Wargaming Carolinas Coastal Operations, Part 1

Reading Secessionville: Assault On Charleston has reawakened my interest in the Coastal Operations of the Civil War, particularly Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition and the numerous Union efforts around Charleston. In this first part of “Wargaming Carolinas Coastal Operations”, I hope to give scenario designers some basic research materials that I have come across both in print and on the web. In future parts, I hope to cover games containing Coastal Carolinas scenarios already made either as mods or imbedded in the originals, and I also want to spotlight Rich White’s “company level” scenario system for HPS’ Campaign Corinth v1.01a (later versions do not allow modding efforts, unfortunately). Examples of scenarios using this system can be found on Rich White’s scenario page at the ACW Campaign Games Design Center. I think this scale is perfect for a lot of the smaller skirmishes andd fights which marked the operations in this area.

NOTE: The research list below is by no means comprehensive. If you know of other books, magazine articles, etc., please comment and list those sources.

Research Materials

Burnside’s 1862 North Carolina Expedition
1. A Succession of Honorable Victories: The Burnside Expedition In North Carolina by Richard A. Sauers
This book, published by Morningside Books but apparently no longer available directly from them, covers Burnside’s early 1862 expedition to the coast of North Carolina. Some of the Battles include Roanoke Island, New Bern, Fort Macon, and South Mills. Burnside made some definite inroads into coastal North Carolina.

2. The USAMHI Reference Bibliography for the Campaign
I usually go to the excellent USAMHI site when I want to see what’s available for a given campaign. The Word document above contains numerous books, papers, and articles dealing with Burnside’s Campaign

3. The Official Records
Volume IX, Chapter 20 – Operations in North Carolina. Jan. 11-Aug. 20, 1862.

The Campaigns Against Charleston, S.C.

1. Secessionville: Assault On Charleston by Patrick Brennan
As many of you reading this know, I’m in the middle of this book right now. Looking through the maps and judging by the narrative so far, it looks to be a pretty good assessment of this phase of the Battles against Charleston.

2. Gate of Hell: Campaign For Charleston Harbor, 1863 by Stephen R. Wise
I haven’t been able to obtain a copy of this book yet, but I hope to soon.

3. The Siege of Charleston 1861-1865 by E. Milby Burton
I don’t have a copy of this one either and I haven’t heard much about it. If anybody has the book and can tell me a little bit about it, I would greatly appreciate it.

4. Battery Wagner, The Siege, The Men Who Fought, and The Casualties by Timothy E. Bradshaw, Jr.
I only just found out about this book today. As the title indicates, it concentrates on the preliminary and main assaults at Battery Wagner.

5. The Civil War @ Charleston Web Site
This site has a tremendous amount of information on Charleston during the War, including the military operations against the city.

6. The USAMHI Reference Bibliography for the Reduction of Ft. Pulaski, GA
This concentrates only on the reduction of Fort Pulaski in late 1861, but it deals with many of the same troops and the same Union Blockading Squadron as the later Campaigns for Charleston.

7. The Army Official Records
Land Assaults Against Charleston
a. Volume VI, Chap 15 – Operations on the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Middle and East Florida. Aug 21, 1861-Apr 11, 1862
b. Volume XIV, Chap. 26 – Operations on the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Middle and East Florida. Apr 12, 1862-Jun 11, 1863
c. Volume XXVIII, Chap. 40, Part 1 – Operations on the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, an din Middle and East Florida. June 12-December 31, 1863 (Reports)
d. Volume XXVIII, Chap. 40, Part 2 – Operations on the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, and in Middle and East Florida. June 12-December 31, 1863 (Correspondence, etc.)
e. Volume XXXV, Chap 47, Part 1 – Operations in South Carolina and Florida, and on the Georgia Coast. January 1-November 13, 1864 (Reports, Union and Confederate Correspondence, etc.)
f. Volume XXXV, Chap 47, Part 2 – Operations in South Carolina and Florida, and on the Georgia Coast. January 1-November 13, 1864 (Union and Confederate Correspondence, etc.)

8. The Navy Official Records
Operations of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron
a. Volume 12
b. Volume 13
c. Volume 14
d. Volume 15
e. Volume 16

9. Sumter Is Avenged!: The Siege and Reduction of Ft. Pulaski by Herbert M. Schiller
Drew Wagenhoffer recommended this book to me regarding the reduction of Ft. Pulaski in late 1861.

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

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