Stones River: Afternoon of 31st December 1862

 Deployment: In this battle we are jumping into the action at 12:30 in the afternoon. The Confederates have swept one union Corp from the field and folded back their line. As the exhausted rebel's prepare one last assault, the union commander Rosecrans must try and rally together his shattered units and make a stand to save the army of the Cumberland from complete destruction. 



Confederate Turn 1: Hardee's men come screaming out of the treeline on the left flank, but the outflanked and badly outnumbered Yankee's fall back yard but yard with excellent discipline to blunt the attack.



Union Turn 1: Rosecrans dashes up the the spent and reforming regiments behind the railway track and shoves them into the line to support Scribner's brigade. As they approach they hear an almighty fusillade as Scribner's men with two battery's attached scythe down the isolated rebels to their front, using up the last of their ammunition.



On the right the two brigades retire together in good order, firing as they go. 



Confederate Turn 2: Despite Hardee's encouragement, the brigades on the confederate left either stand their ground or melt backwards into the safety of the tree's. On the right Polk's reinforcements cross the river and form up in assault column. 



Union Turn 2: On the far right Harker's brigade leaves behind its attached battery to march by the flank and close the gap in the frontline. Scribner's Brigade pass back through their newly formed supporting line of shaky and spent men, determined to restock on ammunition before the rebels can launch their main assault. 

Confederate Turn 3: On the right the columns shake out into supported line and pass through the Cowan farm, ready to launch their attack. 

On the left Hardee loses patience, unsheathes his sword, and gallantly takes command of a brigade to lead them in a headlong charge. The stunned Yankee's are sent tumbling back, but both sides are horribly bloodied.

Union Turn 3: Scribner's brigade return to support the centre, whilst both flanks are also reinforced by more patchwork brigades of shaky and demoralised men. On the far right a cheer goes up from the federal line. The distinctive figure of  Hardee, the rebel general, tumbles from his horse felled by a sniper. 

Confederate Turn 4: The rebel yell goes up once more. In the centre Stewarts brigade hurl themselves out of the treeline, but are cut to pieces under Rosecrans watchful eye. On the right one brigade of the fresh confederate reinforcements run headlong into the round forest, leaving their supporting brigade behind. Thousands of rifles and two battery's of guns prepare to greet them, but just as the order to fire is given the charging rebels dip into a fold in the ground and the cannonade passes straight over their heads! The stunned federals are utterly smashed, and the butternut line surges over them and into the flank of the neighbouring brigade, pushing the union clean out of the round forest, overrunning several battery's, and opening a massive hole in their line!* 





Union Turn 4: On the far union left a brigade launches a desperate counterattack, but exposes itself to murderous enfilade fire from the confederate breastworks across the river and is easily routed. 

On the right the Union pull back into the tree's. In the centre Rosecrans cobbles together a corner of his line to face the new threat from the round forest, whilst the rest of the Union forces are rallied together on the edge of the board.

Confederate Turn 5: For once Polk manages to lead his men in a co-ordinated assault and four brigades renew the attack. The hastily formed union line gives a ragged and ill timed volley that does nothing to slow the rebels, and once again they sweep all before them.



The union are pushed beyond the railroad tracks with screaming confederates hot on their heels. 





Union Turn 5: On the right Beatty's brigade launch a gallant counterattack out of the tree's, but the rebel momentum is relentless and the yankee's are soon sent running back for cover. 



Rosecrans races around from company to company, man to man. But he can impose no order on the panicked mob and is swept up in the rout, leaving the field. By 3pm the army of the Cumberland has been completely destroyed. The scattered survivors are hunted down and rounded up by rebel cavalry as they stream back through Tennessee and Kentucky. In a shocking reversal of the historical outcome, Confederates win!





*This is why we like fire and fury. The union threw three 1-2's in a row and the confederates two 9-10's, leading to one isolated attacking brigade routing the best part of a division!