Shenandoah Campaign : Battle of Front Royal May 1862

Squeezing in the next of our Shenandoah Campaign before Christmas. Next up is the battle of Front Royal, May 23rd 1862,  quite a small battle and an interesting one to try and make a meaningful scenario. Stonewall Jackson is attempting to outflank the Union forces and cut them off from Winchester. Ewell is dispatched to Front Royal where a small Union force under Kenly is holding the Town and the vital crossings over the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River.

A map of the battle, the ground covered was quite large as the battle developed and the Confederates pushed the Union forces back

Having looked at a few versions on the internet I have squeezed the section from the edge of Front Royal upto the two river crossings. Our battle will cover this section with the Confederate objective to capture the bridges. We had a couple of special rules, any confederates getting too close to the Union camp will have to test to avoid spending a turn looting. Any Confederate cavalry sent off the table to the left can return beyond the first fork of the river on a delayed roll as they did historically.

Ewell’s Louisian troops advance out from Front Royal, they include the infamous Wheat’s Tigers, lucky I have this regiment. Half of the Virginia cavalry is sent off on a wide left flanking attack but we have no idea when they will return !

The confederates spread out but come under fire from Richardson Hill, Union forces are thinly spread and must decide whether to stand and delay or pull back immediately ?

Giving fire Kenly pulls back from the Hill the 1st Maryland (confederates) are sent to the right

The 6th Louisiana approach the crest of the hill and come under fire

This is returned in kind ! The Tigers are sent across the road

The Union artillery has been pulled back to the first bridge and the small group of pioneers line the bank as the Tigers prepare to assault

They are supported by the rest of the Confederate cavalry

Having pulled back and reorganised the Union (1st Maryland) catch Wheats Tigers in the flank, despite their veteran rating they fail their morale check and flee taking them into the Union camp ! So instead in a slightly ambitious attack the confederate cavalry charge the bridge…. a whiff of grape shot and they are no more a mess of dying horses and men 

The battle will no be decided by the infantry as the remaining Confederate cavalry still hasn’t shown up beyond the river. The Union Pennsylvanian boys decide rather than retreat across the bridge to charge forward

After a tough fight the 6th Louisiana is pushed back, in the distance the Cavalry have finally arrived and the Tigers have finished looting the Union camp

One final push required to take the bridge, Kenly pulls back the artillery to the second bridge as the Tigers build up to charge the bridge

lol suddenly the pioneers rush to the bridge, and manage to set it on fire (this required a very low roll which they achieved with a double 1!)

The battle is really over but the Tigers in heroic fashion charge the burning bridge, picking up a couple of extra casualties in the fire and a volley from the tiny remnants of the 1st Maryland this is just enough to stagger them and the charge fails.

A very enjoyable battle played in excellent spirit, it really looked all over for the Union who in one turn failed to activate both infantry regiments, but the Rebels couldn’t capitalise  on this and the Union held out. They weren’t helped by the late arrival of the flanking cavalry who would have been significant if they had arrived a few turns earlier. For those of a record keeping nature the tally so far is not looking good for Jackson 😀 (Port Republic may need to be double or quits!)

The next battle is Winchester so I need to do a bit of prep for this and work out how much of the battle I can cover ?

Thanks as always Matt🩷