American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

<i>Murfreesboro, Tennessee, December 30, 1862: The 43,000 men of General William Starke Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland face the 38,000 Confederate soldiers of General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. It has been a dismal month for the Union. In the east, the Army of the Potomac has suffered a devastating defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia; in the west, Grant has failed yet again to reach the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Emancipation Proclamation will go into effect on New Year's Day, but after the disasters of December it seems less the assertion of a great moral imperative than a desperate attempt to shore up a crumbling cause. To save the Union, Rosecrans must engage Bragg and win.

But matters of grand strategy and statecraft are distant things to the men of the armies as they shiver in the chill evening along the banks of Stones River. The bands of both armies play, trying to lift the spirits of the men. The Rebels roll through "Dixie," which brings the response of "Yankee Doodle." Echoes of the last measure of "Hail Columbia" are drowned by "The Bonnie Blue Flag." A band somewhere out beyond the Yankee center begins a tune beloved in both armies. A Rebel band takes it up and from there the music spreads until a hundred bands join the concert. The singing follows, sweeping in a gradual swell until eighty thousand men--the largest chorus in history--join together in "Home Sweet Home."</i>

During this special season of the year, let us not forget our brave soldiers on distant shores, who serve so that we can remain free. May God bless them, and us.

Merry Christmas.

Formerly
Col. Charles S. Hayes
Copperheads Brigade
2nd Division
1st Corps
AoA

Here, here.

LtG. J. Cuneo, CSA
Commanding, Army of Alabama


"I have seen the faces of men, who had dared death so often, it lost its' terror." -J.S. Mosby

To all soldiers past and present who have served with Honor. I spent many a Christmas away in the past, and 15 years ago I was in the Desert. Now my Son is in the Desert, it's funny how fate hits ya. Thanks to all who give their prayers to our soldiers, I know my prayers will always be with them. While I am a Reb in the Club, and look up to the likes of Lee, my son seems to Hold Chamberlin as his Hero [:0][:D] I told him at least he did pick a desent Yank to look up to. Duty, Honor and Country, three very good watch words. SALUTE!

GEN. Tony Malone
Commander Army of Mississippi
"Do your duty in all things, You can never do more, You should never wish to do less".

Gentlemen,

I am sure I speak for all soldiers the world over when I say THANK YOU. When we are far from home its good to know that we are thought of. Many times the only thing we hear from home are the headlines and outrage of the people we are serving about the job we are doing.
I hope you all will remember and remind those that complain about our Military that we are soldiers on the "Front of Freedom" and we give them the right to complain about US.

Dan

Colonel D.H. Smith
3rd Cavalry Divison,III Corps,AoA

http://users.adelphia.net/~sapper99/index.htm

Hey Dan,
THANK YOU. Know how you and the countless other servicemen and women feel. Being a retired Navy Seabee and a Vietnam Vet. coming back from a deployment in Nam and being called names murders, baby killers etc. and most of our jobs over there was construction, road building, fire base construction, air bases, civic action (school building, hospital repairs etc), giving heck to the marines[:p]and fleet sailors, bubbleheads (Submarines). But most of all sneaking,[;)] barrowing all of the beer from the AirForce yuppies[^] . Again thanks.

Lt. Col. Gery Bastiani
Fightin' Carolinians
II/2/4 AotM CSA

I hope this election is a turning point and all our people can come home soon, but no matter what, we need to be behind our service people and support them till the end.

GEN. Tony Malone
Commander Army of Mississippi
"Do your duty in all things, You can never do more, You should never wish to do less".

Hear, hear!! That would have been an amazing night to be at!! Thansk to all!! [:)]

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<b>Brigadier General Scott Ludwig</b>
Commanding Officer, III Corps
Army of Northern Virginia
"The Army Commissary"
Retried ANV Commander 2004-06

http://www.networkforgood.org

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

-Abraham Lincoln, 1st Inaugural Address
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