The Battle of
Bull Run / Manassas
Scenario for Command Combat: Civil War
“The enemy has assailed my outposts in heavy force.  I have fallen back on the line of Bull
Run and will make a stand at Mitchell’s Ford.”

- General P.G.T. Beauregard, July 17, 1861
In July of 1861, Lincoln determined that it was time to put an end to the rebellion.  McDowell, the general in charge of Union forces in Washington, insisted that the men needed more time and more training.  Lincoln, however, did not have that luxury.  Many
of the volunteers had signed up for three month enlistments, which were running out soon, and the US treasury was running low.  They had to resolve the issue one way or the other.  “You are green, that is true,” Lincoln said in response to McDowell’s requests, “but they are green as well.  You are all green alike.”
With that, McDowell marched his Army of Northeastern Virginia, approximately 35,000 strong, southward toward a railroad hub called Manassas where a line of Confederates, about 20,000 strong, waited behind a deep, winding creek known as Bull Run, under the command of P.G.T. Beauregard.  Outnumbered and outgunned, Beauregard is counting on Johnston to get there by rail with his 12,000 men.
McDowell began the battle by feinting further to the south, then crossing the creek at the north.  The plan worked, and he got across the creek safely, marching down to face the few Confederate brigades holding the bridges and fords.  Beauregard is racing north along the roads to stop them.
The pressure is on for both sides.  The Confederates are fighting for their very existence, while McDowell is being watched by statesmen and other civilians who have traveled from Washington with picnic baskets to watch the battle.
The illustration below shows the layout of the battle of Bull Run, where units are placed, and where they enter, as well as the point values of various parts of the map.
Divisions may enter under any order color the player’s desire, and when the division generals come within 15” of their brigades that are already on the table, those brigades immediately come under that general’s order color.
Players get the points for the objectives if they have any unit within 12” of them and the enemy has none within 12” of them at the end of the game.
CONFEDERATE ORDER OF BATTLE
FIRST DIVISION

General PGT Beauregard
Initiative: 2
Leadership: 3
Damage: 60%
Special: Master of artillery.  All artillery can support any brigade without being attached to them.

1st Brigade (Bonham)
5 infantry stands
Green
Special: Blue coats.  Once during the battle, this unit can elect to not be fired upon for a single turn.  The unit must have fired during the fire phase to do this.  If this is done, remove the
firepower die from in front of this unit.

2nd Brigade:
Ewell
3 infantry stands
Standard

3rd Brigade
D.R. Jones
4 infantry stands
Green

4th Brigade
James Longstreet
4 infantry stands
Standard
Special: (Blue order) Cautious.  Moves -1 inch.  Reduce the firepower by 1 before taking damage.

5th Brigade
P. St. George Cocke
6 infantry stands
Green

6th Brigade
J.A. Early
4 infantry stands
Standard

Reserve Brigade:
Evans
3 infantry stands
Standard

Reserve Artillery (Place together, or spread out among infantry brigades:)
4 artillery stands (2 smoothbore, 2 rifled)
Green
SECOND DIVISION

General Joseph E. Johnston
Initiative: 1
Leadership: 5
Morale check: 20%
Special: Red order - Rebel yell.  Any unit charged by a brigade using the rebel yell has 1 added to their morale marker.

1st Brigade:
T.J. Jackson
4 infantry stands
Standard
1 artillery stand (smoothbore)
Green
Special: Blue order - Stone wall.  Reduce the morale marker by half (rounded down) every turn after all other morale alterations have been made, and before rolling for the brigade’s
morale.

2nd Brigade:
F.S. Bartow
5 infantry stands
Green
1 artillery stand (smoothbore)
Green

3rd Brigade:
B.E. Bee
5 infantry stands
Green
1 artillery stand (smoothbore)
Green

4th Brigade:
A. Elzey
4 infantry stands
Green
1 artillery stand (smoothbore)
Green

5th Brigade:
Kirby Smith
3 infantry stands
Standard

6th Brigade
Joseph Kershaw
4 infantry stands
Green

Cavalry:
JEB Stuart
4 cavalry stands
Standard
Special: “Lay down yer weapons.”  When any of Stuart’s brigade begins the command phase within 2” of an enemy unit, it may attempt to force the enemy unit to surrender. Roll the die.  On a 1-4, Stuart’s cavalry succeeds and the opponent removes a full stand.  The stand can be half strength if that is the closest unit to Stuart’s cavalry, but it must be a stand.  This does not leave a death marker on the table, and it may be done any number of times during the game, but only once per turn.  Note: This ability may not be played if any enemy general is within 2” of the target unit.
CORPS COMMAND

General Irvin McDowell
Initiative: 1
Leadership: 2
Damage: 30%
Special: “You are all green alike.”  Units add 1 to their charge distance.  Units rout on a failure of 5 or more instead of 6 or more.
FIRST DIVISION

General Daniel Tyler
Initiative: 1
Leadership: 2
Special: Souvenirs.  Units under Taylor stop for souvenirs when they pass dead bodies.  Every time they pass Confederate dead markers, Taylor's men get -1 to their movement.

1st Brigade:
E.D. Keys
5 infantry stands
Green

2nd Brigade:
R.C. Schenck
4 infantry stands
Green
2 artillery stands (smoothbore)
Green

3rd Brigade:
W.T. Sherman
6 infantry stands
Standard
2 artillery stands (rifled)
Standard
Special: Terrain savvy.
This brigade loses only
half the movement it
would normally lose when
slowed.  For instance, if the
brigade would lose 3” of
movement due to terrain, it
loses only 1 1/2”.

4th Brigade:
I.B. Richardson
5 infantry stands
2 artillery stands (rifled)
Green
SECOND DIVISION

General David Hunter
Initiative: 1
Leadership: 2

1st Brigade:
Porter
7 infantry stands
Green
1 artillery stand (rifled)
Standard

2nd Brigade:
A.E. Burnside
7 infantry stands
Green

Cavalry Brigade
3 cavalry stands
Green
THIRD DIVISION

General S.P. Heintzelman
Initiative: 1
Leadership: 3

1st Brigade:
W.B. Franklin
4 infantry stands
Green
2 artillery stands (rifled)
Veteran

2nd Brigade:
O.B. Willcox
5 infantry stands
Standard
1 artillery stand (smoothbore)
Green
Special: Prone.  This brigade may fire at a -1 when prone instead of the standard 1 point max.

3rd Brigade:
O.O. Howard
5 infantry stands
Green
Special Rules:

Civilians:
Place several civilian markers somewhere along the top right corner of the map.  This represents picnickers who have come down from Washington to watch the fight.  Any Union unit who routs through this point in the first five turns of the game is only off the table for two turns, then may return.  The Confederate player gets one bonus point for every unit brigade who routs off this part of the table.

Artillery:
Artillerists had not gotten very good at spiking their cannons before the enemy could capture them by this point.  Therefore, instead of taking artillery for points, a player who captures artillery may place his own green artillery unit in its place and use it to fire on the enemy.

Jefferson Davis:
Jefferson Davis actually showed up to the Battle of Bull Run/Manassas just as it was ending.  If the battle lasts longer, he can have a significant effect on it.  Davis arrives as a corps commander from the bottom left corner along the road on turn 15.  He becomes the corps commander for the Confederates with an initiative of 1 and a leadership of 5.
UNION ORDER OF BATTLE
* Note: Those who have a copy of the rules will notice that the cavalry in the second division is listed with the second brigade.  Historically, the cavalry was with the second division, but in the game, they should be given a separate brigade because of the game mechanics.
The pictures below have been taken during games of the Battle of Bull Run/Manassas using the Command Combat: Civil War rules.  If you have pictures of this scenario playing with the Command Combat Rules, send them to:

jeff@commandcombat.com