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Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah

Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah is the seventh installment of the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series, published by GMT Games. Eight full battles are included.

Three Battles of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862
In a campaign still studied in military academies, Confederate General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson engaged and defeated the Union forces pursuing him. Greatly outnumbered and at times facing three Union armies, Jackson defeated them all within ten weeks, at one point completely freeing the Shenandoah Valley of Union forces. Three battles from Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign are featured.

Kernstown, March 23, 1862
In the spring of 1862 Union General Nathanial Banks moved his 38,000 man V Corps into the Shenandoah Valley in conjunction with McClellan’s advance on Richmond. There was no resistance from the 3000 Confederates under General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson, a hero of Bull Run, then in his first independent command. Confident that all was secure in the Valley, but concerned for the safety of the capital, Washington began to transfer the V Corps troops to defend the city, leaving the 7000 men of General James Shields’ division to block the lower Valley. But Jackson was ordered to keep the Union troops in the Valley from joining forces with those threatening Richmond. After receiving reports that only a rear guard remained south of Winchester, he attacked. The battle was the first of Jackson’s Valley Campaign.

Winchester, May 25, 1862
After Kernstown General Banks led a newly reinforced and newly named army of the Department of the Shenandoah in pursuit of Jackson. After a series of Confederate maneuvers Banks lost contact with Jackson’s army. During that time Jackson defeated a Union force threatening his left flank at McDowell and joined forces with the two Confederate brigades defending the mountain passes there. Jackson then turned on Banks. Uniting with another Confederate division under General Richard Ewell, Jackson outflanked Banks at Front Royal and threatened to cut his supply line, starting a race for Winchester. Banks reached the town first and set up a defense south of the town. He had to buy time for the Union supply train to escape.

Cross Keys and Port Republic, June 8-9, 1862
Following Winchester, Washington sent two Union forces to trap the Confederates in the lower Valley. Two divisions from the Mountain Department under General John Fremont advanced from what is now West Virginia, and one division under General James Shields from the Department of the Rappahannock moved into the Valley from the east. A rain-swollen Shenandoah River separated the Union forces. Jackson engaged both on successive days to end the Valley Campaign.

Five Battles of the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864

New Market, May 15, 1864
Early in 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant devised a plan to attack the Confederacy on multiple fronts simultaneously. As part of that plan Major General Franz Sigel was to lead 9000 men up the Shenandoah Valley to cut the Virginia Central Railroad at Staunton and deprive Robert E. Lee of the Valley's rich resources. Opposing the Union move in the Valley was Major General John C. Breckinridge. The Confederates were able to scrape together 7500 men by including county reservists and the cadets from Virginia Military Institute. Lee could space no reinforcements. After the lead Union forces occupied New Market, Breckinridge attacked.

2nd Kernstown, July 24, 1864
Grant dispatched elements of three Union Corps led by General Horatio Wright, to pursue Confederate General Jubal Early in his retreat from the raid on Washington. After a victory by the Union cavalry at Rutherford’s Farm and Early’s continued retreat up the Valley, General Wright was convinced that Early was withdrawing to join the defense of Richmond. Both the Union VI Corps and XIX Corps were withdrawn, leaving General George Crook’s 13,000 strong Army of West Virginia to defend the lower Valley. Tasked with tying up as many Union troops as possible, Early turned to attack upon learning that he faced only one Union corps.

3rd Winchester, September 19, 1864
Grant consolidated command over the Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley under General Phillip Sheridan. Even though Sheridan commanded a superior force, he remained on the defensive, behavior Early mistook for timidity. When Early undertook a raid against the B&O Railroad, stringing out his four divisions from Winchester to Martinsburg, Sheridan moved to cut off the entire Confederate army at Winchester, initiating the largest battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley.

Fisher's Hill, September 22, 1864
Sheridan defeated the Confederates at the 3rd Winchester, but he was unable to destroy the army. Early retreated 20 miles up the Shenandoah Valley to Fisher's Hill, near Strasburg, a position that the Confederates had strongly fortified during their occupation of the area in the summer of 1864; however, that summer the Confederates had more troops to man the works and also had reinforcements on the way. Early wrote that it was the only place in the Valley to make a stand. Sheridan saw that a frontal attack was not practical, but was determined to finish what he started at Winchester and push the Confederates out of the valley.

Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864
After defeating Early at Winchester and Fisher’s Hill, Sheridan was convinced the Confederates were no longer capable of offensive operations and withdrew the Union army into camps along Cedar Creek. Early, reinforced with a division under General Joseph Kershaw, tentatively pursued. After studying the Union positions, a plan was devised for a surprise attack on the exposed Union left flank. Outnumbered by 3 to 1, the Confederates launched what initially looked to be one of the most successful attacks of the war.

The Great Battles of the American Civil War Series:
This series is one of the hobby’s longest-lived design concepts, springing from the legendary regimental level Gettysburg game – Terrible Swift Sword (SPI) – designed by Richard Berg in 1976. Under GMT, the rules system has remained stable, but has shown remarkable flexibility to allow each game to smoothly incorporate additional rules to reflect the historical battles. The series relies on interactive chit-pull mechanics to simulate the oftentimes-chaotic nature of the 19th Century battlefield at the regimental level.

Changes have been made to the series rules for Death Valley in order to enhance their clarity and simulation value. Veteran players will find the revised rules to be very familiar, with the main differences being in the user-friendliness of the rulebook, as well as how the game "feels", especially for players versed in Civil War tactics.

The Game:
Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah contains eight battle games with multiple scenarios. They range from division level contests on half sized maps to two map battles between armies. Experienced players will be able to play many of the scenarios in one sitting. The rules compare the development of the cavalry, and the changes in infantry and artillery organization and tactics in 1862 and 1864.

Components:
* 1960 counters
* Three 22" x 34" double-sided maps
* Two 17" x 22" double-sided maps
* One GBACW series rules booklet
* Two Battle booklets
* Sixteen Activation and Turn Record charts
* Two Player Aid Cards
* One Terrain Effects Chart
* One 2nd Disorder Chart
* Two 10-sided dice

TIME SCALE: Each Turn = 1 Hour
MAP SCALE: 145 Yards Per Hex with 25-Foot Elevations
UNIT SCALE: 50 Men or 1 Cannon per Strength Point

SERIES DESIGNER: Richard H. Berg
GAME DESIGNER: Greg Laubach
SERIES DEVELOPER: John Alsen
GAME DEVELOPER: Bill Byrne

Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah Expansion

Battles for the Shenandoah: A Death Valley Expansion is a Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series expansion for Death Valley, published by GMT Games. Four full battles are included.

McDowell, May 8, 1862 McDowell is considered the first battle of Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign. After his loss at Kernstown, Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson retreated up the Shenandoah Valley, finally stopping at Swift Run Gap to rebuild his army. By May of 1862, the threat from the north had diminished when two of the three Union divisions under General Nathaniel Banks were redeployed to support the Union advance on Richmond.

However, there was another Union force, led by Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy, approaching the critical town of Staunton from the west. Jackson planned to drive the Union from the Shenandoah Valley and help relieve the pressure on Richmond by consolidating several scattered Confederate forces and defeating the two Union armies in detail. The first step was to move his army to join Brigadier General Edward “Alleghany” Johnson’s Army of the Northwest and defeat Milroy.

The Confederate armies were consolidated on May 6 and begun advancing on Milroy’s Union force. Milroy retreated before them until May 8th, when he was reinforced with a brigade under Brigadier General Robert C. Schenck. That afternoon, the aggressive Milroy turned to attack the Confederate forces arriving on the heights overlooking the hamlet of McDowell.

2nd Winchester, June 13, 14, and 15, 1863 2nd Winchester is the battle that cleared the way for Robert E. Lee’s Gettysburg Campaign. In June of 1863, General Robert E. Lee finalized his plans for his second invasion of the north. The supply line was to be routed through the lower Shenandoah Valley, then primarily occupied by a Union garrison at Winchester with smaller garrisons at Berryville and Martinsburg. Lee assigned the task of clearing the Valley to Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell, now in command of II Corps after Jackson’s death at Chancellorsville in May.

The Union garrison at Winchester consisted of the 8500 men of the 2nd Division, VIII Corps, commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy. Milroy had made extensive improvements to the fortifications around Winchester and was confident that he could hold the position against anything the Confederates could throw at him. He was so confident that he ignored orders to abandon Winchester. On June 13, he discovered that Ewell had arrived.

Piedmont, June 5, 1864 Piedmont was the first Union victory in the Valley since Kernstown in 1862. The Confederate loss compelled Lee to send Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s II Corps to retake the Shenandoah Valley, effectively ending any hope Lee may have had for offensive operations around Richmond.

After New Market, Union Major General Franz Sigel was replaced with the more aggressive Major General David Hunter, who made another move up the Valley with a larger and better organized army of 12,000 men. Hunter’s move caught the Confederates by surprise. Initially, the only opposition was a brigade of Confederate cavalry led by Brigadier General John D. Imboden. Every able-bodied man in the area was called to the Confederate colors, including miners and militia reservists. Two brigades of infantry under Brigadier General William E. “Grumble” Jones and a cavalry brigade led by Brigadier General John C. Vaughn were rushed by rail from the Trans-Allegheny Department. The combined Confederate force, commanded by Grumble Jones, numbered about 5000 men.

On June 5th, the Confederate cavalry skirmished with the leading Union cavalry, delaying the Union advance long enough so that Grumble Jones could deploy his newly arrived troops and begin fortifying a new position near the hamlet of Piedmont. Hunter’s infantry arrived at this new line around noon.

Cool Spring, July 18, 1864 Cool Spring is a battle from Jubal Early’s 1864 Valley Campaign. During his retreat from the drive on Washington, Early moved into the Shenandoah Valley through Snicker’s Gap and crossed the Shenandoah River at Castleman’s Ferry. His Union pursuers, formations from VI Corps, XIX Corps, and the Army of West Virginia led by Major General Horatio G. Wright, were close behind. Brevet Major General George Crook, at the head of Wright’s column, was ordered to “cross if practicable and attack” with his Army of West Virginia.

When a cavalry probe of Castleman’s Ferry was easily repulsed, it was decided to move downstream, cross the Shenandoah River at Island Ford, and then turn south to catch the Confederate defenders of Castleman’s Ferry in flank. Crook’s 1st Division, led by Colonel Joseph Thoburn, began the crossing in the middle of the afternoon after waiting for the lead division of VI Corps to arrive in support. The fords appeared to be lightly defended by the Confederates, but a captured skirmisher revealed that the divisions of Brigadier General Gabriel Wharton and Major General Robert Rodes were nearby. The lateness of the Union move surprised Early, but he had issued orders the night before to contest any Union crossing, and Wharton and Rodes were both moving within the hour.

The Great Battles of the American Civil War Series: This series is one of the hobby’s longest-lived design concepts, springing from the legendary regimental level Gettysburg game – Terrible Swift Sword (SPI) – designed by Richard Berg in 1976. Under GMT Games, the rules system has remained stable but has shown remarkable flexibility to allow each game to smoothly incorporate additional rules to reflect the historical battles. The series relies on interactive chit-pull mechanics to simulate the oftentimes-chaotic nature of the 19th Century battlefield at the regimental level.

The Game: Battles for the Shenandoah: A Death Valley Expansion contains four battle games with multiple scenarios. Experienced players will be able to play many of the scenarios in one sitting. The game reflects the development of the cavalry and the changes in infantry and artillery organization and tactics from 1862 through 1864.

COMPONENTS:
* 560 counters
* Two 17” x 22” double-sided maps
* One 11” x 17” double-sided map
* One 8 1/2” x 11” map
* One Battle booklet
* Eight Activation and Turn Record charts
* One Terrain Effects Chart
* One Range Effects Chart

The remaining components necessary for play can be found in GMT’s Death Valley: Battles for the Shenandoah. These include the Player Aid Cards, the 2nd Disorder Chart, the game markers, four maps, and a ten-sided die. The GBACW Series Rules can be found on the GMT website.

TIME SCALE: Each Turn = 1 Hour
MAP SCALE: 145 Yards Per Hex with 25-Foot or 50-Foot Elevations
UNIT SCALE: 50 Men or 1 Cannon per Strength Point

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