The Battle of Edgehill 23rd October 1642
The Earl of Essex was the first to deploy, drawing up his foot on a "little round rising hill" to the south east of Kineton, facing the Royalists looking down upon him from the top of Edgehill. A council of war was held and the notion of attacking the stronger Royalists in their advantageous position on Edgehill with a mostly untried army was discarded.
Essex sought his commanders' views on the response to a possible Royalist advance. Lieutenant General Sir William Balfour commanding the Horse on the right felt that he was over-matched and proposed that he refuse his flank. Commissary General Sir James Ramsey's Horse on the left were further advanced and while he also felt over-matched he thought it best to hold his current position and impose loss and delay upon the enemy. Sergeant Major General Ballard commanding the Foot compared his fourteen battalia to the twenty slightly smaller battalia of the King and commented favourably on the "little round rising hill" that half his foot and the artillery were deployed upon. And so the Parliamentary army adopted a defensive plan.
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By mid-afternoon, the Royalists felt confident enough to march down from the ridge and offer battle. The Royalist were impeded by hedges and a marshy stream.
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Battle was first joined on the Parliamentary left as one of Prince Rupert's regiments of horse boldly charged Sir James Ramsey's Regiment of Horse. The pistols of the Dutch style horse combined with the attached shot and light artillery destroyed the charging Swedish style Royalist regiment before it could come to blows. Seeing his regiment perform so well gave a small ray of hope to Commissary General Sir James Ramsey. However, his four regiments were still opposed by another seven Royalist regiments.
In the centre the Parliamentary foot watched the somewhat disorganised advance of the Royalist foot. On the right the Parliamentary horse withdrew leaving their dragoons to contend with the Royalist dragoons and harry the Royalist advance from the hedges.
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On the left another Royalist regiment charged home on Sir James Ramsey's Regiment of Horse, destroyed them and promptly set off in pursuit. In the centre the Parliamentary foot continued to watch the advance of the Royalist foot. On the right the Parliamentary horse continued to withdraw while their dragoons contend with the Royalist dragoons.
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On the left the action became more general as more Royalist horse cleared the hedge and charged with limited effect. The pursing Royalist horse rapidly approached Denzil Holles and Lord Brooke's Regiments of Foot. In the centre the Royalist foot continued to advance.
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On the right the Royalist horse caught up with the Parliamentary horse and in the resulting clash both sides lost a regiment. Balfour moved his reserve brigade, including Essex and Bedford's Cuirassier Lifeguards to the right to support his hard pressed horse. This sensible precaution unfortunately lead to disaster as the reserve was delayed by Lord Fielding's raw Regiment of Horse. This allowed Sir Thomas Salusbury's second battalia to rush up the road and deliver withering musket and light artillery fire into the flank of Essex's Lifeguard. They routed and Bedford's Lifeguard were swept away in the confusion.
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On the left the mounting pressure from the more numerous Royalist horse was starting to tell and despite breaking some Royalist horse two more Parliamentary units were broken. In the centre the Royalist foot continued to advance. On the right the fighting had become general but to no dramatic effect.
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On the left Denzil Holles and Lord Brooke's Regiments of Foot destroyed the two regiments of Royalist horse that had pursued into them. Sir William Waller's Regiment of Horse managed to overcome one of the two regiments of Royalist horse that assailed them. Both forces on this flank were rapidly running out of troops.
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In the centre right Colonel Wentworth's Brigade of Royalist Foot had reached the Parliamentary artillery and put the field artillery crews to flight with a well-executed musket volley. The siege artillery crews stood to their guns. On the right the fluid melee continued with some Royalist units succumbing to the mounting casualties and fleeing while others pursued.
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With so few units remaining on the left there was little fighting as both sides manoeuvred for position. The King and the Gentlemen Pensioners moved to support his right while more of Thomas Ballard's Brigade of Foot moved to cover Parliament's exposed left flank. In the centre left the advance of the Royalist foot slowed.
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In the centre right Colonel Wentworth's Brigade of Royalist Foot completed the destruction of the Parliamentary artillery and forced Lord Saye and Sele's Parliamentary Regiment of Foot to turn to cover their right flank. The remaining Royalist horse on the right pursued off the battlefield.
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On the left the manoeuvring for position continued and in the centre left the Royalist foot reached to the Parliamentary line. Not many casualties were inflicted in the initial clash but a number of the many untried units were disordered by the shock of their first battle. Overall the Royalist units seemed to weather this shock better than Parliament.
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In the centre right Lord Saye and Sele's Parliamentary Regiment of Foot was again unable to press home their flank attack on The Lord General's Regiment.
On the right the Parliamentary horse recovered from pursuit and regrouped. Most of Colonel Wentworth's Brigade of Royalist Foot redeployed to face the Parliamentary horse.
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On the left Commissary General Sir James Ramsey lost the last of his Parliamentary horse and he called on Thomas Ballard's Brigade of Foot to render further assistance. In the centre there was a great push of pike to limited effect. Again many of the newly engaged untried units on both sides were disordered by their first taste of battle. On the right both sides manoeuvred for position while the dragoons continued to contest the hedges.
Casualties had been steadily mounting on both sides. Parliament had manage to break more Royalist units than they had lost redressing the early Royalist advantage in numbers. However many of the Parliamentary foot units were disordered and too hotly engaged by Royalist supporting units to rally.
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On the left Thomas Ballard's Brigade of Foot destroyed Sir Ralph Dutton's Royalist Regiment of Foot. They then advanced against the Royalist horse and delivered telling musket volleys, breaking one regiment and driving off another.
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In the centre Parliament has been forced to commit almost all their foot including the unsteady units of Charles Essex's Brigade which rapidly fell into disorder. Parliamentary casualties are mounting rapidly but some units manage to break their opponents. Their reward is to be attacked by fresh supporting Royalist units. Sir Ralph Dutton's Royalist Regiment of Foot has broken one of the battalia of The Lord General's Regiment, opening the first breach in the Parliamentary line.
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On the centre right Lord Saye and Sele's Parliamentary Regiment of Foot has finally been able to destroy The Lord General's Regiment. However one battalia of Sir Thomas Salusbury's Royalist Regiment of Foot is threatening the right of Parliament's line.
On the right the Parliamentary horse and Royalist foot continue to manoeuvre for position while the dragoons continue to contest the hedges.
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On the left the Royalist horse withdrew out of musket shot. The Royalist artillery finally got an unobstructed target, a battalia of The Lord General's Regiment of Foot.
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In the centre the Royalist loses were mounting and they had been forced to commit most of their supporting foot. Sir Ralph Dutton's Royalist Regiment of Foot has broken through the Parliamentary line and is threatening the rear of Lord Mandeville's Regiment of Foot. Casualties are mounting alarmingly on the tired and disordered Parliamentary foot.
On the right the manoeuvring continues.
The hopes of Parliament are raised by the approach of the first of the laggard units; Cromwell, Fiennes, and Knightley Troops of Horse.
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On the left the situation has stabilised and Thomas Ballard dispatches one of his battalia to aid the centre.
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On the right Lieutenant General Sir William Balfour has decided he must come to the aid of the Parliamentary foot. His horse charge the Royalist foot and his dragoons mount and charge the Royalist dragoons.
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In the centre Richard Bolle's Royalist Regiment of Pike broke Sir William Constable's Regiment of Foot. Lord Wharton and Lord Robarte's Regiments of Foot were caught up in the confusion and joined the rout. This disaster was compounded when the second battalia of The Lord General's Royalist Regiment of Foot overcame the now isolated Sir William Fairfax's Regiment of Foot.
Victory was the King's.
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A very enjoyable game played in great spirit by all players.
The scenario initially looked to favour the Royalists but as the game unfolded Parliament was able to rout more of the Royalist units overcoming the initial disadvantage. As the disorders mounted on the Parliamentary units this became harder but the game was well balanced until the disastrous last turn where Parliament lost four large battalia of foot.
There were two significant factors that contributed to Parliament's loss.
The early loss of Essex and Bedford's Lifeguards was unfortunate and the result of some good cards for the Royalists in pursuit of a well spotted opportunity and some appalling cards for Parliamentary saves.
After the loss of the Parliamentary horse on the left Thomas Ballard's Brigade of Foot over committed to replace them. In hindsight if they had used two battalia to cover the flank three very valuable battalia would have been available to support Parliament's centre.
Sounds like a cracking game and good to see eveyone had a good time :). Shame Parliament lost :(.
Terrific game ! :-bd
Thanks for sharing, Paul.
Cheers - Phil
Great game, thanks for sharing!
Looks brilliant. Sounds like a rematch is in order!
Looking good
God save and prosper the House of Stuart!
Quote from: mollinary on 31 August 2020, 07:44:37 AM
Looks brilliant. Sounds like a rematch is in order!
That was the rematch, I missed the first game :(
And yes, the score is one now one all
I'm sure we will be playing it again, possibly in 10mm, as the scenario works really well
My compliments to the scenario designers :-bd =D> :-bd =D>
Another spectacular 17th Century display (just finished reading the Wimpfen post). What a treat, today. :-bd
What an amazing looking game, it just sets the right mood.
Top looking game! 8)
Quote from: FierceKitty on 31 August 2020, 08:26:29 AM
God save and prosper the House of Stuart!
Too late. Quite a disastrous but, by lasting so long, oddly successful dynasty before their luck finally ran out .... so maybe God did bless them.
Fun facts: According to Stuart supporters, whilst ticking the religious box (he was educated by Benedictine monks), the current successor to the British crown is ironically a German. He is Franz, Duke of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine. If Hitler had successfully invaded Britain, it's unlikely he would have been made King (the Duke of Windsor was allegedly in the frame for that) because he was an anti-Nazi and spent the latter part of WW2 in Nazi concentration camps.
I was under the impression that the last Stuart - Henry IX - was bought out by HMG in a cash exchange at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.
Superb game! =D>