This was a small scale ECW encounter during the campaigns in Shropshire. The scenario comes from an article by Stephen Maggs which appeared in
Miniature Wargames in April 2004. Oswestry was a key point for the Royalists as it helped guard the vital road between Chester and Shrewsbury. However, in May 1644 it had been captured by Parliamentary forces. The Royalists were determined to recapture the town and Sir Fulke Hunkes, governor of Shrewsbury was ordered to gather up all available forces in the area. By 22nd June the Royalist forces were closing on Oswestry, but took time to organise their siege. On the 2nd July news came of a Parliamentary relief force under Sir Thomas Myddleton approaching from Ellesmere. Hunkes detached a force under Colonel John Marrow to march towards them and ascertain their strength. On the afternoon of the 3rd of July Myddleton's forces saw Marrow's men deployed along the banks of the river Perry, either side of the bridge which crossed the river just east of the village of Whittington. As the Parliamentary forces deployed Colonel Marrow could see that he outnumbered them, particularly in cavalry and, disregarding his orders to merely ascertain the enemy strength, resolved to attack. This provided the starting point for our game.
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| A view of the layout from the south, Royalists on the left |
The Royalists have 5 regiments of foot, 2 of which are rated raw, 3 regiments of cavalry, one of which is raw and a single light gun. Myddleton has 4 regiments of foot, 2 of which are rated raw and 2 light guns. He only has a single regiment of cavalry. We treated the river as potentially disordering unless crossed at the bridge. Hedges were a linear obstacle and targets behind them were unclear.
A roll of the dice allocated command of the Royalists to Steve and as per the scenario his troops moved forward. The cavalry advance was piecemeal and disordered by the river crossing, so my single regiment was able to drive back two of their opponents. However, they became 'shaken' in the process and only just held on against the third regiment. One of the infantry regiments came to their aid, firing a telling volley into the Royalist horse and forcing them to fall back to join their comrades. This gave my cavalry a brief breathing space to try and recover before the onslaught resumed.
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| The Royalist cavalry cross the River Perry |
The opposing infantry forces had by now closed up to the river and were exchanging volleys. To the right of the bridge (beyond it in the layout photograph), my infantry came off worst and had to fall back. However, as their opponents advanced they became disorganised crossing the river giving me a chance to counterattack and drive them back to the western bank.
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| The infantry exchange volleys across the river |
On my left things were not going well. Using his numerical advantage he had outflanked my line and was swinging round the barn to attack the units defending the hedge line from the rear. Fortunately, the Royalist infantry attacking the hedge frontally suffered such heavy casualties they routed, giving me just enough time to deploy them to meet this new threat.
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| The Royalist flank attack |
On the right the cavalry melee resumed and this time the attack was better co-ordinated. My single regiment was overwhelmed and driven from the field. This left a single regiment of foot to oppose the Royalist cavalry. It was able to fall back to cover its flank, but the Royalist infantry on that flank now began to move forward to support their horse.
With both flanks threatened and no cavalry it was time for the Parliamentarians to retreat,
We ran the game again after lunch and exchanged commands. Things worked out much the same on the Royalist left. Their cavalry managed to overcome the Parliamentary cavalry but struggled against the infantry. On the opposite flank Steve managed to get into position much quicker and my attack never really got going. The infantry unit leading the attack was destroyed by the Parliamentary volleys and routed from the field. The Parliamentary brigade commander led an attack across the bridge and ignoring fire from the light gun deployed and charged. The gun crew routed and the infantry supporting them, although they charged the Royalists, were thrashed in the melee and joined the artillery crew routing from the field. So, with the road to Oswestry open and no prospect of making progress with the cavalry I ordered the retreat.
