Campaign Map - Further Simplified

As we draw closer to the start of THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN, here is an even more simplified campaign map that more closely represents the relationships between the towns when taking into account the strategic movement model for the simulation:

Campaign Map Revision - July 2014

Now that I have been learning TC2M map modding, I am starting to have a more realistic idea of what is possible for THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN theatre. Originally, I was going to use mostly existing TC2M maps as proxies for the various locations, now that I know how to modifier maps to some degree, I intend to have a custom map for each of the campaign map locations. The CAMPAIGN MAP page of the blog has been updated with a the campaign theatre map.

The map will be rolled out in zones.

I am currently completing the 1st draft maps of Zone 1; the critical center of the campaign theatre. Benbrook Mills should be done this week and then only Tomahawk and Sylamore will remain to make a complete set that will be used in a test simulation. Zones 2 and 3 should be completed before the main simulation starts in late September or early October.  

 

Zones 4, 5 and 6 will most likely be added as the simulation is in progress, each added as a complete zone with new roads and towns available for maneuver. Zone 7 will not be added until 2015 (if at all).

The Roads to Yellville

Yellville is the county seat of Marion County, a victory location in THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN and a strategic crossroads. The Military Road and Freight Road intersect in town, which also forms a junction with the Clinton Road.  The Borland Road joins  the Military Road southwest of town at Layton Ford.

The Clinton Road approaches Yellville from the south side of Crooked Creek and fords the creek at Everett Ford. Between the ford and Yellville town is an open plain and cultivated fields that is dominated by Shawnee Hill, a rise over which the road passes.

The Borland Road enters the Yellville map from the southwest corner and joins the Military Road at Layton Ford. The Military Road to and from the west approaches Yellville along the south side of Crooked Creek, crossing at the ford and then passing the Wickersham Mansion (on heights above the creek) and Covington Hill.

The Freight Road from Missouri (via Dubuque) approaches Yellville from the northwest, through some expansive barrens west of town. It the passing through town and links Yellville to Buffalo City and North Fork to the southeast. The Freight Road stays north of Crooked Creek.

The Military Road is the longest road in the campaign. It comes from Batesville via Mt. Olive, North Fork, Rapps Barren and approaches Yellville from the northwest. It passes over the wooded Tutt Hill and then the cultivated fields east of town.

The Roads to Lebanon

During THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN command simulation, the Confederate Department of the Eastern Frontier will be entering the campaign theatre from the west and the Union Army of the Arkansas from the East. They will initially be separated by the White River. Lebanon will be a county seat that is assigned victory points in the simulation and it is likely to fall under Confederate occupation at the beginning of the simulation. The roads to Lebanon will be critical in determining strategies for defending and taking Lebanon.

 

 

THE CLINTON ROAD: The Clinton Road runs from Clinton to Yellville and passes through Lebanon town. There is only one settlement (Tomahawk) between Lebanon and Yellville on this road. (Tomahawk is a choke point in the simulation, only accessible from Lebanon to the south and Yellville to the north.) To the south, the Clinton Road passes through Wiley's Cove and Meadows before reaching Clinton to the south, in Van Buren County.

THE JASPER ROAD: The Jasper Road goes from Jasper to Lebanon, passing through Borland and Point Peter. This is a mountainous route passing through gaps that will have some of the highest elevations and roughest terrain in the simulation. It includes Point Peter, which is a choke point in the simulation.

 

THE BATESVILLE ROAD: From Lebanon to Batesville, this road passing through many towns and settlements: Locust Grove, Richwoods, Wallace Creek, a crossing of the river, and Graham.

 

 

Locust Grove becomes a strategic location on the campaign map. Holding Locust Grove prevents or grants access to Lebanon from the east. Union troops east of the river could move through Locust Grove to Lebanon from North Fork and Buffalo, Mt. Olive and Sylamore or Batesville.  Holding Locust Grove could also prevent or allow troops moving southwest to Wiley's Cove and then north up the Clinton Road to attack Lebanon coming up the east side of Bear Creek and across Town Ford.  It will be possible to move against Lebanon via Batesville and Clinton, but it is a long way and puts supply lines at greater risk.

 

Yellville is in itself important as the county seat of Marion County and one of the victory point locations in the simulation. It is also a key to defending / attacking Lebanon. Control of Yellville would allow several routes to advance on Lebanon. Taking the road to Borland or Jasper would bring forces against Lebanon from the south, coming up the west side of Bear Creek and no requiring troops to ford the creek.  The Clinton Road would bring troops against Lebanon from the north, also on the west side of Bear Creek.   By moving via Buffalo City, forces could move south to the Batesville Road and against Lebanon through Baker Hollow, which is the most difficult line of attack given both Baker Ridge (if defended) and the need to ford the creek.

 

 

Lebanon will be important, whether there will be any fighting in Lebanon remains to be seen. Locust Grove and Yellville appear likely to be scenes of fighting prior to any move on Lebanon, but that all depends on the commanders' strategies...

Revised Campaign Map - June 2104

THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN map has been revised and based on Mitchell's 1859 map of Arkansas. It has been modified slightly for the simulation.

Choke Point in Searcy

I am still working on the final campaign map. As noted, there will be some minor changes from the earlier version posted. I have been working on the TC2M maps for a Buffalo City, Tomahawk, Big Flat(s) and some revisions on Yellville.

Big Flat will be replacing the fictional "Rands Ford" that appeared on the earlier campaign map, but it will still be a choke point on the road leading north from Locust Grove. The main difference is that Rands Ford would have been a river crossing of the Buffalo Fork, whereas Big Flat will be a single north-south road linking Locust Grove to Buffalo City.

Big Flat is still a town in Baxter County (Searcy County during the war). It is in a flat east of  Big Creek and near Roasting Ear Creek.

The Big Flat had a post office before the war and appears in this 1856 map by De Silver. Buffalo City also appears in this map. Buffalo City and Big Flat were omitted from Colton and Johnson and War maps of the period, despite the road north from Locust Grove appearing in almost all maps of the period.

Map Accuracy?

There are a number of maps of Arkansas from the 1850s and 1860s. I have wanted to make the roads represented in the campaign map of THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN as accurate as possible from period maps. As I got through the various maps though and look at the county borders and the road network, I have come to the conclusion that they were not 100% accurate. Even the town placement s sometimes off significantly on some maps. I have heard that sometimes map makers added fake places or changed a few things to detect plagiarism. Maybe that is the case on a few of them. Regardless, I think the final road network in THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN will be representative and a composite of several period maps.

Marion and Fulton Counties - Philadelphia Didn't Get the Memo

THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN command simulation focuses on Izard, Marion and Searcy Counties, with some movement allowed through surrounding counties, such as Fulton and Carroll. When Arkansas became a state in 1836, Marion and Fulton counties did not exist. Searcy County had different borders from its later configurations. The first general assembly of the new State of Arkansas declared that Marion become a county in September 1836, but maps failed to make the adjustment as late as 1839 and 1845.  It looks like some map makers didn't get the memo...

TANNER MAP: 1839
































MEYERS MAP: 1845

 

 
 



This Mitchell Map of 1849 reflects the early counties after statehood, although Marion County's eastern border would be moved slightly eastward in 1855.

MITCHELL MAP 1849

Buffalo City and Other Potential Changes

There are still several potential changes to THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN map prior to the command simulation being run. These include:

1. BUFFALO CITY: The additional of Buffalo City, which was a on the White River just above the Buffalo Fork and had a freight road to Yellville. This additional would depend on increased map modification to develop an appropriate TC2M to represent it in the simulation.

2. FORSYTHE: THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN allows movement into and through southern Missouri in Taney and Ozark Counties. Along with the northern section of Marion County, this was an area where lead was found and mined. (Worth was also called Lead Hill.) Lawrence Mills is represented in Missouri north of Dubuque on the campaign map, because there were camps and activity there during the war, but the point on the map may be re-named to Forsythe, the county seat of Taney County.

3. LUNENBURG: This was a town east of Mt. Olive that may be added. There was a skirmish there during the war.

In this section of a Mitchel 1859 map, Buffalo City is shown. (It is incorrectly placed on several other early maps.) Dubuque does not appear to be in the correct location on this map. It was clearly on the White River.

THE HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY  has a section on Old Buffalo City by Mrs. Ray Blankenship, from which this excerpt is taken and quoted:
Old Buffalo City        (Page 348) Old Buffalo City grew to be a busy and important trade center from about 1850 until around 1902. It had its beginning like most of the towns and communities in the Ozark country. When white men first came to this region to hunt and trade with the Indians, they quickly recognized this to be truly a land of opportunity and it was not long until they were bringing their families and building log cabins on the most desirable locations. In the earliest times, they needed only enough tillable land for gardens and a cornfield for bread, but these hearty frontiersmen were soon clearing larger acreages and were growing other grain such as oats and wheat and planting orchards.
       These big-hearted, hard-working, trustworthy people had ability to over come the hardships which were sure to befall all those who came and stayed.
       No records are known to show people living in the Buffalo City community sooner than the 1820s, but from this time forward facts related to the town and its business establishments are numerous. Recently several letters were found by people of the county on file in the Arkansas Gazette's office which are very revealing about Buffalo City during early times as they were written by an intelligent young gentleman from Hartford, Connecticut, who had just located and gone into business here. The first letter which is headed Buffalo City, Sept. 22, 1848, is a source of the very finest information about the area. He goes into detail describing the country and the people to his mother and father.
       At this time the town had fewer than a dozen families living in it, but at least one family, the Morelands, had been living here since the late l820s and were holding most of the bottom land known later as the Buffalo City farm.
       It is not known when the first steamboat landed here, but Buffalo City was considered the head of navigation for these crafts for the greater part of the year. By the 1840s, many tons of supplies and goods were being delivered to this area by White River transportation. Much of it still was being delivered on the keel boats and the flat bottoms.
       The Independence County Chronicle, July, 1969, Vol. X, No. 4, says the first steamboat reached Batesville in 1831. It is reasonable to believe that they were reaching the important landings in this area soon after.
       This was long before cotton was grown as a cash crop and the people cashed in on the natural resources to provide for needs such as salt, coffee, sugar, and some clothing.
       Everard Dickenson, the earlier mentioned businessman, stated in his letter of Sept. 22, 1848, that peltery and bear oil were some of the things sold or traded for goods and he had taken in forty bear skins the day before. He was doing business in a log storehouse for which he was to pay $30.00 rent per annum. This letter also stated that he was being encouraged by Major Jacob Wolf to move his business down to Norfork and his letter dated June 22, 1849, (Page 349 Top) shows him set up in business at the new location. He indicated that men wore buckskin shirts and leather britches much of the time. He also said, "The girls in this country are the right sort for a poor man. They can all weave and make up their own clothing and most of them can make a good suit of clothes for a man and make the cloth too. One of the Major Wolf's girls made me a pair of homespun pants in about two-and-a-half hours that
       fit me first rate. Price of making them was fifty cents. I got another young lady to cut and make me a homespun coat for $1.25, so you see a man can live and dress cheap in this country."
       Another firm that was doing business at Buffalo City in 1848 was that of Hogan and Tunsells.

Buffalo City Boom
       As this region became more heavily populated, Buffalo City continued to grow as a business and trade center. In these early times, a road was used for the freight wagons called "the Buffalo to Yellville" road. Freight wagons pulled by oxen used this route for many years as supplies and goods moved from the steamboats across Marion and Boone Counties. John W. Olvey, now deceased, informed the writer of this and stated his people ran a freight line from Buffalo City to Harrison back in those days.

Buffalo City Boom. The Des Arc Citizen, September 28, 1859, pub. A letter from A. G. Cochran about the prospects of Buffalo City, a new town freshly laid out on the south side of White River one mile above the mouth of Buffalo River. The most impressive structure in the town, according to the Cochran letter, was a tavern called the Shoal House, which had a wide thirty-six-foot long porch, a smokehouse full of meat, and good stables for guests' horses. A warehouse had been built at the steamboat landing, and a steam grist mill was in operation. Among the town's pressing needs were a shoemaker, a druggist, a doctor, a blacksmith, and a preacher, not necessarily in that order. The letter ended: "Buffalo City will one day be one of the most flourishing towns in the State - the opinion of the Yellvilleians and Carrolltonites to the contrary notwithstanding."

       Although individuals were holding parts of the land by what was known as preemption rights, the abstracts of the farm and townsite show the first claim being filed at the land office in Batesville in 1844 by William F. Denton. This may be the Denton who was well known in the area of Batesville in the 1830s and 1840's as an owner of land and race horses.
       Others who were taking up lands who homesteaded parts of the Buffalo City farm in the 1840s were the Hogans and Tunsells. The abstract of the farm contains the record of a deed dated Dec. 6, 1858, which was made to James M. Tunsell giving him title to some lots in the townsite and it has this interesting stipulation. "With the distinct contract that the citizens of Buffalo City are not to be prohibited the use of any spring water on said land and the street immediately east of said Tunsell's still house shed which runs through said lands is not to be stopped up."
       From Civil War days until well into the early 1900s, virgin timber was being marketed and much of it was rafted down the river. Uncle Levi Cox, an oldtimer of this community, used to tell about this (Page 350 Top Photo: Turkey Mountain, Buffalo City, Arkansas in late 1800s [man plowing is not identified]) and he would mention the cedar log that he had hauled to the river at Buffalo City with two yokes of oxen. This log was seventy-two feet long and six inches at the top.
       Throughout this period cotton was the cash crop and hundreds of bales were ginned and shipped from this point down river on the steamboats.
       When the mining boom came to Marion County, Buffalo City flourished greatly. The mines in the area which milled and shipped ore were the Chickasaw and Bonanza mines on Cow Creek, the Lion Hill mine on Warner Creek, and the Dixie Girl on Boat Creek. An interesting advertisement in these days was as follows: Howard H. Gallup "Buyer and shipper of zinc ores and dealer in mineral lands. Buffalo City, Marion County, Ark."

The Colton Map - 1855

THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN map is based primarily on The Colton Map of Arkansas dated as 1855. Some changes have been made to the simulation campaign map to enhance the simulation. The Johnson and Ward map of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi has also be a reference.  The Johnson and Ward Map is a wartime map, that is sometimes dated 1862 and other times as 1864.

THE COLTON MAP:

THE JOHNSON AND WARD MAP:

THE WAR IN ARKANSAS IV: THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN map is an altered version of the Colton Map for the area covered in the campaign: Izard, Marion, Search, Fulton and parts of surrounding counties.  The following changes have been made and incorporated into the simulation's campaign map for gaming purposes:

 

1.       Marion County Border: Marion County was created in 1836 and had several border changes. In 1855, the eastern border (with Fulton County) was moved eastward and Rapp’s Barren became part of Marion County. This is not reflected in the Colton Map 1855, but has been adjusted in THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN MAP. Perhaps 1855 is the publishing date of the map based on survey work prior to the border change.  The post-1855 border with Fulton  County is clearly visible in the Johnson and Ward Map.

2.       Johnsons: The settlement appearing on the Colton Map as Johnsons has been re-named Talbot’s Ferry.  Talbot’s Ferry (also known as Talbert’s Ferry) was a more common name during the war. The ferry was operated by a Major Mooney in the war and was sometimes called Mooney’s Ferry and later Denton Ferry. The Johnsons had been a family that had settled the area. In the wartime Johnson and Ward Map, the location is marked with a circle, but is not labeled.

3.       Cross Plain: Cross Plain has been moved slightly southward in the campaign map to be on the main between North Fork and Jackson. It was also made into a cross roads, with the north-south road to Athens which appears on the Johnson and Ward Map being included.

4.       Franklin: Franklin has been moved slightly north on the campaign to the cross roads of the North Fork – Jackson and the Pilot Hill – Wild Haws roads.

5.       Worth and Dubuque: In the northwest corner of the campaign theatre, Worth (also known as Lead Hill at the time) has been moved to the main road and Dubuque has been added to the map.

6.       Flippin Barrens and Newton Flat: Flippin was an early settlement in Marion County to the west of Talbot Ferry. It has been added to the map with Newton Flat, a settlement that was on the flats to the north along the west bank of the White River.

7.       Tomahawk – Rolling Plains Road: This road has been added to provide more strategic options and problems in the campaign.

8.       Mt. Pleasant: Mt. Pleasant has been slightly moved to the junction of roads leading to Yellville, Carrollton and Dover.

9.       Forest Home: Has been moved slightly east to a road junction.

10.   Rand’s Ford: The name Rand’s Ford has been given to the crossing of the Buffalo Fork of White River just west of Big Creek, so it could become a tactical map in the simulation.

11.   Harriet: The name Harriet was given to the junction of roads leading to Locust Grove, Lebanon and Wiley’s Cove.

12.   Lebanon: Lebanon has been shifted slightly northeast to where Bear Creek joins Buffalo Fork.

13.   Mt. Olive – Wild Haws Road: The roads from Athens to Wild Haws and Mt. Olive to Rocky Bayou were adjusted to make a Mt. Olive – Wild Haws Road via Rocky Bayou.

14.   Railroad: The railroad was removed on the campaign map.

THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN Command Simulation Map:

The Ozarks Campaign Map and Objectives

THE WAR IN ARKANSAS IV: THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN tentatively has nine objectives. Each will be worth one point each. At the end of each day of the campaign, points will be awarded for control of objectives. No points will be awarded for objectives that are unoccupied or contested.

The objectives are:

1. Athens: A town in Izard County that sometimes served as county seat.
2. Dubuque: A town that is the key crossing of the White River in the northern part of the campaign theatre. Dubuque was the end of the navigable portion of the river. The location of smelting works for the production of ammunition.
3. Lebanon: The county seat of Searcy County.
4. Locust Grove: A key intersection in the southern part of the campaign theatre.
5. Mt. Olive: The county seat of Izard County and a crossing of the White River.
6. North Fork: A town in Izard County.
7. Rand's Ford (fictional name for a historical crossing): A crossing of the Buffalo Fork of the White River.
8. Talbot's Ferry: A key crossing of the White River in Marion County and a location of salt peter caves for the manufacture of gun powder.
9. Yellville: The County Seat of Marion County.

The Army of the Arkansas will trace its supply line into Missouri via Franklin. The Department of the Eastern Frontier will trace its supply line back to Fort Smith via Forest Home.