Breed's Hill battlefield

"Bunker Hill After the Battle"

by Thomas Davies  1775

(New York Public Library)

A fascinating watercolor done by Thomas Davies of the Bunker Hill battlefield done shortly after the battle.   The view is from the base of Breeds hill looking up towards the redoubt and breastwork built and defended by Colonel William Prescott and his Massachusetts soldiers.  This was the area through which the 5th and 52nd Regiments marched to attack in the final assault.  Note the remains of the fences throughout the field which numerous British officers spoke about.  Also the three soldiers in the fore ground wearing cut down coats and cut down cocked hats.

Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign Refought: epilogue

  So, how did the campaign turn out?  Most excellent if I say so.  The campaign generated a number of interesting battles.  Due to the variable order of battle determined by dice roll fighting the same battle over could be very different.  In addition there were a number of actions that did not get fought which with a different roll could have.  So playing the campaign out again could provide very different results.

   Interestingly the campaign followed the historical one very closely up to the end.  The results of the fight between Morgan and Rawdon mirrored the Cowpens results.  And the Cowen's Ford action mirrored the historical one.  Although with that battle Davidson lived to fight another day which I am sure his wife appreciated.

  The only oddity was the final battle with Greene attacking Cornwallis.  The Crown forces had a superb army, including the units from Cowpens.  Yet the Americans destroyed them in a decisive victory.  This I feel was due to the unusual British set up and lack of aggression in the part of the British commander.  But  hats off to the three American commanders who fought a excellent battle.  I am sure they received the thanks of Congress and a sword.  Future generations will name numerous schools, ball fields and streets in their honour. 

War game rules used for the battles were the set from Fife and Drum miniatures.  These are a one page set of rules which  provide a fun and fast game.  I will post a more detail explanation about the rules and the interpretation and house additions we use with them. 

This has been a long goal of my mine to fight this campaign out since I first read Steve Haller's article in The Courier (vol. 1, no. 1).  It was great fun and I hope to do it again next year. 

Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign Refought: Battle of New Garden Meeting House.

  For the final battle of the campaign Greene and Cornwallis armies fought a meeting engagement at New Garden Meeting house.  The Americans fielded the army they would have at Guilford Courthouse.  I gave them a additional North Carolina Militia battalion  and Maryland-Delaware light battalion intact instead of returning it to its parent battalions.  The British got both battalions of the 71st regiment, the light battalion  and the British Legion infantry since Cowpens had not been fought.  Lastly since the battle was so large it was fought at club game night since we had additional players and more room.

Peaceful farm before The Battle with The now famous geese!

The Americans set up on the north side of the table.  They had a large woods with a road running through it on their left with more open fields in the center and right.  This area was dotted with fences, crop fields and two ridges.  Woods were rough going exception on road.

Riflemen in the woods.

Continental line battalions.

  The American commander placed his Continental line regiments (1st & 2nd Maryland, 4th and 5th Virginian and the Light battalion and a medium gun) in his center.  On his right he massed his cavalry (Lee's, William Washington's and Militia horse) and supported them with four Virginian militia battalions and a medium gun.  Both commands were to attack the British and try to push through.  In his left he placed two rifle battalions in the woods and four North Carolina Militia  battalions to support them  this command was to try and hold off the British.

Com Bose and 33rd Regiment

British Legion and Light troops advancing through the woods.

  On the British side the commander recorded to send Tarleton, his Legion cavalry and infantry with the 17th Light dragons and Light Infantry battalion through the woods to turn the American flank.  He then deployed the two battalions of the 71st to guard his left with the Regiment von Bose, 33rd and 23rd to attack in the center.  The Brigade of Guard's were in reserve.  The subordinate commanders questioned if the cavalry should be in the open but their objections were over ruled.

  The game started by the Amercans aggressively advancing in the center and right.  Their guns were placed to support the advance.  The British countered this by advancing the von Bose, 33rd and 23rd in the center.  In the woods the British pushed forward, but at reduced speed.  All the time sniped at by the riflemen.

  Because the British commander advanced the  Von Bose 33rd and 23rd  one behind the other. The Continental line was able to mass against them.  First artillery and muskets fire forced the von Bose to check morale.  Poor dice saw the Germans rout off the board!  The two Maryland regiments  then attacked the 33rd regiment supported by the Light battalion.  Heavily outnumbered the 33rd routed.  The Royal Artillery went down fighting as their gun was over run.

  Seeing the mass of cavalry approaching the commander of the 71st moved out to meet them . He advanced his two battalions against the cavalry and four battalions of militia.  Trying to support his commanders he moved one battalion towards the center and the Continental line while the other faced off against the militia.  This left the American cavalry to swing around the British flank.

  The Highlanders charged the militia and caused numerous casualties.  But the militia morale held and the Highland 23rd fell back disordered.  Unfortunately the American cavalry were there in their flank and rear.  With no where to go the Highlanders surrendered.   The other battalion advancing towards the Continental line was ridden down by cavalry who attacked them from the rear.

23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers fighting the Maryland regiments.

last stand of the Fusiliers.

In the center the gallant 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers stood their ground.  A devastating volley caused the Light battalion to retire in disorder.  The two Maryland regiments charged but could not make a dent in the Fusiliers.  Both regiments fell back disordered.  Looking over their shoulders for support the Fusiliers saw the Brigade of Guard's move in the direction of the woods!

The British Legion had made slow but steady progress.  They had pushed the Riflemen back.  The British light infantry and Jagers, supported by a squadron the the Legion attacked the militia along the stone wall and routed them.  At this point the rest of the Legion Cavalry were moving out of the woods and ready to attack the American flank.  But what he saw was the entire Continental line in position to fight him.  Additional militia battalions were moving up.  And the American cavalry were moving forward to engage.  Deciding to save what was left of his army the British commander ordered them to retreat and save what they could.

This ended the Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign.  The American had crushed the British army and won a decisive, but unexpected victory.

Summary of Campaign at this Point

  For those of you who have been following my refight of the Cowpens -Guilford Courthouse Campaign, many thanks.  It has been fun and entertaining for me and has surprisingly copied the historical campaign.   The American army in the first battle won a decisive victory.  This mimicked the results of the Battle of Cowpens.  Cornwallis, infuriated with the result gathered his field force to chase down Morgan and Greene.  In the second battle the British easily brushed aside the poorer quality American forces guarding the river crossing.  Again a very historical result.

During that battle the Guard's Light Infantry company, 1/Guard and the 23rd all suffered casualties which will be carried over to the next battle. The North Carolina militia have thrown in the towel and are going home; but additional regiments of militia from Virginia and North Carolina will be joining Greene in March. So although a victory for the British it has no long term positive results. I think this reflects the American war from the British point of view rather well. Hence the true value of a series of games within a campaign.

For the next game the dice roll has said Greene will be attacking Cornwallis' army. I found this most interesting as Greene himself (in the Greene papers) was considering this option prior to Guilford Courthouse. Let's see how it will work! The American commander has asked if they can keep the Light battalion rather then merging it back to its parent battalions. I rather like the idea and will go with it.

Because of my schedule in March (work, Cold Wars and our trip to Hawaii) we will be fighting the Battle in April. Hopefully as a club game night event.  Just running out of time for March. So please stay tuned following this commercial break. As always feedback is appreciated.

And thank you all for reading and following.

Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign Refought: Cowen's Ford Action

Setting the stage:
Marching hard after Greene's army Cornwallis found his army frustrated by numerous river crossings. These were usually defended by local militia. One such crossing was at Beattie's and Cowen's Ford. North Carolina Militia General Davidson was defending both fords  with his brigade.

 Under cover of darkness Cornwallis divided his army. Webster would hold the attention of most of Davidson's men and Morgan's light division while Cornwallis crossed at the lower Cowen's Ford. The heavy morning fog prevented the men guarding the Ford from seeing the British untill  the advanced guard was crossing the river.  They quickly called for reinforcements and set up firing positions.

Game rules;
To cross the Ford takes three turns. First move up to Ford and stop.  Next turn move into river then stop. Third move move into bank and stop. No firing while crossing.
American reinforcements wants can be called by a roll of a D6.  A 1-4 and Davidson arrives with the remainder of his brigade.  A second die roll and a 1-3 Morgan's division arrives.  At this battle Davison arrived but Morgan did not.

Battle:
While the British Guard's Grenadier and Light Infantry companies crossed the ford the North Carolina riflemen continued to snipe at them.  Although the Guard's suffered some casualties their morale held and they established themselves on the shore.

 Charging forward the Grenadiers caught the  riflemen and routed them off the board. But by this time they had held up the British long enough for the North Carolina brigade to deploy into line. Three battalions faced the Guard's battalions. Cornwallis had brought the 23rd and Bose regiment into the field and they faced for a lower Ford. As the 23rd started to cross additional riflemen commenced sniping at them.

At this point things happened fast and furious.  The 1/Guard's charged the two militia battalions to their front. The North Carolina militia horse charged the 2/Guard's and caught them in column.  The 23rd crossed the Ford and moved to engage the rifles.
Although the militia horse had caught the Guard's in column, they were too few in numbers to defeat them.  The 2/Guard's saw them off with little fuss.  So too did the 1/Guard's who routed the two battalions to their front.

 With his front collapsing Davidson called for a general retreat to save what was left of his forces.  The only one disappointed by this result was Tarleton who was just crossing the Ford with his dragoons.  Mabey next time.

The game had been a lopsided British victory. The superiors morale of the Guard's battalions had enabled them to clear the militia with little difficulty.

Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign Refought: Battle of Camden

  January 1781

General Morgan invades South Carolina with his Light Troops.  He successfully linklinked up with Pickens' South Carolina brigade and  Sumter's brigade.

 Morgan decided to attack the British base at Camden.  Outnumbered but trusting in his better quality troops Lord Rawson matches out to attack him.

Morgan deployed his troops along the ridge line overlooking Camden .He placed his brigade of Light troops in the center.  Picken's brigade covered his right while Sumter's brigade covered his left.  All three commanders held their cavalry in reserve  the rifle armed troops covered each flank.

Advancing through a gap.in the woods Lord Rawdon advanced straight for Sumter's brigade.  He held his tiny cavalry force in reserve and led with the Volunteers of Ireland and New York Volunteers.  The Royal North Carolina Regiment and South Carolina Royalists followed behind  his loyalist militia covered his left flank.

The American Riflemen free first blood .They caused a couple hits to the Royal North Carolina Regiment who passed morale and continued their advance .But Picken's men fired a devastating round which caused six casualties among the militia.  They failed their morale test and routed off the board.

 Rawdon brought his cavalry into the field to cover his exposed get flank  , which caused Picken's riflemen to retire behind his infantry.  The Royal  North Carolina Regiment advanced into the woods to drive back the riflemen.  Matching forward the Volunteers of Ireland and New York Volunteers traded vollies with Sumter's militia.  The militia got The worse of it and both battalions failed their morale test and routed off the board taking Sumter's cavalry with them.  



at this point the game turned against the British.  Coffin's cavalry charged one of Picken's militia battalions who calmly shot it to pieces . As the cavalry routed off the table Picken's cavalry and rifles emerged from the woods and threatened the British left flank.  While one of his militia battalions engaged the South Carolina Royalists to their front the other battalion flanked them.  Morgan had  the Maryland Delaware Light battalion charge the New York volunteers.   The melee saw the Volunteers defeated  and fall back.  Tripplett's Virginians held the Volunteers of Ireland.

With his line crumbling Rawdon ordered the Royal North Carolina Regiment and the Volunteers to save themselves and dashed back to Camden to organize its defense.  Morgan, having destroyed a fine British  army and avenged last year's defeat at Camden retired to join up with Greene's army.  Although Tarleton and his legion  tried to intercept him he failed (poor die rolling)  and Morgan escaped  to fight another day.  

The American army won a decisive victory and were awarded 5 points. Cornwallis, infuriated with the result gathered his field force to chase down Morgan and Greene.