Defence of the Sasquahannoc River

Spotting the rebels' earthworks before the river, and quickly surmising that the woods to the right held a nasty surprise, Colonel Haberghan ordered his light battalion into line to face the wood. The guns and two line battalions would take care of the earthworks.

Unfortunately, the Colonel was off-colour that day having picked up something unpleasant in Hazzard. I.E. I rolled a 2 on his command dice. Even with the usual +1 he would have limited options each turn. It takes 2 command points to issue an order to a unit. The Americans did better, with his opposite number (General 'Hannibal' Smith) getting a 4, and they had a subordinate brigadier with an additional 3 command points. This was part of the evening up of the odds after the last battle. In addition to that I gave them the earthworks. And they would return to full complement again. The British brought forward the troops they had left after the last battle. I.E. everything. I reasoned that the Disorder Points were rallied off in the interval.

I forgot to take any photos early on, so the first is after the 69th Foot have shrugged off fairly ineffectual fire from the militia in the earthworks and the gun section across the river. And whilst the Lights faced off against the American riflemen in the woods, with a manly hurrah, the 69th stormed the defences. On the lip of the parapet they poured point blank fire into the stunned defenders before levelling their bayonets. The militia didn't give the redcoats the chance to skewer them, and took to their heels.

The British 6-pounders following in their wake were ordered to deploy in close range of the American artillery and the town of Vallance. By then the Continentals had been marched into the town, and four companies engaged in a long range fire fight with the 69th. The 6 pounders deployed just in time for the 69th were getting closer to 5 DPs. (After 5 DPs any further hits are taken as Casualties - i.e. removal of a base - that's when the attrition really takes its toll).

The Lights engaging in their foolish firefight in the wood with the American marksmen. The 69th hold the eastern side of the bridge. The 10th begin to arrive on the road.

The 69th in the American 'redoubt' exchange shots with the Continentals across the river, whilst the guns silence the American artillery.

Over in the woods, the Lights stayed in line and engaged in a fire fight with the American skirmishers. They should have charged straight in, having a big advantage in combat but not in a firefight when deployed in line, or they should have deployed in skirmish order to reduce casualties. I could put this down to the lack of Command Points - I concentrated on getting the guns into action to soften up the defenders across the river before an assault over the bridge. In reality I was probably not concentrating properly. The Lights suffered significant hits before finally charging. The first round of combat was indecisive, but in the second, without the benefit of the bayonet charge, and having suffered a couple more DPs they were punished by the riflemen. In all the Lights lost 5 casualties and had 5 DPs still on them when they came to a halt alongside the 10th Foot.

The 10th didn't make the same mistake as the Lights. they got stuck in straight away and routed the Americans. Fortunately for the rebels, they were able to easily outpace the Yellowbellies and reach the ford. In the course of the action 'Boss' Hogg in charge of the Blue Mountain Boys took a ball in the arm and another grazed his temple, dazing and disorientating him. In other words, he suffered an injury under the Risk to Generals rule and a deduction of 2 Command Points.

The 10th march into the woods, leaving the Lights to the right rear licking their wounds.

Meanwhile the British guns had surpassed their opposite number and turned their fire on to the Continentals in the town. It wasn't long before the Continentals too were beginning to suffer badly.  'Hannibal' Smith (so-called  because of his girth - he was, one Continental captain quipped, "the elephant in the room"), called for a withdrawal. He had caused nearly as many casualties on the British as they had on him, and he could retreat towards more help, whilst the British would be getting further from their bases on the estuary.

The end. 

By the end of the action, the Americans had lost four rifles bases, two militia and one gun. The British came off nearly as badly losing five Light infantry bases and one Line from the 69th. Arguably the Brits' loss was worse since the Lights are classed as first rate. The British losses will be carried forward to the next game, but the Americans will be allowed to return to full strength again. I'll probably have one or two more games in this little mini-campaign. Depending on when the new order arrives, I may get new figures into the final game. If the timing is right I can forsee an outnumbered British force desperately awaiting the arrival of relief in the form of light dragoons.