Vedette · Signal Officer · Historical Battle

Gettysburg

1 July 1863

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania · The American Civil War · 3 engagements · first light 04:02, last light 20:05

Distances are in inches, for 28 mm figures. With 15 mm figures read the same numbers as centimetres — choose yours with Figures at the top.

The Union — The Army of the Potomac
Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds — Commanding the army's left wing, three corps, from the front; Meade was not on the field.
Hold the ridges west of Gettysburg until the rest of the army comes up.

The Confederacy — The Army of Northern Virginia
Maj. Gen. Henry Heth — Sent with his division to feel the enemy and find out what was at Gettysburg; Lee and Hill were behind him.
Find out what is in Gettysburg, and drive it off the ridges if it can be done.

The Situation

The Seminary cupola, half past nine. Infantry on the Cashtown pike, two brigades, coming down off Herr Ridge and deploying either side of the road; their guns are in action by the tavern. Our troopers are on foot along McPherson's Ridge from the railroad to the woods, as they have been since eight. The head of Wadsworth's division is coming across the fields from the Emmitsburg road.

The roads met at Gettysburg, and that is why two armies met there. Lee's army had come north into Pennsylvania, and at the end of June he ordered his corps to concentrate east of the mountains near Cashtown, on the road to Gettysburg. Meade's army was coming up from Maryland. Buford's cavalry division reached Gettysburg on 30 June, and that day a brigade of Heth's division, come from Cashtown to search the town for supplies, shoes especially, found his troopers there and went back.

On the morning of the first, Heth came back with his whole division, Pegram's guns at the head of the column, "to feel the enemy". He did not know what force was at Gettysburg; his corps commander meant only to "discover what was in my front". Buford had chosen to fight on foot on the ridges west of the town and make the Confederates deploy at every one of them, to buy time for the infantry. Reynolds, commanding the left of Meade's army, had his orders to come to Gettysburg at four in the morning, and he rode ahead of his leading division to find Buford.

The first shots were fired three miles out on the pike at half past seven. By nine Heth had two brigades in line on Herr Ridge, Archer's south of the pike and Davis's north of it, and sent them forward.

Deploying. Use your own rules if you prefer. Ours: the side that deploys first (see Deploying in each game) sets up anywhere in its own zones; the other side then sets up at least 12 inches from any enemy unit already placed, and where its zone runs closer, the zone gives way. Arrivals enter at their marked edge on their turn, whatever the distance.

How to play — the chain. Each engagement below is a complete scenario — its own table, its own map, its own victory conditions. Pick one, or fight them in order.

Table size. The forces are written at two sizes: a 14 ft list — close to the whole force actually engaged — and a 12 ft list, which is the same order of battle with the outer formations left off. Ten- and eight-foot tables play the 12 ft list cut down, and each engagement says by how much. This sheet is the 12 ft list.

The Whole Battle

the operational picture — you don’t need it to play

Gettysburg, 1 July 1863 — about 5 km of country across. The three actions are boxed on it; each has its own table map below, and you do not need this one to play.

How this war was fought

the same on every sheet

Playing this with your rules. Each turn covers about ten minutes of the day; that is a guide to the clock, not a rule. An inch is fifteen yards. In fifteen-millimetre figures read the same numbers as centimetres, fifteen yards a centimetre. The table shown is 2,160 by 1,080 yards. Regimental rules for this war are written for about this ground: play their moves and ranges as printed. If your rules state a different ground scale, multiply every distance on this sheet by fifteen and divide by your yards to the inch. The units, zones, turns and objectives do not change.

The Engagements

pick one or play the chain

Organisation. How each army in this engagement divides — corps, divisions, brigades, battalions, and where the guns sit.
The Union — the Army of the Potomac. A corps of three divisions, each of two or three brigades of four to six regiments; the batteries are taken from the divisions and held in a corps artillery brigade under its own colonel. The cavalry is a corps of its own: Buford's division is three brigades of three to four regiments, with a regular horse battery attached.
The Confederacy — the Army of Northern Virginia. A corps of three divisions of four brigades, each of three to five regiments; the batteries are grouped in battalions of four or five, one to a division and two more in the corps reserve. Pegram's battalion led Heth's column.

E1Willoughby Run and the Railroad Cut09:30–11:40 · 13 turns of 10 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft15 yards to the inch

The Union defending · The Confederacy attacking

Show the suggested start on the map (the blocks, their names and the units key)

The Union — Buford's troopers have held this ridge on foot since eight and cannot hold it much longer against infantry. Reynolds has ridden ahead of Wadsworth's division, which is coming across the fields from the Emmitsburg road at the double: Cutler's brigade first, then the Iron Brigade. Put each regiment in as it comes, keep the Confederates off McPherson's Ridge, and if you can, put them back over the run.

The Confederacy — Two brigades and Pegram's guns, sent down the pike to feel what is in Gettysburg. On the ridge in front of you is cavalry fighting on foot, and you outnumber it two to one. Get onto the ridge before whatever is behind it arrives. Your orders are to find out what is there, and nothing more is coming this morning: whatever you take, you take with these.

Arrivals

B Turn 2 · Cutler's brigade: 76th New York, 56th Pennsylvania, 147th New York, 84th New York, 95th New York · marches on at the table edge in zone B
B Turn 4 · 2nd Maine Battery (Hall) · marches on at the table edge in zone B
C Turn 4 · The Iron Brigade: 2nd Wisconsin, 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan, 6th Wisconsin · marches on at the table edge in zone C

Your 12 ft table: The Union 10 battalions, 3 cavalry, 2 batteries · The Confederacy 8 battalions, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

Every formation here is led by the man who led it, at the level he held. 12 of them are graded from the histories of this battle; the rest from the record, or by default, as each card says. Use the note where there is one, and your own judgement where the card says the grade is a default.

What a span of command means. Each card says how many formations a man has under him. His orders reach some of them each hour, not all: the more he holds, the less of it he moves at once, and what he does not reach that hour stands where it is.

Each commander is rated on five levels, best to worst — Decisive · Capable · Workmanlike · Laboured · Adrift. The rating says how much of his command he can get fresh orders to in an hour's fighting; whatever he does not reach carries on with its last orders. A grade from the sources rests on what the histories of this battle say of the man; one from the record on what he did here and on other fields, with the fact it rests on printed beside it; one by default is the middle of the scale, given because nothing consulted marks him out either way. The shape of his command — how many formations his orders must reach — is printed separately and is not his grade. If your rules grade generals, Workmanlike is the middle of that scale.

The Union

Maj. Gen. George G. Meade — The Army of the Potomac The Union

Capable from the sources

A regular engineer, wounded at Glendale on the Peninsula; at Fredericksburg his division made the one break in Jackson's line, and he led the V Corps at Chancellorsville. He has commanded the army for four days, and is not on this field.

2 divisions (2 brigades) — a small command — only 2 formations, few enough that his orders reach all of them. By that shape alone, he can turn most of his command within the hour, and all of it within two. What he does not reach holds what it has and conforms to what is happening beside it — it does not blunder forward and it does not sit under fire doing nothing.

Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds Wing

Decisive from the sources

West Point 1841; his guns held the left at Buena Vista; his brigade held at Beaver Dam Creek, and at Second Manassas his division made the last stand on Henry House Hill. Every time he has had to put troops into a crisis at speed, he has done it and held. Commanding the I Corps since September 1862, and this morning three corps.

Brig. Gen. John Buford Division

Decisive from the sources

A career dragoon: the Sioux, Kansas and the Utah War before the war. He led a brigade in a charge at Second Manassas, where he was wounded, and this division in the war's largest cavalry fight at Brandy Station a month ago. He chose this ridge to fight on.

Col. William Gamble Brigade

Capable from the sources

A dragoon in the British army, then sergeant major of the US 1st Dragoons; shot through the chest leading a charge near Malvern Hill. He came back from that wound only on 13 June, and has led the brigade in action for less than three weeks.

Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth Division

Workmanlike from the sources

A rich landowner and politician with no military training. His only battle in command was Chancellorsville, where his crossing of the Rappahannock went slowly and the division was hardly engaged. Willing, brave, and new to this.

Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler Brigade

Capable from the sources

Colonel of the 6th Wisconsin at fifty-four, shot through the thigh at Brawner's Farm; at Fredericksburg Doubleday gave him the Iron Brigade in place of its slow commander. A fighter, new to a brigade of his own.

Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith Brigade

Laboured from the sources

A politician who raised the 19th Indiana with no military experience and got his star through Hooker. The first time he led this brigade in battle, at Fredericksburg, Doubleday took it from him for slowness. The brigade's quality is its regiments'.

The Confederacy

Gen. Robert E. Lee — The Army of Northern Virginia The Confederacy

Decisive from the sources

The Seven Days, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville: a year of beating larger armies by moving faster than they did. He reached Herr Ridge in the early afternoon; the morning is Heth's.

1 division (1 brigade) — a small command — only one formation, which his orders always reach. By that shape alone, he can turn most of his command within the hour, and all of it within two. What he does not reach holds what it has and conforms to what is happening beside it — it does not blunder forward and it does not sit under fire doing nothing.

Maj. Gen. Henry Heth Division

Workmanlike from the sources

West Point 1847, last in his class. He held off Cox at Giles Court House and was beaten at Lewisburg; at Chancellorsville, his one battle with this army, he attacked before his supports were up. Brave and willing, and a division commander for five weeks.

Brig. Gen. James J. Archer Brigade

Capable from the sources

Brevetted for Chapultepec; a year commanding this brigade through every battle of the Light Division, from the Seven Days to Chancellorsville. He is ill, and has been all summer.

Brig. Gen. Joseph R. Davis Brigade

Laboured from the sources

A lawyer and state senator with no military training, the President's nephew and for a year his aide; the Senate first rejected his promotion. Two of his three regiments have never been in a battle, and neither has he.

Maj. William R. J. Pegram Battalion

Decisive from the sources

A law student who joined the Purcell Battery as a lieutenant in 1861; at Mechanicsville it fought six Union batteries and lost 47 of 90 men while he sat his horse among the guns. Commanding the battalion since March, at the head of Heth's column.

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is in this engagement. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

The Union10 battalions · 3 cavalry · 2 batteries

Wadsworth's 1st Division

Cutler's brigadeBrig. Gen. Lysander Cutler arrives turn 2

76th New York — 1 bn · Veteran StandardNorth of the railroad, on the right of the brigade's line. Its monument gives 348 engaged; it brought 375 to the field.
56th Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Veteran StandardNine companies. North of the railroad, between the 76th and the 147th.
147th New York — 1 bn · Recruit StandardOn the brigade's left next to the railroad, behind the McPherson barn at first. When the rest of the brigade fell back the order never reached it, and it stayed where it was.
84th New York (14th Brooklyn) — 1 bn · Veteran StandardLast in Cutler's column. It went in south of the pike with the 95th, then turned north with the 6th Wisconsin to the cut.
95th New York — 1 bn · Veteran StandardSouth of the pike with the 84th, by Hall's guns.

The Iron BrigadeBrig. Gen. Solomon Meredith arrives turn 3

2nd Wisconsin — 1 bn · Elite StandardFirst into the woods, at half past ten, over the crest and down at Archer's men. Reynolds fell at the north-east corner of the woods behind it.
7th Wisconsin — 1 bn · Elite StandardInto the woods on the 2nd's left.
19th Indiana — 1 bn · Elite StandardOn the far left: the regiment that came round Archer's right.
24th Michigan — 1 bn · Line LargeThe largest regiment on the field, 28 officers and 468 men.
6th Wisconsin — 1 bn · Elite StandardHeld back as the brigade's reserve. About eleven it was sent north across the pike to the cut, and the 84th and 95th New York came up on its left.

Buford's 1st Cavalry Division

Gamble's brigadeCol. William Gamble

8th Illinois Cavalry — Veteran StandardOn foot on the ridge south of the pike since eight o'clock. One of its lieutenants, Marcellus Jones, fired the shot usually called the first of the battle, at half past seven, three miles out on the pike.
12th Illinois and 3rd Indiana Cavalry — Veteran LargeFour companies of the 12th and six of the 3rd, fighting together under Chapman as they did all day.
8th New York Cavalry — Veteran LargeOn foot on the left of the brigade, towards the south end of the woods.

Artillery

Battery A, 2nd US Artillery — six 3-inch Ordnance rifles · Veteran StandardTwo sections astride the pike by the McPherson farm, the third, under Pergel, south of the woods with the troopers. Hall's battery relieved it about ten.

Wainwright's I Corps artillery brigade arrives turn 3

Artillery

2nd Maine Battery — six 3-inch Ordnance rifles · Veteran StandardHall's own report puts it on the right of the pike as it faced the enemy, north of the road, where it relieved Calef about ten o'clock.

The Confederacy8 battalions · 2 batteries

Heth's Division

Archer's brigadeBrig. Gen. James J. Archer

5th Alabama Battalion — 1 bn · Veteran SmallOut in front as the brigade's skirmishers.
13th Alabama — 1 bn · Veteran StandardOn the right of the brigade, the flank the 19th Indiana came round.
1st Tennessee (Provisional Army) — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
7th Tennessee — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
14th Tennessee — 1 bn · Veteran StandardCommanded by a captain.

Davis's brigadeBrig. Gen. Joseph R. Davis

2nd Mississippi — 1 bn · Veteran LargeIn the centre of the brigade. Its major, John Blair, surrendered to Dawes in the cut.
42nd Mississippi — 1 bn · Recruit LargeOn the right of the brigade, its right on the pike.
55th North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit LargeOn the left of the brigade.

Pegram's battalion, Third Corps artillery

Artillery

Fredericksburg Artillery — two Napoleons and two rifled guns · Veteran Small'Marye's battery', in Heth's words, opened the battle: its first shot was fired from the ridge west of Herr's Tavern, south of the pike. Its rifles are given as 3-inch guns in one list and as 10-pounder Parrotts in another.
Crenshaw Battery — two Napoleons and two 12-pounder howitzers · Veteran SmallIts two Napoleons are recorded in action in the morning; the battalion's other batteries came into line on Herr Ridge as the day went on.

Ranks: Maj Major · Col Colonel.

Odds: The Union 10 infantry regiments, 3 cavalry regiments and 12 guns, about 5,450 men; the Confederacy 8 infantry regiments and battalions and 8 guns, about 2,900 men. At the start the Confederates outnumber the troopers on the ridge nearly two to one; by turn 4 they are outnumbered nearly two to one themselves.

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Setting up. The Union sets up first, then the Confederacy (or as your rules direct). Set up anywhere inside your own zones.

What the map can't show. Gamble's troopers fight on foot: every fourth man holds the horses behind the crest.

Victory

Union DecisiveAt the end of turn 13 every unbroken Confederate infantry unit is back over Willoughby Run, on the Herr Ridge side, and three or more Confederate infantry units are broken.
Confederate DecisiveAt the end of turn 13 an unbroken Confederate infantry unit holds the McPherson farm, or unbroken Confederate infantry holds both Herbst Woods and the railroad cut, with no unbroken Union unit in either.
MarginalAny other result.

Special rules

Buford's troopers on foot: Gamble's regiments fight on foot along the ridge with their horses held behind it, every fourth man a horse-holder. They are dismounted cavalry in your rules, armed with single-shot breech-loading carbines, and they may mount and ride as your rules allow.
Willoughby Run: A sluggish stream at the bottom of a gully, its banks choked with willows, brush and briars. It can be crossed anywhere, but nothing comes over it in good order: treat it as your rules treat a minor stream with overgrown banks.
The railroad cut: The unfinished railroad is a graded bed with no rails. Where it runs through the ridge north of the pike it is a cut, shallow at its eastern mouth and deeper further in, with steep sides. Men inside it are hidden and sheltered; in the deep part they cannot fire out of it, and troops across its mouth can fire along it. Use what your rules have for a sunken road.
The pike fences: The Chambersburg Pike has a stout post-and-rail fence on each side. A line crossing the road halts at each: use what your rules give a fence, twice.
Herbst Woods: An open grove of big trees on the slope down to the run, with no undergrowth except along the water. Formed troops pass through it slowly but in order. Under the trees the smoke hangs thick.
Pegram's guns: Pegram's batteries were on Herr Ridge all morning, about 450 yards beyond the edge of the table, and stand at the edge. They fire from there and do not come forward.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

On the day: a decisive Union victory.

Union decisive	Archer is a prisoner and his brigade is back over the run; Davis's is a wreck, more than two hundred of it surrendered in the cut. Reynolds is dead in the woods. By half past eleven the field is quiet, and Heth is on Herr Ridge waiting for Pettigrew and Brockenbrough. Play E2 McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon next.The battle as it was: the morning lost, Heth brought up his two fresh brigades and the attack went in again at two.
Marginal	Heth's two brigades are back on Herr Ridge, bloodied but not broken. The Union holds the ridge it began on; Archer's and Davis's men are fit to go in again with the afternoon's attack. E2 McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon The Confederacy gains one unit of infantry, from turn 10. One more regiment for Davis's brigade, Line, 350 men, additional to the order of battle.Davis's brigade went forward again about three o'clock; less wrecked in the morning, it brings more men.
Confederate decisive	The Confederates have the ridge. Wadsworth's division is back towards the Seminary, and Reynolds's corps will have to fight the afternoon from the second ridge, not the first. E2 McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon The Union deploys eight inches further towards the seminary, or as far as the table edge allows.With McPherson's Ridge lost in the morning the I Corps would have formed its afternoon line nearer the Seminary. E2 McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon The Confederacy's infantry comes on a turn earlier.Pettigrew and Brockenbrough could have been sent in sooner behind a successful morning.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. The morning only, from about half past nine, when Archer and Davis came down off Herr Ridge, to noon. The afternoon fight for the same ridge is the next engagement. 25 units: 18 infantry, 3 cavalry, 4 artillery.

Left off the table

Devin's brigade of Buford's division — North of the railroad towards the Mummasburg road. It handed the ridge to the I Corps infantry when they came up and was sent north to watch the roads by which Ewell was expected.
The 7th Indiana of Cutler's brigade and the 11th Mississippi of Davis's — Both were guarding wagon trains, and neither came up until evening.
Pettigrew's and Brockenbrough's brigades of Heth's division — In reserve behind Herr Ridge all morning. They came forward about noon and crossed the run at two o'clock: that is the next engagement.
The rest of Pegram's battalion, and McIntosh's — On Herr Ridge, beyond the edge of the table; only two batteries are recorded in action in the morning, and they stand for the rest.
Rowley's division and the I Corps batteries — They arrived about half past eleven, when this fight was over.

Where this game departs from the record

Pegram's batteries stand at the table's edge — They fired from Herr Ridge, about 450 yards beyond it. Moving the edge back to the ridge would take the railroad cut off the other side of the table.
The 12th Illinois and the 3rd Indiana are one unit — They fought together under Chapman all day; ten companies between them.
The 6th Wisconsin includes the brigade guard — Dawes took the hundred men of the guard into the charge.

Some units are named in the sources but never counted. Those go on the table at the standard strength for their army in that year — a standard battalion, squadron or battery. So there is nothing on this list you cannot field, and the scenario plays as written. Which strengths come from the sources, and which are the standard, is set out in the notes and sources at the end.

E2McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon13:30–15:40 · 13 turns of 10 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft15 yards to the inch

The Union defending · The Confederacy attacking

Show the suggested start on the map (the blocks, their names and the units key)

The Union — You hold the ridge you won this morning: the Iron Brigade in the woods, Stone's three new Pennsylvania regiments at the farm, Biddle's brigade south of the woods behind the crest. Rebel guns on Oak Hill are firing down your line from the north, and there is a fresh division coming at you from Herr Ridge. Hold the farm and the woods, and make them pay for every yard.

The Confederacy — Two fresh brigades, Pettigrew's big North Carolina regiments and Brockenbrough's Virginians, and what is left of Archer's. Daniel's brigade of Ewell's corps is coming down on the Union right from the north. Take the woods and the farm: Lee is on Herr Ridge watching, and Pender's division is behind you if you need it.

Arrivals

Arrival. A formation marked DICE is not certain to arrive on the turn printed. Before the game begins its owner rolls one die for it and notes the result: on a 1 or 2 it arrives on the turn printed; on a 3 or 4, one turn later; on a 5 or 6, one turn earlier. A formation due on turn 1 cannot come earlier: for it a 5 or 6 means turn 1. One roll, made once, at the start of the game.

J Turn 2, dice · Daniel's brigade: 45th North Carolina, 2nd North Carolina Battalion · marches on at the table edge in zone J
J Turn 5, dice · 32nd North Carolina (Daniel's brigade) · marches on at the table edge in zone J
E Turn 10 · 151st Pennsylvania (Biddle's brigade) · marches on at the table edge in zone E
K Turn 10, dice · Davis's brigade: 42nd Mississippi, 55th North Carolina · marches on at the table edge in zone K

Your 12 ft table: The Union 11 battalions, 1 cavalry, 2 batteries · The Confederacy 15 battalions, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

Every formation here is led by the man who led it, at the level he held. 14 of them are graded from the histories of this battle; the rest from the record, or by default, as each card says. Use the note where there is one, and your own judgement where the card says the grade is a default.

The Union

Maj. Gen. George G. Meade — The Army of the Potomac The Union

Capable from the sources

Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday Corps

Capable from the sources

Second in command at Fort Sumter, where he aimed the first answering shot. At Brawner's Farm he sent two regiments to Gibbon on his own initiative, and he led a division at Second Manassas and in the Cornfield at Antietam. Meade did not rate him; this is his first day commanding a corps in action.

Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth Division

Workmanlike from the sources

A rich landowner and politician with no military training; his only battle in command before today was Chancellorsville, where his division was hardly engaged.

Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Rowley Division

Workmanlike from the sources

A captain in Mexico, then colonel of two Pennsylvania regiments, wounded at Seven Pines; he led a brigade at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He is commanding a division for the first time, and he began the day ill.

Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith Brigade

Laboured from the sources

A politician who raised the 19th Indiana with no military experience; at Fredericksburg, his first battle leading this brigade, Doubleday took it from him for slowness.

Col. Roy Stone Brigade

Capable from the sources

A major of the original Bucktails, who fought with distinction on the Peninsula; he raised the 149th himself and has led this brigade since February. His regiments have never been in a battle; he has.

Col. Chapman Biddle 121st Pennsylvania

Workmanlike from the sources

A Philadelphia lawyer who led the 121st Pennsylvania through Fredericksburg; he took the brigade this morning.

Col. Charles S. Wainwright Artillery

Decisive from the sources

Hooker's division artillery chief at Williamsburg, and the I Corps' at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, where the army's chief of artillery praised him.

Col. William Gamble Brigade

Capable from the sources

A dragoon in the British army, then sergeant major of the US 1st Dragoons; shot through the chest leading a charge near Malvern Hill, and back with the brigade only since 13 June.

The Confederacy

Gen. Robert E. Lee — The Army of Northern Virginia The Confederacy

Decisive from the sources

Maj. Gen. Henry Heth Division

Workmanlike from the sources

West Point 1847; beaten at Lewisburg, and at Chancellorsville he attacked before his supports were up. A division commander for five weeks. Brave, and quick to attack.

Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew Brigade

Workmanlike from the sources

A brilliant scholar who once declined promotion for want of experience. At Seven Pines he was shot, bayoneted and captured; his one attack in command since, at Fort Anderson in March, failed. His brigade has never fought as one.

Col. John M. Brockenbrough Brigade

Laboured from the sources

VMI 1850; he took the brigade when Field was wounded and lost control of it at Fredericksburg, where two of its regiments never reached the fight. Lee would not recommend him, and Heth was given the brigade over his head.

Col. Birkett D. Fry Archer's brigade

Capable from the sources

Colonel of the 13th Alabama, hit at Seven Pines, his arm shattered at Antietam, hit again at Chancellorsville. He has had the brigade since Archer was taken this morning.

Brig. Gen. Joseph R. Davis Brigade

Laboured from the sources

A lawyer and state senator with no military training, the President's nephew; this morning was his first battle, and it ended in the railroad cut.

Brig. Gen. Junius Daniel Brigade

Capable from the sources

West Point 1851 and the regular infantry in New Mexico; he has held this brigade for ten months and made it his own, but it has never been in a battle.

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is in this engagement. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

The Union11 battalions · 1 cavalry · 2 batteries

Wadsworth's 1st Division

The Iron BrigadeBrig. Gen. Solomon Meredith

2nd Wisconsin — 1 bn · Elite StandardIn Herbst Woods since the morning. It is fielded at its morning strength: the day's losses are not split by hour.
7th Wisconsin — 1 bn · Elite StandardIn the woods on the 2nd's left. Robinson took the brigade when Meredith fell.
19th Indiana — 1 bn · Elite StandardOn the left of the brigade, at the southern edge of the woods.
24th Michigan — 1 bn · Line LargeIn the centre of the woods, facing the 26th North Carolina. After the woods about 120 were left.

Rowley's 3rd Division

Stone's brigadeCol. Roy Stone

143rd Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit LargeBy the McPherson farm. Its monument gives 465 present; it brought 515 to the field.
149th Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit StandardOn the pike and north of it, facing Daniel's North Carolinians across the railroad cut.
150th Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit StandardBy the McPherson barn. Wister took the brigade when Stone fell.

Biddle's brigadeCol. Chapman Biddle

80th New York (20th New York State Militia) — 1 bn · Veteran Standard287 engaged, of 375 brought; two of its companies were out at the Harmon farm beyond the run.
121st Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Line StandardOn the extreme left of the infantry.
142nd Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Line StandardBehind the crest some 200 yards to the left rear of the 19th Indiana.
151st Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit LargeThe I Corps reserve at the Seminary, sent in between Biddle and the woods between three and half past.

Buford's 1st Cavalry Division

Gamble's brigadeCol. William Gamble

8th Illinois Cavalry — Veteran StandardMounted on the Fairfield road, about 700 yards south of Biddle, watching the flank.

Wainwright's I Corps artillery brigade

Artillery

Battery B, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery — four 3-inch Ordnance rifles · Veteran SmallIn the centre of Biddle's line. At half past one it changed front to answer the guns on Oak Hill; about three it went back to the Seminary.
Battery L, 1st New York Artillery — four 3-inch Ordnance rifles (Breck's two sections) · Veteran SmallTwo sections south of the woods with Biddle; the battery's third section stood in the orchard by the Seminary. Captain Reynolds was hit in the eye in the retreat.

The Confederacy15 battalions · 2 batteries

Heth's Division

Pettigrew's brigadeBrig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew

11th North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit LargeOn the brigade's right, against Biddle. Civil War in the East gives 617.
26th North Carolina — 1 bn · Line LargeThe largest regiment in either army on this field, against the 24th Michigan in the woods. It lost 549 men or more on this day; by night 212 were left.
47th North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit LargeBetween the 11th and the 52nd, against Biddle's line.
52nd North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit StandardOn the far right of the brigade, through the Harmon farm. Threatened by Gamble's cavalry, it formed square: the only regiment at Gettysburg that did.

Brockenbrough's brigadeCol. John M. Brockenbrough

22nd Virginia Battalion — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
40th Virginia — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
47th Virginia — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
55th Virginia — 1 bn · Veteran Standard

Archer's brigadeCol. Birkett D. Fry

13th Alabama and 5th Alabama Battalion — 1 bn · Veteran StandardWhat was left of the Alabama regiments after the morning, fought together under Fry on Pettigrew's right.
1st, 7th and 14th Tennessee — 1 bn · Veteran LargeThe three Tennessee regiments, fought together after the morning's losses. Facing Gamble's horsemen, Fry turned this flank to the south.

Davis's brigadeBrig. Gen. Joseph R. Davis arrives turn 10

42nd Mississippi — 1 bn · Recruit StandardDavis's brigade went forward again about three o'clock when Rodes came up on its left, and reached the edge of the town.
55th North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit StandardWith the 42nd Mississippi.

Rodes's Division arrives turn 2

Daniel's brigadeBrig. Gen. Junius Daniel

45th North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit LargeWith the 2nd Battalion it drove Stone's men from the cut and was stopped by the cut's steep sides.
2nd North Carolina Battalion — 1 bn · Recruit StandardIt lost 154 of its 240; Andrews was killed.
32nd North Carolina — 1 bn · Recruit LargeSent forward on Daniel's right and across the cut; Stewart's battery at the far end of it fired along it.

Pegram's battalion, Third Corps artillery

Artillery

Fredericksburg Artillery — two Napoleons and two rifled guns · Veteran SmallOn Herr Ridge with the rest of Pegram's and McIntosh's guns, about 450 yards beyond the table's edge.

McIntosh's battalion, Third Corps artillery

Artillery

Danville Artillery — four Napoleons · Veteran SmallMcIntosh put Rice's four Napoleons a little south of the pike, beside Pegram's guns.

Ranks: Maj Major · Col Colonel.

Odds: The Union 11 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment and 8 guns, about 4,950 men; the Confederacy 15 infantry units and 8 guns, about 6,200 men, coming from two sides and not all at once.

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Setting up. The Union sets up first, then the Confederacy (or as your rules direct). Set up anywhere inside your own zones.

Victory

Union DecisiveAt the end of turn 13 unbroken Union infantry holds both the McPherson farm and Herbst Woods, and four or more Confederate infantry units are broken.
Confederate DecisiveAt the end of turn 13 unbroken Confederate infantry holds both the McPherson farm and Herbst Woods, with no unbroken Union unit in either.
MarginalAny other result.

Special rules

Heth's brigades wait for the order: Pettigrew's, Brockenbrough's and Fry's brigades do not move before turn 4.
Guns on Oak Hill: Confederate guns on Oak Hill, a mile to the north and off the table, fire down the length of McPherson's Ridge all afternoon. A Union unit standing in the open on the ridge north of the woods is under that fire as well as whatever is in front of it.
Willoughby Run: A sluggish stream at the bottom of a gully, its banks choked with willows, brush and briars. It can be crossed anywhere, but nothing comes over it in good order: treat it as your rules treat a minor stream with overgrown banks.
The railroad cut: The unfinished railroad is a graded bed with no rails. Where it runs through the ridge north of the pike it is a cut, shallow at its eastern mouth and deeper further in, with steep sides. Men inside it are hidden and sheltered; in the deep part they cannot fire out of it, and troops across its mouth can fire along it. Use what your rules have for a sunken road.
The pike fences: The Chambersburg Pike has a stout post-and-rail fence on each side. A line crossing the road halts at each: use what your rules give a fence, twice.
Herbst Woods: An open grove of big trees on the slope down to the run, with no undergrowth except along the water. Formed troops pass through it slowly but in order. Under the trees the smoke hangs thick.
The guns on Herr Ridge: Pegram's and McIntosh's batteries are on Herr Ridge, about 450 yards beyond the edge of the table, and stand at the edge. They fire from there and do not come forward.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

On the day: a decisive Confederate victory.

Union decisive	Heth's division has broken itself on McPherson's Ridge and the Union still holds it. Pender will have to come through them and attack the ridge itself, not the Seminary behind it. E3 The Seminary The Union deploys eight inches further towards mcpherson's ridge, or as far as the table edge allows.The I Corps would have made its last stand on McPherson's Ridge, with the guns behind it on the Seminary crest.
Marginal	The ridge is split: the Confederates are in part of it and the Union still holds the rest when Pender's brigades come over Willoughby Run. More of the I Corps gets back to the Seminary in order. E3 The Seminary The Union gains one unit of infantry. One more Union infantry unit at the Seminary: Line, 250 men, additional to the order of battle.More of Biddle's and Stone's men reached the Seminary in order than did.
Confederate decisive	The Iron Brigade has been driven out of Herbst Woods and Stone's men off the farm, and what is left of them is going back to the Seminary. Heth's division has done it and has nothing left: the 26th North Carolina has lost more than half its men. Pender's brigades are coming over the run behind them. Play E3 The Seminary next.The battle as it was: Pender passed through Heth's exhausted brigades and attacked the Seminary at four.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. McPherson's Ridge from half past one to a quarter to four. Pender's attack on the Seminary is the next engagement; Oak Ridge to the north is another. 31 units: 26 infantry, 1 cavalry, 4 artillery.

Left off the table

Daniel's 43rd and 53rd North Carolina — Sent against the Union line in the Sheads and Forney fields to the north, with Iverson's and O'Neal's men: the fight for Oak Ridge.
Cutler's brigade and the 6th Wisconsin — Gone north to Oak Ridge by two o'clock.
The rest of Gamble's brigade — On the left of the infantry and towards the Seminary; it is in the next engagement.
Battery L's third section, the 5th Maine and Battery B, 4th US — Back on Seminary Ridge, beyond the table's edge, where the next engagement is fought.
The rest of Pegram's and McIntosh's batteries — On Herr Ridge, beyond the edge; two batteries stand for them.
Carter's guns on Oak Hill — Over a mile to the north. They fired along McPherson's Ridge from the flank all afternoon; the Situation says so.

Where this game departs from the record

Archer's brigade is two units — What was left after the morning fought under Fry as one body facing two ways; the Alabamians and the Tennesseans are fielded apart.
The Union regiments are at their morning strength — Their losses are given for the day, not by the hour; what the morning cost them is in E1's result.
Davis's two regiments are at the usual strength of the date — Their afternoon strength is not recorded.

E3The Seminary15:40–17:10 · 9 turns of 10 minTABLE 12 × 6 ft15 yards to the inch

The Union defending · The Confederacy attacking

Show the suggested start on the map (the blocks, their names and the units key)

The Union — This is the last line: a breastwork of rails in front of the Seminary, what is left of three brigades behind it, and twenty-two guns behind them, wheel to wheel. Buford has put Gamble's troopers on foot behind the wall on your left. Hold long enough for the corps and its guns to get back through the town to the hill beyond it.

The Confederacy — Pender's division, fresh, through Heth's exhausted men and up the slope at the Seminary. Scales goes straight in with his left on the pike; Colonel Perrin on his right; Lane on the far right against the cavalry. Take the Seminary and the house on the pike, and catch the guns before they get away.

Arrivals

I Turn 5 · Danville Artillery (Rice) · marches on at the table edge in zone I
I Turn 5 · 2nd Rockbridge Artillery (Wallace) · marches on at the table edge in zone I

Your 12 ft table: The Union 7 battalions, 3 cavalry, 6 batteries · The Confederacy 14 battalions, 2 batteries. The muster below is this force.

Command — who leads what, and how good he is

The Union

Maj. Gen. George G. Meade — The Army of the Potomac The Union

Capable from the sources

Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday Corps

Capable from the sources

Second in command at Fort Sumter; he led a division at Second Manassas and in the Cornfield at Antietam. Meade did not rate him; today is his first day commanding a corps in action.

Brig. Gen. John Buford Division

Decisive from the sources

A career dragoon; he led a brigade in a charge at Second Manassas and this division at Brandy Station. He chose to fight forward this morning, on the ridges west of the town.

Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth Division

Workmanlike from the sources

A politician with no military training, commanding a division in his second battle.

Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Rowley Division

Workmanlike from the sources

A captain in Mexico, wounded at Seven Pines; a brigade at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Commanding a division for the first time, and ill since morning.

Col. William W. Robinson The Iron Brigade

Capable from the sources

Norwich Military Academy and a captain in Mexico; his leg was broken at Brawner's Farm, and he led the 7th Wisconsin at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He has had the brigade since Meredith fell this afternoon, in a retreat.

Col. Chapman Biddle Biddle's brigade

Workmanlike from the sources

A Philadelphia lawyer who led the 121st Pennsylvania through Fredericksburg; he took the brigade this morning.

Col. Charles S. Wainwright Artillery

Decisive from the sources

The I Corps' artillery chief at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, where the army's chief of artillery praised him.

Col. William Gamble Brigade

Capable from the sources

A dragoon all his life, shot through the chest leading a charge near Malvern Hill, and back with the brigade since 13 June.

The Confederacy

Gen. Robert E. Lee — The Army of Northern Virginia The Confederacy

Decisive from the sources

Maj. Gen. W. Dorsey Pender Division

Decisive from the sources

West Point 1854 and the dragoons; promoted on the field after Seven Pines, he led his brigade aggressively through every battle of the Light Division, was wounded four times and never left his command. Lee wrote that he 'has been conspicuous in every battle'.

Col. Abner Perrin Brigade

Capable from the sources

A lieutenant in Mexico and a captain of the 14th South Carolina from 1861, through every battle of the Light Division; colonel since January, and the brigade's commander since Chancellorsville.

Brig. Gen. Alfred M. Scales Brigade

Workmanlike from the sources

A lawyer and congressman who enlisted as a private; he led the brigade in a counter-attack at Fredericksburg and was wounded at Chancellorsville. He has been its general for two weeks and is not yet over the wound.

Brig. Gen. James H. Lane Brigade

Capable from the sources

VMI, and a professor of military science; he took Branch's brigade when Branch was killed at Antietam and has led it through Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.

Order of battle — the real regiments, brigade by brigade

Not every unit that fought is in this engagement. Some are left off to keep the game manageable, and some were not in this part of the battle. The full list is under The historical record, below.

The Union7 battalions · 3 cavalry · 6 batteries

Wadsworth's 1st Division

The Iron BrigadeCol. William W. Robinson

2nd and 7th Wisconsin — 1 bn · Elite StandardRobinson put his men behind the rails, 'some 40 yards in front of' the guns.
24th Michigan and 19th Indiana — 1 bn · Elite StandardAt the barricade with the rest of the brigade.

Rowley's 3rd Division

Biddle's brigadeCol. Chapman Biddle

151st Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit StandardIt fought 'here and in the grove west of the Theological Seminary', by its monument. McFarland was shot through both legs.
142nd Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Line SmallBiddle's right regiment at the barricade, south of the Iron Brigade. Its colonel, Cummins, was mortally wounded.
80th New York and 121st Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Veteran StandardOn the extreme left of the infantry: the 121st 'defended the fence of the hospital grounds'. Between it and Gamble's troopers was a gap of about fifty yards.

Stone's brigadeCol. Edmund L. Dana

143rd Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit StandardBehind the breastworks on the Thompson property, its right on the railroad cut.
149th and 150th Pennsylvania — 1 bn · Recruit StandardOn the Thompson property south of the 143rd, about the pike.

Buford's 1st Cavalry Division

Gamble's brigadeCol. William Gamble

8th Illinois Cavalry — Veteran StandardOn foot behind the low stone wall south of the Seminary, towards the Fairfield road. Gamble's brigade lost 99 men in the whole battle.
12th Illinois and 3rd Indiana Cavalry — Veteran LargeOn foot beside the 8th Illinois.
8th New York Cavalry — Veteran LargeOn foot on the far left.

Wainwright's I Corps artillery brigade

Artillery

Battery B, 4th US Artillery (Stewart) — three 12-pounder Napoleons · Veteran SmallIn the corner of the woods north of the railroad cut, facing Rodes's men to the north.
Battery B, 4th US Artillery (Davison) — three 12-pounder Napoleons · Veteran SmallOn the Thompson property between the cut and the pike. Davison swung his guns round on the pike 'so as to enfilade the whole line' coming at the Seminary.
5th Maine Battery — six 12-pounder Napoleons · Veteran StandardIn the main battery south of the pike, on Cooper's right, the guns 'hardly 5 yards apart'.
Battery B, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery — four 3-inch Ordnance rifles · Veteran Small'In front of the professor's house', in the main battery.
Battery L, 1st New York Artillery (Wilber) — two 3-inch Ordnance rifles · Veteran SmallIn the orchard across the pike from the Thompson house, then in the main battery. Its last gun was lost on the pike when its horses were shot.
Battery L, 1st New York Artillery (Breck) — four 3-inch Ordnance rifles · Veteran Small'Behind a strong stone wall on the seminary crest'; its fire 'was much interfered with by our own infantry'.

The Confederacy14 battalions · 2 batteries

Pender's Division

Perrin's brigadeCol. Abner Perrin

1st South Carolina (Provisional Army) — 1 bn · Veteran StandardPerrin sent it obliquely to the right round the breastwork of rails, to come at the line from the flank: the gap by the 121st Pennsylvania.
12th South Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran StandardIt reached the stone fence south of the Seminary and poured an enfilading fire into the Union right from it.
13th South Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
14th South Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran StandardIt lost 209, 'most of them in the last attack on Seminary ridge'; of Company K's 39 men, 34 were shot down in front of the Seminary.

Scales's brigadeBrig. Gen. Alfred M. Scales

13th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran StandardIt lost more than three-quarters of its men.
16th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
22nd North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
34th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran StandardLowrance took the brigade when Scales fell, and was hit in turn.
38th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard

Lane's brigadeBrig. Gen. James H. Lane

7th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran StandardThrown out as a strong line of skirmishers on the division's right, against the dismounted cavalry.
18th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
28th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
33rd North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard
37th North Carolina — 1 bn · Veteran Standard

McIntosh's battalion, Third Corps artillery arrives turn 5

Artillery

Danville Artillery — four Napoleons · Veteran SmallMcIntosh 'advanced two of my batteries to the intervening hollow' as the Union line broke.
2nd Rockbridge Artillery — two Napoleons and two 3-inch rifles · Veteran SmallNear the pike, it had enfiladed infantry formed in the railroad cut.

Ranks: Maj Major · Col Colonel.

Odds: The Union about 1,700 infantry behind a barricade, 1,700 dismounted cavalry and 22 guns; the Confederacy 14 regiments, about 4,600 men, and two batteries coming up. The Union line is thin and has no reserve.

Deployment — who sets up where, and from which turn

Setting up. The Union sets up first, then the Confederacy (or as your rules direct). Set up anywhere inside your own zones.

What the map can't show. Gamble's troopers fight on foot behind the wall: every fourth man holds the horses.

Victory

Union DecisiveAt the end of turn 9 unbroken Union infantry still holds the Seminary.
Confederate DecisiveAt the end of turn 9 unbroken Confederate infantry holds the Seminary and the Thompson house, and three or more Union artillery units have been broken or overrun on the table rather than getting away by the pike.
MarginalAny other result.

Special rules

The rail barricade: A slight breastwork of fence rails runs about six hundred yards along the slope in front of the Seminary, forty yards in front of the guns. Troops behind it have the cover your rules give a light obstacle or hasty breastwork; it is no earthwork.
The stone walls: A stone wall runs along the Seminary crest, and another south of the Seminary towards the Fairfield road. Both are cover your rules give a stone wall.
The guns on the crest: The Union guns south of the pike stand almost wheel to wheel, and Davison's three on the pike can fire straight down it. Units attacking up the slope in front of them are under the fire of all of them.
The way back: Union units may leave the table by the pike or the railroad at the town end, in the zone marked. A unit that leaves does not come back, and counts as having got away.
Heth's men are spent: Heth's brigades lie on McPherson's Ridge behind Pender's, out of ammunition, and take no part.
The pike fences: The Chambersburg Pike has a stout post-and-rail fence on each side. A line crossing the road halts at each: use what your rules give a fence, twice.

On the day, and how the result carries forward

On the day: neither side won outright.

Union decisive	The I Corps is still on Seminary Ridge at five o'clock, and Pender's division has been bled white in front of it. The town and the hill beyond it are safe for the night. The chain ends here. The I Corps holds the ridges until the army comes up.What the I Corps had been asked to do: hold until the army came up.
Marginal	The Seminary is lost and the I Corps is going back through the town, but its guns are away down the pike with the loss of one unit, and Cemetery Hill is beyond it. Hill's corps has the ridge and is content with what it has. The chain ends here. The day as it was: a morning won, an afternoon lost, and the high ground behind the town still Union.The day as it was west of the town: the Confederates took both ridges and two thousand prisoners, and the Union kept its guns and the high ground behind the town.
Confederate decisive	The Seminary is taken, the house on the pike with it, and the Union batteries are caught in the open. What is left of the I Corps is streaming into the town with nothing to cover it. The chain ends here. Hill's corps through the town before the XI Corps is in place.The guns lost and the corps broken, with Hill's men at the edge of the town before the XI Corps could get away.

The historical record — what is left off, what was changed, and how the strengths were reached

What is on the table, and what is not. Seminary Ridge from a quarter to four to five o'clock. The I Corps' right on Oak Ridge, and the XI Corps north of the town, are other engagements. 32 units: 21 infantry, 3 cavalry, 8 artillery.

Left off the table

Thomas's brigade of Pender's division — Held in reserve north of the pike on the left of the division; not engaged.
Heth's division — Halted and lying down on McPherson's Ridge, out of ammunition, when Pender's brigades passed through it.
Daniel's brigade and the rest of Rodes's division — North of the railroad, against the I Corps' right on Oak Ridge: the fight for Oak Ridge.
Pegram's guns and the rest of McIntosh's — On Herr Ridge, about a mile from the town, out of this table's reach; two of McIntosh's batteries came forward into the hollow and are fielded.
Poague's battalion — In reserve all day on 1 July.

Where this game departs from the record

The Union regiments are fielded at what was left of them — No source counts the men at the barricade; each figure is the morning's strength less what was lost before the Seminary, and the notes say where it is worked out and where it is a judgement.
Battery B, 4th US is two units — It fought in two halves: three guns north of the railroad cut and three on the pike.
Battery L, 1st New York is two units — Breck's two sections stood behind the stone wall on the crest and Wilber's section in the main battery, apart.

Playing the Chain

carry each result forward

Engagement	Union win	Marginal	Confederate win
E1 Willoughby Run and the Railroad Cut	+1 The Union	0	+1 The Confederacy
E2 McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon	+2 The Union	0	+2 The Confederacy
E3 The Seminary	+2 The Union	0	+2 The Confederacy

The Union leads by 3 or moreThe I Corps holds the ridges until the army comes up

Neither side leads by more than 2The day as it was: a morning won, an afternoon lost, and the high ground behind the town still Union

The Confederacy leads by 3 or moreHill's corps through the town before the XI Corps is in place

Reference & designer’s notes — the ground, the historical orders of battle, myths, and rules guidance

The Ground

read before setting terrain

The map is drawn to be read, not measured. Every plate is the real ground fitted to a table of the stated size, and your table is not that survey: your hills are the hills you own and your village is the village you own. Set the ground out to match the map as near as your terrain allows, and let it stand. If you cannot set the battlefield out exactly, do not worry. A fair representation of the ground matters more than the exact place and size of every feature.

The lettered zones are the same. A zone shows where a formation stood when the action opened — read it across onto your own table by eye. What the scenario fixes is which side is whose and which edge a formation enters by; where inside its own zone you put each battalion is yours. Where a depth is given it says how much room the formation needs, not a line to measure to.

Feature	On the table
McPherson's Ridge	A gentle swell, about forty feet above the run: troops behind its crest are out of sight from the run, and it has a second crest behind it, where the railroad cut is.
Herbst Woods	An open grove on the slope down to the run: cover, and room to move in order, with brush only along the water.
the railroad cut	A trench through the second crest, shallow at its eastern mouth and deep further in: shelter for men inside, and a trap if the mouth is held.
Willoughby Run	A small stream choked with brush: it stops nothing and disorders everything that crosses it.

Table sizes: 14×6 ft: the 12 ft list and the formations left off it · 12×6 ft: the 12 ft list · 10×6 ft: 80% of the 12 ft list · 8×6 ft: 67% of the 12 ft list

Weather, Light & Going

Overcast all day after days of drizzle, warm and damp: 72°F at seven in the morning and 76°F at two in the afternoon, by Professor Jacobs's readings in the town, with a gentle southerly breeze. The damp air deadened the sound of the guns, and in the woods the smoke hung 'almost as dark as night'.

Orders of Battle

historical

The Union — The Army of the Potomac

E1/E2/E3 · The Left Wing (the I, III and XI Corps) Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds

E1/E2/E3 · Doubleday's I Corps Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday 12,160

E1/E2/E3 · The Cavalry Corps Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton

The Confederacy — The Army of Northern Virginia

E1/E2/E3 · A. P. Hill's Third Corps Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill

E2 · Ewell's Second Corps Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell

Strengths, marked with the game each formation fights in; a formation that fought in more than one engagement is listed once, with each of them.

Deliberate Departures from History

Pegram's guns stand at the edge of the table. They fired from Herr Ridge, about 450 yards beyond it. Taking the edge back to the ridge would take the railroad cut off the other side.
The woods and orchards are drawn from the 1876 survey, fitted to today's ground. The fit is good to about fifty yards. Herbst Woods comes out at about twenty acres; Hartwig gives eighteen.
Two half regiments of cavalry are one unit. Four companies of the 12th Illinois and six of the 3rd Indiana fought together under Chapman all day.
The 6th Wisconsin carries the brigade guard. Dawes took its hundred men into the charge.
Devin's brigade is left out. It held the ridge north of the railroad until the infantry came, then went north to watch the roads Ewell was coming by.
Archer's and Davis's afternoon strengths are worked out. No source gives them. Archer's is the brigade's noon strength by Hartwig's count of the three brigades on Herr Ridge; Davis's two regiments are at the usual strength of the date.
The Union regiments at the Seminary are at what was left of them. Nobody counted heads at the barricade. Each is the morning's strength less what the day's losses show it lost before the Seminary; where even that cannot be worked out, it is a fair judgement and the unit's note says so. Some regiments too small to stand alone are fielded in pairs.
The rail barricade is drawn on the line the accounts give, six hundred yards along the slope forty yards in front of the guns; nobody surveyed it.
Crops and fences other than the pike's are not drawn. The farms grew wheat, corn and oats, but which field held what, and where every fence ran, is not known.

Myths & Corrections

"The battle began over shoes." Heth did send a brigade into Gettysburg on 30 June to look for supplies, shoes especially, and it is in his own report. But there was no shoe factory in the town, Early's division had been through it four days before and found little, and Lee had already ordered his army to concentrate on the roads that met there. The battle was fought at Gettysburg because the roads led there.
"Buford's men held with repeating carbines." They carried single-shot breech-loaders: Sharps, Burnside, Gallager, Smith and Merrill. The Spencer carbine was not made until October 1863.
"The cavalry held the Confederates for hours and saved the high ground." The morning's cavalry fight cost few lives and did little to slow Heth; it was the I Corps infantry that drove him back. Buford's real service was in choosing to fight forward at all.
"Reynolds was picked off by a sharpshooter." More likely he was hit by a random bullet from a volley aimed at the 2nd Wisconsin, as several of his orderlies were.
"McPherson's Woods." It was John Herbst's woodlot; McPherson owned the farm next door. The War Department's tablets call it Reynolds Woods.
"The railroad cut." There were three cuts and no rails. The 2nd Mississippi was trapped in the middle one.
"Scales attacked astride the pike." His left rested on the pike and his brigade was south of it; the guns that destroyed it fired from in front and, from the pike and north of the cut, along its flank.
"Twenty guns, five yards apart." Wainwright himself counted twelve guns in front of the Seminary "hardly 5 yards apart". With Stewart's six by the pike and the cut and Breck's four behind the wall on the crest there were twenty-two on the ridge.
"The first shot." Lt. Marcellus Jones of the 8th Illinois Cavalry is usually given it, but the 9th New York Cavalry claimed it for Corporal Alpheus Hodges. The first cannon shot was Pegram's.
McPherson's Ridge: It is often drawn as a hill. It is a farm ridge you could plough, and the men on it were hidden by it, not lifted by it.
Herbst Woods: It is usually called McPherson's Woods. It was John Herbst's; McPherson owned the farm next door.
the railroad cut: There were three cuts, and this is the middle one. There were no rails: the line was graded in the 1830s and left.

Sources

The strengths are those on the War Department's tablets and the regimental monuments on the field, which anyone who walks it can check, as transcribed by Stone Sentinels, with the regiment pages of Civil War in the East.
[A] The War Department's brigade and battery tablets on the field (1890s), and the regimental monuments, as transcribed by Stone Sentinels — Brigade strengths ('Present ...'), the hour each brigade arrived and what it did; regimental strengths cut on the monuments
[A] Regimental monuments at Gettysburg, their inscribed strengths, as transcribed by Stone Sentinels and Civil War in the East — Regimental strengths where the monument gives one
[B] Stone Sentinels (S. A. Hawks), the army and battery pages, 'rounded approximations' mostly from the Official Records — Battery guns and men; brigade and division totals
[B] Civil War in the East (S. A. Hawks), regiment and battery pages ('brought N men to the field'); the same author as Stone Sentinels, uncredited figures that match Busey and Martin where checked — Regimental strengths; each regiment's battles before Gettysburg
[A] D. Scott Hartwig, 'I Have Never Seen the Like Before: Herbst Woods, July 1, 1863', Tenth Gettysburg NMP Seminar (NPS, 2005), pp. 155-196 — The Iron Brigade's strengths and timing; Herbst Woods, the run and the fences; Archer's numbers
[A] Kathleen Georg Harrison, 'The Significance of the Harmon Farm and the Springs Hotel Woods' (Gettysburg NMP, 1991) — Willoughby Run and its brush; the fields, fences and woods west of McPherson's Ridge; Pegram's gun line
[A] Maj. Gen. Henry Heth, report of 13 September 1863, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 2, as published by the National Park Service — The advance at five, Archer right and Davis left of the pike at about nine, 'to feel the enemy', Marye's battery
[A] Brig. Gen. John Buford, report of 27 August 1863, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 1, as transcribed on Iron Brigader — The enemy coming down from Cashtown between eight and nine; the cavalry holding more than two hours until the I Corps came up
[A] Rufus R. Dawes, 'With the Sixth Wisconsin at Gettysburg', Sketches of War History vol. III (Ohio MOLLUS), and his report — The 6th Wisconsin and the brigade guard; the pike fences; the cut 'about four feet deep' where his men reached it
[C] David G. Martin, Gettysburg July 1 (1995), as cited by Wikipedia, 'Battle of Gettysburg, first day' — 1,707 men in Davis's three regiments in the morning
[B] Joseph G. Bilby, 'Carbine Folklore at Gettysburg', Civil War News (September 2019) — Buford's men carried single-shot breech-loaders, not repeaters
[B] American Battlefield Trust, 'The First Day at Gettysburg: Then & Now' (Timothy H. Smith, Licensed Battlefield Guide) — What the cavalry phase did and did not do; Herbst's woodlot
[A] H. L. Scott, Military Dictionary (New York, 1861; 1864 printing read), 'about 21 inches' a man in line — The front of a regiment, and so the ground scale
[A] J. Roberts, The Hand-Book of Artillery (New York, 1861), Part I Q30 p. 47 and the range tables pp. 68-69 — Canister within 350 yards; case 600 to 1,000; the Napoleon's ranges
[C] Wikipedia, 'John F. Reynolds' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'John Buford' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'William Gamble (general)' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'James S. Wadsworth' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Lysander Cutler' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Solomon Meredith' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Henry Heth' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'James J. Archer' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Joseph R. Davis' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'William Pegram'; Civil War in the East, 'Purcell Artillery' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'George Meade' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Robert E. Lee' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Abner Doubleday' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Thomas Algeo Rowley' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Roy Stone (general)' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Chapman Biddle' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Charles S. Wainwright' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'J. Johnston Pettigrew' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'John M. Brockenbrough' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Birkett D. Fry' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Junius Daniel' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'William W. Robinson' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'William Dorsey Pender' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Abner M. Perrin' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'Alfred Moore Scales' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, 'James Henry Lane (general)' — His service record
[C] Wikipedia, '40th Virginia Infantry Regiment', from the NPS Soldiers and Sailors database — The 40th Virginia's 253 engaged
[A] Brig. Gen. Junius Daniel, report, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 2, as published by the National Park Service — His 2,100 men; the attack on Stone at the railroad cut from about one o'clock; the cut's 'abruptness'
[A] Brig. Gen. Alfred M. Scales, report, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 2, as published by the National Park Service — His brigade's attack on the Seminary, its left on the pike, and what the guns did to it
[A] Col. Abner Perrin, report of 13 August 1863, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 2, as published by the National Park Service — The advance without firing, the breastwork of rails, the stone fences, the flank attack and the guns taken
[A] Col. Charles S. Wainwright, report of 17 July 1863, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 1, as published by the National Park Service — The batteries' positions on McPherson's and Seminary Ridges, the twelve guns 'hardly 5 yards apart', the withdrawal down the pike
[A] Maj. David G. McIntosh, report, Official Records Series I vol. 27 part 2, as published by the National Park Service — His batteries on Herr Ridge beside Pegram's, and the two he sent into the hollow
[A] Map of the Battle Field of Gettysburg, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1863 (Office of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, 1876): survey ordered by A. A. Humphreys and conducted under G. K. Warren; troop positions by J. B. Bachelder; topography engraved by Julius Bien. Library of Congress, G3824.G3S5 1876 — The 1863 woods and orchards: Herbst Woods, the orchards at McPherson's, Bender's and Thompson's, the woods on Seminary Ridge and the Seminary grove
[B] OpenStreetMap; USGS 3DEP elevation (NED 10 m) via opentopodata — Every position on the map that is not placed from the accounts, and the relief

How well each muster is established

E1 Willoughby Run and the Railroad Cut — Regimental strengths are those on the monuments and tablets and on Civil War in the East, which match Busey and Martin where they have been checked; Busey and Martin was not read. Davis's 2nd Mississippi is the one regiment whose figure is worked out rather than printed.
E2 McPherson's Ridge in the afternoon — Strengths are those on the monuments, the tablets and Civil War in the East, and Hartwig's for the 11th and 26th North Carolina; the 52nd North Carolina's is not recorded, and Archer's and Davis's afternoon strengths are worked out or reconstructed, as their notes say.
E3 The Seminary — Pender's regiments are at the strengths Civil War in the East gives, which sum to the brigades' own reports; the Union regiments at the Seminary are at what was left of them, worked out from the day's losses or judged, as each note says.

Time, ground, and the bayonet decide.

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Gettysburg, the first day

Gettysburg

The Situation

The Whole Battle

How this war was fought

The Engagements

The Union

The Confederacy

The Union10 battalions · 3 cavalry · 2 batteries

Wadsworth's 1st Division

Buford's 1st Cavalry Division

Wainwright's I Corps artillery brigade arrives turn 3

The Confederacy8 battalions · 2 batteries

Heth's Division

Pegram's battalion, Third Corps artillery

The Union

The Confederacy

The Union11 battalions · 1 cavalry · 2 batteries

Wadsworth's 1st Division

Rowley's 3rd Division

Buford's 1st Cavalry Division

Wainwright's I Corps artillery brigade

The Confederacy15 battalions · 2 batteries

Heth's Division

Rodes's Division arrives turn 2

Pegram's battalion, Third Corps artillery

McIntosh's battalion, Third Corps artillery

The Union

The Confederacy

The Union7 battalions · 3 cavalry · 6 batteries

Wadsworth's 1st Division

Rowley's 3rd Division

Buford's 1st Cavalry Division

Wainwright's I Corps artillery brigade

The Confederacy14 battalions · 2 batteries

Pender's Division

McIntosh's battalion, Third Corps artillery arrives turn 5

Playing the Chain

The Ground

Weather, Light & Going

Orders of Battle

The Union — The Army of the Potomac

The Confederacy — The Army of Northern Virginia

Deliberate Departures from History

Myths & Corrections

Sources

How well each muster is established

What follows it