Happy New Year and a Review of 2021

 

What did you do in 2020?

  Another year just about finished.  And another year with covid restrictions.  I am hopeful that we will be seeing the light at the end if the tunnel in that topic;  but I am afraid it is just the lights of an in coming train.  It has been a roller coaster ride of a year that started with me in "retirement" and ended with me back to work.  In between I did pack in some hobby time.

Too often war gamers talk about gaming more and painting less.  This was the year I did that.  I probably played more games, both in person and solo then any other time of my life.  And a very interesting variety if games too!  

So, what did I play in 2021?  During the year I was able to get each of my armies out if their boxes and on to the table top.  

Crimean War

Rev War

War of 1812

I was also active in club game night and with our smaller group of Monday morning gamers.

I started a new project, King Philip's war 1675-76.  Its a period I have always been interested in and many if the site associated with it are near to where I live.  This is not one if those massive projects with waves of parading regiments.  instead its a smaller skirmish type game. Think of French and Indian war with no regulars and ECW style clothing.  Oh, and cavalry too!   The figures are mostly from Bridge games and the rules are based on the old favorite The Sword and the Flame.  I have made great progress with 40 native figures and 30 Colonists painted.  In addition I got to visit some if the actual battle sites of this conflict like Turner's Fall and Sudbury.

I discovered MDF house and have greatly enjoyed building them.  Especially those from Things From The Basement who have made some excellent 17th/18th New England style homes.  All are great value and beautiful works of art.  And perfect for Rev War battlefields!  Presently I am putting together the Hartwell Tavern kit. like the Captain William Smith house this building was also in the the park I worked at.  In fact my office, during the summer was in the building itself.   More about it later.

Towards the end of the year I was notably absent from both gaming and blogging.  In November I returned to work.  Although my station at Worcester was closed I transferred to Boston and went back to ground operations.  Its been a great adjustment and lots of retraining.  This includes flying down for a week to Florida for retraining and certification.   But I have greatly missed the work and the people and am most happy to be back.

  For 2022 I am hoping to again play more games.  Balancing work and play I want to continue to be active with the club and also the Monday Morning gamers.  I hope to add to my King Philip's War collection.

  Here is wishing all of you most happy new years and thank you for taking time from your day and visiting here.  I appreciate it and look forward to hearing from you again.

ChrIstmas Time

 

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas.

The Battle of Camden 1780

 

Surprising as it sounds in all the years I have gamed the American Revolution have never fought this battle.  Possibly because it was so lopsided.  Possibly because you need so many militia figures!  Or, because tactically it's rather boring.  Both sides line up and just march forward.  plain table with a few trees and swamps in both flanks.

  But its time to try it out and here I'd my order of battle.  Battle report will follow soon.

Battle of Camden August 1780

British Southern Army:   (2100)

Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis

      Rawdon's Brigade:  Lieutenant Colonel Francis Rawdon

Royal Artillery (light)

Royal North Carolina Regiment (30 figures)

Bryan's North Carolina Loyalist Militia (30 figures)

Volunteers of Ireland (30 figures)

British Legion:

British Legion Infantry (16 figures)

British Legion Artillery  (light)

Webster's  Brigade:  Lieutenant Colonel James Webster

Royal Artillery (light)

British Light Infantry (16 figures)

23rd Regiment of Foot (30 figures)

33rds Regiment of Foot (30 figures)

Reserve Brigade:  Lieutenant Colonel Alexander McDonald

71st Highland Regiment (30 figures)

1st Bn/71st Highland Regiment (18 figures)*

2nd Bn/71st Highland Regiment (12 figures)*

Royal Artillery (light)

* can field as two units or as just one.

British Legion:Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton

British Legion Dragoons (180): 

1st Squadron (10 figures)

2nd Squadron (8 figures)

              

total: 230 figures and 4 guns

 American Southern Army:  (4000)

Major General Horatio Gates

Continental Artillery/Army Troops:

Captain Anthony Singleton

Meredeth's (Virginia) Co/Continental Arty (light)

Dorseys (Maryland) Co/Continental Arty (light)

Bookers (Maryland) Sec./Continental Arty (light)

Waters (Maryland) Sec./Continental Arty (light)

Advance Brigade: Colonel Charles Armand

Continental & Virginia Cavalry:

Armands Legion Cavalry (6 figures)

Nelson's Virginia State Cavalry Regiment (6 figures)

Pinckneys S.C. Volunteer Mounted Infantry (6 figures)

Continental Light Infantry: 

Armands Legion Foot (6 figures)

Porterfields Virginia Light Infantry (8 figures)

Armstrongs Militia Light Infantry (12 figures)

Militia Division :  Major General Richard Caswell

1st North Carolina Militia Brigade:  Brigadier General John Butler

Left Wing Battalion/1st NC (24 figures)

Right Wing Battalion/1st NC (24 figures)

2nd North Carolina Militia Brigade:  Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford

Left Wing Battalion/2nd N (24 figures)

Right Wing Battalion/2nd NC (24 figures)

3rd North Carolina Militia Brigade:  Brigadier General Isaac Gregory

Left Wing Battalion/3rd NC (24 figures)

Right Wing Battalion/3rd NC (24 figures)

Virginia Militia Brigade:  Brigadier General Edward Stevens

Left Wing Battalion/Virginia (24 figures)

Right Wing/Battalion/Virginia (24 figures)

Continental Division (@1200):

Major General Baron de Kalb

1st Maryland Brigade:Major General William Smallwood 

1st & 3rd Maryland Regiments (30 figures)

5th & 7th Maryland Regiments (30 figures)

2nd Maryland Brigade:  Brigadier General Mordecai Gist

Delaware & 2nd Maryland Regiments (30 figures)

4th & 6th Maryland Regiments (30 figures)

Total 330 figures and 4 guns

Victory Conditions:

The first side to break and retreat off the table is the loser. The side that remains on the table is the winner

Rules:

The Whites of Their Eyes.

Game Length:

The battle began at dawn, roughly 7 am. The historical battle lasted only one hour but the game should go on until one side breaks and retreats from the field. Sunset was roughly 8 pm, but one side should break far before sunset.

Veterans Day

 

My grandfather, Edward McNamara from Lexington Massachusetts served with the 101st Regiment (Medical company), 26th Yankee Division in the first world war.  He seldom talked about it, and when he did it was a terrible memory which haunted him.  It was only later that I found out  he was mentioned in the division's orders and was decorated for heroism.  He never mentioned this to me.  I found out later through my own research.  But  I will always remember his smile when he told me how at 11:00 A.M. on 11th November the guns stopped and he and his friends knew they would live, knew they had survived.  He went on to raise a family and contribute to society.  During the next war he built ships for the Navy at the Charlestown Navy yard.

   And as this date is now called Veterans Day I say thank you to my father in law, Aldrich Stevens  who served in the  3rd Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) in the Second World War.  He saw service with them at North Africa, Sicily and Italy.  Seriously wounded he did not make the Anzio landing and thus missed the action at Cisterna (although he may have listened to the last radio calls while at headquarters).   Like my grandfather he too was haunted by the memories of what he saw, experienced and especialy those he lost.  But again he went on with life.  Due to the GI bill he got a education, raised a family and contributed to society.  

I remember their sacrifices and hope both men  have found peace.

SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie

 One of my favorite stories in Bar Harbor Maine  concerns an ocean liner, its cargo of gold and silver and some unusual navigation.

  At the end of July 1914 the German ocean liner SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie sailed from New York harbor to Breman Germany.  In addition to her full passenger list of 1200 people the ship carried a large amount of gold (over 10 million dollars) and silver  (over 3 million).  The Cecilie was built in 1906 and was a popular ship on the Atlantic trade.  She was a little over 19,000 ton, 700 feet long with a top speed of 23-24 knots.

  After an uneventful series of days at sea as the ship neared Liverpool its Captain received a coded message.  War had been declared, British ships were probably searching for her and he was advised to turn back to America to avoid capture and loss of cargo.  Captain Polark turned his ship about and headed back to American. To throw off any ship that spotted him he had the funnels  repainted in White Star Line colors to fool passing ships into thinking he was the RMS Olympic. 

  But where to go?  Both New York and Boston were out if the question. British ships would be patrolling off those ports and looking for enemy shipping.  With dwindling coal supplies he headed for the Maine coast.  One if his passengers, a summer resident of the town of Bar Harbor and a yachtsman offered to assist navigating them into the small harbor.  

  they came into the harbor at night. Quite a feat if navigation with the number of islands they had to slip through.   When the sleepy town awake at dawn everyone was surprised to find a ocean liner in their small port.  A number of passengers had summer residence in the town.  They quickly had servants open their homes to wait while transportation to Boston and New York was arranged.  Tours of the ship were quickly organized for the locals and just as quickly cancelled when numerous items on the ship disappear due to the fine American habit of taking souvenirs.  Governments and bankers became involved in deciding who owned the gold and silver and who now owned the ship.  While diplomacy played out the ships' band held daily concerts on the town green.

The ship and its crew were interned and in November they were transferred to Boston.  Once America declared war on Germany the ship was sized.  Turned into a transport and remained the USS Mount Vernon the old German liner became a troop ship bringing American soldiers to France.  During one crossing the ship was hit by a torpedo but managed to limp back to Boston where it was repaired and continued service.  Sadly after the war the ship was sold for scrap.  A sad but common end for many not these beautiful ships.

Its a great story and each time I go up to Bar Harbor I like sit by the harbor on the green and imagine the ships band playing in the background and the ship sitting peacefully.

Fort George and the Penobscot Bay Fiasco 1779

 

   One of the more unknown and forgotten battles of the American Revolution occurred in Castine Main

  Fort George  was built in 1779 by the British during the American Revolutionary War in Castine, Maine built  on high ground over looking Panobscot bay on the Bagaduce Peninsula. It was the site of the Massachusetts Penobscot Expedition, a disastrous attempt in July and August of 1779 to retake Castine. The British re-occupied Castine in the War of 1812 from September 1814 to April 1815, rebuilding it and establishing smaller forts around it. They withdrew after the war  and following a brief period of American use, the fort was abandoned and demolished in 1819.

  Fort George is a  square earthwork, about 200 feet on each side.  There are four bastions at the corners.  Parts of the fort that have not survived includethe palisade, moat, and gateway. The fort is one of a series of defenses erected by the British in 1779, which  included the digging of a canal across much of the neck separating the Bagaduce Peninsula from the rest of the mainland.

 The site of the fort's remains is now a park of 7 acres owned by the state and maintained by the town. Within the fort is a baseball diamond and a soccer field.  The few stone structures within it are crumbling to ruin.  

  The Fort is the location for Bernard Cornwell's 2010 book " The Fort",about the Penobscot Expedition.  For more details of the siege and fiasco:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penobscot_Expedition

Hiking in Acadia National Park and Blue Hills Maine

 

After our vacation I am at last back home.  We have had a most excellent time and gotten out into nature before the winter snows hem us in.  We drove way up north to the north eastern area of Maine for the week.  Its a wonderful time to visit there as tourist season is done and there are very few people about.  Of course most visitor centers and such are also closed but that us the price you pay.  Temperatures dropped while up there so that by the time we left there was frost on the ground in the morning.  Please note, when I talk about hiking its more strolling.  Thus is not like the hikes Mr Ed has done in the White Mountains.  Janine and I are much more the sauntering style of hiking.  

We stayed in Ellsworth which was a great central location.  First day there we dropped can get to Arcadia National National Park.  Although the visitor centers and most tourists sites were closed there was still plenty to do.  A shore walk was a perfect way to start our trip.  There were great views of the Harbor.

The town of Bar Harbor gets it name because if a very long and wide sand bar which appears at low tide.  It connects the town to Bar Island.  its a pleasant walk across the sand bar and then a wonderful walk around the island.  Great views of the Harbor and town.  At this time the New England foliage was still bright and beautiful colors which added to the walk.  By the way please keep a eye on the time as once the tide starts to come in it dies so very quickly!  Tide charts are posted everywhere.

There are a number of short but interesting walks in most towns around here.  These can be very rewarding and of course not crowded at all.  One was in the town of Ellsworth off a old farm.  Locals maintain it and its a very pleasant walk.  Afterwards there is a very nice brewery in town.  The local beer is Airline Brewery.  Its is not named for aircraft but for the road between Bangor where driver "Fly" by you. The New England IPA is most excellent.

A local mentioned to us a nice climb up Blue Hill mountain. It took us a while to find but we were rewarded by a good steady climb and beautiful views of the area.  This walk is off the beaten path but was a good climb.  

Another feature of the coast of Maine was the rocky shore line and light houses.  We saw a couple.

There were a number of other walks but I would be just repeating myself.  Lets us just say we got out and enjoyed ourselves each day.  Plus we also got a little history in.  But more on that later.