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Things I Didn't Notice Before
http://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24170		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Blake [ Fri May 01, 2026 11:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Things I Didn't Notice Before
In WDS Chickamauga the town of Perryville is made up of roughly 42 Town Hexes. Perryville had a population of roughly 400 people in 1862.

In WDS Gettysburg the town of Gettysburg is made up of under 30 Town Hexes. Gettysburg had a population of roughly 2,390 people in 1863.

In WDS Chancellorsville the town of Fredericksburg is made up of about 60 Town Hexes. Fredericksburg had a population of roughly 5,000 people in 1862.

In WDS Vicksburg the town of Jackson, Mississippi, is made up of about 80 Town Hexes. Jackson had a population of roughly 3,200 people in 1863.


Does any of this really matter? Towns can "sprawl" out in various directions depending on density and land property sizes. It just came to me the other day as I was looking at Gettysburg on the map and wondering why it seems so much smaller than Perryville.

I'd have to take the time to look at historical maps and town boundaries to figure out whether the WDS boundaries are accurate or not. Not something I have time to do. But in case anyone is looking for a project some weekend... there you go! :mrgreen:
Author:  Richard Coyne [ Sat May 02, 2026 1:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things I Didn't Notice Before
As to something to do at the Moment My forces are in the Gettysburg area i will report on the accuracy of the map LOL
Author:  Quaama [ Sat May 02, 2026 4:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things I Didn't Notice Before
Blake wrote:
In WDS Chickamauga the town of Perryville is made up of roughly 42 Town Hexes. Perryville had a population of roughly 400 people in 1862.

In WDS Gettysburg the town of Gettysburg is made up of under 30 Town Hexes. Gettysburg had a population of roughly 2,390 people in 1863.

In WDS Chancellorsville the town of Fredericksburg is made up of about 60 Town Hexes. Fredericksburg had a population of roughly 5,000 people in 1862.

In WDS Vicksburg the town of Jackson, Mississippi, is made up of about 80 Town Hexes. Jackson had a population of roughly 3,200 people in 1863.


Does any of this really matter? Towns can "sprawl" out in various directions depending on density and land property sizes. It just came to me the other day as I was looking at Gettysburg on the map and wondering why it seems so much smaller than Perryville.

I'd have to take the time to look at historical maps and town boundaries to figure out whether the WDS boundaries are accurate or not. Not something I have time to do. But in case anyone is looking for a project some weekend... there you go! :mrgreen:


I'm unable to research this in detail but offer the following observations.

In WDS Perryville Hist I count 45 hexes. According to this map (https://civilwartalk.com/attachments/1672265857214-png.461325/) the WDS maps looks about right in terms of the sprawl of Perryville. You say Perryville had a population of 400 people in 1862. Don't forget that in those days all the 'people' were not counted in the census. I understand that Kentucky had a significant slave population so there would have been a lot of inhabitants who were not counted as people although they would have still been housed.

In WDS Gettysburg Hist 1 and 007 I count 35 hexes. A quick look at some older maps indicates the town size again 'looks about right'. Perhaps Gettysburg also had more multi-story buildings than Perryville allowing for a more concentrated township.

I am unable to look into the others at this time but suspect that they are also 'about right'. There may be design decisions made at the time whether or not to include a hex as part of the town or not (e.g. the township may only be a portion of a hex on the map).
Author:  krmiller_usa [ Sun May 03, 2026 8:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Things I Didn't Notice Before
Quaama wrote:
I'm unable to research this in detail but offer the following observations.
In WDS Perryville Hist I count 45 hexes. According to this map (https://civilwartalk.com/attachments/1672265857214-png.461325/) the WDS maps looks about right in terms of the sprawl of Perryville. You say Perryville had a population of 400 people in 1862. Don't forget that in those days all the 'people' were not counted in the census. I understand that Kentucky had a significant slave population so there would have been a lot of inhabitants who were not counted as people although they would have still been housed.

....


Placing the map on the link in my graphics program I found Perryville to be about 1/2 mile wide and a little higher when compared to the Scale of Miles on the map.
That's @ 875 yards or 6-7 hexes of game map, horizontal distances have to be adjusted for the use of hexagons.
A hexagon that is 125 yards side to side (vertical) is 145 yards point to point (horizonal) so the original map would have to be adjusted to compensate.
So if this map was used as one of the sources that would explain the size of the town.

As to how accurate the online historical maps are, that is a question I don't care to get into at this time.
Author:  Quaama [ Sun May 03, 2026 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things I Didn't Notice Before
krmiller_usa wrote:
Quaama wrote:
I'm unable to research this in detail but offer the following observations.
In WDS Perryville Hist I count 45 hexes. According to this map (https://civilwartalk.com/attachments/1672265857214-png.461325/) the WDS maps looks about right in terms of the sprawl of Perryville. You say Perryville had a population of 400 people in 1862. Don't forget that in those days all the 'people' were not counted in the census. I understand that Kentucky had a significant slave population so there would have been a lot of inhabitants who were not counted as people although they would have still been housed.

....


Placing the map on the link in my graphics program I found Perryville to be about 1/2 mile wide and a little higher when compared to the Scale of Miles on the map.
That's @ 875 yards or 6-7 hexes of game map, horizontal distances have to be adjusted for the use of hexagons.
A hexagon that is 125 yards side to side (vertical) is 145 yards point to point (horizonal) so the original map would have to be adjusted to compensate.
So if this map was used as one of the sources that would explain the size of the town.

As to how accurate the online historical maps are, that is a question I don't care to get into at this time.


The map I refenced is the main one that comes up when I looked for historical maps of Perryville Kentucky.

The only other period one I saw was this one (https://sites.rootsweb.com/~kyboyle2/Maps/Map-Perryville-1876.jpg - it does use an inconvenient scale of 30 rods to the inch).
The easiest way to look at the size of Perryville is to look at a modern satellite map. The area of the Perryville township is little different from what it was over 150 years ago. The most striking difference is that I'm sure many of the roads had different names then. They now have names like: Bragg; Polk; Buckner; Liddle; and others. There's even a more modern one (judging by the look of the homes and that it outlies the old township area) named Sheridan [I don't know how that name snuck in: I should think they should be ashamed to live there,LOL].
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