Didz's American game blog.

[Didz]

1801 Winter: Greene Marches North

Having secured Algonquin Territory Greene marched north into the Iroquios homeland, heading for their final large settlement at Cayuga. The march was slow due to the weather and the lack of proper roads and Greene's men were only halfway to their objective when they were attacked by a large Iroquios Warband commanded by Joseph Brandt.

Brandt was a Mohawk Indian in the pay of the British and had trained his men in the use of firearms as well as the traditional indian skills. He was also well aware of the Greene's reputation and his value to the future plans of the Unites States. Whether Greene had heard of Brandt is less certain by he would never forget him after the battle which followed.

The battle with Brandt's Warband

Greene drew his army up in the same square formation which had secured him victory in every indian encounter to date.

Brante's warriors were drawn up amongst the tree's along an undulating ridge overlooking the American positions. The majority were drawn up overlooking the American left flank. The Indians also had eight cannon deployed on the ridge and these began to lob shot into the left flank of Greene's square to weaken it as the braves began to advance.

[Iroquios warparties advance on the American left.]

It was clear that Brandt planned to try and break the left corner of the American square as the main weight of his forced and his artillery were directed to that point. As the Indian attack closed on the American left the 2nd and 3rd Continental Infantry are forced to form square by a well timed cavalry attack on their flank by some indian lancers, substantially reducing the firepower they can bring to bear on the advancing warriors to their front.

[The 2nd and 3rd are forced into square by indian lancers.]

The 5th Continental Infantry to their right are charged by 1,000 braves and fierce hand to hand fighting erupts along the entire left of Greenes lines. However, the real threat was not the attack by the axe weilding warriors on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Regiments, these braves were really just masking the advance of another 800 warriors armed with bows and muskets who now emerged from behind them and deploying opposite the American centre began to rain down a deadly and accurate mass of missile on General Greene and his personal staff.

[Iroquios bowmen attempt to kill General Greene.]

Suddenly, and probably for the first time in his career, Greene found himself in personal danger. His staff, men he had worked with for years were dying all around him and he panicked and and fled the field. Only 15 men out of his staff of 225 escaped.

[Greene and his fourteen remaining staff fly the field.]

Assuming the loss of their leader would panic the rest of the American army Brandt now charged into the already struggling 2nd and 3rd Regiments expecting them to break and run. But both regiments firmly stood their ground and he was forced to pull back and regroup.

He then charged to 5th to their right which was also still fighting hand to hand but they too stood their ground and refused to break.

[Joseph Brandt leads a charge against the 5th Continentals, but they stand their ground.]

The indian attack was now running out of steam. The warriors who had been fighting hand-to-hand with the 2nd and 5th Continental Infantry now broke and fled allowing the Americans to reform and begin firing rank by rank into the bowmen and musketmen opposite them.

The Iroquios bowmen began to waver under the close range volleys of American musketry, and Brandt his careful plans now is disarrray withrew into the shelter of a small wood close the the American left flank to consider what if any options he now had.

[A frustrated Brandt pulls back to poner his next move.]

He made yet another charge out of the wood towards the now terribly thin line of the 2nd Infantry, but they seemed to stand like 'Ramrods' and refused move simply firing shot after shot into the indian's in front of then.

Brandt once pulled back towards the wood. But as he withdrew a shell from one of the American howitzers landed right beside him and killed him instantly.

[Brandt killed by a howitzer shell.]

With their Chief dead what little fight was left in the Indian's faded and they began to disperse and make their way to safety. Of the original 6,015 warriors 4,525 were dead or wounded on the field. Whilst Greene had lost 3,025 men out of his army of 6,870.

It had been a bloody victory but the discipline of the American Continental Infantry had won through in the end particularly that of the 2nd Regiment who had borne the brunt of the fighting and two cavalry charges but stood firm throughout.

In honour of their performance in this action the three Continental Infantry Regiments who had borne the brunt of the attack were allowed to choose a nickname to be emblasoned on their battle flags. The 2nd choose (Ramrods), the 3rd (The Old Guard) and the 5th (Bobcats).

1802 Summer: The aftermath of the battle.

The battle with Joseph Brandt's warband had been a shocking experience for Nathan Greene. It was the closest he had come to defeat at the hands of the Iroquious and the closest he had ever come to death. The losses sufferred by his army had been huge compared to those of his previous battles against the indian's, and he was deeped humbled by the fact that his men had fought on whilst his courage had failed. He felt as though he had cheated fate, and that by rights he should had stayed and died with his men.

More to the point his army was a spent force and his confidence in being able to take on another Iroquios warband severely shaken.

To this end he allowed General Gilpin and his newly formed replacement for Cowell's 'Indian Fightin Army' to take the initiative for the final assault on the Iroquios homeland. Gilpin was a career soldier who had been raised and bought up in the woods so he was familiar with the ways of the Indian. However, he had never faced them in battle before and he was a little to keen to make a name for himself by capturing the final Iroquios territory.

Throwing caution to the winds he threw forward his dragoons and pushed his army forward to engage the Iroquios before the end of the summer. It was almost a disaster.

Instead of a controlled battle which favoured the firepower of the American's the final battle for the Cayuga settlement was a meeting engagement where the American units found themselves trying to delpoy whilst under attack by Iroquios warparties.

The dragoons were unable to stem the tide on incoming natives and were forced to fall back only to find that there was no battle line to their rear becuase the leanding units of Gilpin's army happened to be his artillery.

For a few desperate moments Gilpin's horse artillery and howitzers were forced to stand alone against the oncoming natives. The situation was chaotic, cannister and shell flew in all directions as gunners tried to meet all the incoming threats.

At last the first of Gilpins infantry rushed forward. Two regiments managed to form a battle battle line of sorts to screen the bulk of the artillery from direct assault. Gilpins scouts appeared and managed to extend the line to the left providing much needed support against the indian bowmen, and finally the American rear guard appeared to add its dragoons to the fight. Gilpin himself arrived and begun to direct the action using well timed charges by his dragoons to drive off the Indian bowmen. Greene and his surviving staff appeared though took no active part in the battle.

After a brief but bloody and chaotic battle Gilpin's men gained the upper hand and the last Iroquios settlement fell into American hands. The surviving Iroquios were rounded up and herded into an internment camp whilst America considered its next move.

[The fact is that with time rapidly running out I'm beginning to realise that I not likely to win this campaign. I only have 3/7 Victory Regions in my possession and only own 12/22 Regions. Not that victory is really that important, the campaign has been fun, but if I want to try and go for it then I need to increase the pace much more. Even then I have doubts, I just left it too late to start my expansion. Also one of my victory regions (New France) is in the possession of major Great Britain, and another Texas has only just been liberated from Spanish control. So, its going to be a bit tricky I think.]