Battle of Twin Ponds

Florida 1864 Campaign

The Inspiration

You can skip this section if you don't want a rambling discourse on how I decided to do a Civil War battle.

Anyway, I don't play many American Civil War battles these days. Back in the '90s I was big on ACW. I was a Civil War reenactor and I concentrated on the Civil War for my history master's degree. However, I got quite burnt out and basically stay away from the period in my current gaming.

As I played a WW2 battle for Memorial Day I kept thinking that I should have done an American Civil War battle. After all, Memorial Day evolved out of post-Civil War commemorations. So I decided to rectify the oversight with a Civil War scenario.

Back in my reenactor days, I often participated at the Battle of Olustee reenactment. It was the largest battle in my home state of Florida. As such, it has some sentimental value to me. Therefore, my initial inclination was to play an Olustee scenario. But I didn't want to fiddle around with creating a historically accurate order of battle. I decided to do a somewhat fictional battle. Then I thought, why not a campaign?

So there you have it - the inspiration behind this new campaign.

The Campaign

I am loosely basing this off the Union invasion of Florida in 1864. A force under Brigadier General Truman Seymour pushes into the interior from occupied Jacksonville.

Set Up

Seymour marches west from Jacksonville. At an isolated corner of the Florida wilderness, he encounters a Confederate force under Brigadier General Joseph Finegan.

Seymour approaches from the east (bottom) with 4 regiments in 2 brigades. 

Note: I determined the army structures randomly.

• Barton's Brigade (left) - 48th NY and 115th NY (my reenactment regiment)
• Montgomery's Brigade - 35th US Colored and 54th Massachusetts.

Note: I do not have enough infantry counters for either side so I pressed some light infantry into service. I decided they would be either inferior or superior troops. Rolling randomly, they both came up as superior. For the Union, I gave that designation to the 54th.

Finegan has 3 regiments of regular infantry, a regiment of superior infantry, and a regiment of cavalry.

Note: As I am playing the Union, I did not bother to name the Confederate regiments. As far as I'm concerned they are nameless masses of the enemy. The yellow markers designate the superior units.

Here are the initial dispositions.

The Battle

Finegan sends a unit into some woods (right). Montgomery sends in the 54th, but they are repulsed. Meanwhile, there is a clash in the center with grievous casualties on both sides. 

Note: I removed the yellow markers. I can differentiate superior units because I'm using open order infantry for them.

The 48th NY (center) routs.

The 35th US swings left to help the 115th NY in the center. Once again, the 54th face the Confederates in the woods.

The 115th and 54th rout. The 35th US stands alone, so Seymour calls for a retreat.

Aftermath

Barely out of Jacksonville and Seymour already has to retreat. But he will not give up so easily. He reorganizes his forces for another push.

Nevertheless, the Confederates start with an early advantage in the campaign (the Union is 0-1). Seymour will need better fortune to win the campaign.