The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 64th Foot.

 

With the expansion of the British army as a result of the commencement of the Seven Years' War in 1756, it was ordered on the 25th of August of that year that a number of existing regiments should raise a second battalion; among those chosen was the 11th (North Devonshire) Regiment of Foot.

The 2nd Battalion of the 11th Foot was raised at Southampton on the 10th December 1756 before moving to Newcastle upon Tyne, and on 21st April 1758 it was additionally ordered that the 2nd battalions raised two years previously should become independent regiments in their own right with the  2nd Battalion of the 11th Foot becoming the 64th Foot.

Colonel, later Major-General John Barrington,
was the first colonel of the 64th Regiment - Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Shortly after King George II ordered that the dates of seniority of the 64th Foot and the other regiments created on the 21st April 1758 should be backdated to the date of their raising as 2nd battalions, and therefore the date of seniority of the 64th Foot became 1756, and the first colonel of the regiment was the Honourable John Barrington who decided that the facings of the 64th Foot should be black.

Soon after its official establishment under Barrington, the regiment was sent to the West Indies, and upon arrival, in 1759, it took part in the unsuccessful attempt to take Martinique (January 1759) and then in the successful invasion of Guadeloupe (January to May 1759), with participation in this action earning the regiment its first battle honour 'Guadeloupe 1759', though this honour was not actually awarded until 1909.

The Taking of Port Louis, Guadeloupe 1759, the 64th Foot's first Battle Honour.

The regiment returned to England in June 1759 severely reduced in numbers by men drafted to other units and by tropical disease, and on arrival at Portsmouth only 137 other ranks out of an establishment strength of 790 were fit for duty, although officer strength was almost up to strength. Recovery took a long time and after a brief period in Suffolk the regiment spent three years in the Scottish Highlands and another five in Ireland before sailing for North America in 1768.

The 64th Foot in America 1775-1783

The regiment spent the next several years in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Boston, Massachusetts, although much of the time in the latter city was actually passed at the fortified barracks on Castle Island in Boston Harbour. 

Lieutenant Colonel, later General Alexander Leslie
Joshua Reynolds.

They moved into the town of Boston in 1774 when tensions with the colonists grew, and on the 26th February 1775 took part in an incident which lays claim to being the first time that blood was spilt in the American War of Independence when the 64th, under their commander Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Leslie, were ordered to seize a supply of weapons and ammunition known to be in Salem, Massachusetts.

Salem waterfront circa 1770-1780
During the American War of Independence, the town became a centre for privateering with some 800 vessels commissioned as privateers.

The American patriots in Salem were forewarned and tried to prevent the 64th from carrying out their orders, and in the scuffle that ensued a local Salem man, Joseph Whicher, was slightly injured by a British bayonet. Negotiations prevented any further bloodshed and the 64th withdrew to Boston, their mission a failure.

The 64th Foot served throughout the siege of Boston and subsequent evacuation of the city in March 1776, missing the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 7th, 1775, being the garrison regiment stationed at Castle William and were the last regiment to depart from the city, bound for Halifax, giving them the distinction of being the last British unit to set foot in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts during the war.

Following the reorganisation of the army by General Lord Howe at Halifax the 64th, saw its flank (grenadier and light infantry) companies detached to form part of the 2nd Grenadier and 2nd Light Infantry Battalions respectively.  

One of my first units to be upgraded for The World Turned Upside Down project was an early war interpretation of a combined light infantry battalion, similar to that joined by the light company of the 64th Foot in 1775-6.
JJ's Wargames - Early War British Light Infantry

All three battalions took part in the 1776 capture of New York with the 321 'hatmen' of the 64th Foot part of the 6th Brigade under Brigadier General Agnew and alongside the 23rd, 44th and 57th Foot.

A private soldier of the light company of the 64th Foot - Rick Scollins.
These men and those from the grenadier company were detached from the regiment to join
the 2nd Light Infantry and 2nd Grenadier Battalions respectively. Note the red hackle carried by men of the 2nd Light Battalion 
after the Paoli attack to taunt their enemies threat of reprisals against them for the action.

The 64th was also engaged at the Battle of Ridgefield when on the 25th April 1777, a British force from the New York Garrison, consisting of 1,500 regulars drawn from the 4th, 15th, 23rd, 27th, 44th, and 64th regiments, 300 Loyalists from the Prince of Wales American Regiment and a small contingent of the 17th Light Dragoons, under the command of the Royal Governor of the Province of New York, Major General William Tryon, boarded twelve transports and landed at Compo, Connecticut between Fairfield and Norwalk, and marched from there to Danbury. 

This 1780 map shows the movements of the various forces prior to the Battle of Ridgefield:
A: British movements to Danbury, B: American movements toward Danbury, 
C: British movements toward Ridgefield, and D: American movements toward Ridgefield
(upper arrow: Wooster, lower arrow: Arnold)

There, they destroyed Continental Army supplies after chasing off a small garrison of troops. In response, Connecticut militia leaders Major General David Wooster, Brigadier General Gold S. Silliman, and Brigadier General Benedict Arnold raised a combined force of roughly 700 Continental Army regular and irregular local militia forces to oppose the British force, but could not reach Danbury in time to prevent the destruction of the supplies, so instead, set out to harass the British on their return to the coast.

Farmers Against the Crown - Dale Gallon
https://www.gallon.com/shop/other-wars/revolutionary-war/farmers-against-the-crown/
Local Ridgefield farmers resist the British forces as they advance to their ships on the coast.

On April 27, the company led by Wooster twice attacked Tryon's rear guard during their march south, and in the second encounter, Wooster was mortally wounded and died five days later. 

The main encounter then took place at Ridgefield, where several hundred militia under Arnold's command confronted the British and were driven away in a running battle down the town's main street, but not before inflicting casualties on the British.

The expedition was a tactical success for the British forces, but their actions in pursuing the raid galvanized Patriot support in Connecticut.

The 64th Foot alongside the 33rd, 37th and 46th Foot were part of Major General James Agnew's 4th Brigade, established on Osborne Hill at the start of Lord Cornwallis's attack at Brandywine. The other three regiments of the brigade have been featured in previous posts.

In the latter half of 1777 all three units of the regiment participated in the Philadelphia campaign, taking part in the Battle of Brandywine, the Battle of Paoli and the Battle of Germantown. 

The 64th Foot took part in the Battle of Germantown contacting units of Colonel John Stone's 1st Maryland Brigade during the British counterattack.

Remaining in Philadelphia over the winter and into 1778, the 64th and 2nd Grenadier Battalion formed part of the rearguard when Lieutenant-General Clinton evacuated the city in June 1778, and returning to New York, the 64th took part in several small operations. 

The regiment including it's light company and grenadier company as part of their respective combined battalions took part in the skirmish that became known as the Baylor Massacre alongside the 33rd Foot under the command of the now expert 'night attack' specialist, Major-General 'No Flint' Grey.

Major-General Charles 'No Flint' Grey, 1st Earl Grey KB.

Against the sleeping 3rd Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons in camp, under the command of Colonel George Baylor, near present-day River Vale, New Jersey, Grey’s men carried out a successful surprise attack using Grey's tactic of ordering unloaded muskets and the use of the bayonet only, to achieve such a deadly outcome, with the action resulting in fifteen Continental Army soldiers killed while a further 54 were wounded or captured by the British, for the loss of one soldier killed.

In November 1779 all the companies of the regiment were transferred to the Southern theatre of operations, and in April 1780 the 64th were part of the covering force besieging Charleston, while the grenadier and light companies formed part of the main siege force. 

One of the worst American defeats of the war, the siege of Charles Town (Charleston) lasted from March 29th to May 12th, 1780, after which Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces to the British; leading to the capture of some 5,266 prisoners, 311 artillery pieces, 9,178 artillery rounds, 5,916 muskets, 33,000 rounds of ammunition, 15 regimental colours, 49 ships and 120 boats, plus 376 barrels of flour, and large magazines of rum, rice and indigo. 350 men of the 64th Regiment were part of the 17,000 British force of regulars, militia and sailors as well as the 64th light and grenadier companies in their respective combined battalions.

The capture of Charleston was one of the worst American defeats of the war, and following its capture the grenadier and light companies were withdrawn to New York as Major-General Cornwallis began to advance on Virginia, leaving the 64th in Carolina as guard troops.

In 1781 the 64th were involved in the Battle of Eutaw Springs the last major engagement of the American War of Independence and a year later took part in one of the last actions of the war, the Battle of the Combahee River on August 27th 1782.

The Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781, was the last major engagement of the American War of Independence. The British held the field of battle , but both armies had come very close to disaster, with the British losing 85 killed, 351 wounded, and another 257 listed missing, probably deserted from a force of around 2,000 men. Greene's American army of some 2,200 men suffered similarly, losing 119 killed, 382 wounded and about 78 captured and missing.

The grenadier company was reunited with the 64th but the light company was among the units that surrendered with Cornwallis at Yorktown.

In December 1782 the regiment left America for Jamaica as part of the British force defending possessions in the West Indies, remaining in Jamaica for two years before returning home in 1783. 

My 64th Foot are composed of the plastic British Infantry from Perry Miniatures, with the ordinary ranks at a shouldered arms pose using arms from the plastic Continental set, with added musket slings, finished off with Colours from GMB Designs and another set of low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.

The 64th Foot were a reasonably strong regiment during the war, with a strength of some 390 men at the Battle of Brandywine and thus warranting a five stand arrangement.

There addition to my British army completes the four regiments in Major General James Agnew's 4th Brigade (the 33rd, 37th, 46th and 64th Foot) all now showcased here on the blog as part of my 'World Turned Upside Down' project, and work now turns to the four regiments in Major General Charles Grey's 3rd Brigade (the 15th, 17th 42nd Highland and 44th Foot).

In addition work continues alongside the British-build to develop my American forces with completion of the 2nd Maryland Brigade which will see my new version of the 2nd Canadian Regiment of Continentals, my 2nd Maryland Regiment which will feature next, followed by my recreation of the German Continental Regiment a.k.a the 8th Maryland Regiment.

So as always, more anon

JJ

The World Turned Upside Down - 6th Maryland Continental Regiment

 

The 6th Maryland Regiment was active from 27th March 1776—January 1st, 1783, and was composed of eight companies of volunteers from Prince Georges, Queen Anne's, Fredrick, Cecil, Harford, and Ann Arundel counties in the colony of Maryland.

The 6th Maryland Regiment

On 22nd May 1777, the regiment was assigned to the 2nd Maryland Brigade. It was re-organized to nine companies on 12th May 1779 and reassigned to the Southern Department on 5th April 1780.

The 6th Maryland Regiment entered the theatre of war for the first time at the Battle of Brandywine as part of the 1st Maryland Brigade led by Colonel John Stone, and in conjunction with the 2nd Maryland brigade, 3rd Virginia Brigade, 4th Virginia Brigade, New Jersey Brigade and the 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade formed a Division of 1,100 men led by Major General John Sullivan.

It would fight on the 4th October 1777 at the Battle of Germantown, where after taking heavy fire from the British defenders of Chew House after losing its direction in the thick fog that characterised the battle it ultimately ran out of ammunition along with the rest of the wing, and was forced to retreat.

Colonel Otho Holland Williams

At the Battle of Monmouth Court House, 28th June 1778, the 6th Maryland Regiment was led by the Colonel Otho Holland Williams, and fought alongside the 4th Maryland Regiment and the 2nd Maryland Regiment to make up the 2nd Maryland Brigade. This brigade, along with six other brigades made up Major General Nathanael Greene's Right Wing which was tasked to enfilade Clinton's forces.

Battle of Camden fought on the 16th August 1780 - Map by John Fawkes

After reassignment to the Southern Department the 6th Maryland with a strength of about 140 men and part of the 2nd Maryland Brigade, would see action at the Battle of Camden fought on the 16th August 1780, in Kershaw County, South Carolina by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis commanding the British army, and Major General Horatio Gates commanding the American army, with the battle ending in a British victory and leading to further British control of the Carolinas.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Guilford_Courthouse_15_March_1781_(DWR).jpg

Finally the 6th Maryland fought at the Battles of Guilford Court House on the 15th March 1781, stationed in the third line with the battle ending in a costly British victory in which roughly 100 British soldiers were killed, and 413 wounded compared to the 70 and 185 Americans.

JJ's Wargames - The World Turned Upside Down, 3rd New York Continental Regiment

My 6th Maryland Regiment was arranged by adjusting my 3rd New York Continental Regiment with the simple addition of a Betsy Ross Stars and Stripes Colour, from GMB, reportedly first carried at the Battle of Brandywine, and with no other reference to the contrary a seemingly suitable option for my new look regiment.

I'm looking to model my Continental units in a way that will compliment an American army for the Northern, Central or Southern Departments and the use of sabot bases enables these type of quick switch arrangements between units wearing similar uniforms.

The 6th Maryland forms the third regiment/battalion formation in my recreated 1st Maryland Brigade commanded by Colonel John Stone at the Battle of Brandywine, 11th September 1777, part of Major-General John Sullivan's Division that played a crucial role in facing off against Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis's flanking attack towards Birmingham Meeting House.

JJ's Wargames - The Delaware Regiment of Continentals

The first Maryland Brigade also include the 3rd and 5th Maryland Regiments with, according to Greg Novak, a strength of around 114 and 140 men respectively, which has prompted me to select representative regiments to serve as combined units for the games I have in mind; which would see the 1st/3rd Marylanders, which my 1st Maryland Regiment represents, having a nominal strength of around 314 men, and the 5th/6th Maryland around 260.

JJ's Wargames - 1st Maryland Regiment of Continentals

If you've been following this series of 'The World Turned Upside Down' posts you might have seen a similar build process taking shape with other units featured, namely the Hazen's 2nd Canadian Continental Regiment, soon to be joined by my new 2nd Maryland Continental Regiment followed by my German Continental Regiment, as part of my completing Brigadier General Chevalier Philippe Hubert Preudhomme de Borre's 2nd Maryland Brigade with the 2nd Maryland Continental Regiment assuming a similarly combined regiment role for the 2nd/4th Maryland Regiments and a strength of some 318 men, but that, as they say, is for another post.

As always more anon.

JJ

The Battle of Dover, a.k.a. Goodwin Sands, 19th May 1652 - General at Sea

It's time for another naval adventure exploring the battles of the seventeenth century Anglo-Dutch Wars with Captain Steve, back with another historical sea fight using General at Sea and his marvellous collection of 1:1200th, mainly Langton models, as seen in his previous after action reports and fleet reviews, with links at the bottom of this post to those previous Anglo-Dutch Wars posts, if you are only just picking this theme up.

 

Steve's series of emails detailing his playing of this next scenario, the Battle of Dover, the opening shots of the first Anglo-Dutch War, arrived just as I was planning to set off for a four day sojourn to Stockholm and among other things a planned visit to the remarkable Vasa exhibition, housing the Swedish warship built between 1626 and 1628, and which sank after sailing roughly 1,400 yards on her maiden voyage on the 10th August 1628; until she was located again in the late 1950s in a busy shipping area in Stockholm harbour and was salvaged with a largely intact hull in 1961.

The mighty stern gallery of the Vasa as pictured this week in Stockholm.

Needless to say the sight of this extraordinary warship preserved with about 90% of the original hull intact is an astonishing artefact to see up close, and being a contemporary to Steve's models helps to give an impression of how these ships might have appeared in the line of battle.

It is astonishing how much of this ship remains intact after over 330 years under water.

But of course the present day Vasa is without her stunning paintwork which would have completed the look and a nearby scale model helped to capture the image.

This scale model nearby helped recreate the look of the Vasa on the day she sank in 1628

So with the added inspiration of seeing the Vasa I was very much looking forward to composing Steve's AAR as well as posting later to JJ's a more comprehensive look at the Vasa and the story the Stockholm exhibition retells - as always more anon - but now over to Steve.

The naval Battle of Dover, also known as the Battle of Goodwin Sands, was fought on the 19th May 1652 and as stated was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, being fought before war had been officially declared. 

Battle sites from the First Anglo-Dutch War in the English Channel and North Sea.

In April 1652, Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp 's fleet of forty-two ships set sail to patrol the Channel and to protect Dutch shipping from English aggression. On the 18th May 1652, Tromp was forced by bad weather to shelter under the South Foreland on the Kent coast near Dover, where he encountered a squadron of nine English ships commanded by Nehemiah Bourne. Another squadron of twelve ships under the command of General-at-Sea Robert Blake was further down the coast at Rye. In an uneasy stand-off, the Dutch insisted that they were only seeking shelter from the rough weather.

 

Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp (left) and General-at-Sea Robert Blake (right)

At noon the next day, Tromp's ships sailed away towards Calais. In mid-Channel, Tromp met with two Dutch ships and was informed of a recent incident in which a Dutch convoy had been harassed and fired upon by an English squadron under Captain Young off Start Point. Tromp immediately sailed back to protest to Blake. In the late afternoon of 19th May, he sighted Blake's squadron near Dover and altered course into the path of the English ships. Although the Dutch fleet was in English waters, Tromp provocatively refused to make the conventional salute of lowering his flag to the English general-at-sea and Blake fired a warning shot across his bows. The confrontation escalated into a battle between the two fleets. Both sides claimed that the other fired the first broadside.

The battle lasted until nightfall. Blake's squadron included several powerful second-rate vessels of fifty guns or more, including Blake's flagship the James (60-guns), the Victory (52-guns) and the Speaker (52-guns). Only Tromp's flagship the Brederode (54-guns) could match the powerful English ships. The Dutch concentrated their attack on the James, with Tromp leading the line. 

Although the Dutch fleet was greatly superior in numbers, the attack was poorly co-ordinated and was disrupted when Nehemiah Bourne's squadron of nine ships came up from the Downs to attack the rear of the Dutch line. The Dutch fleet withdrew at nightfall, having lost two ships captured by the English.

Below we have Steve's setup with the Blake’s squadron hove to, left of picture, as Bourne’s squadron can be seen approaching top centre of picture.

Blake’s squadron of three stands are hove to as the larger Dutch fleet approaches.

 

Tromp sails up to Blake’s flagship without dipping his flag in salute.

Turn One

Battle is joined with Blake winning the initiative and firing first, disrupting Tromp in the process, who fails to break the English line and turns to starboard. One of Tromp's squadron is forced to likewise turn to starboard to avoid a collision, this as the English fleet make sail together as Commodore Nehemiah Bourne closes on the English fleet with his nine ship squadron.

Battle is joined with Blake winning the initiative and firing first.

Turn Two

It is the end of Turn two and the English line is moving north, engaging Tromp's and another of his squadrons, leaving the Dutch admiral disrupted and with a level 1 damage, and no damage to the English from Dutch return fire.

Tromp manages to recover his disruption, and desultory fire from Bourne's squadron has no effect.

The end of Turn two and the English line is moving north, engaging Tromp's and another of his squadrons.

Turn Three

Close action between Tromp and Blake results in Tromp being scattered and his second squadron disrupted, with Tromp surviving a 'risk to C-in-C' test as does his squadron, which saw the Dutch commander manage to reduce his scattered status to disrupted, but failed to recover further, and with the rest of his squadron unable to engage the English fleet.

Close action between Tromp and Blake

Meanwhile Bourne crashes through Rear Admiral Pieter Floriszoon's squadron, with the resulting stern rakes leaving both stands at damage level 1 but Floriszoon is able to recover the disruption.

Bourne crashes through Floriszoon

A 'birds-eye' view of the battle at the end of Turn three.
Blake and Tromp are hotly engaged (top centre) whilst Bourne nearest to camera has broken though Floriszoon's squadron raking the Dutch ships in his progress.

Turn Four

Tromp gets the worst of it during the fourth turn of battle, receiving another scattered result, but managing to survive another 'risk to C-in-C' test and his exceptional command status enables his squadron to pass its reaction test and for him to again revert to disrupted, this while the rest of his squadron struggle to find a position to enable them to engage Blake's ships.

Tromp getting the worst of it during Turn four.

In the rear, things are much worse for Floriszoon as Bourne's second breaks through the Dutch squadron, stern raking both Dutch stands and causing a scattered result, which saw Floriszoon fail to recover from the scattering, causing him to surrender and the rest of his squadron to flee.

Floriszoon fails to recover from the scattered result, after being stern raked, causing him to surrender and the rest of his squadron to flee.

Turn Five and End Game

Things have gone from bad to worse as Tromp receives a level 2 damage and another scattered result in the exchanges of fire with Blake, and this time fails the 'risk to C-in-C' test, resulting in serious confusion as the admiral is taken below, wounded.

Without his unimpaired exceptional status, his squadron failed its reaction test, although his stand managed to reduce its scattered result to disrupted again.

Tromp receives a level 2 damage and another scattered result in the exchanges of fire with Blake, and this time fails the 'risk to C-in-C' test, resulting in serious confusion as the admiral is taken below, wounded.

Thijssen's squadron passed its reaction test, but with both Tromp's and Floriszoon's squadrons scattered, and Bourne closing in, it is time for the Dutch to acknowledge that they have bitten off more than they can chew and disengage, with Tromp likely having some explaining to do on his return home.

Bourne passing Floriszoon's surrendered stand whilst his second makes off to the south.

To quote Steve's closing comments'

 'Quite an historical outcome, except that none of the Dutch broke through Blake, where they became isolated from their fellow countrymen. Tromp gained a new respect for the English ships and gunnery and advocated a shipbuilding programme of larger warships to match them - sadly not completed for this war but were ready for the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

As previously mentioned this post follows in a series produced by Steve and you can follow the previous ones in the links below. 

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Livorno (Leghorn) Part One

JJ's Wargames -The Battle of Livorno (Leghorn) Part Two

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Plymouth, 28th August 1652

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Lowestoft, 13th June 1665

JJ's Wargames - Anglo Dutch Wars Fleet Review, The English Fleet
JJ's Wargames - Anglo Dutch Wars Fleet Review, The Dutch Fleet

More Anglo-Dutch naval action to come as Steve is planning to fight the Battle of Kentish Knock fought on the 28th September 1652.

As for me, I have some more AWI units to present as well as my impressions of the beautiful city of Stockholm that saw me exploring the history of the Vasa and Vikings.

More anon 

JJ