From The British View.....
July 1777, in the
vicinity of Morristown NJ
Having blunted the
American thrust in central Jersey, General Howe turned his attention to the
north west. An isolated rebel garrison was tucked away there in the mountainous
area around Morristown. Howe advanced a strong force into the region, but
before he could launch his attack the rebel garrison at Morristown struck.
The field of battle was
covered in dense terrain, with steep hills, thick woods, and a scattering of
boggy ground making maneuver difficult. The British prepared to execute another
of their very effective flank attacks, as had been so successful on Long
Island. The cream of the
British army, including grenadiers and light infantry, was deployed on their far
right, with a smaller force on the left with orders to pin the Americans
there. The rebels, apparently
unaware of the enemy flanking force, and thinking that they had stolen a
march on the British, concentrated their whole force on the British left flank.
Well, not exactly their whole force, as two American regiments never made it to
the battlefield, one Continental regiment spending the day foraging while a
militia regiment spent the day looting and plundering. Despite the absent
regiments the rebels still managed to achieve a local superiority of greater
than two to one on the British left flank. Numbers do not tell the
whole story however. The British forces quickly and efficiently deployed from
march column into line to meet the rebel assault. British quality, as well as
abysmal rebel musketry, soon told and the first rebel assault on the British
left ground to a halt.
Meanwhile, the British
flanking force made slow progress through the wooded hilly terrain.
Back on the British left,
a regiment of Hessians charged a large rebel militia unit, forcing it to retire
but, to everyone's amazement, not breaking it. An American light infantry unit
occupied a small village on the rebel left flank and kept up an annoying but
fairly ineffective fire on the British. The abysmal rebel musketry continued,
and a rumor soon spread among the Americans that they had been resupplied with
the poor quality powder meant for sale to the native American forces.
Meanwhile, the British
flanking force made slow progress through the wooded hilly terrain.
Back again on the British
left, the rebels brought up their remaining forces, including a unit of State
Troops, a small unit of riflemen, some native Americans, and their only cannon.
With these additional troops the Americans started to work their way around the
left flank of the British forces. Numbers finally began to tell, and the
British left started to take some losses. British professionalism never failed
however, and several rebel forces were shaken by British firepower.
Meanwhile, the British
flanking force made slow progress through the wooded hilly terrain.
And back again on the
British left, the rebels suddenly became aware of the threat from the British
flanking force. A rebel light dragoon force that had been held in reserve moved
to threaten the British as they emerged from the woods. Some rebel skirmishers,
already shaken from their contact with the enemy, also moved to block the
British advance. Neither force had much hope of stopping the British forces.
Meanwhile, the British flanking force made slow progress through the wooded hilly terrain.
The rebel commander had
been desperately rallying his shaken forces, and these efforts began to tell.
Rebel forces that had retired now rejoined the battle, and the British left
began to collapse from the sheer number of rebels confronting them.
Meanwhile, the British flanking force slowly emerged from the wooded hilly terrain.
As the British flanking
force came out of the woods, with the British light infantry leading the way,
they were attacked by the rebel light infantry and light dragoons. These
attacks had little effect on the British, except to slow their advance even
further. The rebel light dragoons then saw an opportunity to charge some
British lights on the far side of the village. The charge, perhaps unwisely,
took the cavalry through the center of the village, and the horse were soon
surrounded in the confines of the village and forced to surrender. At the same
time, the British flanking force was finally in position and launched a series
of charges against the essentially unprotected left flank of the rebel force.
Unfortunately for the British a few rebel light troops blocked their way,
standing firm only because they illegally counted friendly units as supports
when they were not allowed to. This mistake was discovered too late to fix and
cost the British dearly. In the end the flanking force fell short and was
unable to land it's killing blow.
By
this time daylight was quickly
fading and British losses on their left had been severe. The British were
reluctantly ordered to withdraw and left the rebels bloody and exhausted, in
possession of the field and, perhaps unjustly, claiming victory..
June 1777, North of
Philadelphia
General
Washington was beginning to regret his decision to fall back on Philadelphia
after winning the battles of Trenton and Princeton last winter. Instead of
threatening British moves from the safety of Morristown in the Watchung
mountains, he now had to counter British moves in the relatively open terrain of
central New Jersey. As it was, General Howe had gotten a late start this season
because of the loss of supply transports to rebel privateers. But now as summer
was beginning to heat up Howe was on the move south from New York. Washington
knew he would have to face Howe if he was to prevent the entire state from
falling under British control. After a bit of maneuvering and feinting, the
advance units of Washington's northward probe under Major-General Turney met the
advance units of Howe's southward thrust under Lieutenant-General Alexander.
The forces
clashed a short distance below Princeton at a place called Worth's Mill, where
the terrain was open with only a few low hills and one patch of boggy ground to
break up the battlefield. General Turney had a numerical advantage over General
Alexander, but the forces were otherwise well matched. General Turney initiated
the battle with orders for a general advance, though confusion was rampant on
the Patriot side and the advance was ragged at best. General Alexander had
deployed the British in a well maintained double line, and they stood their
ground at first, letting the disorder in the Patriot lines do their work for
them. Despite the disarray in their ranks the Patriots did manage to straggle
into range, especially on their right flank where General Turney made good use
of the numerical superiority of his militia to inflict significant casualties on
the opposing units, even causing a British regular unit to retire.
At a
well-timed moment, however, General Alexander ordered an advance, and both
British wings responded promptly. On the British right, Major-General Stehle
pushed back the Patriot skirmishers and nearly caught Brigadier-General
Docherty's Continental line in road column. But the Continentals were able to
reform into line, and they stood steadfast against the British charge. On the
British left, General Alexander got the better of the Patriots in an exchange of
volleys, and nearly the entire Patriot army began to straggle off the field.
The Continentals that were still engaged in melee on the Patriot left flank made
one last attempt to push back the British so they could withdraw with the rest
of the Patriot army, and much to everyone's surprise Patriot desperation
overcame British discipline. The British unit and it's support fled from the
field. That was enough for the British and they made no attempt to pursue the
retreating Patriots.
In the
aftermath of the battle the Patriot army got much propaganda value out of having
routed British regulars, and the British claimed victory as they had turned back
the Patriot advance. All of New Jersey holds it's breath in anticipation of the
next moves that these armies will make.
British Troops melee Rebels who have cowardly hidden themselves in a house (the house model didn't allow troops inside)
The British enter the board
Rebel Forces on the flank
The Artillery leads the way down the road
The Rebels have to hold the village
Deploying Rebel forces to face the British attack!
Artillery moves to a better position as the rest of the British forces move into position
"What's the range?"
"Give them the bayonet boys! Them rebels don't like British steel!"
Ground live view of the melee
More British Line Troop pile on to support the front tank - Supports help in melee
The close combat is...a DRAW!! The heart and the red gem show unsaved hits taken
Rebel Cavalry hit the flank of 2 lines of British Troops - How is this going to go???
The sound of sabres and muskets ring out...
And the Cavalry is forced back with 2 stamina hits
"Let's see....we can fire at them, but at long range"
"At Last! Here come the French!!"
The Rebel Calvary has had enough and quits the field (taken too many hits and failed a Morale check)
"Advance!"
The British Troops have fallen back from the Rebels and it's Light Troops vs Light Troops at the edge of the woods
A shot of the Rebels, some British and troops who had fought at the flour mill
Indians & Rebel troops still holding the village
A shot of the game from the Rebels side of the table
This is getting a bit large so I will post the last of the photos in the next blog!!
TTFN
