretted. Both sides had to give up some gains due to withdrawal beyond musketry, the Union having to pull back a brigade from Seminary ridge and the Rebs several Brigades to the line of breastworks on Culps Hill and the corner of Seminary Ridge much to the disgust of Hancock, and Ewell/Johnson respectively.



Stuarts cavalry Corps(20 stands) had also arrived and could be deployed on any road entry point (on the reb side) up to 24” in, the decision was taken to place this Corps in the gap that had opened up between Longstreet and Hill and to place it under the formers command with orders to “charge any opportunities that may present themselves” but equally not to allow the Union to isolate Longstreet, something they had almost achieved on Day 2. The Union also had 24 stands of Cavalry arrive under Pleasonton which they deployed in support of III Corps and V Corps so the cavalry was effectively deployed opposite each other but with a lot of Union infantry in between.

So the scene was set for Day 3’s fighting and the looks of surprise on many of the players when they saw all the recovery, redeployments and re-enforcements made all the hard work put into the scenario thoroughly worthwhile. On the Sunday we began gaming about 10.30 with the Confederate 9.00 am turn, we felt after the severe fighting of Day 2 the infantry would be simply too exhausted to start before this. An absolute deadline of the Union Midday turn was set as a finish point.



“Stay and fight it out” Maj General HW Slocum XII Corps to Meade evening of July 2nd 1863 Gettysburg



Day 3 – July 3rd 1863



“General it is my opinion that no 15,000 men ever arrayed for battle can take that position” General Longstreet to General RE Lee Gettysburg July 3rd 1863



After the early morning mist had cleared the lead brigades of Sykes V Corps were shocked to find Rebel cavalry in the stirrups and only 12” away – 2 brigades of cavalry immediately charged leaving 1 in support as the union infantry could only bring a limited amount of musketry to bear, however the Dice favoured the union on this occasion and the “surprise” attacks were repulsed( both charges only gave a +1 to the rebs in the melee) with 1 of the Reb brigades losing 3 stands in the charge and subsequent retirement and became instantly worn!! The cavalry after this retired to lick its wounds and played no further part. 



As far as the Reb High command was concerned events on their right flank were irrelevant provided “Old Pete” gave as good as he got whilst the main effort on Culp’s Hill continued. One thing we had expected the Union to do overnight was to pull back the exhausted remnants of XI Corps behind there new much stronger line on the back edge of Culps Hill, this they failed to do and the gallant defenders were swept aside by wave after wave of Ewell and Johnsons brigades, these broke through onto the stronger line which in turn was broken, the game appeared up for the Union, the only thing that could turn matters around was if VI Corps could smash into the flank of Ewells attack and retake Culp’s Hill but the Rebs had anticipated this and Picketts Division was allocated to block this manoeuvre. The two forces met in the valley and the Rebs again came out on top, the Union had to concede after the Reb 10.30 turn that they were in no position to retake the vital Hill and the points would be tallied up to determine the victor. We certainly were not expecting to be totalling up victory points after just 3 ½ turns on the Sunday.

Victory Points(VP’s)


In addition to the terrain points each side received 1 VP for each enemy worn Brigade, wrecked or captured battery, Div’n Ldr or Ex Bde commander killed or captured. 2 VP’s for each spent Bde, Corps Ldr or Ex Div’n commander killed or captured and 4 VP’s for each Bde that quits the field or is eliminated or Ex Corps Ldr killed etc.


The Rebs had their 10 points for Culps Hill(the Union remember losing 15 pts by its loss), 4 points from worn Bde’s, 14 points from spent and 48 points from eliminated Brigades, 9 points from wrecked/captured batteries and 9 points from killed/captured generals, a total of 94 points.


The Union had 11 points from worn Bde’s, 6 points from spent and 16 from eliminated Bde’s, also 4 points from Batteries and 2 from Generals, a total of 39 points.



The criteria for a Decisive victory was to accumulate at least 40 VP’s and twice as many as the enemy it was therefore quite clearly a Confederate Decisive Victory. Actual casualties were 15,000 Rebs(with no skedaddled stands) and 20,000 union(inc 3,000 from skedaddlers) – One Union General (Hancock) claimed the Army of Northern Virginia could not sustain these losses and would be in no position to advance on Washington, but they are a lot less than the actual historical losses suffered over the 3 days so this only served to re-enforce our great victory, the Army of the Potomac losses reflecting remarkably close to their historical loss. It was agreed Meade would have extricated VI Corps and used this as a rally point for the other badly mauled Infantry Corps with Pleasanton’s Cavalry Division covering the retirement. Could Lincoln have survived another Confederate victory by the Army of NV on the field of battle – we somehow doubt it believing he would have had to sue for peace – history had indeed been re-written.



Conclusions and Thanks


Well what a battle, the battle to end all battles, I honestly don’t think we’ll ever game such another intense re-fight until maybe Fredericksburg or Waterloo??? Certainly we aim to continue our annual weekend wargame event and the aim next year is to re-fight Quatre Bras so I must make sure I’ve bought one of those air beds by then.

The fact that we finished this battle at 1.30 pm on Sunday with a further potential 2 ½ hours gaming time is confirmation of how tired we all felt in the sense that having determined a Reb victory we didn’t want to continue just to see “what if” and testimony to what a wonderfully playable set of rules Fire & Fury are – without doubt it is one of my most favoured periods and I think that goes for the majority of our club.


Could the Union have won the battle – undoubtedly, by overnight entrenching on Culp’s Hill and withdrawing XI corps shattered remnants behind fresh troops at worst I think they could have claimed a draw by halting Ewells attack at this point, Culp’s Hill would probably have then been contested rather than either side being able to claim it and the additional casualties the rebs would have taken charging this 2nd line of breastworks would have balanced out the VP’s a bit more. The movement restrictions on VI Corps were also probably a little too severe however the Osprey Campaign Book states this Corps did not arrive until 5.30 pm on Day 2 which was too late to take part in any of that days fighting so I feel I got it about right. 

I also believe with a little more aggression III and V Corps could have destroyed Longstreets Corps – they nearly did, but they had fresh troops on Little Round Top which could have ensured this, certainly once it became apparent the Rebs had no interest in this hill these should have been used to try and break “old petes” battle line. None of the Reb High command could also understand the “fruitless” attack on Seminary Ridge, we thought the line would come forward but to the cover of the fields on Emmitsburg Road and not beyond this, this attack although again nearly succeeding in breaking AP Hills position seemed suicidal and unnecessary for the Army of the Potomac.

I feel the Army of NV got it just right, the Yankees fell for our feint against Little Round Top which drew troops away from the centre and we were patient enough to await the support of Heth and Pickett whilst the artillery softened up the union line.

For this recognition should go to Ewell(Andy) who was the brain behind this plan which at no time during the 3 days gaming looked anything other than it would succeed, although I must confess I got a little worried when that union brigade split McLaws and Hoods Divisions and I had to attach “old pete” himself to ensure its elimination, if only it had support, if only…. I can still hear Steve H saying.

Thanks to Martin and Steve H for maintaining their cool and keeping the game flowing with their decisions over rule queries etc

Many, many thanks to Dave Taylor without whose support and knowledge this project could never have got of the ground, Dave did all the brigade markers as usual and brought enough biscuits, crisps, cakes along to the hut to feed a battalion.

So that’s about it for the longest battle write up I’ve ever written, but I just couldn't let it go without rubbing some salt into those sore yankee wounds!!!!!!!!!!

Phil “old Pete” Garner M.A.D 2004

Gettysburg Day 2 (July 2^nd 1863) – Army of the Potomac - Meade