Action at Eastcott : an ECW scenario for Pike and Shotte

This week we return to Kelhamshire, where the forces of Sir Victor Meldrew are on the march.  Their objective is the supply centre of Castletown, but word of their approach has preceded them and Sir Roderick Hoghton has hurriedly assembled a force to oppose them at the village of Eastcott.  Hoghton's force consists of a cavalry brigade commanded by Sir William Molyneux containing the regiments of Chorley and Stanley , the latter being understrength, and also the Kelhamshire Horse.  There is also Sir James Fotheringay's infantry brigade with the regiments of Hoghton, Gillibrand and Chorley and a small unit of the Kelhamshire Trained Band.  These are supplemented by two small units of commanded shot and a light gun.  In addition there is a small unit of dragoons.

The Parliamentary force is commanded by Sir Victor and contains Colonel William Wanless' brigade of 5 infantry regiments (Demdyke, Malkin, Nowell, Chattox and Bentham) and Colonel James Livesey's brigade of horse, (Livesey, Shuttleworth, Newsome and Shapland).  The artillery consists of a light and a medium gun and their is a small unit of dragoons.

An overview of the table before the arrival of Sir Victor's force.  The river on the right can be forded by foot and horse, but may cause disorder.  There is a bridge some way back from the Parliamentary table edge, so Sir Victor can deploy units over the river if he wishes.

I took the part of Sir Roderick and deployed all the cavalry on the right with the infantry holding the village of Eastcott.   Gillibrand's were on the right, theTrained Band in the centre behind a hastily erected barricade and Hoghton's were on the left.  Chorley's regiment were held in reserve at the rear.  The dragoons were placed in the wood near the bridge and the light gun was with the Trained Band in the centre.  The commanded shot from Smethurst's regiment were in the houses.

Sir Victor's deployement mirrored that of the Royalists.  Livesey's brigade was on the left, Wanless' regiments in the centre, (3 units in the first line, two in the second) and the dragoons over the river on the right.  The Parliamentary artillery was divided, the medium gun on the right and the light gun was with Nowell on the left of the front line.

The Parliamentary advance begins.  Wanless with Chattox, Bentham in support

The battle began with a general Parliamentary advance, Livesey's brigade being hampered by the woods to their left and their own infantry on the right.  Livesey's own regiment advanced beyond it's supports and Molyneux seized the chance to attack it with Chorley's regiment with Stanley's in support.  Livesey's managed to hold the charge of Chorley's regiment, but when Stanley joined the fray and Livesey's own reinforcements didn't advance in time the Royalists prevailed.  Livesey's men routed, pursued by Chorley's whilst Stanley's men reined in and reformed.

Chorley's successful

Wanless was making a steady advance, but outpaced the artillery which was very slow in coming forward in support.  Across the river, the dragoons were heading towards the bridge, but when they came under fire from the Royalist dragoons in the wood they quickly dismounted and began to return fire.

Chorley's had swept forward into Shuttleworth's regiment.  Even though they had been caught at the halt Shuttleworth's fought with determination and  when Newsome's and Shapland's came up in support the pressure increased on the Royalists.

Demdyke's attack the barricade

The leading Parliamentary regiments were now under fire from the Royalist defenders of Eastcott.   Demdyke's in the centre suffered the most; they were targeted by the light gun, the trained bands and the commanded shot.    However, undaunted they charged up to the barricade and quickly overcame the defenders.  The gun crew were last seen heading back to Castletown , whilst Fotheringay tried to rally the Trained Bands.  On the right, Chattox's was losing it's fire fight with Hoghton's and even the arrival of the field gun and its fire was not enough to reduce the fire from Hoghton's regiment.  Wanless decided to order Chattox to charge their opponents.  The men responded bravely, but a devastating close range volley stopped them in their tracks and they routed.  Bentham's stepped forward from the second line to take their place, but also began to take casualties.  Hoghton's began to move forward and seemed to be preparing to charge, so Wanless directed his reserve regiment, Malkin's, to move across to give flanking fire.

Chattox's failed charge

On the Royalist right, Molyneux was struggling to control his regiments.  He had ordered the Kelhamshire Horse to advance to support the embattled Chorley's, but had somehow misinterpreted the orders and found themselves up against the woods on the extreme right.  Stanley's had managed to recover from their earlier melee just in time to see Chorley's routing back with the victorious Shuttleworth's in pursuit.  As the Kelhamshire Horse shuffled into position to oppose the pursuing Parliamentarians, Stanley's engaged with Shapland's regiment.

Malkin's move across to support Bentham's

Hoghton had been feeling pretty satisfied with events up to this point.  True, the barricade in Eastcott had been lost, but there had been no follow up from the Parliamentary foot.  Hoghton's seemed to be gaining the upper hand on the left and the threat from the Parliamentary dragoons to the bridge had been nullified.  However, his right wing was about to crumble.  

First, Chorley's Horse disappeared from the field, galloping off towards Castletown.  Then Stanley's were defeated by Shapland's and routed.  This left only the inexperienced Kelhamshire Horse to try and hold back three regiments of Parliamentary cavalry.  No doubt encouraged by the performance of their cavalry, Nowell's regiment, on the left of Wanless's line now charged Gillibrand's.  Although they fired a good, disciplined volley, the Royalists were unable to prevent the Parliamentarian infantry from charging home.  The impetus of the charge was enough to push back the Royalists in disorder.  Fotheringay's attempts to rally the Trained Bands came to naught when a volley from Demdyke's scythed through their ranks and felled a good number of men.  Unwilling to take any more punishment they routed from the field.  

Gillibrand's attempt to hold against  Nowell's

Stanley's rout

The Trained Bands rout

Hoghton decided he had done all he could.  Using the foot regiments of Chorley and Hoghton as a rearguard he pulled back the remnants of his force; ceding the ground to the enemy.