"...You can't live on past glories, you know..." wife to me as I flashed an old school report at her
American Civil War: CIS North Brisbane Case File 32978-A-23J - The missing archives
Been going through old stuff lately that's been in storage for so long, binning much (nearly all old papers and documents), salvaging the few worth saving. Luckily for me, the wargaming items still being kept include memories from my former solo ACW campaign from back in the nineties. Stuff like unit labels and minis. It's pointless, I know, and very self-indulgent to bother with all this now when it all needs to go. But then who isn't a hoarder when it comes to hobbies and the like? Anyway, I will use the names from these labels and attach them to the two Army lists generated courtesy of Mr. Empson's Tables and Mechanisms (giving his work a formal label for convenience purpose only).
The unit names and their commanders themselves bear no relation whatsoever to historical fact. Let me make that clear from the start. Made up on the spur of the moment. Once out there, by my warped reckoning, it sticks unless someone else says otherwise.
Unit names changed over the course of the campaign as commanders were lost and units sometimes disbanded or were replaced due to campaign attrition. I would like to believe that these remnant labels somehow hold clues to what-was, or might lead to further clues.
The major hurdle however is forgetfulness. I can't always recall where I store things. I am hoping I kept all the unit/cmdr labels from back then as a memory jogger suddenly pops into my consciousness that I recall stuffing a handful of these labels somewhere. But where?
I am using a couple of storage containers that hold part of my ACW collection. Labels still exist but forgotten. What labels exist obviously names those final units or leaders from the end of the campaign.
NOTE: All the guns from the artillery were pressed into service for the ongoing Napoleonic Borodino Project.
Confederate listing:
- 2nd Louisiana Cavalry - current cmdr Coulter [2]* who replaced Hill (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 1st Georgia Cavalry** - first Russell*** then Cheney before unit replaced/disbanded by 6th La. - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 6th Louisiana Cavalry - K. Taylor [4] - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 3rd Texas Cavalry - Longman - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- T. Roberts - South Carolina artillery battery (CSA)
- 2 crewed stands - no guns
- A. Roberts - Georgia artillery battery (CSA)
- 3 crewed stands - no guns
- Miller - Kentucky artillery battery (CSA)
- 2 crewed stands - no guns
- Vedling's Bty - North Carolina (CSA)
- 1 crewed stand - no gun
- 1st Maryland Horse artillery - Johns [6] - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- Neale - North Carolina artillery battery - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- Baker - Arkansas artillery battery - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- Allen - Florida artillery battery - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- Lane - Louisiana artillery battery - label only (CSA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 4 unidentified artillery stands with crews only - to be reallocated (CSA)
Union listing:
- 112th New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry - label only (USA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 54th Kentucky Infantry - label only (USA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 76th Illinois Infantry - label only (USA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- Colbert - Head of Union artillery? - listed as #5 in Union senior staff (USA)
- Bty I, 3rd US Field Artillery - Coombes (USA)
- 2 crewed stands - #2 & #3 - no guns
- Bty B, 1st/101st Vermont Horse Artillery - Hill - (USA)
- 2 crewed stands - no guns
- Bty A, 2nd/102nd Ohio Artillery - Leith (USA)
- 2 crewed stands - no guns
- Bty E, 117th New York Field Artillery - Dyson - label only (USA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- Bty H, 112th Pennyslvania Heavy Artillery - H. Taylor - label only (USA)
- contents show no said unit in storage container
- 5 unidentified US artillery stands (ID on top of stand painted over; did not bother to label underneath either)
* Number within [ ] is the commander skill level/rating where shown.
** I have included this now-defunct formation for the purpose of maintaining the ongoing narrative.
*** I do remember Russell was promoted to lead the cavalry when Lawerton took commander of his newly-organised corps.
Now let's see what's actually in the storage boxes themselves upon opening. The storage container itself has three drawers that can be compartmentalized to suit needs. Which makes for a total of six drawers revealing.
Mixed content in the first drawer opened and laid out for photocopying. In the foreground are two Confederate infantry units. Former bases were cut up and pasted on to two-man stands at the time post-campaign which now look pretty silly. In the background are parked two lots of six artillery horse teams, with the occasional rider. I went with two-horse teams at the time to spread the teams around.
Second drawer reveals the gun-less crewed stands (artillery). All Confederates. The Artillery bases sizes are as follows:
- Artillery gun and crew bases = Rectangular 75 mm wide x 35 mm deep (or 3" x 1.5")
- Artillery horse teams = 4 horses plus rider (where possible). Generic standard size across the board for both sides irrespective of whether light (horse) and field. Heavy would sometimes add another two-horse team to the front to give a 6-horse team. Bases are generally 70 mm long by 35 mm wide (2 3/4" x 1 1/2").
The material for the bases came from spacers I found lying about on construction sites at the time. Talk about wastage. After first clearing with whomever owned them, I grabbed as many as I could. Variable thicknesses but the thinnest are the easiest to craft with. Solid and won't warp over time. And they cost me nothing. Much much superior to card - of any thickness. But then MDF/plywood became more readily available and are now the most popular basing foundation.
Changes were made post-campaign as I tinkered with the resizing of the infantry basing as with all the basing. For convenience of storage, I began to cut up the units for some stupid reason. Anyway, taking the example of the two Confederate infantry regiments found, the 2-man base size are 40 mm wide by 20 mm deep (or 1 5/8" x 7/8").
Four infantry units. Three I recognise from the campaign by their flocked bases. But they look to have been removed from their original basing and glued to new ones. Unit ID unknown for all three although the flags in the back ground should provide a clue to their origins.
The 20-figure unit in the foreground is probably a Zouave unit but as to which side I have no idea (not without accessing the archived records) although I suspect it might be Union (blue coats, light blue trousers, red Zouave-looking caps).
Unit sizes are pretty much speculative at the moment. The unit in the background, for instance, is the largest at 24 figures. This might actually be two 12-fig (Veteran) units combined because the figures look similar. This would make sense of the four flags at the very back. So, most likely there are three Veteran units. The fourth one - 20 figures - would either be Green or Seasoned.
From the same drawer, a closer look at the flags. Foreground is the famed Bonnie Blue flag with the lone star denoting it's Texan. Behind him is the standard bearer for a North Carolina regiment. Right of him is either an early Confederate national flag (before the famed Rebel battle flag became the unofficial favourite). Or it could be Texan as well. In the back is a state flag, origins forgotten.
Fourth drawer. All Union artillery gun crews sans guns. Painted over the original labelling (non-painted stands) so original IDs now unknown although the first listing (above) will give a clue as to likely identity.
Fifth drawer provided the smallest surprise of just seven figures. A 6-fig. cavalry unit created entirely from converted artillery. Horse mounts are from the artillery horse teams. And the trooper was heavily converted from the original gunner figure seated on the caisson. The mount was assembled on to bases with holes drilled to fit the horses before being glued in.
All higher-level commanders were labelled in front to denote their significance in-game. I believe this fellow was the commander of Union artillery reserve.
Last drawer yielded another mixed force. Background are Union artillery horse teams, again two-horse with horse handler and caisson. In front of them are four unattached caissons. In the foreground are dismounted CSA cavalry skirmishing pose.
Case Review: These were all that were found in the two storage boxes recovered from the crime scene so far. The investigating team suspects there are significantly more situated throughout the entire location. Further investigation ongoing.
Cheers.
===========================
No comments:
Post a Comment