Self Hibernation Campaign - Summer 1861 - A word from Paul De Krackere

By New York Times Correspondent: Hardy Kenwright

The Iowa ‘Ten Dollars’ Brigade:

On a last night in town before we left Camp, I ran up a bar bill of $9.87 at Madam Cheri Casque’s Fine Wine Emporium.

Unfortunately, having left my wallet in one of my other jackets, the only money I had with me was a $100 dollar bill secured in the back of my note book for use in emergencies. The cashier did not recognise the newly issued government note and referred me to the owner.  Appreciating from the cut of my uniform that I am a man of substance, Madam Cheri was good enough to accept an I.O.U. for $10.00. This I will send via mail just as soon as our march takes me to a town large enough to have a functioning Bank.

I received so much leg pulling from the rest of the Mess that I have adopted this name for my Brigade as a badge of honour.  

Of course, I had to exchange the original note for smaller denominations at the first opportunity but a later example of the same note is shown below as way of illustration.

Paul De Krackere

Self Hibernation Campaign - Summer 1861 - Units of Note

Already we have seen a number of splendid units take to the field to support their cause.

Iowa Chasseurs

In the rich industrial north we have seen Iowan, Paul De Krackere invest some of his immense personal wealth to turn out the 1st Iwoa Volunteer Infantry , aka The Iowa Chasseurs. De Krackers has also brought with him a large personal staff to attend to all his medical and publicity needs whilst he roughs it on campaign.

This well equipped,  and good looking unit from Des Moines, is certainly the most spectacular unit to be raised so far and makes their commander the envy of all ...

1st Vermont - The Victory Regiment

Meanwhile From the mountainous North East of the USA come the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont, under the command of the pro-abolitionist, John Holt-Oglethorpe, of that same state. Holt-Oglethorpe has furnished all the units in his brigade with Vermont styled jackets - piped and faced in green.

Many will know that Holt-Oglethope is a close and intimate friend of the Vermont State Governor, as such the Vermont 'Freedom's Vanguard' Brigade that he commands has been blessed with additional units to enhance its strength in the field. So they don't just look pretty, they fight well too!

56th Georgia

Moving South to see what we have there we must first call out John Henry De Lamar Clayton, a lawyer by trade, who has been instrumental in raising the 'Clayton Legion' to fight for Georgia (and Alabama's honour). From within that Legion's ranks we must mention the 56th Georgia Volunteer Infantry who have all rallied to the colours wearing distinctive Racoon Hats.

Another distinctive unit in this Legion are the Georgia Hussars, who'll be the subject of a future Units of note article!

Hazzard Fusiliers

Finally for this opening article we must review the Mississippi troops under the command of  Roscoe P. Coltrane, all of the units in this brigade are based around Hazzard County, with names like the Hazzard Fusiliers, Missiissippi Home Guard and the Hazzard City Greys. they will fight well for their cause.





All unit illustrations basis work originally published on https://juniorgeneral.org/

Self Hibernation Campaign - Summer 1861 - Setting the Scene

2020 Play by eMail/Website ACW Campaign

July 1861 - Manassas, Virginia

Its nearly 3 months after Abraham Lincoln called out the militia to suppress the rebellion by the southern states, many such militia units are nearing the time that they should go home.

Eager to put the gathering Southern forces to flight, Unionist politicians press their military commanders to attack the rebel encampments near to the crossroads and rail hub or Manassas, some miles north of Richmond.

The Union Army lurches into life and marches southwards to crush the rebellion once and for all.

A map of the battlefield is shown below, study it well and understand the terrain features.

Map courtesy of http://mazikainen.blogspot.com/

Each player's Brigade will be assigned to position in the line, either Left, Centre, Right or Reserve, according to agreement within their army. Players will need to assign Attack or Defend Orders for each brigade and/or unit they command and indicate how aggressively they want to obey those orders.

Union Zones in Blue and Confederate Zones in Grey.

So for example if the Union Army determined they needed to hold the left the player assigned to the Left Wing would submit DEFEND Orders and then state that he would use an Aggressiveness of 3 (on a scale of 1 to 5) to obey those orders. The player would also need to indicate the formation deployed by units in his brigade, i.e. Two Infantry Regiments in line abreast with a third in reserve behind, supported by an Artillery Battery.

Butcher, Bill Jones

Depending on how Aggressively the Confederate player wished to attack on their Right wing, he would have ATTACK orders with say an Aggressiveness of 4.

Conflicts in each zone are resolved by the Campaign Moderator (MikeW) basis information supplied
by the players and the quality of the troops they are ordering about to achieve the desired results. in this case the Rebel player is willing to suffer more casualties to achieve his orders than the Union payer is to achieve his - but its down to how good the troops are o the ground and the risks willing to be taken to see who wins out on the day!

After each battle comes the butcher's bill, casualties will be lost, strategic goals may not have been achieved and players can then work to see how well they can resupply their units, grab what glory is going and further their careers before the inevitable next battle.

Declared Rebels: John, Dave & Paul
Declared Unionists: Mark, Mike N, Rupert and Phil
Undeclared: Nigel