HOW DOES E-MAIL PLAY WORK?

I'm trying to learn how e-mail play works, not live play.
I loaded up the module for 'Washington's War' and set up an email game to play theoretically by myself first so I could understand how it all works before trying play with a friend. Here is what happened and maybe somebody out there can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
1.) Module loaded up OK
2.) Was able to see the 'card' 'pieces' board etc....and actually do a move. I started as the British player
3.) I turned on the log file while moving.
4.) I then saved the game with a unique name
5.) I closed down vassal
6.) I then reloaded the game as if I was the American player.
7.) I could still 'see' all of the pieces, and stuff but the trouble was I could still see all of the British players cards. There was a button at the top for "British Hand" but the American Hand button looked like it could not be pressed. (It couldn't)
What am I doing wrong here??
Any help appreciated.
I loaded up the module for 'Washington's War' and set up an email game to play theoretically by myself first so I could understand how it all works before trying play with a friend. Here is what happened and maybe somebody out there can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
1.) Module loaded up OK
2.) Was able to see the 'card' 'pieces' board etc....and actually do a move. I started as the British player
3.) I turned on the log file while moving.
4.) I then saved the game with a unique name
5.) I closed down vassal
6.) I then reloaded the game as if I was the American player.
7.) I could still 'see' all of the pieces, and stuff but the trouble was I could still see all of the British players cards. There was a button at the top for "British Hand" but the American Hand button looked like it could not be pressed. (It couldn't)
What am I doing wrong here??
Any help appreciated.