The Battle of Seven Pines : May 31 1862 : ACW

The objective for what was to become known as the Pennisula Campaign in 1862 was for the Union Forces under George B McClellan to capture the Rebel capital of Richmond. McClellan who proved to be a very ineffective commander was denied additional troops due to the sterling delaying tactics of Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah valley. However, the Union army had drawn quite close to Richmond with the manoeuvring of various elements of the army hampered by poor weather and swollen rivers. Spotting an opportunity to strike the able Confederate General Jospeh E Johnston devised a complex plan to defeat the union army in separate pieces. This lead on May 31st 1862 to the battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks as it is also known.

The overview of the battlefield after turn one around 4 o’clock. As to be expected playing 28 mm we shrank the battlefield somewhat but tried to keep the essential elements, it is quite a big table roughly 11 feet by 5 feet, combining our forces we had 20 infantry Regiments per side with artillery and some limited cavalry. The initial deployments are again roughly historical. We played with my adapted bolt action rules, one particularly good adaptation was to play with less dice than we had units this gives a real challenge for each general deciding where to focus your efforts.

Rodes Rebel Brigade has already broken through the Unon camp and we pick up the action as they regroup and advance towards the second union line around Seven Pines Crossroad itself

Devens Union Brigade 2nd Rhode Island and 36 New York

Garland’s Brigade just to the north of Rodes Brigade they have captured and are manhandling some abandoned Union cannons

Advancing towards Fair Oaks Station on Nine Mile Road Penders Brigade 

Suddenly they come under fire from the remnants of Couch’s Division and Burns Brigade around the Adams House more of Sedgewick’s Division will likely arrive behind them from the Chickahominy River further NE

In the thick woods Col. Micah Jenkins has two Regiments the Palmetto Sharpshooters and the 6th South Carolina they are looking to exploit the gap left by Couch and flank the Union Forces at the cross roads.

Abercrombie’s Brigade holding the line at Seven Pines, they are eagerly looking over their shoulders for reinforcements. Two brigades of Union infantry are scheduled on a random D6 roll to enter behind Seven Pines.

The rebels have initial numerical advantage and must make this pay quickly before the union reinforcements arrive

Pender’s Brigade having come under fire from the flank has turned north towards the Adams House, they are not clear at this stage the size of the union force from this direction. Historically the rebels initially believed the union forces weren’t able to cross the river.

Looking down the Seven Pines / Charles City Road, no sign of the reinforcements and the Rebels are now in force and within shooting range

As luck would have it Anderson’s Brigade arrives first to support the rebel advance

To the North the Rebels have deployed and advance to see off what they believe to be a limited Union force

But Burns Brigade has been able to bring up several cannons and more troops are arriving all the time

Jenkin’s is pressing forward though the woods there is an inviting gap opening along the railroad 

Another overview, union forces at Seven Pines are in a desperate position

You have got to be joking......... Birney’s Brigade arrives in the nick of time to support the centre

It may be too late as the cpdefenders are taking increasing casualties and may fall back soon

To the North it is going to be a tough stand up fight

Then wouldn’t you just believe it Berry’s Brigade arrives through the woods at the back of Seven Pines

But the rebels are already on the outskirts of the settlement

The Union general is looking more confident as more and more Federals form into line

A small unit of cavalry covers the left around Fair Oaks Station

Overview at this point, the two fresh union brigades are deploying on the left behind Seven Pines, Anderson’s Brigade is now fully deployed on the table

One unit of Anderson’s Brigade the 27 Georgia have rushed the Union line and broken through 

On the right Devens Brigade is massively outnumbered

They are pinned down and in trouble.....the leading units of Berry’s Brigade are rushing forward

Pender’s Brigade has taken a battering beyond the station, but Pettigrew’s Brigade has now been brought up and deployed

Reinforcements just in time

Sorry just love this shot 🙂

The initial success breaking over the fence has been pushed back, but more and more Rebel Regiments are being pushed into the combat

The Cannons of Burns’s Brigade are causing problems to the north

A massive separate battle is taking place around Seven Pines itself, on the far left the 6th SC are across the road, a critical moe et for the defenders

Rebels have now pushed upto the fence on the far southern flank

Defenders here are simply too strong

Burn’s Union Forces are also getting the better of the fight at the station

A small cavalry skirmish close to the railroad, behind them the advancing South Carolina boys are going to cause havoc if they aren’t pushed back soon

Taking a lot of casualties several rebel Regiments after a long day of fighting are forced to retreat

But the attack continues on the right

More Rebel units fleeing back form the crossroads

A period shot 🙂

Things are not going well to the north, and all of the available Rebels have been deployed to stop the union flanking advance

Numbers are finally telling on the southern flank if only there was another couple of hours of daylight to press the advantage

Rebels streaming back from the front, whilst there are several rebel Regiments still, in good condition more and more union troops are pushing forward

The crossroads still being held by the Union Forces as darkness falls. Although I missed a photo to the north around Fair Oaks Station the Rebels were also starting to pull back (retreat)

Phewwwww it was a fantastic battle. Remarkably many small features of the battle seemed to reflect the historical events, although I have taken many liberties with history. This was our largest battle so far, with 40 plus units, the rules worked tremendously well giving a real feel of ACW combat, and some real tactical challenges for those that like that sort of thing, they are not designed to be quick at this size of battle, but why rush when you are having fun, we played with breaks for about 7 hours. This is about as big as we can go for a two person battle but we are planning something even bigger in the future.