Rainbow Brigade, Ep. 5, Maryland my Maryland

[Snowygerry]

Finch will direct is rear line to take position on his now exposed left flank.

"Well here they come lads, .. wait for my command..."

As soon as the enemy is within optimal range Finch first line will open fire.

Second line stand by with fixed bayonets.

[Karri]

Orleans Blues occupies the sunken road and starts pouring fire at the enemy. If we are too hard pressed fall towards the high ground, to the hill just taken. Aim is to cause confusion among the three nearest yankee regiments, which seem to be in a traffic jam...

[Cheetah772]

Major Holden decides to risk it a bit, so he orders the Badgers to slow down its rate of rifle fire. Holden figures that the Yankee sharpshooters will take advantage of that by standing up and moving in to close on us, figuring that we must have run out of ammo. Hopefully they will take the bait and throwing the caution to the wind. The Badgers will lay low with rifles in hand, waiting until Yankee sharpshooters move within 500 meters. Holden will make sure all officers tell their men to stay low, no standing up all. Fire from couching or prone position. Holden will also tell officers to maintain their fire in sectors, targeting all Yankee officers once the smoke clears and visibility is good.

Major Holden knows it's a risky plan but he thinks they will move in anyway no matter how intense gunfire they are under, as might as well give them a bone to chew on while we surprise them with deadly volley of accurate rifle fire.

[TacCovert4]

I anticipate updating on Friday Night/Saturday Morning (Depending on call volume at work....if I find myself in a parking lot bored, it'll get done).

[Frtigern]

Well, since the Tigers came up here we will form up to the left of Bates in the sunken road and begin digging in with whatever we can. Our right flank is looking awfully open now. Hopefully, no Yankee cavalry doesn't exploit that.

Maj Leroy.

[Senorankka]

Due to Midsummer's Eve these orders are short.

-Tar Heels and Saddle Blazers form up and prepare for next charge.
-Blue Jackets, Tiger Rifles and Bates Irregulars defend their positions with Tiger Rifles and Blue Jackets ready to pivot into the side of the Yanks.
-Finch and Richter hold the center
-Green Jackets hold their part and prepare to support Richter if Yanks get too close.
-Holden keeps the attention of Yanks marksmen of 2nd USSS


After Yanks have made contact with our center, we are going to envelope them from two sides. Cavalry, Blues and Tigers from the left flank and Green Jackets from right flank. At this moment artillery will fire everything at the Yanks in the middle to break them.

[The Exorcist]

"Open fire, get everyone on the guns to speed up the rate of fire!"

After all this, what more need be said? Give 'em a few firecrackers before we switch to buckshot, just to keep 'em guessing.


And will somebody tell Finch to get back in the trenches? If the enemy start using shells on him its going to be ten times worse than being out in the open!

[TacCovert4]

September 17th, 0800hrs:

The Saddle Blazers and Tar Heels reorganize behind the lines, reloading their weapons and getting back in their respective units as they rest the mounts for a little bit. Blood is in Major Pruitt's eyes as he's ready to take on another Yankee force after his rousing success. Back on Nicodemus Hill, Gardner's battery continues to fire, a gesture which appears to register no immediate results among the disorganized yankees, and the one gun that fires back at him does so very very wide. Continued firing shows shells exploding in and among the remaining guns on the hill, and the Union gun crews firing back a desultory and ineffective return barrage. From his vantage it appears that one battery, likely Napoleons, has been reduced to unmanned guns. But Gardner can also see more horses cresting the lower hill, bringing up yet more guns.

Down on the southern flank of the line, the Badgers start to slack off their fire purposefully, laying prone and taking carefully placed shots as they duel with their opposite numbers. The result is quickly felt as the smoke clears somewhat off their position and the sharpshooters keep losing individuals picked off. Despite a numerical disadvantage, the exchange rate is in Holden's favor, though how long that will continue is obviously in question.

Bird's Green Jackets continue to hunker down, waiting the onrushing storm to get close before firing, Bvt. Lt. Col. Bird saying nothing as the Eastern Iron Brigade continues to close on them. Finally at just over a hundred yards, the junior officers start executing their jobs as they have been trained, and all down the sunken road fire belches from muzzles at the 84th NY infantry. The battle immediately heats up, with part of the 30th NY firing on the Green Jackets as well, and men start falling on both sides as the sunken road cannot provide perfect protection and the Green Jackets are standing firm and unleashing disciplined volleys.

Finch continues to stand behind their rude wall of brush and logs, waiting until the yankees are in the kill zone before they fire. Their position gives them an excellent shot directly into the sunken road, and it appears that their intent is to let the road be a charnel house. Of course Richter's battery is actually in the road, which complicates things.

Richter watches the Yankees closing and now orders his men to fire their howitzers at their most rapid rate. The 24th NY takes it on the chin as they fill the space directly to the battery's front. Case, shell, and finally a round of Canister are fired by the gunners, mauling that regiment, yet they refuse to flee and instead return fire against the busy gunners, downing a number of them. With the 22nd finally in optimal range, Finch orders his men to fire and the exchange begins on that sector of the line. The 22nd continues forward before returning fire, obviously seeking to flank Richter's Battery, but for the moment has to contend with Finch lest they be flanked themselves.

On Rainbow's Left flank, the Yankees finally get organized, and start to close at the double quick, forming a deep column on their extreme right as a 'masse de rupture'. Bates thinks he can see horses, the number implying artillery, moving onto the field behind them. As soon as they're in range, Bates Irregulars and the Blues open up. Moments later the Tiger Rifles, who had just jumped back into the road to dig in again, bring their own guns into action. Bluecoats fall and the Yankees fire a volley that mostly goes wide, with just a few irregulars falling. The Yankees have momentum, however, and with the onrush of regiments behind, they press closer and closer, speeding up to a run. Bates and Leroy both get off second shots, and the faster of Leroy's legendary troops manipulate their Dreyse rifles to get off a third before the Yankees hit all three units at the charge. One regiment practically evaporates under the fire, but there are two more behind it and no time to wear them out with firepower. Cold steel will be the judge on the Left.

With knives, cutlasses, pistols, and fixed bayonets, the Rainbow men take the Unionists head on in the fight for the sunken road. Men are dropping, bashed with rifle buts or skewered with bayonets, yet they hold, the skill and elan of the Tigers, who yearn for close combat, is evident in the center of this microcosm of a fight. Colonel Bates has a near encounter with a Yankee, before shooting him in the face, and Leroy earns his second, or is it third, wound while driving back two men about to breach the line. Captain Freeman will also have a scar this day, a bayonet into his forearm within the first moments of the melee as he leads his Blues. This is more a test of wills, the bodies pressed in the sunken road, both sides valiantly struggling to break the other, and mounted officers behind the Yankees pushing them onward.


https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Senorankka]

In the heat of battle Colonel Bates fires his revolver and cuts with his saber at the coming tide of Yankees. Managing to clear one man away from him, second nearly manages to skewer him with a bayonet, but his quick reactions save him from getting additional hole for ventilation.

Knowing that most of the Rainbow Brigade are doing their jobs right now and further orders to "continue fighting" would be redundant he sends only one order to Pruitt.

"Charge the forward and wheel into the Yank rear."

[Pruitt]

"I want a wedge formation! The Saddle Blazers will follow us in. Men we will go amongst them and chastise them! We will advance at the walk and then canter. We will hit their rear and roll them up! First shot with your carbines and then pull your pistols."

Major Pruitt, Tarheel Legion Cavalry

[Snowygerry]

Finch continues to stand behind their rude wall of brush and logs, waiting until the yankees are in the kill zone before they fire. Their position gives them an excellent shot directly into the sunken road, and it appears that their intent is to let the road be a charnel house.

Indeed - in fact he's overheard telling one captain,

"...we retreat when that ditch is so filled with corpses the enemy can drive a battery over it, but not one moment sooner..."

Of course Richter's battery is actually in the road, which complicates things..

True - but since it's very unlikely the enemy will be able to drag the guns from the sunken road while under fire, I think it's safe to leave them there as the gunners seek refuge with my unit.

Indeed they can protect their guns with fire, rather than with their bodies.

They can then reman them as the opportunity arises.

Continue under current orders.

[TacCovert4]

Quite.

Update planned for Wednesday morning, dark and early.

Some reminder notations: When a unit is in close combat or heavily engaged in a firefight, that player's character gets at least one 'injury' roll each update, modified against the unit's specials (for instance Leroy's unit is legendary with a melee specialty, so he has some positive modifiers to being injured in close combat). Also, a unit without orders will hold its position and will defend itself but will take no other actions.

[Pruitt]

Major Pruitt has one arm in a sling. I actually don't see him using his carbine. When he has to use his pistol he is holding his reins with his teeth! Most Infantry firing at a Cavalryman fire high, they should be firing at the horse. Nothing discourages the Cavalry more than having to walk. While they are on a horse they can retreat at will. Talking while having reins in the teeth is also hard.

Major Pruitt, Tarheel Legion Cavalry

[Karri]

The Orleans Blues is to gather all strength and push forwards, fire if there's anything left to fire with, use the bayonet and make sure the yankees don't have any chance to organise a line. Our only aim is to hold the enemy so tightly in close combat that our cavalry can charge freely.

EDIT:
OOC: Gardner's battery should take a few shots at the sharshooters so they wont end up turning our flank.

[T. A. Gardner]

If I stop counterbattery fire, you won't have artillery support.