Tactics at Chattanooga
Scenario #4: November 24th, 1863
By Doug McNair
June 2006

After two War of the States “First Day” battle scenarios, the Union and the Confederacy are tied at one victory apiece. General Lee had a smashing victory for Dixie on the first day at Gettysburg, and General Rosecrans repelled General Bragg’s assault on the northern Union flank at Chickamauga Creek to continue his advance on Atlanta. Today it’s time to break the tie, pitting Bragg versus General Grant on the first day of battle at Chattanooga.

Braxton Bragg had been besieging the Union supply center of Chattanooga for many months. By November he had little to show for it, so he started sending units on missions elsewhere. By November 23rd his siege lines were becoming thin, and Ulysses Grant in Chattanooga decided to find out just how weak Bragg had become. He sent General “Pap” Thomas out to capture a key Confederate position, and Thomas’ success prompted Bragg to recall troops to Chattanooga. The result was a major battle on November 24th and 25th.

Tactical Situation

At the start of the November 24th scenario, Grant and ten divisions are neatly lined up south and east of Chattanooga, facing the Confederate siege lines on Missionary Ridge. In addition, Grant has sent five divisions of XIV and XV Corps under General William Tecumseh Sherman north from Chattanooga and across the Tennessee River. Once across, they moved east to the river crossing north of Missionary Ridge, and are set to cross the river again so they can head south and hit the north flank of the Confederate ridge line. Three more divisions under General Hooker have just entered the northwest corner of the board. There are no Federal reinforcements during the game.

The Confederate siege lines south of Chattanooga are dangerously thin, with only three widely-dispersed divisions to the southwest (blocking the Union supply road on Lookout Mountain), and a mere six divisions in a southward-sagging line whose west end is anchored on Chattanooga Creek south of town, and which runs northeast up Missionary Ridge. One more full-strength division has just entered the east edge of the board, and one more will arrive at noon as a reinforcement.

Objectives

The Union player must break the siege by clearing the Confederates off the Lookout Mountain supply road and out of all other areas west of Chattanooga Creek. They win a Decisive Victory if they can inflict 25 step losses on the Confederates while not taking more than 20 themselves, and also have at least three “long” infantry division counters on, behind or flanking Missionary Ridge by game’s end. They win a Minor Victory if they do all of the above except having three long infantry divisions at or beyond Missionary Ridge.

The Confederate objective is to do as much damage to the Federals as possible while maintaining the siege. They win a Decisive Victory if they inflict 20 step losses on the Union, keep the Yanks off Missionary Ridge, and keep at least one “long” infantry unit west of Chattanooga Creek. They win a Minor Victory if they simply have one long infantry division west of Chattanooga Creek at game’s end OR there are no Union long infantry divisions on or east of Missionary Ridge at game’s end. Confederate losses are irrelevant.

Union Tactics

The Union player has a huge advantage in numbers and firepower. His artillery superiority is particularly great, and Grant’s Initiative of 5 outclasses Bragg’s Initiative of 3. Just as in the First Day at Chickamauga, this initiative superiority on the part of the Union commanding general will be particularly telling, and will allow Grant to activate far more formations than Bragg each turn. But the Union player is also the only one who must be careful not to lose too many step losses in battle. The Confederates can fight to the last division and win as long as that division is west of Chattanooga Creek, or as long as no Union divisions are at or east of Missionary Ridge.

The Union player should use his advantages in artillery and initiative to fight a careful battle at start, focusing on combined-arms operations. The good people of Chattanooga have cleared the forests from the ground south of town, and this allows the Union artillery to pound the Confederate lines from a distance with only weak Confederate artillery replying.

The Federals should set up a bombardment of the Confederate lines right away while sending Sherman’s five divisions across the river and south to Missionary Ridge. Sherman’s own initiative is 4, so even if the Confederates can cut him off from Grant’s command radius as he’s moving south from the river crossing, Sherman has a good shot at keeping his divisions in command by himself. Under these conditions the Rebels will be very hard-pressed to keep Sherman from outflanking the Missionary Ridge line with the three divisions the Federals need for a Major Victory.

On the other hand, the ground west of Chattanooga Creek becomes more rugged and heavily forested the farther west you go. This makes it tougher for the Union player to use his artillery advantage against the three Confederate divisions which start there, and any others which cross the creek from the east. But only the easternmost Confederate division on the west side of the creek is within the command radius of the westernmost Confederate general (Breckenridge). The other two divisions guarding Lookout Mountain near the west board edge are all by themselves with no leader. This means they’ll be Out of Command, slowed, and unable to advance adjacent to Federal units.

The Union player should take advantage of this by moving southwest quickly with General Palmer’s three divisions of XIV Corps, driving a wedge between Breckenridge and his the three divisions west of the creek. If the Union player can do this, Hooker’s three divisions can move in from the northwest, and Hooker and Palmer can grind the Rebels into a fine grey powder between them.

Confederate Tactics

The #1 priority of the Rebels must be to extend their line west and hold both banks of Chattanooga Creek where the bridge crosses it. The Confederates can win a Minor Victory just by having one long infantry division west of the creek at the end of the game. They’ve got to hold both ends of the bridge so they can immediately send lots of divisions across the creek and into the woods and hills westward if Sherman crushes their north flank on Missionary Ridge.

On the other hand, they should fight hard to hold Missionary Ridge as long as possible, forcing the Yanks to take lots of step losses for every ridge area taken. If the Rebels get lucky and repulse Sherman’s flank attack, they should pull their units back from the bridge and hold the ridge at all costs, going for the Major Victory. But if not, the Rebels should always be ready to abandon the ridge and hightail it west for Lookout Mountain.

Game Summary

Here’s what happened in a recent game:

Turn 1 — 0800 Hours

Grant wins initiative and rolls a one for activation, which is four less than his initiative. That means he can activate four formations.

He starts by activating General Granger of IV Corps, which (along with some reserve artillery stationed with it) has 12 dice of artillery strength. Nine of those dice have the range to fire on Missionary Ridge, so they do. The reserve artillery bombards 2/a Division of General Hardee’s Second Corps at the north end of the Confederate line, doing one step loss. 2/b Division in the next area to the south also takes one step loss, and then the Union IV Corps advances one area southwest toward the ridge (bringing along the artillery unit that didn’t have the range).

Sherman activates and sends 2/a Division of XIV Corps across the bridge to the east bank of the Tennessee north of Missionary Ridge. He also sends 2/b Division across to the east bank using the River Movement rule (which lets up to twelve strength points per day move down or across the river using boats). The rest of Sherman’s divisions move east behind him on the road west of the river, while their divisional artillery charge ahead using road movement to take up flanking positions north of Missionary Ridge.

Palmer then activates and has his 1st Division artillery bombard the Confederate 1/b Division of 2nd Corps, which is west of Chattanooga Creek and south of the west bend of the creek. The bombardment inflicts one step loss, and then 1st Division moves two zones south, using the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Bridge to cross the west bend of the creek and hit the Confederates. Palmer rides ahead to join 1st Division in the assault, and the other two divisions of XIV Corps move in behind him across the creek to the north.

The attack is 10 dice to seven and scores two hits, but the Confederates score three hits in return! Palmer’s 1st Division takes two step losses and retreats northeast to where the creek bends west, leaving their backs to the creek and the road north to the railroad bridge empty. The Confederate 1/b Division takes one step loss and rolls less than its morale to retreat south one area, as does its artillery.

Finally, Hooker activates his three motley, just-entered divisions from XX, IV and XV Corps and has them head south across Lookout Creek double-time on the road, making contact with 1/a Division of II Corps but exposing themselves to a flank attack. They choose not to attack for this reason. Hooker’s other XX Corps units, far to the east, are out of his command range but move one zone east toward the Confederate ridge line.

Then Confederate Army Commander Bragg rolls a 6, which is more than his Initiative so he can’t activate anyone. Grant rolls a 5 and can activate one formation, so he activates General Brannan who takes two reserve artillery units across the railroad bridge south of the creek. They move right up adjacent to the retreating 1/b Division, hoping to activate first next turn and blast them.

Bragg again rolls a 6 and fails to activate anyone, and then Grant rolls a 4 and sends Long’s cavalry south across the railroad bridge while sending the detachment infantry and more reserve artillery south from Chattanooga to screen his southern approaches.

Bragg finally rolls a 2 and is able to activate one formation. He activates Breckenridge, who pulls in the beleaguered 1/b Division of 2nd Corps to guard the west end of the Chattanooga Creek bridge. Then Confederate artillery on the ridge scores one step loss on a Union IV Corps Division moving south toward Bragg’s position, and II Corps’ 3rd Division moves south on the ridge to cover Bragg. Both halves of Breckenridge’s 2nd Division move one zone north to block Union movements south toward the east end of the bridge, and the just-entered 1st Division of III Corps crosses Chickamauga Creek from the east.

Grant is done activating, and Bragg rolls another 2 and can activate one formation. Wheeler’s cavalry ride north to cover the north flank of the Confederate line on Missionary Ridge. Wheeler sends one brigade of cavalry north beyond the ridgeline to hit Sherman’s advance artillery deploying to bombard the ridge.

Both sides hit on a 5 or a 6 (defending artillery and units attacking artillery alone), and each side scores one hit. The cavalry successfully retreat up the hill to avoid the loss, and the artillery take one step loss rather than risking destruction by trying to retreat and failing to roll their morale or less.

Bragg rolls over his Initiative again and fails to activate, and the turn ends. Both sides have taken four step losses.

0900

Bragg wins initiative and rolls a 1 for activation, meaning he can activate two Confederate formations. Bragg activates Breckenridge, and the artillery he sent up onto the ridge score one more step loss on 2/b Division of IV Corps across from Bragg.

Then two of Breckenridge’s divisions head north on the east and west banks of Chattanooga Creek to screen Palmer and hit his 3rd/a Division north of the creek. The attack of Breckenridge’s 2/a Division on Palmer’s 3/a Division scores four hits on eight dice, while Palmer’s division scores no hits! Palmer’s division rolls against its morale of 4 to try and retreat to avoid two step losses, but rolls a 6 and fails, taking all four step losses and shrinking to a small piece! Breckenridge’s 2/a Division would love to advance north but would expose its flanks if it did so, so it stays put.

Then Hardee activates, and brings in 1st Division of 3rd Corps to fill the gap on the ridge. His artillery bombardment is ineffective, while his far-off units at Lookout Mountain fade back to avoid being outflanked by Hooker.

Grant rolls a 1 and can activate four formations. Hooker activates and hits Breckenridge’s out-of-command 1/a Division at Lookout Mountain. The attack is at 15 dice to 12 but does only one hit while the Confederates do two. The Rebels take one step loss and stand their ground on the mountain, while Hooker’s division takes one step loss and retreats north.

Then Palmer activates the reserve artillery, which Brannan brought south across the creek bend to support Palmer. It blasts 1/b Division of Breckenridge’s Confederate II Corps guarding the west bank of Chattanooga Creek. It does one step loss, and the other reserve artillery at the Union center does no damage to Breckenridge’s victorious 2/a Division that decimated Palmer’s 3/a Division.

Palmer then brings his 3/b Division across the railroad bridge to join him and his 1st Division south of the creek, and they attack the Confederate 2nd Corps 1/b Division. The attack is at 15 dice to four but only scores one hit to none, and the Confederates take one step loss and stand their ground to protect the bridge behind them.

Then Granger activates and bombards the ridge with IV Corps’ artillery, which score no hits! Sherman’s artillery open fire on Wheeler’s position at the north end of the ridge, once again scoring no hits. His divisions advance behind him.

Bragg rolls a 6 and can activate nobody, and then Grant rolls a 5 and can activate one formation. He activates Long’s cavalry, who charge the flank of the Confederate 1/a Division of II Corps holding-back Hood’s attack on Lookout Mountain. They do no damage and are repelled.

Bragg rolls a 2 and can activate one formation. He activates Wheeler, whose horse artillery hit Sherman’s 2/b Division of XIV Corps for one step loss. Then Wheeler and the cavalry ride down off the ridge again to attack Sherman’s advance artillery (now guarding Sherman’s north flank). The attack does two hits to none, and the retreat rolls over the morale of one of the artillery units. The cavalry attack inflicts two step losses on the artillery, with Wilder sending one cavalry brigade ahead to gain Sherman’s north flank.

Both sides have activated everyone so the turn ends. The Union has now taken 12 step losses while the Confederates have taken eight.

1000

Grant wins initiative and rolls a 1 to activate four formations. Hooker’s artillery does one step loss to the Confederate 1/a Division of 2nd Corps, and then two of Hooker’s divisions attack and do three hits to none. The Confederates on Lookout Mountain stand and take all three step losses, applying two to an artillery unit (it’s the long counters west of the Chattanooga that matter).

Then Palmer activates, with his reserve artillery destroying one step of Confederate artillery to the south, and his XIV Corps artillery doing no damage to Breckenridge’s division on the west bank of the Chattanooga. Palmer’s attack at 15 dice to three does no hits but takes one from the plucky Confederates, and Palmer has to retreat north to avoid a step loss.

Grant activates the detachment infantry, sending them south to hit Breckenridge’s relatively weak 2/b Division of V Corps. The attack of five dice to seven does one hit per side, and the detachment infantry retreats north while Breckenridge retreats south.

Then Sherman activates, doing one step loss to Wheeler’s cavalry with artillery fire from his own XV Corps. Then he shifts his ability to command up to two units outside his own corps from XIV Corps to Hooker’s XX Corps units just to the south of him. He commands their artillery to fire on the ridge south of Wheeler, and they do two step losses to Hardee’s 2/b Division of II Corps, and kill Hardee!

Hardee’s second in command, the young Irishman Patrick Cleburne, is promoted to brigadier, and all of a sudden the command radius for the II Corps’ General shrinks from 4 to 1.

Sherman rides forward with 2nd Division of XX Corps to hit Wheeler’s horse artillery on the north end of the ridge. Wheeler’s horse artillery takes one step loss and is wiped out, and 2nd Division takes one step loss and advances up onto the ridge, exposing its rear to Wheeler but not caring now that it has II Corps’ flank and Hardee is dead.

Bragg rolls a 5 and can activate nobody, and then Grant rolls a 1 and Granger activates. IV Corps artillery does one step loss to one of Breckinridge’s divisions on the ridge, and then IV Corps advances with 2/a Division and Granger assaulting Hardee’s former position. The attack does two hits to one, and Granger’s division takes 1 step loss while Hardee’s former division takes two and shrinks to a small counter.

Bragg rolls a 3 and can activate one formation. Wheeler puts himself in command (he’s outside Bragg’s command radius) and hits Sherman in the rear up on the north end of the ridge. Neither attack does any damage!

Grant has activated everyone, and Bragg rolls a 4 and fails to activate, so the turn ends. The Union has now taken 14 step losses and the Confederacy has taken 19 (a very bad hour for the Men in Grey).

1100

Grant wins initiative and can activate one formation. Granger activates and directs a massive bombardment of the ridge. The Confederate 2/a Division takes two step losses, and Hardee’s old division takes one. Then Granger and 2/a Division wipe out Hardee’s outfit and take the ridge, leaving another Confederate 2nd Corps division outflanked and isolated on the ridge between Granger and Sherman. Bragg rolls a 4 and can’t activate anyone, and then Grant rolls a 6, and the turn is over. The Union has still taken only 14 step losses while the Rebels have taken 21.

1200

Grant wins initiative and can activate two formations. Palmer’s artillery wipes out the last step of 1/b Division of 2nd Corps, eliminating the last guards of the west bank of the creek bridge. Palmer’s divisions double-time it south on the road and east across the creek bridge, and now they hold both ends of the bridge and have gained Breckenridge’s flank and rear.

It’s all over. Brannan’s artillery can start hitting the leaderless Confederates on Lookout Mountain while Hooker chews them up from the north. Hardee is dead and the Missionary Ridge line is broken, and Breckenridge is outflanked. The Confederate route west across the creek is in Union hands, and Union artillery can spend the afternoon pounding the Rebels on the ridge until they break and run.

The Union has taken well less than 20 step losses and they’ll have no trouble doing 25 to the Confederates with artillery alone. Sherman and Granger’s corps will certainly get more than three divisions onto Missionary Ridge, and the two Rebel divisions west of Chattanooga Creek will be ground up by Brannan, Hooker and Palmer’s artillery. The Rebels must withdraw from Chattanooga, and the Union wins a decisive victory.

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