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I was delighted to discover that the iron spoken of in the Richmond Enquirer came from the Cloverdale Mine in Botetourt County. I grew up less than five miles from the area.

Patrick

Issue 12, Mid-October 1861. I are getting close to the date where Forge of Freedom will decide history.

Patrick

This is the last issue before Forge of Freedom kicks in.
I hope you have enjoyed the actual news reports from 1861 Richmond.
I will try to include some in my future issues if practical.

Patrick

ORIGINAL: pjwheeling

I'm glad there are still people reading it.

Patrick

Yes I do! Reading the Jeff Davis Adress one can clearly see the war of the 1860s is not about a nation beeing divided, its about a nation of its own fighting to break free.

I should have a new issue from The Richmond Confederate coming in about two more days. I played my 1st two weeks and had alot of action. Three battles right off the bat. Beginning with the next issue, The Richmond Confederate will be issued on a weekly basis instead of bi-weekly for the remainder of the War.[:)]

Patrick

You capture the flavour of the era quite well I think.  Looking forward to future editions.
 
Chris

This is the 1st of two issues with results from early November, 1861.
The difficulty setting is First Sergeant. To account for the Confederate government's decision to pursue a strategy of strengthening industrialization, (discussion began soon after the Battle of Manassas, see Issue #8) I have added 5% to the Confederate currency and 10% to iron manufacturing to begin the game. Perhaps the iron sounds like alot, but it really isn't when you consider how low it is to begin with. The Union is still higher in every resource except horses, and still much higher in currency. I discovered Forge of Freedom late in the game, summer of 2008, and have played through it only once, so I am still a bit of a novice. There will be no predetermined results, so I may get whooped. My first battle, as you can see, went well. However, the 2nd and 3rd which will be in the next issue were not quite so successful.

Patrick

You might notice that I use a few of terje439's tips in "So you want to bring glory to the South?" [:'(] I included some statistics in this issue. I will do that at the end of each turn, which amounts to every other issue.

Patrick

Issue #16. No Union offenses. Must be Winter setting in.
I included more Richmond newspaper articles and a mini-bio of the Confederate Chaplain.

Patrick

Issue #17. The story about the fire made me chuckle. Those Yankee prisoners are quite mischevious. Maybe I shouldn't try to capture any more Yankee regiments. I'm not sure if the rabble can be kept under control. LOL

Patrick

It's been a few days since I have made a post. I have been visiting a close friend who lives in Middleburg, Pa., which is less tham an hour north- northwest of Harrisburg, Pa.
Since I live in Lynchburg, Va., I pick up Interstate 81 North at Staunton, Va. and follow it north to Harrisburg. This stretch of highway is a Civil War fanatics dream. It goes right up the Shenandoah Valley, thru places like Strasburg, New Market, Winchester; There is Stonewall Jackson's HQ, The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Cedar Creek Battlefield, just to name a few. As you get farther north there are exits to Harpers Ferry and Antietam, then in Pennsylvania there is Chambersburg, which the Confederates burned; From there it is only 30 miles to Gettysburg, and then up to Harrisburg, Pa.

Many of you may not be aware of this, but there is a new national Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pa. I visited it last summer and it is a nice Museum. It is still new and they are expanding the number of exhibits each year. It's worth a trip if you are near the area.
I have attached the link here www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.com

Patrick

I should have mentioned that Lexington, Va. is also on Interstate 81, just 35 miles south of Staunton, Va.

Some of the attractions there is Stonewall Jackson's home and Memorial Cemetery; Virginia Military Institute, where Jackson taught and Washington and Lee University, which was called Washington College when Robert E. Lee became it's President until he died in 1870. Also, on the campus of W&L, there is the Lee Chapel and Museum, where Lee is buried.

As I said before, this stretch of Interstate 81 is a Civil War buff's dream.
It's all within just a few hundred miles of each other along the route.
Might make a great week of vacation for someone.

Patrick

Issue #18. The battlefields remain quiet. I have an opportunity to get more guns to the armies and expand the infrastructure a little. I'm taking additional regions in Missouri, hoping to widen the front in the Western Theatre.

Patrick

Issue #19

I'm going to have to attack that Union army encircling Fort DeRussy or I'm going to lose two full regiments. The Army of Mississippi, I'm afraid, is not up to the task; but we'll see.

Patrick

Issue #20

I'm disappointed that the Army of Mississippi did not move north to challenge the siege.
I moved Bragg's Division north to cover the western part of Tennessee, because I expected the Army of Mississippi to be already move on north. Bragg moved first and I guess that threw the AOM off. So that's my mistake. I have a new plan for the next turn.

Patrick

Issue #21, the last of 1861.

Patrick

For Volume II, Issue 1, I decided to go with a two week report rather than two, one week reports. I will probably do that it in the winter months, and go back to reports for every week once the fighting begins again.

Patrick

Volume 2, Issue 2

I should have destroyed that fort in the 1st turn of the game.
Those garrisons are now armed with decent weapons and moving to divisions.
More of Missouri is now in Confederate control. I'm hoping to divert some of the Union divisions away from the eastern theatre.

Patrick

Volume 2, Issue 3

My Partisan unit was destroyed at the Central Mississippi River area.
However, the Partisan and Raider units together caused 40 damage to the Union economy.
You will notice that I bought a 12 lb. Howitzer for an artillery brigade. They were carrying a 6 lb. Howitzer.

Patrick

Volume 2, Issue 4

I am currently building Siege Artillery and plan to add gunboats.
If I can survive out west until the artillery is complete, I plan to do some besieging of my own.

Patrick