2nd Battle of Salem Church 03 May 1863

Jonathan Freitag was kind enough to have me over again on Saturday for a refight of the Battle of Salem Church, fought on the 3rd of May 1863, using Fields of Honor rules. Our last match was extremely close, and this one was no different. I took General John Sedgwick's VI Corps again, and Jon took Major General Lafayette McLaw's Division. Sedgwick takes the first initiative, and draws the first several activations.....

Newton activates and moves his three batteries up to get in the first shots at Wilcox's batteries and their infantry support. Brooks moves his three batteries forward as well. Brown, Russel, and Shaler all move there regiments up to get within striking range. Bartlett moves his four regiments against the Confederate right.

Bartlett's 96th PA takes a beating in the first engagement with Wofford's Georgians

More views of the field after the first flurry of Union activations

The Orange Plank Road is getting congested with troops trying to get into the fray

Shaler's 65th New York moves up to attack Wilcox's 9th Alabama at the Salem Church, with the support of the 67th NY and Shaler in command.

With near 50% losses the 65th NY destroys the 9th AL and takes the church

Brown engages Kershaw's brigade and Wilcox's 10th AL. both sides take heavy losses. 

The 2nd NJ beats the 10th AL back twice until they are gone, but now they are stuck well behind the enemy lines without any command. The 2nd NC suffers 25% casualties after tangling with Brown's 15th NJ.  Meanwhile the 65th NY Suaves are hanging on by a thread after being pummeled by Wilcox's Alabamians. A successive attack destroys them. Brown is broken.

 

On the Union left, Bartlett's regiments have had a hard fight and have paid the price

The 121st NY is annihilated. The 96th PA is hanging in there, but at 50% strength. Cobb's legion, Phillip's legion, and the 10th GA are gone. Wofford is broken, but so is Bartlett

Situation photo. Browne's brigade has moved up to the right. Wheaton's brigade is moving up the Orange Plank Road. Brooks' two rifled batteries have returned to the heights. Shaler's 122 NY has overrun the Confederate batteries and destroyed the 14th AL support regiment pushed, breaking Wilcox's brigade. End of turn 2

The 11th AL attacks the heavily damaged 65th NY, destroying them to retake the church.

The 2nd RI attacks Semmes' 53rd GA with support from the 36th NY

Semmes is broken. McLaws withdraws what's left of his division and retreats back toward Lee's army near Chancellorsville. Sedgwick is now free to join Major General John Hooker who is currently nursing a case of shell shock and contemplating a full retreat back across the Rappahannock River!

Casualties:
Confederates = 8 Regiments and 3 Batteries
Federals = 9 Regiments

Jonathan will be posting a much more thorough, and I'm sure more accurate, AAR on his blog at https://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/

This was just as much fun, if not more so, than the last game. Jon is talking about perhaps a Biblical period battle next. I'm anxious to see what he decides upon. 

U.S. Fleet Additions 1/2400

Between some other projects, while waiting for orders to arrive, I decided to add a few more ships to my U.S. WWII fleet.

Two carriers: USS Lexington CV-2 and USS Saratoga CV-3

Two Baltomore class heavy cruisers: USS Baltimore CA-68 and USS Boston CA-69

Three Brooklyn class light cruisers: USS Honolulu CL-48, USS Helena CL-50, and USS St Louis CL-59

All ships are 3D prints from my Ender 5-Pro

The Battle of Salem Church - 3 May, 1863

Jonathan Freitag had me over last Saturday for a face-to-face contest in his dungeon war den. The table was set up for the Battle of Salem Church, fought on the 3rd of May in 1863. The battle was part of the larger Chancellorsville campaign. The rules were Fields of Honor with slight modifications. 

I took Maj. General John Sedgwick's VI Corps, Jon took Maj. General Lafayette McLaw's division.

I won the initiative and successively drew the first four activations before Jon could move.

 

Bartlett, Brown, Russell and Browne move up their brigades. The confederates activate Wilcox's batteries pour cannister into Russel's regiments.

Russell attacks the Union Artillery, while the 119th PA fires a volley into the 14th AL on the Salem Church heights

On the Union left, Bartlett unsuccessfully tries to drive in the Confederate left

After a bloody fight and the destruction of the Confederate support infantry, the whole Union line is thrown back.

the 2nd NJ takes the Salem Church, while the 23rd NJ and 2st NJ resume the attack on the Union artillery 

The 1st NJ is lost and Russel is again thrown back

Both sides are taking heavy losses on the Union Left. Two Confederate brigades are broken.

The 32nd NY has finally taken Parker's and Cobb's artillery batteries, but at a high cost. The 18th NY and 49th PA were bloodied and thrown back by Wolford's and Manley's Artillery with infantry support. Two Union Brigades are broken.

The 32nd NY throw themselves at the Manley/Wolford batteries again.

With a successful flank attack on the 2nd RI and 10 MA, Browne's brigade is broken. It's a win for the Confederates.

I know Jonathan will have a much more in depth report of the battle, at least from the Confederate perspective. I had so much fun playing this scenario. It turned out much like the historical results, with most of Sedgwick's VI Corps not even getting into the fight due to the extremely rough terrain on the Union right.

1/1200 Langton HMS Caesar 80-Gun Ship

HMS Caesar was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Plymouth in 1786 and launched in 1793 when the wars with France began. The Caesar and the Foudroyant were the first British 80-gun warships to be built for nearly a hundred years, and no more would be ordered for two decades.

Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, HMS Caesar was measured at 2,002 tons, 181 feet in length, with a 50 foot beam. Mounting 80 guns of varying caliber, including a main armament of 30-32pdrs. Her initial compliment consisted of 719 officers and men. Her completion - as the first such English warship in a century - even inspired a contemporary play "The Launch of the Caesar, of Trip to Plymoth Dock" to celebrate the event.

• Gundeck: 30 x 32 pdrs
• Upper Gundeck: 32 x 24 pdrs
• Quarterdeck: 14 x 9 pdrs
• Forecastle:4 x 9 pdrs

The ship participated in several battles during the Napoleonic Wars, including Lord Howe's victory over the French on June 1, 1794, the first naval engagement of the French Revolution, known as the Glorious First of June. Caesar's captain, Anthony James, face a courts marshal after the battle, accused of not doing his best to pass through the enemy line on May 29 and failing to take up his proper station on June 1. He was dismissed.

Caesar was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Charles Edmund Nugent (promoted to Admiral in 1822), operating in the Channel from 1795 until 1797.

Caesar was the flagship to Sir James Saumarez's squadron blockading Cadiz when the The Battle of Algeciras Bay ocurred on 6 July, 1801. The losses on both sides were heavy. The Caesar had 9 killed and 33 wounded or missing.

Six days later on the morning 12 July the combined French and Spanish squadron put to sea, followed closely by the British squadron. What followed was the Second Battle of Algeciras, sometimes referred to as the Gut of Gibraltar. 

On 30 April, 1802, near Gibraltar under command of Sir James Saumarez, Caesar made contact with USS Constellation on her way to Tripoli. 

On 4 November, 1805, a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed several weeks earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar spotted by a British squadron under the command of Captain Sir Richard Strachan in Caesar. He gave chase and captured the French and Spanish squadron under Rear Admiral Perre Dumanoir le Pelley.

The Model:

Scratch Built 1-144 18th-19th C. Spanish Privateer Xebec

 Here is my latest build, an 18th-19th century xebec, modeled as a Spanish privateer.

I have used foam, cereal box carboard, wood skewers and toothpicks, steel wire, TP for the aft awning, cotton thread for rigging, and cloth for the sails. The only 3D prints are the 16 guns, deck boat, and anchor. This one took a while since I only worked on it for a short time in the evenings.

Getting the basic shape with foam and cardboard decks

Sides built up with card and the deck extended a bit

All guns are mounted now

Sizing the masts

putting in the hoops for the aft awning cover

TP awning cover strengthened with PVA/water, then painted

Beauty Shots