Union Recruitment 1861 Campaign

[Didz]

I've been prepping to plan my recruitment strategy for my US 1861 campaign in readiness for the outbreak of war.

I've pretty much decided to go with the 'State Militia' approach raising small volunteer units for local defence and training. But I'm looking to make it as authentic and interesting as possible,

So, I'm interested in any sources that list historical arrangements e.g. names of units, size of forces, uniforms, that sort of thing.

I have Katcher's Civil War Source book which has some information like the uniform colours of the various state militia's (Page 155) and it has quiet a detailed chapter on the various types of Regiments fielded by the Union Army. But is bit vague about the process of recruitment and training and what if anything these training organisations were called.

Any help would be appreciated (I've exhausted Google and come up blank)

I notice that Fail_Knight has produced a really nice OOB Guide which I'll probably use for reference and GreatScot has done a whole video on 'Minimalist Recruitment Structures' for optimised small Corps which looks interesting if a bit gamey.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2329673172

[Didz]

Browsing 'Google' the other night I cane across various lists of Union units from the ACW which in and of themselves were interesting but not that useful as the game uses Brigades as the basic unit of recruitment whilst the lists tended to focus on Regiments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Army_Divisions,_Departments_and_Districts
However, on thing I did notice is that the Union tended not to use the term 'State' in their organisation terminology but instead used 'Department'. So, instead of 'New York State Mililtia' one tends to see 'Department of New York Militia' suggesting to me that there was a direct connection between this organisation and the civil and political administration. Perhaps not unlike the way the British kept aclear distinction between their Army of Defence, which was a civil organisation commanded by the local political and civil authorities and the Military Army commanded by the War Office. They were kept separate primarily to limit the risk of the army becoming too all powerful and taking over the country.l But in this instance giving control to local politicians also would have given them the power to influence the allocation of command and the formation of new units to ensure that their political allies got the benefits of new commissions etc. A bot like the 'Crimping Scams' that plague the British army of the time.

Nevertheless, history aside, it means my recruitment armies will probably be called after the civil Departments that administer them rather than the states where they are raised.

Also, for practical gaming purposes it will make sense at least in the early campaign if each is a combined arms force. (Horse, Foot, Guns) if only to provide a good synergy with the various available officer specialities.

The Rule Of Four.

This is a rule I picked up somewhere along the way and can't exactly remember where it came from. I think it must have been mentioned by GreatScott during his video on minimalist OOBs.

But basically the rule is that all other things being equal this game is designed to favour OOBs that contain four sub-divisions.. e.g. A Division with four Brigades, A Corps with four Divisions, and Army with four Corps.

As I recall this has something to do with Officer efficiency and maximising officer experience. But as Fail_knight says in his description of 'The Square Dvision' it also has the advantage of tactical flexibility/ A Division with four Brigades can refuse both its flanks without compromising its front, and actually form square if needs demand it.

So, that sounds like a plan then.

[crono900]

First, I've never heard that about them calling it 'Department of New York Militia'. I've always found it listed and called 'New York State Militia' or 'New York Militia'. Using your example of course. Do you have any references to back that up? I'm curious on learning more about it,

From my knowledge, Departments were equivalent to Division to Corps level, but in charge of regions that usually consisted of multiple states, but they often changed designations. Militias were state guards, guarding against dangerous threat to cities, towns, and homesteads in their state, kind of like state troopers now-a-day. When the war broke out many state militias were essentially drafted to join the war as they were required to follow the department their state was in until their contracts were up. With few exception, they'd primarily join the side that their home state supported most.

p.s. Here are some sites you might enjoy for a good read.
http://civilwarlibrary.org/civil-war-manuals.html (Lots of different manuals of the time)
https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/civil-war-military-organization.html
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA313032.pdf (I found this article very interesting and it comes with references for proof)
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8FEkwTZd9FMC (This is Gibbon's Artillery Manual)
(I've verified the links work)

Back to the game.
As for Regiment Level play. That is one of the features with the DLC. Not only can you play a Career Mode, but you can also play a Regiment level, Eastern Theater campaign.

[Didz]

Originally posted by crono900:

First, I've never heard that about them calling it 'Department of New York Militia'. I've always found it listed and called 'New York State Militia' or 'New York Militia'. Using your example of course. Do you have any references to back that up? I'm curious on learning more about it,

Yes! I included a link in my earlier post.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Army_Divisions,_Departments_and_Districts

Basically, I was searching google for the names of US Recruitment Organisations in 1861 and found a wiki that listed them all.

1861

Eastern Theater

• Department of the East, to August 17, 1861 (Discontinued)
  
• Department of Washington, April 9, 1861 - July 25, 1861 (Merged into Military
• District of the Potomac)
  
• Department of Pennsylvania, April 27, 1861 - July 25, 1861 (Merged into
• Department of the Potomac)
  
• Department of Annapolis, April 27, 1861, - July 19, 1861; renamed Department of Maryland, July 19, 1861 - July 25, 1861, (Merged into Dept. of Pennsylvania)
  
• Department of Virginia, May, 1861 - July 15. 1863 (Merged into Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina)
  
• Department of Northeastern Virginia, May 27, 1861 – July 25, 1861 (Merged into the Military District of the Potomac)
  
• Department of the Shenandoah July 19, 1861 - August 17, 1861 (Merged into the
• Department of the Potomac)
  
• Military District of the Potomac July 25 - August 15, 1861: renamed Department and Army of the Potomac, August 15, 1861 - June 27, 1865
  
• Coast Division, 1861–62
  
• Dix's Division, 1861–62
  
• Department of New England, Oct 1, 1861 - February 20, 1862. (Discontinued)
  
• Department of New York, October 26, 1861 - January 3, 1863 (Merged into Department of the East)
  
• Department of the Rappahannock, April 4, 1862 - June 26, 1862 (Merged into the Army of Virginia)
  
• Mountain Department, March 11, 1862 - June 26, 1862 (Merged into the Army of Virginia)
  

  Lower Seaboard Theater

• Department of Florida, Apr. 13, 1861 - March 15, 1862 (Merged into Department of the South)
  
• South Carolina Expeditionary Corps, October 1861 - April 1862
  

  Western Theater

• Department of the Cumberland, September–November 1861; Army of the Ohio, 1861 - October 24, 1862 (Renamed (Army of the Cumberland)
  
• Department of the Ohio and Department of the Ohio (Louisville), May 3, 1861 - March 11, 1862 (dissolved and merged into the Department of the Mississippi and the Mountain Department)
  
• Army of Occupation of Western Virginia, June 14 - September 19, 1861
  
• Department of Kentucky, May 28, 1861 - August 15, 1861 (Merged into the Dept. of the Cumberland)
  
• Department of Western Virginia, October 11, 1861 - March 11, 1862. (Merged into Mountain Department)
  
• District of the Kanawha, 1861-62 (Merged into Mountain Department)
  
• Railroad District, 1861–62
  
• Camp Carlisle, VA, later renamed Camp Willey, WV, 1861–64
  
• Post at Grafton, WV, 1862
  
• Post at Point Pleasant, WV, 1862
  

  Trans-Mississippi Theater

• Department of the West, to July 3, 1861 (merged into the Western Department)
  
• Army of the West , July 2 - August 10, 1861
  
• Western Department, July 3 - November 9, 1861
  
• Kansas Brigade, 1861
  
• Army of the West, July 2 - August 10, 1861
  
• Western Army, September 14 - October 24, 1861
  
• Department of the Missouri, November 9, 1861–62
  
• District of Cairo, 1861–62
  
• District of Southeast Missouri, 1861
  
• District of Central Missouri, 1861–65
  
• Southwestern District, 1861–62
  
• St. Louis District, 1861–65
  
• Army of the West, 1861
  
• Department of Kansas, November 9, 1861–65
  
• Department of New Mexico, to July 3, 1861, (merged into Western Department); Restored November 9, 1861 - June 27, 1865
  
• post at Albuquerque, NM, - 1865
  
• District of Santa Fe, 1861–62
  
• Eastern District of New Mexico, 1861–62
  
• Southern District of New Mexico, 1861–62
  

  Pacific Theater

• Pacific Department, January 15, 1861 - July 27, 1865
  
• District of California, January 15, 1861–64
  
• District of Oregon, January 15, 1861- July 27, 1865
  
• District of Southern California, September 25, 1861 - July 27, 1865
  
• California Volunteers, August 1861 - 1866
  
• Column from California, December 9, 1861–62
  
• District of Humboldt, December 12, 1861 - 1869

I wasn't really interested in the names of the individual militia or volunteer units as the game doesn't actually model those. I was more interested in the Army Level organisations that were used to administer their recruitment, equipment and training.

What I need to do now is work out how to create these organisations where they ought to be located. At the moment the game seems to have a mind of its own and when you click on 'Create Army' it creates an army where it thinks you need one rather than where you want it.

But I'm sure there must be a way of specifying that you want the 'Department of New York' formed in New York.

[Didz]

First Volunteers Are Raised By The Union

So, this is my first attempt at raising any troops for my campaign and I'm slightly puzzled at how it worked out as my intention was to raise aCorps of New York Volunteers in New York. Which already has a local supply depot.

But the AI had other ideas.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354073007
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354073566
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354073874
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354074470
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354074826

So, I have successfully formed the Department of New York's Volunteer Corps under command of Major General Hooker. and consisting of four New York State Militia Infantry Brigades, four New York State Militia Cavalry Brigades and four New York State Militia Artillery Regiments.

I was a bit disappointing that the game chose to form the Corps in Syracuse NY, asI had intended to locate it in New York itself, But presumably I can move it later if I wish and I checked the Game Manual and it does say that the game will choose which town it places a new Army within the selected State, and Syracuse is in the State of New York. So, I guess I just have to lump it.

I was a bit uncertain about recruiting foot artillery, the recommendation was to go for Horse Artillery. But I need more experience to start recruiting horse artillery apparently, and it's too early in the game.

So, now it's a case of sorting out equipment and selecting the best officers for the Corps Training.

[crono900]

So if an HQ does not have any units below it when you leave the Army management screen then it gets disbanded upon leaving. This include Armies, Corps, and Division HQs.

[crono900]

It would be great to be able to select the origin city of the newly formed army/corps, but that is not an available feature.

EDIT: The easiest one to army/corps to build and know where it will end up is D.C. as it only has the one location in it's territory.

[Didz]

Originally posted by crono900:

It would be great to be able to select the origin city of the newly formed army/corps, but that is not an available feature.

Well at least you can choose what State it is formed in.

I started with New York simply because it had the largest number of volunteers available,

[crono900]

The thing with foot artillery as I had mentioned in a previous post is that it has more guns (6 instead of 4 max before reform) and the guns that can be equipped are heavier duty (1000lb+ size vs the Horse artillery's lighter guns)

An example would be the Howitzers. for a pre-reform units, with Foot Artillery you can have 6 12pdr or 24pdr Howitzers max. Horse Artillery on the other hand can only have 4 12pdr Howitzers as they rely on lighter guns for quick repositioning.

[Didz]

Most of the Batteries/Regiments of artillery I'm recruiting seem to be armed with 6pdrs by default, I've raised two volunteer Corps so far in New York and Ohio which were the two states with the highest number of volunteers, but only New York managed to raise a full force of 4 x Foot, 4 x Cav. and 4 x Guns.

Apart from manpower the biggest problem seems to be officers. They seem few and far between and I've given up trying to find good replacements for the initial appointments.

I suspect its just too early to expect much.

I've saved and quit for the minute as I want to check a few more guides and videos before I commit myself too far. So, at the minute I have two recruit and training organisations in Syracuse NY and Toledo OH.

[Didz]

In For A Penny, In For A Pound

Well I started forming my Departments last night and have completed the 'Department of New York' and the 'Department of Ohio' which are the two Union States with the highest number of volunteers.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354372074
The plan is to work down the list and create a'Department' in every state which has a minimum of 1,500 volunteers. That's enough to form a very weak Division of State Militia, e.g. 2 x Brigades of 750 volunteers each.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354374376
Quite what happens next remains a bit of a mystery to me.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354379607
I haven't unlocked the 'Militia Acts' yet, so I'm assuming these volunteers are only signing up for three months service. Which means I could be shooting myself in the foot by giving them all arms and training only to have them disappear later in the year. But from what I've read that is exactly the problem the Union had in the early days of the war, so at least I'm worrying about the right things.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3354385077
I'm also really confused about the Union Officer Corps, e.g. I don't seem to have many and all my best officers seem to be Captains. So, I've virtually given up trying to find decent officers to manage the training and administration of my Departments, and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that better officers will come forward once the war starts. Meanwhile, I'm just hoping that those officers who have been given commands in the Departments will at least gain some experience of Leadership and Administration even if the volunteers they are practising on don't stay in the militia very long.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355041984
Swapping Officers around seems awkward and I'm not sure if I can do it. I know you can Replace Officers, but the choice of replacements is a bit limited. However, I do have a number of instances where the AI has appointed commanders to Brigades and Divisions who don't match the specialities of the troops they command. e.g. Infantry Experts commanding Cavalry Brigades and vice versa. But I'm not sure how to swap them around. I think I can only replace them, and then hopefully use them as a replacement. But I'm worried if I remove them from their command that they will either disappear (Wander off in a huff at the insult), or perhaps suffer some sort of penalty for being sacked from their post that ruins their stats.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355048408
This is similar to my concerns about placing Captains in charge of Divisions. They may be good captains but the manual says they lose experience by being promoted. So, a good captain may end up being a lousy Major-General. I'm not even sure why I have so many Captains anyway when the smallest unit in the game is a Brigade.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355055769
So, overall I've adopted a hands off approach for the time being and let the local political situation choose my commanders (The AI). Hopefully, I'll be able to intervene once I know what I'm doing and have a bit more choice.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355063434

The Long Term Plan

'The Long term Plan' may be wishful thinking as war could erupt within a few weeks if the Rebs attack Fort Sumter, and I have no idea what happens when it does. I've been watching quite a few video's from VTH Gaming's Union Campaign Play-through and it looks as though as soon as the war starts you get the nucleus of an army magically appear, at least that's my impression.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355069454
If so, then I should have something to play with in terms of Armies, Divisions, Brigades and Officers and can hopefully start moving things around.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355075243
The general strategy will be to use the Departments as recruitment pools for newly formed units. So, I form the volunteers into Brigades, Divisions and eventually Corps within the Departments. Let them recruit and train as militia volunteers and then transfer whole Brigades, Divisions and Corps to the front line armies when they are needed.
I suspect it's not going to be as clear cut as that though and I can envisage that in some cases a 'Department' will simply get renamed and become an 'Army'. But we shall see.

Likewise, basing 'Departments' on 'States' may not work as a long term strategy as some States simply don't have enough volunteers to support their own militia. So, i imagine that at some point 'Departments' will be merged and renamed just as they were historically and I may end up with fewer, larger, combined 'Departments' like the 'Department if the East' and the 'Department of the West' etc. Only time will tell.

I'm hoping Officers will gain at least some experience from serving in these departments, and at least get used to commanding men before having to go into battle. But again I'm working on logic here rather than knowledge of how the game works.

[Castiel]

I make the departments more regional. Like the Dept of the Mid Atlantic, Dept of the Mid West. Dept of New England.

[Didz]

Originally posted by Castiel:

I make the departments more regional. Like the Dept of the Mid Atlantic, Dept of the Mid West. Dept of New England.

Yes! I suspect that's what I'll end up doing eventually as it makes sense and it seems to mirror what happened historically. But for the moment I'm sticking to the State Militia concept, where each state is mobilising its volunteers and appointing new officers to command them. So, a lot of political appointments are being made in these new formations.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355087701
It also has the bonus that as all the units are from the local state militia I get a legitimate excuse to play with the uniform painter to make sure every state militia unit is wearing the correct state colours.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355092426
Once they begin being merged into larger formations it will add a bit of variety to the battlefields.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355097824
Rather unfortunately this comes to a total of 13 x Departments which may be unlucky but there are insufficient volunteers to form another one and we have 38,411 men under arms.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355100648

[Castiel]

SPI/Decision Games War between the States used the Department system to place newly constructed units. You put a new unit in each department. You and I are doing the same thing pretty much.

[Didz]

Let's hope it works. I'm really just following logic and keeping my fingers crossed it works.

[Scotters]

This is a really cool!