Gaines’ Mill was Lee’s first battle as commander of the
Confederate Army. His plan was to use
Longstreet’s command to drive Porter’s troops into Jackson’s divisions on the Confederate
left. However, due to staff problems and
lack of a map of the area, Confederate troops took the wrong roads and did not
arrive when and where they were supposed to.
The battle was one of the bloodiest of the American Civil War lasting
from mid-afternoon until the evening.
Since the South
Bay game clubs meeting
was taking place on June 23rd only four days before the 150th
anniversary of the battle on June 27th we decided to re-fight the
battle that day.
The re-fight was also bloody with heavy casualties on both
sides. Jackson’s command drove the Union regulars
back, but Longstreet’s became involved in a lengthy fight for control of the
Union entrenchments. Though the
Confederates eventually gained control of them the Union troops did not flee
the battlefield as they had historically.
The result was a draw. The game was played using half hour turns stating at 2:30 in the afternoon and was scheduled to end at 8:00. We made it to the 6:30 turn. We started with three players and a fourth player joined late in the game. If we had started with four it is quite likely that we would have been able to complete all the turns. The
following are some pictures from the game.
Start of battle view from Confederate side
Start of battle view from Union side
Confederates attack Union right
Union left under fire
Union right stabilized
Confederates over run guns on Union right
Confederates push Union left out of entrenchments
End of game. Union forces are holding and not running.
