American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

With these games, normally representing 1 hex is equal to 125 yards, what would the normal view range be? How many visible hexes should a unit be able to see?

I read that a standard 6 ft. person should be able to view up to 3 miles in open terrain (36 hexes). A maximum of 6 miles with binoculars (72 hexes). Do these numbers seem correct or is that range to far? What should be the standard viewing distances for a unit in clear terrain?

I tried to research what the standard civil war binocular ranges were but haven't been able to find any reliable sources. Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

Just trying to find out what distance units would normal spot each other at.

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Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

Here is something I found:

https://networks.h-net.org/node/4113/di ... telescopes

A lot of variables though such as weather, dust, terrain etc.

Then you have to figure the range where you can differentiate which side they belong to.

_________________
MG Mike Mihalik
Forrest's Cavalry Corps
AoWest/CSA

MG Mihalik, sir <salute >

Mike, amazing job finding that. Here is the extract I was able to find in the article:

"The varieties of pocket-glasses may be used at distances of from five to ten miles. A glass known as the carbineer-glass is not larger in diameter than the finger, and may be carried in the vest pocket. (p. 231)"

_________________
Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

Excellent find regarding telescopes and Signal Corps.

_________________
General Ernie Sands
President ACWGC -Sept 2015- Dec 2020
7th Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, AoT
ACWGC Records Site Admin

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Gentlemen,
I have attached a diagram of what a Mk I Eyeball can see at distance. It was given to me some time ago during a similar online conversation (I think with Al Amos). (Apologies, Al, if I got that wrong.)

Moving troops can be seen a bit further, but only because of their moving or the dust they raise. More troops = more dust (or they're cavalry, not infantry if they're going quickly or getting bigger very quickly).

Telescopes, and such have a Xn on their optics. A X10 would be very helpful at 1,700 yards!

_________________
General Mark Oakford
Commander,
II Corps,
Army of the Potomac.
http://campcromwell.blogspot.com/

Gen. Hempl,

Sounds like the zoom with binoculars ability in the Scourge of War Series. How much good would it do to be able so see movement say three miles away if you could only discern if it was cavalry of infantry? Surely you couldn't identify numbers and size of units right? Or could you see more detail than I am considering?

I'll try and put this to the test. I live on a rural road near a farm. I can see from the open field a main expressway from the road....~ 3 miles away on a hill. I will take photos from both points....the road and from the farm. I will confirm how much detail can be seen from the road on the hill and the farm.

On clear days I can see the small vehicles on the hill moving on the road. I'll use a cheap pair of binoculars to verify how much detail can be seen of the farm and of the cars. This should be a "Real World" test of visibility. Gives me something to do during lock-down too.

I'll post the image and Google/Bing map of the distance to confirm.

_________________
Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

OK, I tried to get a good view from a hill near by to the farmer's barn across the street. The hill top is 3.69 miles away and here are the views:
* - Standard View
* - 8x Zoom View
* - Binocular View

Note: I can clearly see the barn from the hill with standard view...small but viewable. The stored image on-line seems to degrade the photo quality.



The article that was listed here stated that a binocular could be used to see items from 5 to 10 miles away.
"The varieties of pocket-glasses may be used at distances of from five to ten miles. A glass known as the carbineer-glass is not larger in diameter than the finger, and may be carried in the vest pocket. (p. 231)"

This would be good to identify the enemy in the distance but not used to identify strengths or unit types. Just spotting! That is what I was looking for. At what distance do you spot the enemy? This seems to cover it.

10 miles seems to be pretty far and would take some REALLY good binoculars but I could see 6 to 7 being achieved...with quality glasses. Above photos were take with a cell phone.

_________________
Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

Keep in mind at the time of the Civil War land was not as neatly trimmed. Crops or weeds were in the way cutting of half the view easily. The land was also not flat. Sometime go on War of Rights if you have access and look around. You can't see much of anything. And, that is before the smoke starts. Also, the uniforms used were not bright colors like in the Napoleonic era. Once they got dirty the only way to tell enemy troops was by whether they were in front or behind you. You hoped the ones behind were on your side.

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General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
AoT II/1/3 (CSA)

Uniform colours were somewhat haphazard during the early war, as some found to their regret. "Blue on blue" was occasionally literal, sometimes with each on different sides!

_________________
General Mark Oakford
Commander,
II Corps,
Army of the Potomac.
http://campcromwell.blogspot.com/