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PostPosted: Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:21 am 
The newest addition to the ongoing AAR.

The first day of battle comes to a close. In case you missed anything be sure to check out the links listed below for the full history!

For past editions check out:
Part One
http://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19544
Part Two
http://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19551
Part Three
http://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19567
Part Four
http://wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19582

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 5:02 am 
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6 of the 13 flags... see that was the thing ... keeping Chattanooga was never a part of the plan until what point it looked like that 6 of 13 flags would fall - and the 7th would have been gifted as Chattanooga itself, therefore - we were unable to leave Chattanooga.

I remember that I did a lot of marching ... however I was not interested in marching at night - I have seen others lose battles by doing that. I wanted very much to stay put in the dark.

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 5:25 pm 
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Ahhhh, the plays the thing!

From the Union perspective on Day One we had 1/2 of it wrong and 1/2 of it right.

The CinC's assessment of the CSA intentions and dispositions was completely wrong on all accounts.
(This is why I love blind battles)
The Great Oz figured that Chattanooga would be the primary focus of CSA defenses with the outlier of Rossville being an adjunct to due to strategic value and ease of access from Chattanooga.
Also it was concluded that the CSA forces would be in force at the Refugee House well before our first troops arrived.
This outstanding AAR and accompanying CSA commentary has pulled back the curtain on the Great Oz's pronouncements though!

But all did not go against the Union that day one.
As is many the case the brave troops pulled the incompetent Commander's butt out of the fire.
The quick storming of Lookout Mountain was the first tactical victory of the day.
This was followed by the clash at the Refugee House and concurrent storming of the Missionary Ridge.
These were examples of a good plan with a bit of good luck worked very well.

The luck part was the erroneous intelligence that the CSA would be at the Refugee House in force, thus Rosecrans's instructions to Thomas not to immediately storm the Refugee House when the arrived in the vicinity, but to make a demonstration before to draw the CSA attention in his direction as McCook prepared to storm Missionary Ridge slightly north in an attempt to pinch off the defenders.

Perhaps if the Union stormed the Refugee House immediately when Thomas's forces arrived there that would have not allowed as many CSA troops to become committed to the defense of the area which worked in the Union's advantage as 1), the Union would have a significant advantage of troops in the fight and 2), the CSA forces where coming into a battle with little to no time to set up a proper defense.

No matter, it was fortuitous that the Union was operating on faulty intelligence.
Another good stroke of fortune for the Union was that the previous unknown quantity, Gen. Thomas/Drott demonstrated throughout the march and following battles that he was more than capable of meeting the needs of the Union's Right Flank.

Still, while the Union came out ahead in casualties and objectives for the first day, they were in no way a decisive advantage considering the opponents and their forces.

And if the end of the day's activities by the CSA around the main Union goal of Rossville were any indication, a brutal Day Two would lay in store if the Union hoped to secure a victory through that route.

Finally, we also agree with our esteemed opponent that a heavy redeployment of forces at night would not be worth the fatigue that it would entail so the order went out to bed down and make preparations. The Union was planning to "pitch into it" at first light.

With thanks to Blake for his outstanding serial and respect for all.

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1/1/VI/AotS
The Bucktails
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:10 am 
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Actually- I should add the disclaimer -that this was my view about the fatigue - but... it was based upon my Corps being lightly engaged. Mark bore the brunt of the fighting in this one by far ...

After a certain point nearly all of my communications within the side were coming from the point of view of brainstorming some way to alleviate the pressure that he faced - plus let's face it too - Cleburne's Division - the one that got chewed up was the best division on the CSA side (ratings wise) ... unlike a lot of other OOB's the CSA OOB in this one (the Murfreesboro OOB iirc) has, comparatively speaking, weaker morale than one might expect.

I had a lot of D rated units (with Polk's Corps -not to be confused with a Polk brigade that was part of Hardee's Corps) -but was pretty focused on maintaining command control. - You can see on Blake's map above where it sort of began unraveling due to operational exigencies - two of the Brigades to the right of Cleburne on that screenshot above -- those were actually from Cheatham's Division of Polk's Corps.

My big 'play' was a fizzer, as I was really hoping not to not have routed the Union unit on the hill just north of the creek outside of Chattanooga. If that guy did not bolt -he was done, as I was in position to cut him off as well as get off some shots when withdrawing willfully. A missed (minor) opportunity - and really that was about all I had going for me .... lol. I am not sure this even made it into the AAR...

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Rossville was interesting to watch - especially the Union advance to the south of it where the Union crossed the creek. Personally I would have done it differently - as I would have moved the wagons out of the way instead of moving over the top of them - I think that was even happening in wooded road hexes - so for my money, the situation down that way could have been much worse if more units had been brought up quicker - and from what I could tell - they could very well have done so. It seemed like a fairly big break at the time.

We had had thoughts of crossing the creek opposite Rossville however the situation to the south developed too quickly and men were needed elsewhere - the idea was actually supposed to be one of - cross at Rossville, move Withers against the scattered units opposite the Tennessee River -and and move across Moccasin Point and cross the Tennessee there - with the aim being of cutting off whatever was there and simply taking it out.

Of course, if the flank had not been compromised as fully as we worked out that it was -- then that might have had a chance... as it was - we called if off. We simply needed Polk's Corps' men to try to patch up the line.

I should also add that I had a personal situation outside of the club and dropped out during the night turns -turning over my force to Mark Davis - the units were too intermingled at that point to make any sense of Corps distinction. I don't actually remember what turn it was that I bowed out...

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:38 pm 
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An excellent read

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Alabama State Volunteers
Cleburne's Division
Hardee's Corps
(1/1/1)
Army of Tennessee

Confederate States of America


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