Johnny's Adventure

    The soldiers arrived in the evening. They bivouac around Johnny's home. His widowed mother provided some of the soldiers with homemade bread. Johnny brought water from the well for their cooking. Johnny then sat around and listened to their stories of campaigns past. As Johnny prepared to go home, one sergeant said to him, " you should join our regiment; we always can use a lad like you for a drummer boy!".

  Johnny begged his mother to be allowed to join the army. She would not hear of it.  Next day, as the army marched off to battle, he decided to run away to join the army.

Johnny watches the army march off.

Johnny packs his bag and runs off to join the army.

The red army advances against the blue army. While looking for some more gnome figures, I came across my semi flats and on an impulse wanted to use them in a game.

The blue army drawn up for battle.

The red army maneuvers a cavalry unit to protect their artillery until it can deploy.

First blood to the red army. They kill 5 blue army men, but only forces one unit back.

The blue army hits back hard. The cavalry protecting the artillery is wiped out, along with 8 infantrymen. Little Johnny can be seen just coming out of the woods  behind some redcoats.

The blue army continue their deadly fire.

Little Johnny finds himself alone facing a unit of blue infantry!

The red army is broken. Little Johnny find that discretion is the better part of valor, and joins the retreat!

The red general stays with the guns to protect the retreat.

The artillery does little against the blue onslaught.

Little Johnny's mother had been worried sick all day after finding little  Johnny gone. She could hear the battle in the distance.    Just as she is getting ready to go looking, she sees him coming down the road.  Neither says anything when they hug. Johnny has seen the soldiers, who the night before were joking with him, fall to the enemy's bullets. Never again does Johnny say he wants to go to be a soldier.