My Scottish Season

Campaign Journal: April 1649

by Chris J. Hahn

(revised and edited on July 28, 2001)

The weather was clear in five of eight provinces throughout England. There was rain in Sussex, the Southern Association Districts and in Eastershire.

Politically, two of the three non-aligned provinces are leaning toward Prince John. Northumberland and the Southern Association have come out strongly in favor of the Prince. The Lowland districts are showing some support (though not much) for the Queen.

Reinforcements are "scheduled" to arrive in May (this coming month). The Scots will be getting 7 BP and the Royalists will be getting 12 BP. The French of course, will receive nothing in the way of reinforcements.

With respect to status, the French force is in kind of a bad way. Scotland could not provide a lot of supply points for the three armies (two Scottish and one French) so the French had to dip farther into their supply depot total to assist the Scots.

The Queen and her allied forces were also over with respect to supply totals, and so took additional supplies from their depots. For the Queen, the debit was -6. For the army in Sussex, it was -3. For the army from the Western Confederation, it was just 2 points. Both sides are operating in a "total offensive" mode or posture.

Politically, and from both sides, there is concern over the Province of Northumberland. For the Royalist cause, concern was generated after Lord Otto advanced from his capital district in the Western Association and attempted to subjugate the district just over the border. The garrison force stationed there did not think it such a good idea and subsequently checked Lord Otto's advance. Needless to say, tensions rose in the capital district of Northumberland, as magistrates and officials debated whether they should "throw in" immediately with the cause of the Prince.

No sooner had this discussion started when word arrived that not one, but two Scottish armies had invaded the eastern districts. The one district fell quickly and its garrison was roughly handled. The second district made a better show in defense and was only pushed back when the other Scottish force advanced on its positions from the North.

Three garrisons are now within the capital district of Northumberland. In many respects, this force constitutes a small army. And yet, within this same district is a fairly strong Royalist garrison, To the South, there is Lord Otto and his force. To the East, and perhaps more the worry ... is a large concentration of Scots.

The Battle of Bainsbury Downs

In a short, sharp and relatively soggy engagement (it was raining after all), Baron Tvrdik's army was caught on the route of march by the French under Duke Bertrand, The Baron's army recovered from the initial surprise, though two regiments of foot and two batteries of artillery ran at the opening of the battle, Further hampering the Baron's efforts was the fact that the rear elements of his force did not even attempt to advance on the field.

By near super-human effort, the Baron and his alternate - the not so martial General Machowski - were able to form up some troops and offer battle to the French. The Baron took command of what cavalry there was and the General organized a division of some four regiments of foot,

The contest could be divided into two phases, both of which ended very unsatisfactorily for the Royalist cause. On his left, the Baron threw his two regiments against the advancing French horse. These foreign troops were commanded by the Duke himself. The melee lasted for some time, as each side charged and counter-charged through fields puddled by the falling rain. The French finally broke the Royalist horse when the Baron fell in the middle of the combat. It proved costly for the French, however. One regiment was shattered and the other two were very much bloodied. They were in no condition to assist the "push of pike" that was developing on the leftcenter of their line.

Earlier, one Royalist foot regiment and a battery of guns had been left alone when flanking units had decamped at the approach of the French line. The cannoneers abandoned their pieces too, after the foot regiment was broken by the fire of four French regiments. These foot then shifted the angle of their line (they were under the direct command the Duke's alternate, General Lohman) and prepared to deal with the remaining Royalists forces on the field.

General Machowski "enjoyed" the beginning of the general action, when his foot regiments engaged and broke a couple of French musketeer units that wandered into range. His regiments had also warned off a single unit of Hussars that had cantered too close. However, the action soon became rather unenjoyable as the French main line closed in on him. In a another close fought action - pike was relied upon more than musket for the rain showed no sign of letting - scores on both sides fell. As with the cavalry engagement concluded on the other side of the field, the French took no little punishment. The punishment that they meted out however, was greater. And when General Machowski succumbed trying to rally a breaking regiment, the heart finally went out of the Royalist effort.

The French entertained no pursuit. How could they? The Duke concentrated all his energies on securing the field, and finding shelter for his wet and battle-weary men. He would not grasp just how close he had come to losing the day until the sun rose into the sky on the following morning.

The French had two units of foot "break" and one unit of cavalry "break." In terms of BP loss (not associated with broken units), the French lost 9 infantry and 5 cavalry "points." Allowing a 35% recovery for the battle victor, the French will adjust the army roster of the Duke to reflect the irreplaceable loss of 5 infantry BP and 2 cavalry BP.

The Royalists, in comparison, had two units of horse "break" and three units of foot suffer the same fate, though only one by direct combat. The other two simply turned tail and ran away. As other cavalry did not make the field, the BP loss was concentrated in the ranks of infantry. Here, the Royalists lost 7 BP in addition to loss listed above. More serious was the abandonment of the guns of two batteries of artillery. The most significant loss to the army and indeed to the Province, was the death of Baron Tvrdik.

Providing for a recovery of just 20% of those troops considered casualties, the "new" army of Sussex will adjust its rolls with 2 infantry BP and 1 cavalry BP.

With respect to victory points earned, the advantage, after this first battle in the Second Civil war lies with the French - and by extension, with Prince John. On the field of Bainsbry Downs, the French secured 33 points to the Royalist score of 6.

When victory points for possession of districts are factored into the equation, the French/Scottish advantage increases by 40.

At the end of the first month of the campaign then, things are looking very well for the Prince and his FrancoScottish alliance. They have taken three districts (all without occasion for siege, fortunately) and have defeated aRoyalist force in battle.

NOTES

Not paying attention to the mechanics of my own campaign rules, I made the mistake of rolling for the state of the Scottish alliance though the Queen had not rolled POLITICAL as her seasonal activity.

On the resulting roll of 15, the Scots were suddenly neutral and the French, "up le crick sans le paddle".

Initially, this surprising turn of events could have ended the campaign. For indeed, what could a small but veteran force of French had done if so stranded in Scotland?! And what would become of the Prince?

In an attempt to resolve this development, I had Prince John enter into some very energetic talks with the leaders of the Scottish forces. After some debate, as the state of supply was a concern, I had the French advance into Sussex Province and seek battle. Maybe a quick and sharp defeat of the Royalists would bring the Scots back into the alliance?

It was while figuring out if this was indeed the best move for the French, that I happened upon rny supply miscalculation. In the original roster for the army of Duke Bertrand, I had allowed for two depots totaling 50 points in supply. The French army "consumes" 33 points of supply a month. It turns out that I had set the French, and by extension, the alliance, up to fail. The French would have been "out of supply" by the month of May. The Scottish districts would not have been any help, as they could barely support their own armies. So, a serious re-figuring of supply for the French was in order.

With a landing in April and a link-up with the Scots, I allowed the French three more months of campaigning supplies. Their total depot points then, were 132. (33 points for the present army roster for April through end of July.)

In addition to the administrative work involved in keeping track of French supply points, it appears that there will be an equal amount of work in regards to revising and or re-creating army rosters. For example, the late Baron's army was roughly handled. The garrisons from the subjugated and some troops from the capital garrison will help to alleviate those losses. A new commander and alternate will have to be named. In Northumberland, a similar scenario is developing; though there has been no battle in the field.

Return of Prince John ECW Campaign Rules

Return of Prince John ECW Campaign Rules

Campaign Journal: November and December 1649 [Conclusion] (MW118)

Return of Prince John ECW Campaign Rules

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