The Battle of Baton Rouge 1862

The Set Up

CSS Arkansas

USS Essex

Opening Shots

Another Broadside

Scraping Past

Ouch!

Stuck Fast

I played the modified Dahlgren and Columbiad INWARD 2020 scenario with the lad this morning, with his command being the CSS Arkansas and mine the USS Essex. I'd re-jigged the scenario briefing to convert it into centimetre measurements for 1/2400th scale, to adjust the play area to the modular river terrain boards and to clarify the objectives for each side, but other than that it was identical. The CSS Arkansas had to escape down river while the USS Essex had to stop her. Simple, or so it seemed?

In the game, which we both really enjoyed, the CSS Arkansas managed to slip past the USS Essex despite having an engine breakdown in Turn Three which left her drifting down river toward the blockading Union fleet. This was exactly what happened in the actual engagement, so pretty accurate in historical terms: 

''On the morning of 6 August, Essex came in sight, and Arkansas moved into the stream to meet her. Just at this time, crank pins on both engines failed almost simultaneously, and Arkansas drifted helplessly to the shore''

She did suffer some light damage to her steering and some hull damage from the USS Essex's broadsides as they passed, but this was balanced by the Union ironclad's light damage from the aft 6.4'' Brooke rifles of the CSS Arkansas. The CSS Arkansas had also managed to point her bows directly downstream so had no worries about running into the shallows or going aground.

The crunch point came when the USS Essex attempted to turn in the river channel and promptly ran aground in the shallows, despite almost scraping through. She did manage to unstick herself but then proceeded to do it all over again on the opposite side of the river. The problem she faced was her low manoeuvre rating rather than the width of the river channel, which meant she could only turn in 30 degree increments. A double ender or sidewheeler would have had no problem, so the terrain did work despite my worries that it might be too restrictive.

The outcome of the battle was a clear Minor Victory for the CSS Arkansas, which was now adrift and floating downstream toward the rest of the Union river fleet. I'm pretty sure that Lieutenant Stevens would have decided to abandon ship and rig the CSS Arkansas for destruction, just as he did in the actual engagement, sending her drifting into the midst of the Union fleet where she promptly blew up in a spectacular explosion!