We return to Kelhamshire this week and the ongoing campaigns of Sir Victor Meldrew and his erstwhile opponent, Lord Melchett. Sir Victor had been using the barns near the isolated hamlet of West Causey for storing his supplies and a detachment of two units of commanded shot had been sent from the main parliamentary force to collect some of these supplies. However, word of this parliamentary cache had reached the ears of Lord Melchett and he was determined to seize them for his own use. Therefore, a force of six units of infantry, two units of horse and two light guns marched to the area. On the way they collected the Causey Hundred Clubmen, who alleged they had received harsh treatment from parliamentary forces and wanted to settle scores.
 |
| Overview of the table layout, royalists on the left |
Just in time, Sir Victor learned of Lord Melchett's approach and sent reinforcements to West Causey. By chance, these reinforcements were of almost the same composition as those accompanying Lord Melchett. Marching through the night Sir Victor managed to get his men to West Causey before Lord Melchett's men arrived but their deployment was rather haphazard. On Sir Victor's left, Sir Richard Clayton had command of two units of foot and one of the commanded shot units. Colonel Ezekial Cooper commanded a similar force on the right with one light gun and one a slight rise in the centre, optimistaically called locally "The Heights", Sir Victor had the reserve of one foot unit, plus the East Clayton Trained Bands and a medium gun. Just to Sir Victor's right was stationed Colonel James Livesey with two units of horse.
 |
| The parliamentary right and centre. |
When Lord Melchett arrived at West Causey he saw that there was going to be stiffer opposition than he had at first thought. Undeterred, he deployed ordered Colonel William Saville to deploy his three units of foot on the right, Sir James Fotheringay to deploy his three units on the left whilst the horse under Hesketh Fleetwood remained in reserve. By their own choice, the clubmen also stayed in reserve. A brief reconnaissance showed that the parliamentary centre was protected by an area of boggy ground, Lord Melchett therefore decided to attack on the flanks and feint at the centre, hopefully preventing Sir Victor from reinforcing his flanks.
 |
| Fotheringay's foot prepare to advance |
On receiving Lord Melchett's orders, Sir James galloped over to his brigade and issued the command to advance. His first objective was to secure an enclosure on the parliamentarian right and then advance over a small hill to secure the barn which contained a portion of the supplies. His leading regiment, Gerard's, stepped out with a will and rapidly advanced on Spencer's regiment which held the enclosure. Spencer's first volley was ineffective, Gerard's reply was not and they followed up with a charge. Still recovering from the royalists' volley, Spencer's closing volley did nothing to dissuade their attackers who quickly gained the advantage. In no time at all Spencer's broke, running towards the rear and disordering Cooper's own regiment of foot which was supporting them. One saving grace for the parliamentarian left was that Gerard's themselves became disordered advancing into the enclosure. This gave Cooper a chance to respond to the setback.
 |
| Gerard's charge home |
 |
| Spencer's take to their heels |
Colonel Saville was not enjoying the same success. Taylor's regiment had become entangled in an enclosure which blocked their advance; and then Rodney's Redcoat regiment somehow misunderstood their order to advance and instead fell back, disordering Assheton's regiment in the process. A rather scathing enquiry from Lord Melchett asking Saville if he required any assistance did not improve the latter's mood and his colonels suffered the consequences. Eventually order was restored and the royalist right began to move forward.
Seeing Fotheringay's progress, Lord Melchett sent orders for Fleetwood to advance in support. Nothing happened, a further, more succinct order was sent and this seemed to have the desired effect.
Sir Victor was not without his own problems. Seeing the fate of his right wing, he sent orders for his reserve foot unit to move to the right to assist Cooper and also Livesey was to advance his cavalry and threaten the flank of the royalist attack. However, the two moves became tangled and it took some time before they could be put into effect.
 |
| Tiplady's advance |
Saville's brigade was still making little progress. Although the initial confusion had been sorted out, the advance lacked co-ordination. Taylor's regiment pressed forward with some purpose, but this was not matched by Rodney's or Assheton's. To Lord Melchett's evident disdain, the Causey Hundred clubmen took a vote and decided to advance in support of Saville's men. Cautiously, they began to edge forward, keeping well away from Livesey's cavalry which had begun to advance. Taylor's regiment had almost reached the small stream when the parliamentary artillery stationed on The Heights found their range and began to inflict significant casualties on the advancing foot. Clayton's foot also joined in with musket volleys and Taylor's men reeled under the weight of fire. The officers tried to steady the ranks, but losses continued to mount up and soon the remnants of the regiment were running back towards West Causey.
On the royalist left, Fotheringay had ordered the Green regiment forward to support Gerard's. They were opposed by Tiplady's regiment the reserve foot which had been ordered to support Cooper by Sir Victor. After an exchange of volleys the two foot regiments came to melee. After a brief struggle Tiplady's broke, routing back towards their own lines. Behind them were Livesey's cavalry who managed to avoid becoming disordered by the fleeing infantry. With Colonel Livesey at their head, the parliamentary cavalry charged the Green regiment. His gallant charge saved Tiplady's regiment from destruction, but at a heavy cost. The leading regiment suffered heavy losses from the closing volley fired by the royalists; and even more from the resolute pikemen defending their musketeers. Defeated, the parliamentary cavalry had to fall back to reorganise. Now was the time for Fleetwood to exploit this opportunity, but his command was too far back and chance was missed. Meanwhile, Gerard's had driven back Cooper's regiment with musketry. However, when they attempted to push forward out of the enclosure and towards the supply barn they came under close range artillery fire and musketry and they had to fall back to reform.
 |
| Tiplady's rout |
 |
| Livesey's cavalry charge home |
On the royalist right, Saville ordered Rodney's regiment to subdue the musketeers in the parliamentary centre, whilst Assheton was to advance on the commanded shot on the extreme left of the parliamentary position. With the assistance of the attached artillery, Rodney's soon established the upper hand over Clayton's men and Assheton's crossed the small stream and charged the commanded shot. Clayton's commanded shot hoped to fire a volley and then evade, but they left it too late and the royalist foot were clambering over the hedge as the commanded shot fired. It was a one-sided contest and soon the commanded shot were running back towards The Heights.
In the centre, Fleetwood's command had at last regrouped and moved forward. However, they were too far forward and began to lose men to fire from Cooper's commanded shot. In an attempt to force the issue Fleetwood ordered his leading unit to charge Livesey's men who had just recovered from their failed charge. All this achieved was even more casualties on the royalist horse who advanced into close range but could not close due to the losses they had suffered. As the battered unit fell back it was charged by the parliamentary horse. Caught at a disadvantage the royalists broke, disordering their supporting regiment which was then assailed by the victorious parliamentarians. The royalists put up a brave resistance, but eventually they gave way and fled the field.
Saville's men were sensing victory. Assheton's regiment having cleared the hedge pushed on towards the supply barn. Behind them, the Causey Hundred clubmen elected to follow in their wake. The determining factor here was the presence of the East Clayton Trained Bands; no love was lost between the two units and there were a few personal scores to settle. Assheton's were opposed by Clayton's own regiment of foot, but they drove it back with musketry and then charged. The parliamentarian regiment staggered under the impact, but just managed to stand its ground. "One more push", thought Assheton "and we'll get to the barn".
 |
| Clayton's commanded shot are defeated |
On The Heights Sir Victor saw that the crisis of the battle was at hand. His sole reserve were the Trained Bands, would they rise to the occasion? Before he had the chance to issue an order, Sir Victor saw the Trained Bands surge down the hill towards the open flank of Assheton's regiment. Concentrating on the enemy before him, Assheton did not see the threat and his men staggered under the impact. He hoped the clubmen would support him, but they had become disordered crossing the hedge by the stream. Assheton's men fought on, but Clayton's regiment had been re-invigorated by the attack of the Trained Bands. Slowly, the initiative swayed to the parliamentarians and it was the royalists who were having to give ground. The edging back became all too quickly a rout and in the rush to the rear the clubmen were also swept away. Over the hedge and stream the fugitives ran towards West Causey.
 |
| Victory for Clayton's regiment and the Trained Bands |
Their troubles were not over. After defeating Fleetwood's cavalry, Livesey had been faced by Fotheringay's remaining infantry regiment. Having been repelled once, Livesey was not keen to repeat the experience. Instead he turned to the left and threatened the flank of Rodney's regiment. However, beyond them were the disorganised rabble of men routing towards West Causey. Using one regiment to threaten Rodney's, Livesey led his other regiment against the fleeing royalists. A few lucky men found sanctuary in the enclosures or houses of the village, the majority were cut down in the open.
For Lord Melchett it was another defeat, he drew off what remained of his forces. Sir Victor was just happy to have held on to his supplies. Although victorious he had suffered heavy losses and with night drawing on pursuit was out of the question.
No comments:
Post a Comment