Also, remember too, the American Civil War was kind of the last Napoleonic style wars. Most of the Generals were schooled in the Napoleanic style of fighting, until horribly disabused by the heavy casualties those tactics produced.
Yes and NOT.
Yes, because ACW was kind of musket and sword style warfare in few things similar to Napoloenic style wars.
NOT, because ACW was c.a. 50 years later and it was quite different in many cases than NW.
During NW such things were characteristic:
- different national units organisation, where infantry and cavalry regiments included different numbers of battalions or squadrons and different numbers of companies and men strength
- more colourful uniforms and their facings, big variety of head wears and uniforms styles
- important role of elite troops as like grenadiers, voltigeurs, imperial guards
- French modelled battle columns, later also used by coalition forces
- bunch of infantry skirmishers screened own army, sought enemy positions, probed, provoked and weaken enemy units, tried kill officers and artillerymen, supported tight columns attacks etc
- 3-ranks infantry line formation used mainly for fire fights
- few systems of infantry fire which also included volleys delivered in shorter range
- infantry bayonets still played important role and were often attached to muskets
- infantry square formations were used defensively against cavalry
- many different types of cavalry as like carabineers, cuirassiers, heavy dragoons, dragoons, light dragoons, hussars, uhlans, lancers, cheavaulegers, chasseur a cheval, Landwehr, and national cavalry, Cossacks and irregular cavalry
- specialised role heavy, light, line and irregular cavalry
- cavalry had more important role and there were decisive massive cavalry charges
- cavalry used mainly cold steel arms and charged on horseback in melee
- fire arms cavalry used as supportive or individual defence or skirmish weapon
- main cavalry weapon were sabres, swords and lances
- many heavy cavalry units still used body armour and helmets
- solid balls and canisters were common artillery ammunition
- artillery howitzer and shell grenades were less common in use
- modernised ammunition were not so common yet
- more cannons and specific unicorns guns used in Russian artillery batteries
- specific, however very rare in use British rockets
- important role engineering troops as like sappers, miners, pioneers and pontoniers
- siege of permanent fortifications, fortresses and fortified towns required engineers troops
- horse train and no railroads transport
- many other things
These mentioned above things were not or could not be so similar during ACW, and however there still were used muzzle load muskets and artillery guns, as well as sabres and bayonets, it were used sometime differently.
During ACW we can saw that
- artillery shell grenades were more common in use than earlier
- cold steel arms, especially cavalry sabres, swords and lances were not so commonly used in battles
- cavalry was mainly supportive force, which sometime fought dismounted
- infantry more often used 2-ranks line formation
- infantry fire fights begins from longer ranges
- horse wagons as well as railroad transportation
- much less colourful as well less variety of uniforms
- some other specific things
Jack ”Wandering aimlessly about the Battlefield, grooving bad advice…” O’Neill B)
It looks that Jack really was grooving bad advice. B)
Downloaded demo on my old laptop. Started with version 1.1, it works and looks quite well and actually learn tutorials. Personally was not familiar with take command games style (shame on me) and need time to accustom or tame SoWG. But it looks that I am not so clever man or this game is too difficult and not handy in use. Now I am “wandering aimlessly about battlefield” trying lead and command units, and it can makes me nervous sometime.
There exist many glitches and poor things which also James Alllen mentioned in his very good written in Out of Eight review. He found there many strange and bad things, however at last he highly rated this game.
I still got mixed feelings, nevertheless I will try learn little bit more there.
