The Battle of Lumpkin's Junction...

Yesterday saw me traveling to Brazil, Indiana to the home of Bill Rosser and his wife, as I had accepted the challenge to field Southern Forces against his Union Troops in/around Lumpkins Junction.
Bill was a most gracious host and we had a wonderful time. The only downer parts to the entire affair was our atrocious dice rolling, (truly some of the worst I have done in years), and the fact that my camera was trying to go on the fritz so that my picture taking was limited.
Nonetheless we had a good game, and we plan to meet on the field of battle once again.
And now…onto the battle!

Lumpkins Junction…
Lumpkins Junction is a small town sitting at the junction of the Harkerville Road and the Tawneyburg Road. Nearby is the small town of Harkerville and Old MacDonald’s Farm. The high ground of Harker Heights, Turkey Hill, and Possum Hill ringed the junction, while the major landmark in Lumpkins Junction was Willis’s Tavern.


(My Yankee nemesis…Mr. Bill Rosser…)

We arranged our forces. I had a cavalry contingent, with a horse artillery piece. Seeing that he had a battery of long-range rifle guns, I elected to place my artillery on the right side of the table. Strangely enough, our battle plans were almost exactly the same, only in reverse! (Typical ACW). Each of us had a strong right flank, with a weaker left.
To keep the game simple we decided that all troops were of average morale and had rifled muskets.
My plan was to move my cavalry down the road and then across the field in a screen across the front of Possum Hill. My artillery would head for Possum Hill supported by Infantry, and from there we would establish strong defensives on the high ground. My left flank would be a holding action, which would gradually shift across the field.
Bills plan was to move forward across Harker Heights, Cross Harkerville Road, and then swing his right wing in a large left wheel. If it had gone for both of us as planned, we would both be facing each other East-West along the fenced Tawneyburg Road instead of North-South…


Lumpkins Junction on the eve of the battle…

I won the movement phase in Dice Rolling and started pushing hard. My left flank tried to get their act together and head for Old MacDonald’s Farm and the stone wall just south of it. In the center my units dawdled around… My cavalry took off hell for leather down the road and across the field, drawing up large clouds of dust behind their hooves on the hot summer afternoon. To the right, my forces pushed forward…

The battlefield at the beginning of the game… General Belvedere B. Belvedere can be seen in the center of the field while Col. Sanders (on the white horse), is nearby. On the right flank is the main force commanded by General J. “Jumpin’ Jehosaphat”, and including Capt. Butlers Artillery.


Bill was able to get his guns onto Harker Heights and opened up on my center. He got one good hit on my Carolina Troops. His infantry moved forward. On his left General Owen Sodbucket, (commander of his left flank), was pushing his US Regulars forward.
Remarkably through the entire battle, it seemed as if the infantry troops on either side, showed little stomach for wanting to fight.


Yankee artillery moves up onto Harker Heights…


While on the left flank, General Owen Sodbucket’s forces moved forward. This force included the 17th US Regulars, and Zouaves…


General Jehosaphat watches as his troops move forward to support the Cavalry… The Texans lead the way!

The Cavalry deploys…
My cavalry deployed and began firing at the oncoming blue bellies. Hits were average, (actually the cavalry hit better than the infantry), and would last longer than expected.

Union troops moving forward (from the Conf. Cavalry view). Gen. Sodbucket is in the rear urging them on. To the right is the 17th US Regulars.

From the beginning of the fight it was obvious that my dice rolling was going to play a significant part in the fight. It was horrible to say the least. I would need 1-3’s and roll a four. I would need 1-5’s and roll a six.
Bills predicament was pretty much the same. Units that he didn’t need to route, suddenly routed. It was as if our units would take one shot and then call it a day.
On the right flank, the 17th US Regulars broke from the fire of the cavalry and ran hard and fast determined to be the first ones to skeedaddle off the battlefield.

17th US Regulars call it a day…

And keep running straight off the table…

We traded fire…I foolishly pushed a Carolina unit up the road, which then got caught, in a devastating fire. They lost three stands and decided that they had had enough.
Other units on both sides…would take a hit, break, and then rally, and come back. We seemed to spend more time rallying troops than committing them to a long-term fight.

On the left flank my men tried for Old MacDonald’s Farm, but they didn’t get very far…ending up on Turkey Hill instead…

Union Troops in the center cross the Harkerville Road and advance towards the Confederate Center...

Confederate Left Flank troops moving towards Old MacDonald’s Farm, with Union troops approaching from the North. The Yanks would make it there, I never would.

In the center, my Texans moved forward to try to plug a breach. Taking cover behind a fence line, they engaged the yanks at Willis’s Tavern, and forced a unit to rout, before they themselves were forced to rout…*curses stupid dice*

The fence line claimed many a Yankee and Southern Boy that day…

We slugged it out with one another for approx. 15 turns. My infantry were taking the worst of it, on the left flank, while he had no left flank, and was desperately trying to hold on with a unit in the woods. The unit that I needed to help pin them to allow my artillery to fire down the Union flanks, decided to break after one hit *curses dice again * and thus that idea was done for.

His troops were advancing on the left flank, while mine did the right, and in the middle we traded shots. His artillery was getting the worse for wear as my Mississippians were starting to drop his men, and a lucky shot from the horse arty, took out a gun of his…

By the time we called it, it was an obvious draw. Each of us had enough forces to hold, but not enough to press forward the attack and drive the enemy from the field. McClellan would be proud of us…

The Forces of Gen. Owen Sodbucket with the 2nd of his three regiments routing. Only the Zouaves move forward, and for a moment, Old Owen sees himself as the leading element…with haste he galloped back to the rear…


Results: A bloody stalement with me holding Turkey Hill, McGraw Place, and Possum Hill…and Bill holding Lumpkins Junction, Harker Heights, and Old MacDonalds Farm…

His best units were his infantry on the right flank, while I have to say that my best was my cavalry and horse artillery battery. I also have to give credit to the Mississippians who took shot and shell and held to start picking off artillerymen…

Analysis: Man..this was a mess. Fun, but bloody. Average troops give you a little bit of extra in morale, but they seem to always break at the worst times. My artillery was good overall, but never terribly effective..just a hit here and there. My cavalry did what they were supposed to do, and stopped the Union infantry long enough to get my troops deployed. My biggest mistake was spending six turns of the game moving two regiments alllllllllll the way around the back of Possum Hill. I should have kept them closer and committed them sooner.
It amazed me though how little stomach the infantry seemed to have for the fight…interesting.

Game Comments: Rally Round The Flag is still a great set of rules, even after 35 years. Yes it’s dated, and it shows, but overall works nicely. We were never close enough to do any type of charges, and anything the rules didn’t cover, we simply made a house rule for which always worked for both of us.

I truly enjoyed the fun of playing against Bill, and once again would like to thank him. It was a great way to close out 2009…

War comes to Lumpkins Junction...

I had just sat down to a small dinner of possum stew and a nice piece of cornbread mush, when my aide, Lt. Jasper came running up to me. He saluted me, and I nodded back to him.
“Scout coming in and needs to report to you sir. I think you need to hear this.”
I nodded once again, chewing on a particularly tasty bit of possum fat. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I had eaten last, other than a Johnnycake or two.
I watched the scout dismount from the horse before it came to a full stop. He was a young boy, with a dusty sweat stained face and a look on his face which shown me that he had lost his youth and was older than his years took him to be.
He saluted me.
“General Belvedere suh?” He asked.
I swallowed the possum fat and nodded. “Report.”
“Yankees suh. Seems to be Rosser’s Brigade. They’s moving south down the Tawneyburg Road and the main group of them seems to be camped on the rear slop of Harker Heights between Harkerville and Lumpkins Junction.”
I nodded. “A brigade you say?”
He nodded. “Yessuh. I counted at least 8 regiments of infantry, and a battery of guns.”
“A battery of guns? Hmmm…could you make out what kind?”
He nodded his head again. “Yessuh. Looks like them long range Parrott Rifled Guns.”
“Any cavalry or horse artillery?” I asked.
“Nawsuh; Just infantry and that battery of guns. They got the guns close to Harker Heights but they ain’t on it yet. Judged by the way they is camped there, I’d say that they either don’t know we are here, or aren’t expecting any real opposition until they move further South tomorrow.”
This boy was smart and observant for his age. I looked at Lt. Jasper. “Anything else from the scouts on any support on this?”
Jasper shook his head. “No sir. Seems that this is a forward brigade movement. Could be a diversion, could be a push this way to see where they can go.”
I place my plate onto the small table, and picked up my tin cup of black coffee. It had started to cool, and I took a small sip to get the taste of possum fat out of my mouth.
“Lt. Jasper, assemble my commanders for a meeting in half an hour.”
“Yes sir!” The young lieutenant nodded, saluted and quickly heeled away to his urgent task. Suddenly the peaceful silence of the evening twilight was quickly being replaced by the urgency of war.
“Anything else to report?” I asked the scout.
“No suh. That’s all I saw.”
“Good job. Let me ask you something…how old are you?”
The scout looked at me. “Thank you suh. Umm…I’m 16 suh.”
“Sixteen?Son, you should be back home courting your gal, and not out here riding around trying to get shot by bluebellies.”
He shrugged to me. “I know suh, but I got’s to do something. My brother was killed at Winchester and well, I had a gal, but she went and got herself engaged to a fella back home that is in charge of his paw’s general store.”
I nodded. War and Romantic Heartbreak, was what he had already experienced. He was a poet just waiting to happen. “Son..you had supper yet?”
He shook his head. “Nawsuh. Been out counting Yankees.”
I quickly scribbled on a piece of scrap paper, and handed it to him. “Here. Give this to Old George. He’ll fix you up something good. Plus, tell him that I said to give you a slice of the rhubarb pie he made.”
The boys grinned. “Thank yuh…I mean Suh!” Saluting, he practically ran out from beneath the fly and towards the company cook.
I watched him for a second and thought about the young boys in ranks under my command. Captain Butler my artillery commander had two 14 year olds in his battery, and a man that was almost 72.
War takes the young and the old.
My reflections started to fade as the urgency of the task came back to mind. I turned to the table, pushed the plate of possum stew aside and began to study the map of the land around Lumpkins Junction. Tomorrow there would be a fight, and we needed to be ready…
There was much to do tonight…

(Click on photo for larger version)

Tomorrow I will be in Brazil, Indiana playing fellow TMP'er Bill Rosser at 15mm ACW using the old RRTF rules. Seems that the Yankees are pushing and I've been ordered to meet them in/around the area of Lumpkin's Junction. My boys are ready, and got their dander up. He's got those damn long range Parrott Guns, but I've got cavalry!
More to follow...

Merry Christmas from me to you...

With no photos of works in progress, all I can wish you dear reader and wargaming friends is as VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

Here's hoping that your new year will be filled with good tidings, blessings, and peace for you and your loved ones...

More to come...including a soon to be fought ACW battle, and more pulp fig goodies...

Dedicated to Kyoteblue...

And the rest of the TMP crowd out there...(and you know who you are)...