The Battle of Althorp Manor, 26th December 1745.

Chirs Gregg hosted another of his 'big games' this weekend and once again I was asked if I would like to take part. Given it was set during the '45 and using my favourite and excellent Honours of War rules, I naturally said yes. 

Guy Barlow had come up with the scenario and the wonderful background fluff, which formed part of a historically plausible, to my mind at least, version of the '45. Each side received their own briefings, one of which can be seen below:

JACOBITE BRIEF Background – 7.45 am on the morning of 26th December 1745 

You are the Prince. Huzzah! You have arrived in Scotland and since then you have had one success after another. You have swept through the Highlands, taken Edinburgh, scattered a British Army at Prestonpans and brushed aside an army under Field Marshall Wade at Brampton next to Hadrian’s Wall. Subsequently you have seized Carlisle and Manchester and have advanced south to North Staffordshire. There, your scouts made you aware of the fat scoundrel the Duke of Cumberland and a substantial force at Stone. You therefore outwitted the fool and hot footed across the Staffordshire moorlands to Derby. 

 

There you and your commanders were having a council of war on 5th December 1745. Pessimism affected all there except for you. Just before a decision was made to withdraw to Scotland a mud splattered messenger arrived with the startling news that a French expeditionary force had successfully managed to evade the Royal Navy and had landed at Boston in Lincolnshire. You immediately ordered the army to move with haste towards Grantham with the intention of uniting with the French. 

Unfortunately for you there was a government spy in the Jacobite camp and the news was swiftly sent to both the Duke and the King in London. You anticipate they will do their utmost, firstly to prevent you combining with the French, and secondly then stop you moving towards London to unseat the Hanoverian usurper. 

Fortune, however, continues to favour you. Your Jacobite army soon out marched the lumbering government forces and joined with the French at Grantham. You were delighted to see that there were substantial reinforcements. 1 brigade of infantry (4 French infantry regiments) and a regiment of hussars under Brig D’Orlick (Dashing) was detached to occupy St Neots so that your communications with The Wash and N Norfolk are safeguarded while the majority being 16 regiments of foot, 2 regiments of cavalry, a squadron of de Saxe lancers and a battery of 3pdr guns accompany your forces. You were told of rumours that all was not well in the government ranks especially in the hastily raised Scottish government regiments and that some foreign troops, eg the Hessians and Hanoverians were insisting on being repatriated. 

You then ordered the advance southwards by Ermine Street to Huntingdon. There you were advised of the concentration of the government forces at Northampton and after receiving sound military guidance from the French officers, you decided to try and outwit the government troops by approaching from the South, and to cut their lines of communications with London. 

Your army is in good order, if a little foot sore, but confident now they had the French in support and you intend to bring the government forces to battle. If they can destroy the government army then the road to London is wide open and nothing can stop you. You have decided you cannot just march to London leaving a substantial government army to your rear as this would risk being trapped between that and whatever government forces remain in London. Boxing Day beckons. Your gamble of approaching from the South has paid off as you have not come across any government cavalry pickets. 

The Game

I could only make the Sunday, but fortunately Ken Marshall was able to make the Saturday. We both came up with a similar plan for our Franco-Jacobite forces, with the Highlanders trying to turn the British left flank, the French to hold the centre and the Highlanders and Lowlanders turn the British right flank too. Well that was the plan. So how did it turn out?

The map of the battlefield, with the brown rectangle marking the actual extend of the game. The Franco-Jacobite forces were advancing from the South for reference.

I arrived early on the Sunday and Chris gave me a briefing of what had transpired the day before. Broadly speaking honours were even, but the Jacobite right wing was somewhat spread about due to retreats to reform. The French in the Centre were OK but faced more than enough artillery to make them think twice about advancing, whilst on the left the Highlanders and Lowlanders had seized Althorp manor and were hoping to push on forward to pressure the British right flank.

It was quite a full on day, with myself aided by Chris and my opponent, Richard Newcombe supported by Guy. I didn't take any notes but hope the pictures give a sense of the battle and how it unfolded. 

An overview of the state of play on Day Two, with the Franco-Jacobite troops on the left hand side of the table. Althorp manor is at the top of the photo. There is a slight gap in the British line (right middle), otherwise they have quite a good position, but there are opportunities to exploit, depending upon the Die Gods.

The church and village anchor the British left flank. 

Some Highlanders in a sunken lane, trying to gain some cover from the British infantry.

The lines have closed but that artillery will give off a whiff of grapeshot soon.

De Lally's troops in front of the hunting lodge. They would be under fire the whole of the game.

A view down the line from the Franco-Jacobite left flank.

Highlanders advance past Althorp manor, with Lowlanders to their right. Being inferior quality troops, not much is expected of the Lowlanders.

Althorp manor.

A scratch built mortar wagon from Guy's superb collection. I want one!

The view from the British right flank. Reinforcements in line of march can be seen moving in the foreground.

The mortar carriage in danger of being charged, which does not bode well for its survival.

The British right and some of its centre in the hedged fields by the manor.

The British centre not quite in a continous line yet, but ably supported by artillery.

The end of the British left flank, more or less.

The game a few Turns on and the Lowlanders, having charged the British Guards (?) have been severely beaten and have had to retreat to the comparitive safety of Althorp manor. They took no further part in the game.

The Lowlanders fail to dent the strong British refused right flank.

The French in the centre are wary of advancing against the strong British defensive position in front of the ridge. They tried in a few places but it did not end well.

The French cavalry have advanced to support the guns, but are unable to move closer, without risking a Charge of the Light Brigade type do or die attack. Wisely they chose to hold their positions.

The British have formed a very strong defensive position, with the only real option for possible Franco-Jacobite attacks being on the extreme ends of the line. 

The Highlanders try to push forward towards the village and church to turn the British left flank.

The French, despite being in depth, do not have enough force nor decent artillery support to try and break through the British position.

Somehow the mortar survived being charged and managed to withdraw in good order with its carriage and crew intact. Here they have managed to lob some shells at the Lowlanders.

At the top of the photo the Highlanders launch an attack against the Black Watch. This will be their high water mark.

The last desperate gamble as the Highlanders attack (top) whilst the Lowlanders seek some shelter behind the hedgeline and 'observe' the Guards to their front.

Chris Gregg moving up some cavalry, more in hope than anything else.

The remnants of a French brigade observe the battle as the Franco-Jacobites make the decision to withdraw in good order as they have only a small chance of a Pyrrhic victory, but at least they live to fight another day.

Post Game Thoughts

Well first of thanks to Chris, Guy, Ken and Richard for a great days gaming! Chris' modified Waterloo table looked great, as did his and Guy's figures. In fact they were stunning!  And of course thankyou to Chris for hosting all of us over two days. So as usual a few musings on the day in no particular order:

• I really enjoyed Guy's background fluff to the game as this is the sort of thing I enjoy anyway. Setting the game in the context of a campaign really does add to the enjoyments IMHO. So much so that whilst reading the briefing I thought I must really did out my Jacobite figures and at least get them based up.
• It is fun to play a 'big game' now and then but I must admit it is rather tiring all the same. I think in this case it was due to only having Richard and I 'in charge', even if ably supported by Chris and Guy. I know from my own games that if they are 'too big' for my solo efforts, I struggle to keep track of what's going on across the whole front. As we discussed over lunch, in an ideal World there would be three players per side, so each of us could take a flank, or centre. This would not only speed up play, but would also make it easier to concentrate on the game in front of you. But as with all things, it is not easy to get enough players even for more modest games.
• Whilst the Jacobite army is fun to play, it does tend to be a 'one shot wonder' when it comes to the Highland Charge. Guy tweaked things slightly to allow the Highlanders time to reform after a charge for two moves, which would give them time to collect their muskets etc again, ready for the off once more. A neat idea and if you can get the timing right, quite a devastating weapon in your arsenal.
• In contrast the Jacobite artillery is pretty poor, being rated Inferior and so it is quite hard for them to aid the cause as it were. Naturally if the die rolls go your way, then it might be enough to tips things in their favour. The British had lesss artillery but being rated Standard it had enough of a qualitative advantage to make it hard to the French especially to push forward in the centre.
• Even though the Franco-Jacobite troops lost and chose to withdraw, at least they did so an in good order. As Guy pointed out at the end, they are still between London and the British troops to the North, so all is not lost. As mentioned, having the battle as part of a campaign and with the 'orders' received, you are very focussed on following them as well as preserving your troops and lines of communication. The British broadly had 'orders' to destroy the Fracno-Jacobites, which they failed to do, but this did mean they kept the force largely intact, certainly on the second day they did.

A fun but tiring day for all the right reasons and once again thanks to Chris, Guy, Ken and Richard for a great days gaming. Next up is the Cotswold Wargames Day in a weeks time, so I must crack on on the painting front as well as sorting out the scenario. Famous last words but both are nearly finished, which is of course a good thing!

So until next time stay safe and keep healthy.