NationStates Jolt Archive

Map of Virgina (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/us_2001/virginia_ref_2001.jpg)

The Army of the Potomac, under General Reynolds, 67,000 men strong, has begun to move. In the early morning the assembly sounds and the tents go down. Rank after rank of blue-clad men fall into line. General Reynolds conducts a last-minute inspection of the army before the march. Then the army manuvers into marching order and th vanguard begins marching south-west, crossing the Potomac and heading towards Manassas Junction. Orders are sent recalling the two cavalry brigades back to the army. Tey should be rejoining them along the march.

The Army is spread thusly:

In the lead are the 1st New York Cavalry with the 2nd New York Cavalry deployed to guard the flanks. Behind them is the first of the infantry, the I Corps with advance gurds and flankers out to either side. Behind them stretches the II, III, and IV Corps of the army. The 1st Division of the IV Corps is deployed to protect the supply lines and provide a rearguard if neccessary.

The V and VI corps are under Buell and have been left to act as a reserve and guard Washington DC.

Reynolds intends to march to Manassas Junction, sieze the rail lines and then send a force to Harpers Ferry, while the bulk of his troops turn towards Richmond.

I. Corps

First Division
1st New York
1st Maine
1st Connecticut
Second Division
1st Ohio
3rd Maryland
2nd Pennsylvania
Third Division
2nd New York
1st New Jersey
1st Rhode Island

II Corps

First Division
1st Michigan
3rd New York
2nd Maine
Second Division
2nd Massachuesetts
2nd New Jersey
3rd Pennsylvania
Third Division
1st Pennsylvania
1st California
4th New York

III Corps

First Division
1st Maryland
2nd Rhode Island
5th New York
4th Pennsylvania
Second Division
3rd Massachuesetts
1st Massachuesetts
The Irish Brigade
2nd Maryland
1st Washington DC Brigade

IV Corps

First Division
2nd Ohio
2nd Michigan
6th New York
Second Division
5th Pennsylvania
4th New Jersey
2nd Connecticut
Third Division
2nd Rhode Island
6th Pennsylvania
3rd New Jersey

Cavalry
First Cavalry Division
Currently with the AoP
1st New York Cavalry
2nd New York Cavalry
Currently returning to the AoP
1st Ohio Cavalry

Kilalini

Chatzy, NOW!

General Joe Johnston sat in his tent, the latest dispatch from General JEB Stuart in his hand. He tugged at his beard and sighed. Could this really be true? Were the yankees really moving out of their defenses so soon after their crushing defeat only a couple of weeks earlier? Their new commander was taking a huge risk marching out with his men so utterly demoralized.

Still, General Stuart was rarely wrong when it came to keeping track of enemy movements so this must really be a concerted effort and not just a feint to draw the Confederates out of their newly dug defensive works. Maybe they were trying to capitalize on the news that President Davis was seriously ill, thinking that the ANV would be slow to respond with the President immobilized. At that thought he smiled, he would soon enlighten them on that point.

He sat down at his portable desk, pulled out his order book, and began writing. It was going to be a long night....

Reynold's issues orders to his lead corp, the I Corp, to advance to the site of the battle of Bull Run, specifically Henry Hill and Bald Hill, and make entrenchments there. He plans on making Stone House his headquarters. II Corps is ordered to take up positions to the east of the two hills, along the road running towards the Warrenton Turnpike, then refues the flank to the north, along Dogan Ridge and the nacross Warrenton Turnpike. The III Corp is ordered to act as a reserve, just south of Stone House, and the Federal troops begin digging in. He sends his cavalry out to find the enemy and report back to him.

[OOC: I'll get a map up later.]

OOC: If nothing blocks my approach, then here's the defensive positions the Federals take up: map (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/havoc88/manassas_map3.jpg).

ooc
excellent map of Northern Virginia including the Shenandoah Valley
http://www.civil-war.ws/images/map58.jpg

history of the actual campaign can be found here
http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh5-1.html

OOC: Sorry I took so long to post...

IC:

The informants General Hill had developed in the area would prove their worth now, his forces were already well entrenched in the area of Bull Run, and there would be no dislodging them. Even if they were, by some miracle, forced to retreat, nearly every bridge of stone along their path was ready to blow, whil the wooden ones had recieved liberal applications of pitch to their pilings, and to the undersurfaces of their main spans. If they fell back, they were going to literally burn their bridgews behind them.

2 of General Hills Divisions were deployed in the vicinity of the creek, dug in deep, while his artillery was deployed in such a manner that it covered defenses in that location. His 3rd Division was deployed in the vicinity of Henry Hill, centrally located so as to provide support to either of his forces. The last units deployed were those dispatched from General Longstreet, they were covering the Junction itself, it was the opinion of General Hill that there would be less of an attack there, and so he sent his lightest forces to cover the area least likel to be attacked.

The Cavalry was already deployed, waiting for the Federals to bypass them, before beginning a series of attacks that would damage the enemy, without having the woefully outnumbered cavalry becoming decisively engaged, then they would advance ahaead of the enemy, and harrass them at the fords, once the enemy was across, they would move as quickly as possible to bolster the defenses at the junction.

General Meade sat on his horse, watching his lead brigade, the 2nd Massachusetts, pass by along the dusty roads to Manassass. He called for an orderly, who came riding up immediately.

"Captain. I want you to pass the word to all division commanders. Advance with utmost caution. I want double the number of flankers and advance guards ahead and to the sides of the column. I want to know immediately if as much as a single Reb picket shoots at our boys. We know the Rebs have been at Manassass since we lost there, no way of knowing what surprises they've got cooked up. Repeat that"

The orderly did so, and rode off to find the three division commanders.

Meade slouched back down in his saddle and watched his men file past, occasionally waving or nodding as men recognized him and cheered. It was going to be a long day.

OOC: TG on the way to you Merki. RASAP.

BTW, where did the rebels dig up eneough powder to blow upa stone bridge and keep their artillery and men loaded? And where exactly along the creek are you? That would help. For example, are they spread out along the entire length or are they only watching the bridges...? Could you possibly mark it on a map? It would make it easier for me.

IC:

Reynolds had dispatched the II and III corp along a different route, leaving him with I and IV corp. His lead scouts cavalry scouts were cautiously approaching the from the north-west, along the Manassas Sudley Road from Gainesville and Grovelon. Some of his other scouts has passed the Sudley mansion and were about to test Sudley Ford. His lead brigade, the 1st New York was only a few miles behind and marching quickly.

Gen. Meade sat in his saddle with a cigar dangling from his mouth.

His men were marching along the Warrenton Turnpike at the double, with III Corps in the lead, the lead brigade being the 3rd Massachusetts (2nd Division, III Corps), with flankers and advance guards from the 1st Massachusetts. Meade's own II Corps followed behind. Meade knew that the lead elements of III Corps should be coming up near the old Stone bridge near Henry Hill soon. The Rebs had to be around here somewhere. At least a reserve at the Junction, a small force on Henry Hill. Johnny Reb wasn't stupid enough to leave his baggage train behind unguarded. Meade would come up from the East along the Warrenton Road, cross the Run, and hit the Rebs in flank with everything he had. Two full Corps. 34,000 men in the Reb's flank and rear. All he needed now were the reports from the scouts.

OOC: A.P. Hill, you said you had cavalry pickets out. It'd sure be nice to know when I run into those. Otherwise I might just accidentally march over them and your positions without even knowing they're there. And that wouldn't be good. No. It wouldn't. Not for you, anyway.

Here's a map of the general terrain surrounding Bull Run. Ignore the Unit markers. The Warrenton Road is the large tan road bisecting the map running east to west.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/havoc88/manassas_map3.jpg

General Joe Johnston stalked around outside his headquarters tent. He had just finished going over the daily reports and the news of the Federal advance on Manassas was even grimmer than he had first thought. The Army of the Potomac was at least double the size of the force that had recently tried to sieze the railroad junction.

Still he had already laid his plans, all that remained was to hope his Generals could do their parts. He walked back into the tent and ordered his staff to send messages to Generals Stuart, Ashby, and Early.

OOC: General Stuart, you will have a telegram shortly.

The menhad rode for long hours and were nearing the railroad crossing to get to Fairfax. They knew their orders and immediatley went about causing as much general damage as they could. men tried to pull up rails from the railroad and then proceeded to through them into whatever windows lay nearby.

Some men climbed up the telegraph poles and cut the wires while two brigades screened them further south west along the railroad. If they saw any enemy troops they would gallop to the crossing and get the Corp out of there.

The men worked tirelessly for about an hour, completely destroying about fifteen feet of track and dropping a telegraph pole and cutting up about 20 feet of telegraph wire. they then moved north to Fairfax Court House to await news of the battle and decide on their next move.

OOC: North from Dumfries moveing towards Fairfax they cut up all the track and telegraph wire they crossed but not enough to go way out of their way. They then proceed to Fairfax CH...
http://www.civil-war.ws/images/map58.jpg

OOC:

ALL MOVES FREEZE.


I will be on tonight. and I PROMISE that I'll get both the Western and Northern Virginia Battles finished.


Everyone please have patience. Our system was designed by manarth and he's the one that fully understands it. And due to his absence for almost a week now, i'm not going to keep you waiting. I've been stalling because I was hoping he'd be back on soon, but he's already a day late on that so I'm just going to wing it.


Each of your units does have a combat rating, and I don't have the exact numbers per unit. But since there has been a lot of manevuer on both sides Position and strength will mean more than morale for now. So tonight i'm going to wing it. and Lastly I'd like to apologize to all those players that have been impatient. Yes I put the western theatre on hold so hold your horses, literally ;-) you've manevered close enough to each other in both Virginia fronts that I can take over on the posting to show the results of the battle. Thankfully i've got everyone's general orders. And if an oppurtunity shows up for a tactical decision, depending on how much that decision effects the battle i will contact you. If its minor i'm going to make it for you. But if it could mean winning or losing, i'll contact the general who needs to make said decision.


Thank you for your patience.

IC: Reynolds frowned as he read the latest report form a courier. The 2nd New York Cavalry Brigade had sighted grey-clad horsemen near Fairfax while on patrol. Where was the third division of IV Corps and the 2nd New York Cavalry? They were supposed to be protecting his supply lines! He scribbled some orders and handed them to an aide, "Get these to Custer right away. He is to take the 2nd New York Cavalry Brigade and the 2rd New Jersey Infantry to investigate this report of rebel cavalry in our rear. If possible he will drive them away from our supply lines."

EDIT: Sorry, I was typing this when you posted council.

OOC: Kilani, are you sending them to Fairfax? Just want to clarify because I still have those two Brigades screening and scouting so Id hear about them comeing...

OOC: Yes, they are on their way to Fairfax. But just to let you know, there is an entire division of Federal troops out there patrollingthe supply lines. nd as moves have been forzen, let's avoid clutttering with any more IC posts.

OOC: I just wanted to make sure I knew what was going on. Lets take this to the OOC thread I have some other questions...

OOC: A.P. Hill, you said you had cavalry pickets out. It'd sure be nice to know when I run into those. Otherwise I might just accidentally march over them and your positions without even knowing they're there. And that wouldn't be good. No. It wouldn't. Not for you, anyway.

Here's a map of the general terrain surrounding Bull Run. Ignore the Unit markers. The Warrenton Road is the large tan road bisecting the map running east to west.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/havoc88/manassas_map3.jpg

OOC:

I'm from manassas, I live just up the road from Manassas Battlefield Park. I know the terrain, thank you for the map anyway though. I'll try to give more exact positions next time, but I already explained to my allies that I have very little use for maps. My men are generally clustered around the various fords and bridges, though the wooden bridges are effectively death traps due to the liberal application of flammable materials to the pilings and the undersides of the spans. My Pickets are generally spread out north of my positions.

To Kilani:

My job is not to make thing easy on you, my job is to beat you viciously. My posts are almost exactly what a scouts report would look like, so, live with it. Regarding the powder issue, The Stone Bridge isn't very sturdy, just a few kegs of powder would be enough to take it down. And it's only one bridge...

OOC: Mini Miehm sorry I didn't mean to be rude. I just wanted to know what was up. sorry.

OOC:

Regarding the powder issue, The Stone Bridge isn't very sturdy, just a few kegs of powder would be enough to take it down. And it's only one bridge...

OOC: Actually it would only take putting a couple of shells from one of the larger guns under it to bring it down. In fact Hill wanted to mine the whole area (shells with tripwires) but was overruled by me as not being an honorable way to fight.

I can't wait to see how this all works out. We've got a huge AoP moving up on an entrenched Hill with a whole corps of rebel cavalry in their rear. A rebel division has been seen pulling out of Leesburg and heading southeast and a whole division of Jackson's men seem to have disappeared from the map somewhere.

Ah... the suspense is killing me!

OOC: Mini Miehm sorry I didn't mean to be rude. I just wanted to know what was up. sorry.

OOC: Quite alright. I'm just a generally unpleasant person immediately after getting out of class, you got the brunt of that.

OOC
To Kilani:

My job is not to make thing easy on you, my job is to beat you viciously. My posts are almost exactly what a scouts report would look like, so, live with it. Regarding the powder issue, The Stone Bridge isn't very sturdy, just a few kegs of powder would be enough to take it down. And it's only one bridge...

Excuse me for wanting to know more exact positions. "Spread out along the creek" doesn't exactly tell me much...

Excuse me for wanting to know more exact positions. "Spread out along the creek" doesn't exactly tell me much...

And that's about all your scouts would be able to tll you, so it's all you're gonna know.

OOC: I'm back!

And second on the move freeze. I need to talk to CoC and figure out exactly what is happening. I'm sorry I went out for a day longer than I said I was, but seriously, I was traveling half the day, and 3 hours of sleep (left the house at 4am) does not transition well into doing much of anything the rest of the day.

CoC, check your TG's soon. My new phone number will be in one.

General Jackson, standing with maps of the Harper's Ferry area after his supper, wondered when he would ever make contact with the invading forces. He had anticipated some sort of resistance in the region, but none was found. Making camp at Halltown, Jackson and his men marched into the charred ruins of Harper's Ferry.

OOC this is Merki, my nation's spiraling out of control, so I'm using this nation now instead.

THE THIRTEEN TRIBES = MERKI = GEN. GEORGE GORDON MEADE!!!

hope everyone got it.

The Thirteen Tribes = Merki!!!!!

Today = August 21st

First day of combat in this theater = August 24th(ish)

Just FYI...

ATTN: Seriously, tomorrow will begin the initial battles for this campaign. Seriously. (Wayne, you might want to call me tomorrow around 6:30pm so we can work them out)

Sorry we've been a bit late getting to this and the Mississippi campaign. No excuses, and I hope the silence around as of late is due to Holiday hangovers lasting through a good 3 days. On an unrelated note Burbon Balls and Eggnog are too examples of why the holidays are great for people of all faiths, but kinda bad the next morning. Friends you haven't seen since Highschool and being introduced to that friend's new favorite brews one case at a time is another.

Again, August 24th - Nothern Virginia - Day 1, begins tomorrow.

I am more afraid of alcohol than of all the bullets of the enemy.
Gen. Stonewall Jackson

OOC:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH*breathe*HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!

I know it's historically accurate, (jackson once refused to speak to his favorite brigade commander for a week because he had cussed at his men in Jackson's presence), but still!