April 30, 1864 – Union Fleet Escapes Red River Trap via “Bailey’s Dam”

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

April 30, 1864 – Union Fleet Escapes Red River Trap via “Bailey’s Dam”

Historical Event:   As if the Union campaign up the Red River had not been enough of a failure, falling waters trapped the fleet above the rapids at Alexandria.  Faced with the ignominious choice of either surrendering or scuttling the ships, Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter eagerly agreed to a scheme by a lieutenant colonel from the 4^th Wisconsin, Joseph Bailey, to build a dam to raise the river.  Construction began on April 30. While Bailey built his dam and its attendant structures, Porter’s sailors lightened their vessels by unshipping many of their heavy guns and even removing some of the armor from the ironclads.  Two weeks later, with Confederate troops fast approaching, most of the fleet managed to ride the rapids to safety before the dam collapsed.   Porter, saying he was done with rivers, sought and took command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Game Connection:  The Red River campaign is represented by a space on the map and a card played by the Confederates (CSN Card 76 – Red River Fiasco).  This is a design choice because few Union players would otherwise voluntarily commit such large forces, including their precious ironclads, to the complicated and highly problematic scheme concocted by Union General Henry Halleck.  Admiral Porter is also represented in the game, both as a stand-up leader and as a card (USN Card 2 – David Dixon Porter & His Little Mortar Boats).

March 12, 1864 – Red River Campaign: Disaster in the Making

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

March 12, 1864 – Red River Campaign: Disaster in the Making

Historical Event:  On March 12, 1864 a score of Union ironclads and gunboats began what would become an ill-fated campaign on Louisiana’s Red River.  Sailing in support of the invading army of General Nathaniel Banks, the fleet would eventually become trapped as water levels fell and Confederate resistance under Kirby Smith rose.  Only by dint of an engineering miracle that included the building of a dam would the fleet be saved.

Additional Event:  On this date in 1864 two blockade runners lowered their colors.   The sloop Persis surrendered to USS Massachusetts in Wassaw Sound, Georgia and the schooner Marion was captured by USS Arostook near Velasco, Texas.

Game Connection:  In Rebel Raiders on the High Seas, Blockade Runners like the Persis and Marion play a vital role in bringing in cargo to keep the South in the war.  To stop them the Union player deploys screw sloops, like the USS Massachusetts and gunboats, like the USS Arostook.  The sloops tend to stay offshore in the outer ring, while the gunboats patrol the blockade stations directly opposite the key Confederate ports.    While the above-named ships themselves are represented by generic ship counters of their type, many of their sister ships appear as named counters and on corresponding cards in Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

The Red River campaign is represented by a space on the map and a card played by the Confederates (CSN Card 76 – Red River Fiasco).  This is a design choice because few Union players would otherwise voluntarily commit such large forces, including their precious ironclads, to the complicated and highly problematic scheme concocted by Union General Henry Halleck.

January 2, 1864 – General Banks Aims For Galveston-Again

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

January 2, 1864 – General Banks Aims For Galveston-Again

Historical Event:  Galveston was the most important port in Texas, and the only port ever regained by the Confederates after its initial capture by the Union.  In December 1863 General Nathaniel Banks decided to try and get it back, and launched a campaign on the Texas coast.  His combined army-navy task force managed to Fort Esperanza at the entrance to Matagorda Bay on December 30,  and then proceeded to occupy other key positions controlling the inlets and passes from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande.  On January 2 Banks began his march toward Galveston – but never quite got there, as he was recalled by General Henry Halleck with orders to instead prepare for a major offensive up the Red River in the spring.

Game Connection:   Galveston is a key port for the Confederates in Rebel Raiders on the High Seas, just as it was during the Civil War.  It is made even more valuable if the Maximillian Card (CSN Card 61) is in play, as that card not only places a blockade runner free of charge in nearby Vera Cruz during each Confederate turn in which the card remains in play but also provides a die roll modifier for the Confederate Supply roll for Galveston and each of three other ports in the west that are in Rebel hands.  Taking Galveston not only cuts off all of those benefits, it also counts as a city toward victory for the North and means there is one less port for the Union Navy to guard in the Western Gulf.

The fated expedition up the Red River is also represented in the game through play of Confederate Card 76 (Red River Fiasco) which requires the Union to remove pieces from the map, place them on the card and roll for their possible destruction.