As a counterpart to the after-action report for the Death Valley scenario, “Carroll Burns the Bridge”, which appeared several months ago in this blog, I now offer this first installment of an AAR for one of the game’s 1864 battles, Fisher’s Hill. This one, too, employs a “narrative” style. I believe the GBACW system is detailed enough to produce a narrative rivaling any I read in battle accounts, except, of course, for first-person accounts and anecdotes.

This AAR relies on GBACW system mechanics. I describe only what happens in the game, but generally avoid game terminology for the sake of the narrative. However, I do take plenty of artistic liberty with the historical personalities involved, even to the extent of supplying invented dialogue. Some of these fanciful interludes simulate nothing more than the kind of color commentary we might indulge in while playing face-to-face, but others serve to indicate the rationale behind  player decisions. 

For the sake of continuity, I tend to follow the action in a given sector throughout a specific turn before turning to another sector. The alternative, following the activation chits wherever they might lead, did not seem appropriate.

This article takes us only to the end of the scenario’s 1600 turn. The second article will cover 1700, and the third, 1800-1900. One other note: The Confederate cavalry’s resistance was feeble at Fisher’s Hill. The scenario includes several rules designed to reflect this unique aspect of the battle.

Key to the battle graphics:

— Red arrows represent forward or lateral movement or advance after combat, and point at the moving or advancing unit.

— Yellow arrows represent retreats or retrograde movements, and point at the unit conducting the retreat or movement.  A long yellow arrow pointing to no unit indicates a Rout.

— Red boxes identify formations or units playing a key role in particular events.

The Setting

After the hard-fought 3rd Battle of Winchester on September 19th, 1864, Jubal Early’s exhausted Valley Army retreated to previously constructed earthworks along Fisher’s Hill, just west of Strasburg along the Valley Pike. Upon arrival it set about strengthening the fortifications, aided by a wagon train from Staunton delivering needed supplies.

Fisher’s Hill actually consists of a chain of hills, each separated from the other by creeks flowing into Tumbling Run’s South Fork, which itself flows into Tumbling Run proper not far from its confluence with the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. The hills generally rise in height from east to west, terminating at the Back Road, which ran more or less parallel to the Valley Pike. Beyond the Back Road loomed Little North Mountain’s forested slopes, marking the Shenandoah Valley’s western boundary in this area.

Little North Mountain forms the western Horizon from Fisher’s Hill: 

The lower hills in the chain feature steep slopes that enhance their potential defensive value, but the hillsides further west are generally more gradual. Early posted Gabriel Wharton’s division, his weakest, on high ground to the right of the Valley Pike, while his stronger contingents, the divisions of John Gordon, John Pegram, and Stephen Ramseur, stretched westward from the Pike to what is known today as Ramseur’s Hill. Beyond the end of Ramseur’s line Lunsford Lomax’s dismounted cavalry stood watch over the army’s left flank.

The Yanks caught up with Early by the evening of September 20th. Phil Sheridan may have beaten his enemy at 3rd Winchester, but his army took a beating in the process. He was no more interested in a frontal assault on Fisher’s Hill than his men were. At a meeting that night George Crook, commanding the “Army of West Virginia”, offered to march his two divisions along Little North Mountain’s eastern slope to outflank the left end of the Confederate line. Sheridan was interested and developed the plan the next day. He sent most of his cavalry east around the tip of the Massanutten. It was to turn south through the Luray Valley until gaining the road leading west through the New Market Gap. If the cavalry penetrated the gap, they’d emerge in Early’s rear.

When Crook’s attack began, Horatio Wright’s VI Corps and William Emory’s XIX Corps would pin Early’s center and right. As Crook drove eastward, they would join in his drive. If they didn’t bag Early’s whole army, hopefully the cavalry would.

Crook had a score to settle with the Valley Army. Not two months previously these same Rebs had thrashed his Army of West Virginia at the 2nd Battle of Kernstown. His men exacted a measure of vengeance at 3rd Winchester, breaking open the deadlocked infantry battle. But it was the Union cavalry that struck the decisive blow and rode off with the glory. Here at Fisher’s Hill, however, the terrain was difficult for mounted troops. Crook’s mountaineers were thus the right men for the job in more ways than one.

The flank move began at 2:00 PM on September 22nd. Rough, wooded terrain offered Crook’s troops plenty of cover as they approached the front. The enemy didn’t spot them until 3:00. By then it was too late for an effective Confederate response, as Crook did not pause. Less than an hour later the heads of his columns were in action.

Just before 1600: Crook Strikes

The Army of West Virginia boils down the mountainside in two lines, each two-thirds of a mile long. Most of Lomax’s Confederate force is mounted infantry rather than true cavalry, armed with rifle muskets impossible to fire while on horseback. Thus, all but the 8th Virginia, which is picketing the deep left flank, is dismounted and mans the entrenchments on Early’s left. Lomax’s left-most brigade under Lt. Col. Robert McFarland faces toward Little North Mountain in anticipation of the coming blow, while the rest of the division maintains its watch on the hills across South Fork.

The lead regiment in Col. Thomas Harris’s brigade of Joseph Thoburn’s division scares off the 8th Virginia’s pickets, who fall back through the woods in disorder. Col. George Wells’ brigade surges through the resulting gap toward Lomax’s main line.

Not far to the northeast the division of Col. Rutherford B. Hayes (yes, the future president) encounters the first real resistance. The 91st Ohio of Lt. Col. Benjamin Coates’ brigade bursts out of the woods, guns blazing, and McFarland’s 12th Tennessee Battalion, only fifty men strong, is immediately removed from the battle’s calculus. But the next unit in line, the 16th Tennessee Battalion, stoops low in its earthworks and manages an orderly retreat before a foe twenty times its number. Meanwhile, Col. Hiram Devol’s brigade comes up on Coates’s left, ready to help roll up the enemy line.

The rattle of musketry from an unexpected direction sends a shock wave through Lomax’s command. Just three days before, Sheridan’s cavalry had swept it from the field. Now this. Approximately a third of the line wavers, and the 8th Virginia scatters. Not even the stalwart gunners of the Charlottesville battery are immune. The unsettling effect is far more pronounced on the western half of Lomax’s line, near the Union irruption.

1600: Crook versus Lomax

Lomax is an experienced commander, but his efforts to restore order meet with initial frustration. Massed volleys from Coates’s brigade quickly obliterate the 16th Tennessee Battalion. When that demonstration of firepower fails to budge the 39th and 1st Tennessee regiments, 91st Ohio and 1st West Virginia fix bayonets and assault down the line of earthworks. The Tennesseans wisely withdraw, accompanied by McFarland. They join up with the 43rd Tennessee and 16th Georgia Battalion as Coates pursues. McFarland has spotted Devol’s brigade poised to attack north of the entrenchments, and attempts to reorient his line to meet both threats. Confusion erupts and spreads to Col. George Smith’s and Brig. General Bradley Johnson’s brigades. Four hundred of Lomax’s men skedaddle rather than continue the unequal contest.

Fire from Devol’s lead regiment, the 23rd Ohio, breaks the 1st Tennessee, whose 100 men also run, but McFarland is able to retreat with the 43rd Tennessee as the Yankees occupy yet another stretch of the earthworks. 

Hayes continues to come on. After moving forward in hopes of slowing the Union impetus, the 59th Tennessee is the next to break and run. A little ways to the north McFarland and Smith exhort their men to stand. They do at great cost and administer the first check to the enemy, as 36th Ohio’s cannot maintain order under a withering fusillade. But the blue tidal wave is too much to resist. The Rebs retreat again before a line of bristling bayonets. Cohesion breaks, again infecting Johnson’s troops further east, and a broken-hearted McFarland must report to Lomax that his brigade has fled the field.  Smith’s condition is only marginally better. He takes refuge with 62nd Virginia, his sole remaining unit. Coates’ troops come on again, and when fire fails to dislodge the 62nd, the bayonet again convinces the Rebs to fall back. Smith and his remnant take position alongside the still-disordered Charlottesville battery a few rods ahead of Lomax’s headquarters.

Lomax’s Agony

Thoburn’s division follows up Hayes’ success, cutting across the broad valley behind what’s left of Lomax’s lines. Wells’ lead elements plunge into a woodlot; if they can traverse it before Lomax can react, they will have an excellent chance of bagging the rest of his division.

Major General William Averell, commanding Sheridan’s sole available cavalry division, has been observing Crook’s progress versus Lomax’s dismounted cavalry. He summons an aide-de-camp. “Deliver an order to Colonel Powell at once. Tell him the enemy is close to cracking, and that his 2nd Brigade should attack hell-for-leather”. The dumbfounded young man replies, “You mean over those earthworks, sir?” “That’s exactly what I mean, son. We did it at Winchester, and we can do it here. Now ride!” Averell himself spurs his horse and catches up with Colonel James Schoonmaker, commanding the division’s 1st Brigade. “Schoonmaker, you & I are going to take a little trip down the Back Road as soon as Powell’s men are out of the way.” Schoonmaker is all of 22 years old and cannot restrain his excitement. “Yes, sir!”. He sends aides to all three of his regiments, and the brigade makes good headway, Crook’s infantry stepping off the road to let them pass.

But what of William Powell? His men cannot charge over such broken terrain, but over a thousand of them ride to within carbine range of Johnson’s Confederates and let loose a volley, insofar as their restless mounts allow. The fire is ineffective, but Johnson’s 200 men manage only a feeble response. Powell orders the 2nd West Virginia and the 1st New York “Lincoln” regiments to draw swords. 2nd West Virginia has the advantage, as it is already astride the entrenchments. It rolls up over 400 yards of Johnson’s line before finally coming to a halt. Powell, riding with the 1st New York “Lincoln”, cheers them on, and the “Lincoln” men cheer even louder, as the West Virginians have done all the work. For the second time in four days the northern cavalry has demonstrated how far it has come in two years.

Lunsford Lomax knows his battle is lost, but he does his duty, pleading with the Charlottesville gunners to man their pieces. They still refuse to do so, but Smith’s 62nd Virginia fires at the mass of Coates’ Yankees in their captured works, doing good execution. Coates’ return fire is inaccurate, and Lomax at last has some small consolation.

Almost 600 yards away, the Staunton battery’s four 3-inch ordnance pieces are forced to wait until Johnson’s 36th Virginia Battalion clears its front, but then bark into action versus the impetuous 2nd West Virginia. Despite the battery’s reduced volume of fire, when the powder smoke clears the gunners behold a field covered with fallen blue riders and their mounts. Once again, a small victory amidst the debacle.

Thoburn’s division has not yet engaged. Instead, it has conducted an outflanking march aimed at the rear of Lt. Col. William Thompson’s brigade on Lomax’s right flank. Thompson knows what is coming and turns to meet the onslaught. Harris’s brigade is still traversing the woods, but Wells is poised at the tree line in an excellent position to strike. Garbled orders delay the matter. Anyone with a target, however, opens fire, and by the end of the fight half the 49th Virginia is down. The survivors retreat out of earthworks they were never able to use.

Averell’s attached battery disrupts Staunton, and Powell seizes the opportunity to launch his troopers forward again. This time the results aren’t quite as satisfying. His brigade takes the rebel battery, lays half the 2nd Maryland Battalion low, and routs the rest. But he loses another fifty troopers to determined resistance. His brigade has done well but will need rest before it can again affect the battle’s outcome.

Just as the cavalry’s blown horses come to a halt, Wells’ infantry swings into action. The 123rd Ohio overruns the rest of Thompson’s brigade in a sustained assault. With the opposition cleared away, Harris’s brigade emerges from the forest and deploys into line facing Brig. General Bryan Grimes’ troops on the left end of Ramseur’s line.

The 62nd Virginia is Lomax’s sole remaining intact unit. Its immediate foe is Devol’s 13th West Virginia, but thousands of Crook’s and Averell’s men are nearby and block any easy escape. Lomax and Smith are with the 62nd and confer. “General Lomax, it is a close judgment whether the path of duty calls for the 62nd to stand and briefly delay the enemy, which means certain destruction, or disengage, which will probably end in destruction, and perhaps more quickly than otherwise. Perhaps the best course is to lay down our arms”. Lomax scowls. “Smith, we must seek to disengage. If we can, we may be able to fight our way out.” Smith cannot hide his apprehension, but issues the order. The West Virginians spot the move despite the tree cover, and their muskets blaze. Minie balls thwapp! against tree trunks, but the 62nd succeeds!

Lomax may have purchased a little time, but the evidence of utter defeat is overwhelming and all too plain to his opponents. Crook rides among his troops shaking hands and tipping his hat to all. His men are wild with adulation. It is the Army of West Virginia’s greatest day.

1600: The Main Front, VI Corps

With some inkling that all is not well on the extreme left, Early’s four infantry divisions peer across Tumbling Run’s South Fork at the ranks of blue arrayed against them, looking for some sign of aggressive intent. In addition to Lomax’s horse artillery, Early has 34 guns in three artillery battalions, each comprising three batteries. William Nelson’s and Carter Braxton’s batteries support Ramseur’s and Pegram’s sectors, while William McLaughlin’s battalion is on Early’s right. Braxton and McLaughlin have portions of the enemy in range and let fly. Excellent gunnery smashes the carriage of a XIX Corps 3-inch ordnance piece to open the ball on the main front.

Getty’s troops advanced over the knoll in the center of the photo

As if on cue, Sheridan’s legions begin to march. Brig. General James Ricketts’ VI Corps division, as planned, makes for Lomax’s front line so as to join with Crook. Frank Wheaton’s division, forming VI Corps’ left, emerges from an extensive woodlot north of Piper’s farm. Some of Gordon’s sharpshooters try a long-range shot at 10th New Jersey, the lead regiment. The rounds fly harmlessly overhead, but the men involuntarily duck. Wheaton, accompanying the regiment, chides them. “Boys, there’s no use ducking. By the time you hear that ‘pffft’, the ball is long gone.” The very next second, the Jerseymen enjoy a nervous laugh when Wheaton flattens himself on his steed’s neck. 

VI Corps’ artillery seeks suitable firing platforms and begins to fire at the salients along the enemy line. Ordinarily the guns would not advance without infantry support, but Colonel Tompkins, the artillery chief, trusts that the Rebs will not dare to come out of their pits with VI Corps in motion to his right and left. Brig. General George Getty’s division, his main support, soon arrives. Tompkins concentrates 20 tubes versus Ramseur’s salient and sows consternation within the ranks of General Cullen Battle’s brigade, as fountains of earth erupt and headlogs splinter under the rain of shot and shell.

The youthful Ramseur has more on his mind than Tompkins’ bombardment. Hearing  the firing off toward Little North Mountain, he shifts troops leftward along his line of entrenchments. In particular, Grimes’ brigade occupies 300 yards of earthworks previously unmanned but absolutely vital in case Crook’s Army of West Virginia battles past Lomax’s troops.

Further east Wheaton’s two brigades are the first to close within effective small-arms range of the enemy. The knolls comprising Fisher’s Hill are steep enough in many places to afford the Union troops cover in the swale along Tumbling Run, but not everywhere. Gordon’s veterans react, and a furious fire fight initiates the infantry battle. By its end 100 blueclads are down, the consolidated 65th/67th Pennsylvania has withdrawn to a sheltered position, and half the division’s line is wavering. Wheaton is with his 2nd Brigade’s leader, Colonel Joseph Hamblin. “Hamblin, I fear I have acted too soon for prudence, if not for valor.” Hamblin sees only his Pennsylvanians falling back in disorder. “General, we must reform that regiment and restore the line!”. The disjointed exchange reflects the situation’s sudden descent into chaos.

Gordon’s men do not escape unscathed, with Union lead making it impossible for both Col. William Peck’s consolidated 5th-9th Louisiana and Brig. General William Terry’s consolidated 21st/50th Virginia to maintain a cohesive line. Gordon quickly orders Col. Edmund Atkinson’s unengaged brigade to shift to the left. Wheaton does not press the attack, however. Instead, his officers soon restore order to all but the 65th/67th Pennsylvania.

Getty’s division is the next to close with Early’s line, coming up on Wheaton’s right and fronting Pegram’s and Ramseur’s salients. Like Wheaton’s troops, Getty’s take advantage of the cover in the swale. Firefights break out where cover does not prevent them, and Col. James Warner’s troops cheer when they suppress a nasty nest of sharpshooters. Nevertheless, this is a tough line to assault, and Getty does not force the issue, allowing his men a breather before the coming ordeal.

Pegram, however, has no intention of allowing the enemy a breather. Although Brig. General Robert Johnston’s troops cannot find a target due to the hillside’s contours, Pegram’s other brigades can. Lt. Col. William Davis’s troops lay down a fire hot enough to break 139th Pennsylvania’s orderly ranks. Col. John Hoffman’s men, including his sharpshooter battalion, wipe out the diminutive 49th New York of Daniel Bidwell’s brigade.

Bidwell has three regiments within striking range of Pegram’s line, and he sends them in despite the loss of the 49th. They gain a lodgment just under Johnston’s parapets, prompting Braxton’s Alleghany battery to quickly limber up and pull back. But Bidwell has no confidence in assaulting. From the fire he’s taken, it’s clear the enemy is equal in numbers, besides being behind earthworks. His men hunker down, attempting to pin their foes in hopes that James Warner’s brigade and Wheaton’s troops can exert flanking leverage and pry them off the top of the fortified knoll.

Ricketts’ division comes up on Getty’s right, with Col. Warren Keifer’s brigade in advance of Col. William Emerson’s. To Ricketts’ right front are Lomax’s remnants; to his left front is the division’s assigned task:  Ramseur’s left flank. Soon, however, Thoburn’s triumphant troops come pouring out of the woods to the right and deploy opposite Grimes’s brigade before Emerson can. Ricketts attempts to turn necessity into a virtue, cancelling Emerson’s movement for the time being. Joseph Keifer’s brigade, on the other hand, is a different matter. The 28-year old colonel is eager to strike, and Ricketts gives him the green light. Keifer targets the apex of Ramseur’s line, ripe for enfilade fire. As Ramseur has stretched his line to the southwest, the position is manned only by Battle’s sharpshooters. Only two of Keifer’s regiments manage to negotiate the confluence of two streams and the low ground around them to reach assault range, 122nd Ohio and 6th Maryland. Battle’s sharpshooters have help from 6th Alabama’s 150 rifles on their left, and they throw the Buckeyes back with losses. But 6th Maryland has help, too. Together with the 126th Ohio, firing at longer range, it sends the sharpshooters tumbling back, half of them down. A thrill surges through Keifer’s ranks as Battle’s elite troops abandon the position.

Ramseur’s situation, and with it the Valley Army’s, is quickly deteriorating. Furiously wheeling his horse, the youthful major general, in command of the division only three days, barks an instruction to his aides. “One of you ride over to General Cook as fast as you can. Tell him to take his whole brigade and head to the left. If the Yankees force Grimes back, Cook is to counterattack and restore the position.”

But Ramseur has another matter to which to attend. Battle must counterattack to retake the salient’s apex. The two men are close enough to quickly confer, and the efficient Battle sends the 150 men of the 12th Alabama to do the job. While Ramseur rounds up Battle’s surviving sharpshooters and restores their fighting trim, the Alabamans jump into the trenches and open fire on Keifer’s Marylanders below them. Their fire is too wild for good effect despite emptying many a cartridge pouch, and the return volley is murderous, but the survivors of the 12th maintain order and reestablish the line’s integrity.

The fragile patch-job last only for a moment. Keifer, urging his troops on to the extremity of their endurance, marshals most of his 3000 men for a massed assault on the apex  of Ramseur’s line. Many of Battle’s Alabamans quail at the sight, and their fire utterly fails to slow the enemy’s momentum. The 6th Maryland, 126th Ohio, and 67th Iowa claw their way up the parapets, leap into the trenches, and overwhelm Battle’s 550 defenders. Keifer, at the head of the 6th Maryland, leads it in a headlong rush, scattering the broken enemy and dispatching the last of Battle’s sharpshooters. Nelson’s and Braxton’s guns fail to drive him back.

Ricketts has come up with Emerson’s brigade and hurls his hat in the air. After more than four months of frustration and disappointment on battlefields from the Rappahannock to Petersburg and then in the Valley, his division may be on the verge of a great victory.

1600: XIX Corps

Sometime after Early’s iron greeting knocked out a XIX Corps gun to start the action in the eastern part of the battlefield, William Emory’s artillery responds. The fire is without effect, but the effort reassures friendly infantry.

As in the center, the bluffs near the Shenandoah are steep and afford plenty of defilade for troops who can reach it. While the artillery duel is in progress, Emory meets with his division leaders. “Gentlemen, if we can break through the rebel line here and roll it up to the west, there is an excellent chance we can bag Early’s whole army. General Grover, advance your division. Have your lead regiments pause in the dead ground below the rebel positions so as to fully deploy your troops for a coordinated assault. You will probably take some fire on the way in, but we are accustomed to that, aren’t we? General Dwight, your division will follow Grover’s, moving to his right, from which position you will exploit any success it achieves.” William Dwight and Cuvier Grover hurry to their command posts.

The defenders opposite XIX Corps are few and far between. Wharton’s division took heavy losses at 3rd Winchester and now occupies a discontinuous line of entrenchments. Wharton is aware of the defilade the terrain offers the attacker. On the other hand, the ground is so rugged that his troops may have a temporary advantage when the enemy reaches the military crests of the bluffs. Given the disparity in numbers, that advantage will be fleeting, and Wharton must be prepared to withdraw.

Grover’s division goes forward as ordered, followed by Dwight’s. By the time Dwight arrives, he finds little room to deploy, as Wheaton’s troops to his right nearly adjoin Grover’s.

Grover has indeed placed three brigades in his front line, keeping that of Col. David Shunk in reserve. On the left Henry Birge’s brigade envelops the extreme Confederate right and awaits orders to assault. On the right and center the brigades of Col. Edward Molineux and Col. Daniel Macauley combine in an attempt to take the nose of Wharton’s salient. The climb is steep and the crest studded with McLaughlin’s guns. As Molineux fixes some of the defenders in place, Macauley confers with the commanders of the 128th, 175th, and 176th New York regiments. “We must take those guns on the height. I will lead the 175th and 176th against them. The 128th is to penetrate the gap between that height and the one to the left. God be with you and your men.”

The attack goes forward. The problem with penetrating the gap is that, whichever way the line faces, the enemy can enfilade it. Converging fire disrupts the 128th, but it stands its ground as the main drama unfolds just to the north. There the two New York regiments climb the hill. The 175th wavers under heavy fire, which could have been much worse had the Monroe battery been able to resupply its limbers. Instead, the New Yorkers’ fire drives the gunners to cover. Macauley presses on with the 176th, which loses 20% of its men to desperate southern fire. The rest mount the parapet and jump into the trenches. Hand-to-hand combat ensues with the 23rd Virginia Battalion, assigned to support the battery. Numbers tell. The blueclads drive the Virginians back in confusion and take the guns.

But the 176th now finds itself looking into the muzzles of two 3-inch ordnance rifles, all that remain of the Lewisberg battery after the debacle at Winchester. McLaughlin is with his gunners. Supporting the section is the 40th Virginia Battalion of Col. Thomas Smith’s brigade.

Wharton has ridden over to the crisis point. He pauses to rally the 23rd Virginia and dispatches aides to exhort both Smith and Captain Edmund Read, leading Forsberg’s brigade, to stand their ground. Smith needs no such advice. “40th Virginia Battalion, fire!”, he bellows. At the same moment the 176th New York gets off a ragged volley at this new foe. The Yankee lead is galling, but not lethal. Not so the southern metal. Great gaps appear in the 176th’s line; Macauley is hit and sinks to the ground. The few survivors go streaming down the hill. They will not be back.

Screaming the rebel yell, the 40th surges forward and retakes the Monroe battery. The Virginians savor the moment, but it is unlikely they will hold for long. Read’s brigade on the left is too hard pressed to help, and Captain Robert Logan’s is not only too far to the right, but outnumbered seven to one by Birge’s brigade and two of Macauley’s regiments.

1600 Conclusion

This test has, so far, mirrored the main aspects of the historical event. The Confederate dismounted cavalry was indeed crushed. The survival of Smith’s 62nd Virginia corresponds to a brief counterattack Lomax’s men were able to muster before being swept from field. Thoburn did indeed sweep eastward, and together with Ricketts broke through Ramseur’s line in Battle’s sector. As in this test, Ramseur sent a brigade from his right to his embattled left. In reality it got lost; in my test it started too late to restore the line. Actual events along the battle lines to the east were not quite as dramatic, and that, too, this test reflected.

The question is now whether the Rebs can somehow patch their left flank and conduct an orderly retreat. How they’ll manage it while warding off Schoonmaker’s deep outflanking move and the pressure of XIX Corps is a good question.

To be continued…

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Articles in this Series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3