Battle of the Tennis Court
The second ACOTS convention was at Adelaide and hosted by Robert Bolton. The highlight for me was the wargame on his tennis court.
The Victorian 'amateur' visitors were designated the Confederates and the wargame experienced South Australians were the Federals. Competition was to be as fierce as any South Australian versus Victoria football match.
Roughly 2000 painted 1/32 figures were empoyed, beginning on a hot summer morning. On the Confederate side was lawyer, Alan Copsey, Paul Clarke, myself and a New South Welshman, Peter Macarthur. The Federals were commanded by Brenton Hoffman and Robert Bolton ( and some others I now forget). Figures were provided by Bob, Brenton, Paul and a small contingent from myself consisting primarily of Quantrill's Raiders. I commanded the cavalry.
Straw hats were very useful on that day but I wore my full Confederate uniform. For much of the day the role of the Confederate cavalry was to distract and annoy the enemy. But then there was the glorious charge. The federal commander had already wasted much of his cavalry when the Confederates charged. The Union's cavalry were outflanked by Quantrill's men who joined in the attack and vanquished the enemy.
Then there was the frontal cavalry charge across open ground on the Union guns. One might have expected another Balaclava but the Union's cannons either missed or misfired, and were captured.
Other things happened of course but it was the cavalry charge I remembered. The battle continued for hours until, at 5am the exhausted Union forces acknowledged defeat.
The Victorian 'amateur' visitors were designated the Confederates and the wargame experienced South Australians were the Federals. Competition was to be as fierce as any South Australian versus Victoria football match.
Roughly 2000 painted 1/32 figures were empoyed, beginning on a hot summer morning. On the Confederate side was lawyer, Alan Copsey, Paul Clarke, myself and a New South Welshman, Peter Macarthur. The Federals were commanded by Brenton Hoffman and Robert Bolton ( and some others I now forget). Figures were provided by Bob, Brenton, Paul and a small contingent from myself consisting primarily of Quantrill's Raiders. I commanded the cavalry.
Straw hats were very useful on that day but I wore my full Confederate uniform. For much of the day the role of the Confederate cavalry was to distract and annoy the enemy. But then there was the glorious charge. The federal commander had already wasted much of his cavalry when the Confederates charged. The Union's cavalry were outflanked by Quantrill's men who joined in the attack and vanquished the enemy.
Then there was the frontal cavalry charge across open ground on the Union guns. One might have expected another Balaclava but the Union's cannons either missed or misfired, and were captured.
Other things happened of course but it was the cavalry charge I remembered. The battle continued for hours until, at 5am the exhausted Union forces acknowledged defeat.
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