The Battle of Morristown
A couple weeks ago, Mr. Wargaming over at the Joy of Wargaming on the YooToobz launched a community wargaming campaign using a corner of Tennessee as the backdrop: The Sneedville War! It's shaping up to be a knockdown drag out fight between the forces of Kingsport (the invaders) and the forces of Knoxville for control of either Sneedville or the enemy capital. He picked out the map, decided on the distribution of forces on both sides (and unit names) and commander ratings that match both Henry Hyde's Wargame Campaigns and William Silvester's Solo Wargaming Guide. He worked out a few different strategies for each side and left it to his viewers and commenters to decide on the operational plans of both sides. And he's leaving the resolution of the battles themselves in the hands of others, hence today's post!
The Kingsportian Army of Rogersville, after taking Bean Station, marches south for its main objective of Morristown. Little do they know, that the Knoxvillian Army Group East has set off north to stop them!
They meet at an intersection just east of Morristown by the Morelock Cemetery. They clash on the morning of September 29, 18xx (if you see other batreps for this or other Sneedville battles, you'll likely see a wide variety of time periods being played). Here are the units and their Leader Ratings/Morale Ratings for Eagle's Prey by Hoplite Research:
Kingsportian Army of Rogersville
Commander (Rating: D)
Greeneville Rifles: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Skirmish]
Kingsport 1st Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Kingsport 2nd Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Hawkins Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Bays Mountain Boys: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Heavy]
Dollywood Exiles: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Heavy]
Rogersville Dragoons: Lt Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Jonesville 1st Lancers: Med Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Lance]
Jonesville 2nd Lancers: Med Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Lance]
Kingsport Hussars: Hvy Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Knoxvillian Army Group East
Commander: B
White Pine Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Dandridge Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Morristown 1st Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Morristown 2nd Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Morristown 3rd Line: Inf [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Jefferson City Dragoons: Lt Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
Kodak 1st Lancers: Med Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Lance]
Kodak 2nd Lancers: Med Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg. Special: Lance]
Morristown Hussars: Hvy Cav [Morale: Prov. Reg.]
That's a lot of Provisional Regulars! I figured to streamline things, as opposed to the insanity I employ using the same rules in my Grisiana campaign (more on that soon!), I'd use a bit from the Campaign Rules of Eagle's Prey that says what morale rating a freshly raised unit for a particular country has. Since this is set in the USA, that meant everyone that wasn't specified as some other morale rating starts of as Provisional Regulars.
As a quick side-note, I currently don't have any ACW cavalry that's larger than 3mm, so for this battle (and until I can get some horsey bois) my 10mm ACW infantry will have to pinch hit, with my 6mm WWII infantry filling in as the infantry for the battle.
I was originally going to make this batrep a video for the YooToobz, but alas! My phone ran out of storage in a hurry, but since I'd been thinking of starting a wargaming blog for a while now, I guess this is the perfect opportunity to get started.
Now, enough with the pre-ramble! On with the battle!
With the Knoxvillians being led by a very high grade commander, they had the opportunity to start in the Early Morning Day Segment (6AM to 8AM), and they took it!
They filled the early morning time wisely, moving everyone into a nice blocking line with the creek to their right and the hill (and Morelock Cemetery) to the left, even taking up positions just north of the cemetery. Some of the Knoxvillian infantry took up positions on the other side of the creek, helping to provide a nice field of fire along the road the Kingsportians would march down as soon as they got their butts out of bed!
When the Rogersville Dragoons arrived at the crossroads and sent word back of how close the enemy was, the Kingsportian commander scrambled a new plan to counteract the enemy: He would have his infantry move up while a provisional detachment, led by one of his staff officers and consisting of the Lancers and artillery, would launch a flank attack against the enemy position at Morelock Cemetery.
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| The Kingsportian battle plan in motion. How long will it stay in motion? |
One of the regiments on their right must've gone a little crazy with the volley fire, as on their first round of shooting they ran low on ammo and had to withdraw to the wagons to resupply, with the reserve regiment forming up to take their place.
Meanwhile on the north face of Morelock Cemetery, the Rogersville Dragoons formed a line to charge their counterpart Dragoons from Jefferson City with...dismal results. They wound up losing their Colors and routing off the field, causing a wave of panic in the infantry ranks forming on either side of them! This route led to the near disintegration of all Kingsportian forces on the road itself, leaving only a single regiment of footsloggers between the Knoxvillians and their supply wagon!
And how did that detachment fare, you may ask?
Not well. They were repulsed by formed Lancers, even after outnumbering them 2:1, and having the detachment leader lead them in a flank attack! Shortly after, the Morristown Hussars swooped in to finish the job, driving those once brave Lancers from the field and leaving their provisional commander to be captured!
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| The Rogersville Dragoons, plus those they panic-mongered. |
The Rogersville general had also dispatched the Kingsport Hussars on a wide flanking maneuver, sending them across the creek and all the way around the enemy's right flank in hopes that they can wreak some havoc in the enemy's rear and disrupt their lines further, maybe even capture the enemy's supply wagon.
As the morning wore on, the remaining Kingsportian infantry (besides the one regiment that was guarding the wagons) formed an Attack Column to try and break the enemy's lines on the cemetery hill, routing the White Pine Line who had formed up along the base of the hill just as the enemy detachment was being driven off, securing the hill.
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| The Kingsportian attack column shows some promise. |
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| "What does the General mean, retreat? We just got here!" |
Their success was one of the few bright spots of the Army of Rogersville's day, as by then nearly half of their forces had routed and it would take some time for the general to recover them. Just as the first massed assault on Morelock Cemetery was bearing fruit, the Kingsportians decided to regroup and possibly try again, or possibly flank around Army Group East and cut them off from Kingsport? I suppose that's for Mr. Wargaming and the rest of the campaign participants to decide, along with if this was indeed the official version of events. Only time will tell...
Casualties
Promotions
Morristown 3rd Line: Provisional Regulars -> Regulars
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