Sorry to hijack, but how about making it so retreating units will not go into melee?
I'll add it to the list. From one point of view; one could say that a retreating unit is basically an unorganized mob and who knows what they'll do.. Maybe they'll melee, maybe they won't.. But there were also cases of organized retreats. So maybe it should something else that's random. They may or may not melee, but most of the time won't.
I've had a recurring thought on this....
Melee was a rarity in the Civil War. Most regiments, according to
The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat, regiments with any level of experience were wary to get involved in melee.
Instead of an autocharge function, what I thought was maybe have a charge chance function that also applies to regiments that have been given the order to charge. Instead of regiments automatically going into a charge (or being forced into a charge when rushed forward to touch an enemy regiment), each regiment goes through a "die-roll" check to see if that melee actually occurs. Each regiment could have a base pass/fail number, and then the die roll could have modifiers that apply to it such as:
1. Fatigue
2. Current losses
3. Grade
4. Target terrain
5. Cumulative Leader grade (if applicable)
6. Volume of friendly units vs. enemy units
7. Formation (Column and skirmisher would serve as a detracting modifier)
EDIT: Regiments that are brand new and have a grade less than 2 could have a modifier that reflects their naivety and willingness to get into melee against better judgement.
There could then be four possible outcomes:
1. The attacker fails and automatically retreats a short distance (<100 yards -- moddable).
2. The defender fails and automatically retreats a short distance (<100 yards -- moddable).
3. Both regiments fail and retreat a short distance.
4. The melee occurs.
Also, when I say retreat.... I mean retreat the whole way.

Like soldier, I agree this should also apply to when TC's regiments are ordered out of a melee.
The various modifiers per side should be adjustable per battle as each historical battle did have different morale circumstances applied to it (Pickett's Charge, Little Round Top, and Burnside's Bridge being examples). I'd say having the system in place in the engine and then having the modifiers adjustable by tailored modding could eventually be a way to go, also.
I think this would cancel out, or make very difficult, the column charging, and having a line disintegrate from constant autocharging. I also think this would create a more realistic melee environment.
I had planned on packaging this a little better with video and screenshots, but soldier had to go and jump the gun! j/k
