Hi Folks
Last Tuesday (Monday was a bank holiday) the Shed was somewhat light on the player numbers so Mark & I decided to fight the first battle listed in the new Pike & Shotte supplement - the Battle of Brentford Bridge....
heres what wiki says about the battle.....
The Battle of Brentford was a small pitched battle which
took place on 12 November 1642, between a detachment of the Royalist army,
(predominantly horse with one regiment of Welsh foot) under the command of
Prince Rupert and two infantry regiments of Parliamentarians with some horse in
support. The result was a victory for the Royalists
After the Battle of Edgehill (23 October) King Charles I
captured Banbury (27 October) and was greeted by cheering crowds as he arrived
in Oxford on 29 October. Prince Rupert swept down the Thames Valley, capturing
Abingdon, Aylesbury and Maidenhead, from where he attempted to capture Windsor
though failed due to Parliamentary strength there. After this many officers
wanted to open peace negotiations, contrary to Rupert's desire to carry on to
London, but the king agreed with the officers and so the Earl of Essex managed
to overtake them and reach London with his Parliamentary army by 8 November.
While in Reading Charles decided that the peace talks were
inconclusive, and that if he advanced on London it might place him in a better
negotiating position. So on 11 November he moved his army closer to London by
encamping at Colnbrook and to put further pressure on the Parliamentarians he
ordered Prince Rupert to take Brentford
On reaching London the Earl of Essex had not been idle, and
had positioned men on the western approaches to London. One force covered the
bridge at Kingston upon Thames while another, to the west, barricaded the small
town of Brentford which lay on either side of the Thames concentrating their
efforts in the proximity of the bridge that connected Old Brentford to New
Brentford
On 12 November under cover of an early morning mist Rupert's
cavalry and dragoons attacked the two regiments of Parliamentary foot, one
under the command of Denzil Holles and the other of Lord Brooke, which were
barricaded inside Brentford. The initial attack by the cavaliers on Sir Richard
Wynne's house, an outpost west of Brentford held by Holles's regiment, was
repulsed.
So a Welsh regiment of foot were ordered into action by
Rupert. The combined force successfully captured the outpost and carried
forward their attack into Brentford itself. They drove Holles's men over the
bridge into the defences manned by Lord Brooke's men. These in turn were driven
out of the town into open fields.[5] The fighting continued into late
afternoon, before the survivors of Holles's and Brooke's regiments were able to
disengage under the protection of John Hampden's infantry brigade, which
arrived from Uxbridge to cover their withdrawal. Nevertheless, a large number
of Holles's men were drowned while trying to escape their pursuers by swimming
across the Thames. The Royalists captured 15 guns and 11 colours and about 500
prisoners,[8] including John Lilburne who was a captain in Brooke's regiment.
Having won the battle the Royalist forces sacked the town.
This action encouraged those Londoners who feared for their property to side
with the Parliamentarians.[7] On 13 November the main Parliamentary army under
the command of Earl of Essex's heavily reinforced with the London trainbands
and other London citizenry, assemble as an army of about 24,000 on Chelsea
Field and advanced to Turnham Green in the vicinity of the main body of the
Royalist army.
At a standoff known as the Battle of Turnham Green, the
senior Parliamentarian officers not trusting the training of their forces in a
battle of manoeuvre chose not to attack, and the King decided not to press his
advance on London by giving battle against a force much larger than his
decided, as it was near the end of the campaigning season, to retreat to Oxford
where his army could be billeted over the winter.
So we set the table up according to the book and although the scenario didn't state one way another we assumed the river Brent was unfordable (and hence the need for the bridge).
The forces were deployed according to the set up.
It became apparent that the Parliamentarians (Me) had a job on their hands - half of the regiment belonging to Holles was on one side of the bridge in the town and the other half defending Wynn house, Given he was a sole commander of this regiment and could not be in two places at once was somewhat problematic.
The game started with Rupert's(Mark) forces advancing onto the centre. In front of them lay the defended hedgerows of Holles musketeers, cannon and some dragoons.
My tactic was simple - extricate the pikeblock from the forward defences and get it back into the town. The Battalia could afford the losses of the guns and musketeers but if it were to lose just one advance unit it would be broken and therefore unable to defend the fight that might come for the bridge.
As the Cavaliers advanced their Horse broke to the left hoping to cut off any retreat to the bridge. The forward infantry elements surged forward and engaged in a firefight with the defenders
Holles' command rolls just didn't happen - that damn pike block would not move !
The rebels decided to push up some much needed firesupport covering the bridge
By now Rupert's horse was on the move and was soon riding full pelt for the Bridge
The remainder of Holles Battalion in Brentford busied themselves with the defence
The leading elements of the Parliamentarians were now taking serious fire - and the Royalist reserves /Assault force hadn't even arrived
Here they come - four Pikes and loads of musketeers - they surged forward and took on the roundhead vanguard
Within a couple of rounds the defences around Wynn house crumbled and the road towards Brentford was clear
With a loud cheers they mopped up the remnants of the defence around Wynn house and pushed onto the river
However this desperate defence had allowed the brigades of Brookes and Hamden to deploy their forces - nothing was going to come across the bridge
and it didn't - for a few turns Rupert tried to rally his troops and get them to cross the bridge into a hail of lead - it was never going to happen
So here are our thoughts....
1. Rupert must have been incredibly lucky to have forces his way into Brentford - the narrow crossing coupled with matched forces certainly plays into the Parliamentarian hands
2. The only way we can see Rupert winning is 1) a very large dose of luck, 2) getting his cavalry to cut off the escape quickly and then bringings his troops up the road swiftly before the defenders have had a chance to deploy-
2. Had Holles brought up the other half of his brigade over the bridge to counter the attack then it might have been a different story. I did consider taking the fight to the Royalists but I would be giving away my key advantage.
A fun game - interesting to refight an historic action for a change and we look forward to the next scenario
see you all soon
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