Battle at the Militia camp with Maurice in the American War of Independence

The American Militia in camp

Recently Tonio and myself managed to play the Raising the Militia scenario with Tonio taking the role of the British.  There was a few expletives when all the British units passed their Night march rolls and promptly marched towards the camp. British First brigade marched directly towards the camp while Second brigade took up a blocking position between the camp and the entry point of any potential relief force. In response most of the the militia regiments rallied promptly and moved to defend the camp.

The British begin their advance

The British blocking force turned out to be a ruse with Second brigade pivoting and marching on the exposed flank of the camp. The unexpected avenue of attack was vexing with the Americans forcing them to choose between trying to re-organising the camp or push for some relief forces in the end they opted to try to get more units into the battle.

More British regimental move Forward

The British pushed forward with their flank attack on the camp menacing two militia regiment facing the wrong way, their advanced looked promising. But looks can be deceiving as the first American brigade arrived and promptly marched towards the rear of the attacking British.  Now it was the British turn to be vexed should they push on towards the camp or about face to address the threat to their rear.  In the end they tried to do both with the brigade splitting and three regiments turning around to face the new treat while the remaining two continued to assault the camp.

Flank attack meets the relief column

The two advancing regiments quickly bogged down trading ineffective fire with the militia.  The clash with the American relief force was more dramatic.  The initial volley by the British a delayed. Then they stole back the initiative to fire first but the American returned fire with a devastating volley that put serious cracks in the British line. Having exchanged volleys both sides rushed in with the bayonet in the ensuing melee two British and one American regiments were destroyed.  The British flank attack was in serious trouble but the American relief column was not in much better shape.

Things gets up close and personnel

Despite being eager to press forward the Americans opted instead to rally and reform the army. The American second brigade arrived but was delayed on its way because some idiot parked an artillery battery on its route :(  The resulting delay allowed the British to regroup and their first brigade began to advance on the camp.    

The American second brigade is delayed by a badly parked artillery battery

The British advance cause consternation to the Americans should they continue to push the second brigade into place or put focus on re-organising the camp for an imminent second assault. In the end they opted to push the fresh units in the battle.  The British first wave struck the camp and short volley followed by a bayonet charge quickly overran two militia regiments to fight its way into the camp. Fortunately the second wave ran into a patch of broken ground Broke up their advance. The ensuing delays was enough for the American second brigade to get into the fight. The American regulars and militia trade fire and bayonet charges in earnest with the British. The militia coming off badly with another regiment disappearing in the melee.  The intervention of the second brigade proved to be timely as more British regiments began to break.  In the end the British loss were too high and they retreated from the battlefield to leave the camp still in American hands.

The British assault continues

British breach the perimeter

Under pressure Militia regiments begin to evaporate 

The American relief column fights it way forward

Overall it was a great game with plenty of highs and lows as both sides were optimistic at different points in the game. Tellingly Tonio asked for a re-match next week.  

That is all for now thanks for stopping by.