Lunch at the Swan; an ECW scenario

 This week we had another foray into the fictional county of Kelhamshire.  I devised a scenario which followed on from that at Royston Bridge.  The  county's Parliamentarian forces were still prosecuting the siege of Kelham and Sir Victor Meldrew had been ordered to escort the latest wagon train of supplies.  The train's route happened to pass by the Swan, a hostelry renowned throughout the county for the excellence of it's cellar.  Sir Victor, a keen student of the grape, had organised things so that he, together with his vanguard arrived at the inn in time for a hearty lunch before the train was due.  He had with him a company of musketeers from his own regiment, two regiments of horse (Livesey's and Shuttleworth's) and some dragoons.  The latter had been sent off to the right flank to take post in Blist's wood.  Just as Sir Victor was ordering his second bottle to accompany the roast,  a young officer approached and told him that a force of cavalry was approaching the bridge over the Kelham.  Reluctantly, Sir Victor left the table and went outside to assess the situation.

The reports were correct, a large Royalist force was approaching.  Lord Melchett had gathered four units of foot, (Gerard's and Taylors regiments plus the musketeers from the White regiment and the local militia) and five of horse.  Three were with Melchett (Carey's, Desmond's and Tyldsley's) and the other two (the gentlemen volunteers and a combined regiment), under the command of Colonel Rupert Winstanley, had crossed the Kelham upstream and were approaching the Swan from Melchett's right.

This rather blurred photograph shows the table from the Parliamentarian right.  The train, with it's escort of two regiments of horse, two of firelocks and a unit of militia, has just reached the Swan.  Meldrew's forces are around the inn. Melchett's main force will arrive at the bridge (upper right), Winstanley's are due to enter the table by the road near Blists Wood (top centre). The dice decreed that Steve should take the part of Sir Victor, so I assembled my forces to attack over the bridge and hopefully disrupt the progress of the wagon train.   Winstanley's force was to arrive on a turn determined by the roll of a d6.  I duly rolled a 6, so the flank attack would be delayed until turn 6.

As speed was of the essence, I decided to send the horse over the bridge first, with the white musketeers lining the river bank to give some fire support.  Normally, the Royalist cavalry have the edge when taking on Parliamentarian cavalry, but on this occasion, they had an off day.  Tyldsley's made no progress at all against Livesey's and were gradually pushed back.  Eventually, the remnants broke and fled the field,disrupting the progress of Carey's as they tried to cross the bridge.

Sir Victor, resplendent in his plumed helmet, quickly assessed the situation.  He ordered Colonel Matthews, (commanding the train escort)  , to place his troops under Meldrew's command.  One company of firelocks was sent to the Swan to provide extra support for Meldrew's musketeers and a regiment of horse turned down the road to the bridge to support Shuttleworth's, who were giving ground to Carey's regiment.  The militia unit also moved away from the train to cover a gap between the enclosures and prevent the Royalist horse from threatening Meldrew's flank.

Winstanley's cavalry arrived eventually and rushed to the aid of Melchett's attack.  The Gentlemen Volunteers kept to the road and whilst passing Blists Wood were surprised by a volley from the dragoons. Although suffering some casualties, they pressed on,but progress towards the train was blocked by Lambert's horse, which Sir Victor had directed to the threatened area.

Winstanley leads forward the Gentlemen Volunteers

Although Winstanley had the advantage of numbers on the Royalist right, it was the Parliamentarians who gained the upper hand.  The combined regiment was pushed back by the County horse and when Lambert's held the Volunteers, Winstanley joined the fray to try and inspire his men.  Unfortunately, Rigg's dragoons chose this moment to charge out of the wood and  join the melee.  Assailed from all directions the fragile morale of the Volunteers crumbled and they disappeared down the road.  The sight of their commander leaving the field did nothing for the morale of the combined regiment, which also gave way.

At the bridge Melchett's attempt to get his infantry across was going badly.  The remains of his cavalry were now pressed close to the bridge, leaving no room for the infantry to deploy.  When the cavalry routed they swept all before them and the Royalist attack was over.

After lunch we reset the troops and swopped sides.  Steve, having seen my attempt, decided to put more infantry in the first wave.  Gerard's followed Carey's and managed to form up under the protection of the Royalist horse.  The infantry's fire power (and pikes) was sufficient to keep the Parliamentary horse at bay.  Like Steve earlier, I took the troops from the train to bolster Meldrew's position and the firelocks provided me with the high point (as far as the Parliamentarian side was concerned), when their volley emptied sufficient saddles to stop a charge by the combined regiment.  This aside, little seemed to go right for Meldrew.   The Parliamentarian horse failed to make progress against Melchett's horse and this allowed Gerard's advance towards the train guard.  After an exchange of volleys Gerard's charged and the raw Parliamentarian gave at the first impact.  Soon they were streaming from the field and the Royalists let them go, turning towards the Swan.

At the inn, Meldrew's musketeers could not deter Taylor's regiment from advancing on them.  When the pikes charged home there was little resistance and Meldrew found himself trying to stop his own regiment fleeing from the field.

 Two games in the day, the wagon train getting through both times, but with varying fortunes for Sir Victor.