Battle of Langport, 10th July 1645

With the Wagg Rhyne clear of Royalist dragoons, Major Bethel leads the New Model cavalry
on its charge up Picts Hill at the Battle of Langport 1645

As is customary at this time of year, I very often like to get out into the countryside and burn off a few excess calories whilst getting loads of fresh air and looking at places of interest.

I thought this year I would carry on the story of looking at the English Civil War in Devon by focussing on a battle in Somerset that was pivotal to the siege of Exeter and the Battle of Torrington posted about earlier this month.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/battlefields-in-devon-battle-of.html

I don't propose to go through why the Royalist forces in the south west found themselves defending a hilltop river crossing in Somerset in July of 1645 against Fairfax and Cromwell's New Model Army.

Suffice to say, the last significant Royalist army and base of support lay in the West Country in 1645 and following the defeat of the King's northern army at Naseby on the 14th June 1645, Fairfax took the war to this part of the country looking to end the first civil war the following year.

For a more thorough explanation of the strategic situation you should follow the link below to the excellent BCW Project site.

BCW Project - English Civil War in the West-Country/South-West,1645

This and the links below at the bottom of the post formed my principle recap on the battle and its events and I discovered the guide leaflet to the Langport Trail provided by the Langport & District History Society, which was a very handy route to follow and gave a very pleasant two hour walk across the fields via the country footpaths. I would however recommend taking a copy of the OS map illustrated on the Battlefield Trust site as further guidance to the trail map and for getting a better idea of where the two armies are thought to have lined up.

Battle of Langport Trail Guide

You will also find that there is still some debate on the precise battle site as the three nearby crossing points of the Wagg Rhyne have been suggested as the focal points of the battle, with the modern day railway crossing in amongst them.

Opposing Commanders at Langport - Goring (left), Fairfax (right)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Goring,_Lord_Goring
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Fairfax

I have gone with the accepted offering ready to do a follow up post if necessary once the needed battlefield archaeology research has been completed.

We started our walk after a very welcome hot bowl of soup and bread at the Rose & Crown (Eli's) Pub (Point 1 on the map above) famous for its bar or more correctly that it doesn't have one. On entering the pub you find yourself almost stood among the pumps and optics.

The battle was fought in July and the ground would have been quite different to the December day we decided to walk the area. If you decide to follow the route I would suggest taking a pair of walking boots as the paths could be quite muddy whatever the season.

The footpath leading from the pub, over the railway line towards the rear of the Royalist line on Picts Hill

We headed out across country following the footpath north from the pub over the railway line and out onto the modern B3153 which is the road out of Langport heading east towards Somerton over the position at Picts Hill chosen by Lord Goring to make his stand on the Wagg Rhyne.

Goring was looking to cover the withdrawal back north towards the coast at Bridgewater and further supplies of men and materials from the King's forces across the Bristol Channel in Wales.

He had already sent off the bulk of his artillery and supplies earlier and felt confident in holding the New Model Army up until nightfall using the hill and Rhyne to help compensate for his lack of guns and numbers.

Point 2, The incline of the road shows the significance of Goring's choice of ground to set up his rear-guard

The climb up and over Picts Hill towards the Royalist positions illustrate the significance of the chosen ground and the likely benefit offered to Royalist cavalry charging downhill.

Point 3. The view from the Royalist guns down to the Wagg Rhyne and up which Majors Bethel and Desborough charged

Moving out on to the ridge line of the Royalist position gives an excellent view of the Parliamentary lines and the hedgerow enclosures used by the Royalist dragoons to garrison and contest the crossing points on the Rhyne.

Point 4. Moving out onto the ridge line of Picts Hill and looking east towards the New Model lines on the hill opposite above the crossing over the Rhyne just behind the van on the road

Looking out across the fields, you can almost imaging the New Model with banners flying and artillery pointing towards the Royalists opposite as their dragoons set off down to towards the Rhyne on that July morning in 1645.

Point 4. Looking further along the Parliamentary held ridge towards the south-east, the approach route of the New Model Army.

Colonel Thomas Rainsborough

http://bcw-project.org/biography/thomas-rainsborough

The New Model dragoons under Colonel Thomas Rainsborough soon established superiority over their Royalist opposition and with the crossing secure, perhaps one of the most audacious cavalry attacks began as Major Bethel led a column of cavalry up the lane, four abreast which broke in among the Royalist cavalry.

I have also read some comments that Bethel may well have deployed into line once crossing the Rhyne, which seems more likely but less glorious!

Major John Desborough

Bethel was held and pushed back by weight of numbers only to be reinforced by a second charge led by Major Desborough (or Disbrowe) with the remaining cavalry, which finally broke the Royalist army and routed them back towards Langport.

Point 5. Looking north with the New Model line on the right of picture. The Wagg Rhyne runs alongside the lane, Wagg Drove and was a key focal point of the battle with debate on the likely crossing point still not decided by archaeological research. 

General Lord Thomas Fairfax described the action in his report back to Parliament written at 7pm on the night after the battle.

"We understanding their intentions by some scouts and other countrymen, resolved to charge them and accordingly drew down a commanded party of musketeers to beat them from the hedges which was done with gallant resolution, advancing the same time with two regiments of horse into the lane, all that we could draw up in front was but a single troop and that commanded by Bethel, the enemy standing ready with bodies of horse of about 1,000 to charge him. He with a single troop charged and broke two of their divisions, of about 400 received the charge of the third division both in front and flank was somewhat overborne at last and forced to retire to the General’s Regiment which was about 100 yards behind Desborough, with the General’s troop sheltered him by his flank to rally and charge up himself with about 200 horse of the General’s Regiment disposed of the enemy and set them all a running, gained freedom by it for all our horse and foot to draw into bodies, sent the enemy running not being able to endure another charge. The General, Lieutenant General and some other officers upon the hill, beholding the gallant charges commended it for the most excellent peice of service that ever was in England."

Point 5. Looking back towards the west and the Royalist line atop Picts Hill

The rout by the Royalist troops through Langport saw them set fire to the western edge of the town close to the old bridge over the River Parrett in a desperate attempt to hold off Cromwell and his cavalry leading the pursuit.

The defeat of Goring's army shattered Royalist resistance, and he withdrew the remnants back into Devon harried on the way by Somerset Clubmen (partizans against both armies) who had negotiated with Fairfax on the 11th of July to not interfere with the New Model in return for supplies.

Fairfax quickly moved to secure his own lines before moving off in pursuit of Goring and into Devon. The first major garrison to fall was at Bridgwater which was finally surrendered on the 23rd July to be followed by the City of Bristol which was stormed on the 10th of September.

Point 5. Our route back to the pub this time under rather than over the railway line that straddles one of the suggested alternative crossing points used by the New Model.

The defeat at Langport not only unhinged the Royalist hold on the South West but seriously undermined the confidence in Royalist troops and commanders to be able to meet the New Model Army in the field and have any hope of defeating them. This, probably more than the loss of territory was the critical turning point that the Battle of Langport represents and was commented upon by Lord Goring in his own assessment of the battle.

"the consequences of this blow is very much for there is so great terror and dejection amongst our men that I am confident at this present they could not be brought to fight against half their number"

http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=20
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Battle-of-Langport/
Battle of Langport- Lord Goring's Account
Battle of Langport - Sir Thomas Fairfax's Account
Battle of Langport - Lt.Gen.Cromwell's Account
https://sites.google.com/site/langportheritage/battle-of-langport/trail-project

Next up, seasonal fun and games at Chez Chas in North Devon, A review of 2016 and look forward to 2017, plus British Napoleonic Generals and French Horse Artillery for Talavera 208.

Happy Christmas

It's that time of year again when thoughts turn to spending time appreciating the people that mean the most and celebrating good company.

I thought Christa Hook's superb picture of a group of 42nd (Black Watch) Highlanders and a 60th Rifleman gathered round the fire, sharing a good story against a very bleak snowy mountain-scape somewhere in northern Spain really captured the theme of JJ's and this festive time.

So here is wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas

Cheers
JJ

Talavera 208 Charity Collection Update

I wanted to publicly thank everyone who has contributed to the project so far and helped move the collection past its first goal which now looks like a modest target of £340.

This week the collection went past that total and we now have £340.06 plus £47.50 Gift Aid.

Just Giving - Talavera208

With contributions still to come in from players and other interested parties I am hoping we can now set our musket sights (Light Infantry model Brown Bess and Baker Rifles) on doubling the collection as we head on into 2017 and the first date of the first game gets announced.

In addition you will see regular updates here and on the Just Giving site about additions to the collection and, on the Just Giving page, a review of the scenarios played leading up to this point together with a look at the other units and formations constructed previously.

This is a great platform on which to build going into the new year and I really appreciate the support shown.

JJ

Next up will be a focus on the last additional General Officers needed to complete the British order of battle.

King Joseph & Marshal Jourdan Video Clip - Talavera 208

As an addendum to my previous post and as the saying goes 'a picture is often worth a thousand words' and perhaps some moving ones are worth a few more, I offer up a video clip of my recent work with some painting ideas to go with it.

First up I should say that I was prompted at having a go at this by Mr Paul Alba who is a bit of a 'dab hand' at at this kind of stuff and as mentioned in the comments around the Joseph post, I benefited from Paul's useful video clip of some of his own command groups - see the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reIimxMhQUs

I can see some distinct advantages displaying figures using this medium perhaps in future alongside the stills photography. To save you commenting, I will do the two together in future, when I have my lighting set up, to give you a better chance at seeing the detail clearly.

'Rafa's book', referred to in my commentary, is referring to Rafael Perez' excellent edition of "Painting War - French Army" which I reviewed back in July 2014 and constantly refer to when working on my own French collection.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/painting-war-napoleonic-french-army.html

Other colour combinations I tried out for the first time came from Rafa's recommendations including the red tunics and saddle-cloths in this particular group. All I can say is, if you want to develop your own techniques pick up a copy of this really useful reference.

One other reference I would particularly recommend getting hold of, are the collection of Rousselot plates. I have originals published back in the 70's by Historex and I treasure them as a resource above many others.

The main aspect I find particularly useful is the level of detail Rousselot goes into that really allows the painter to work out what is what when looking at a figure and importantly the colour options to choose

http://www.napoleon-series.org/reviews/uniforms/c_rousselot.html
http://www.napoleon-series.org/reviews/uniforms/c_rousselot2.html
http://www.napoleon-series.org/reviews/uniforms/c_ryan.html

If you have enjoyed viewing and reading this post then add to your enjoyment by popping over to the "Talavera 208 Just Giving" page using the link below and make any contribution you care to, towards a great cause, Combat Stress, and enjoy the warm feeling that will come knowing you have added to the good in the world; not to mention the thrill when you see these command bases in action in 2017, and a message from me thanking you for your support. After all we are in that season when giving is what it's all about.

Cheers all 

JJ

Just Giving - Talavera208

Talavera 208 - King Joseph, Marshals Jourdan, Victor and General de Division Sebastiani

King Joseph Bonaparte (1768 - 1844) 

The Emperor Napoleon's elder brother, Joseph, was a lawyer and French diplomat before being appointed King of Naples by the Emperor following his occupation of the territory in 1806.

When the French invaded Spain, Napoleon, in some desperation, turned to Joseph to become his puppet King following the abdication of the Spanish Bourbon Royal family and somewhat reluctantly Joseph agreed to take the job entering Madrid on the 20th July in the wake of Imperial French forces.

What followed was popular uprising against French occupation, forcing the Emperor to enter the country himself in 1808 to restore the French position before turning it back over to his Marshals in early 1809, forced to deal with a new war with Austria.

Joseph was not a soldier and Napoleon never intended for him to command in Spain, hoping to leave the subjugation of the country to his Marshals who were very experienced and had no intention of allowing Joseph to interfere with their operations.

As the French forces sought to defeat the remaining Spanish armies following Napoleon's lightning campaign, they only hardened Spanish resistance with their rapacious habits of terror, theft, rape and murder against the civilian population, rendering Joseph's attempts at winning hearts and minds over to a new Spain governed under the Code Napoleon practically useless.

His early attempts to introduce legislation to curb gambling and heavy drinking, only encouraged a rumour that the French King enjoyed a drink or three himself, thus earning himself the nickname from Spaniards "Pepe la Botella" or Pepe the Bottle, a derisive name that became common parlance among all classes of Spanish society.

When General Wellesley and the British army re-entered Portugal in 1809 and defeated Marshal Soult, Joseph's frustration at his inability to command and co-ordinate the Marshals drove him to take action by putting himself at the head of French forces defending his capital, Madrid, and prove his military credentials and thus assert his authority.

Talavera was to be the first battle at which Joseph was present and supposedly in command, but he can be forgiven if he struggled to assert himself over his commanders given the undermined position his younger brother had put him in.

I have modelled Joseph on a suitably dappled white charger dressed in the uniform of a Colonel of his own Spanish Guard Grenadiers, whose look mirrored that of of the Emperor's guard all be it with buff instead of white facings. As you can see this has been interpreted as an orangey buff to the more lighter version seen in the top portrait which is what I decided to go with.

To capture Joseph's appearance I decided to use a French mounted officer with a head swap using a senior French general officer in bicorne.

Accompanying the King is his senior military advisor, the greying Marshal Jourdan, together with members of the Spanish Guard Hussars and Imperial ADC's wearing white brassards and white and red plumes worn by members of the senior commanders headquarters staff to distinguish them from other staff officers.

Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (1762 - 1833)

Jourdan joined the French army in 1778 as a private soldier, serving in the American War of Independence and was present at the siege of Savannah in 1779. Later he served in the West Indies where he, like many European soldiers, became ill which forced a return to France and him to leave the army in 1782.

In 1789 he returned to the Colours and joined the Revolutionary National Guard and quickly rose to General de Division in 1793. From 1794 to 1795 his star was in the ascendancy as he led the 70,000 man Army of the Sambre et Meuse defeating the Austrians at the Battle of Fleurus and taking Belgium and the Dutch Republic as the Allied forces were forced to withdraw.

However 'fickle fortune' took a hand in the following campaign of 1796 when in company with General Moreau's forces pushing the Austrians back through Bavaria to the Austrian frontier, Jourdan was caught in a flank manoeuvre by a certain Archduke Charles and beaten at the Battle of Amburg. The campaign then went from bad to worse seeing the French forced back by the end of the year and Jourdan identified as the scape goat for the failure.

His military career then went on hold and he was forced to focus on politics, formulating the Conscription Law in 1798, later known as Jourdan's Law, before returning to military duties in 1799.

He opposed the 'coup' of  the 9th November that brought Napoleon to power as First Consul, but was soon reconciled with the new regime, being appointed Inspector General of Cavalry and Infantry in 1800 and appointed a Marshal in 1804 by the Emperor Napoleon, later overseeing command in Naples alongside Joseph.

When Napoleon bullied his brother Joseph into taking the Spanish throne in 1808 he appointed Jourdan as his military advisor.

Imperial ADC's displayed the rank of their commander with brassards and plume colours
Plume /Brassard , Brigade - Lt Blue/ Lt Blue, Division - Black and Red/Red, Commander - White and Red/White 

Jourdan was certainly an experienced commander and he is believed to have offered Joseph sound if somewhat cautionary advice. He was by 1808 past holding an active command of his own and like Joseph was unable to exert any influence over the other French Marshals. It was Jourdan who would again play the roll of scape goat for French failure at Talavera, being replaced by Marshal Soult after the battle, only to return to his former post in 1812 when Soult was recalled for the invasion of Russia.

I wanted an older looking general officer model to represent Jourdan, he was 43 in July 1809, and so used the AB model of the bespectacled Marshal Davout, but gave the figure a suitably grey haired appearance as seen in his portraits.

Marshal Victor, Duke of Belluno (1764 - 1841)

Claude Victor Perrin, entered the artillery as a private age 17 and was noticed by a certain Colonel Bonaparte at the siege of Toulon in 1793 for his leadership qualities soon rising to the rank of General de Division in 1797.

If Jourdan represented the old guard of revolutionary generals, then Victor certainly represented the new generation of ambitious young officers who were able to ascend to to high command under the patronage of Napoleon.

He particularly distinguished himself at the battle of Marengo and was present at the battles of Jena, Pultusk and Friedland where he again gained the notice of the Emperor whilst leading I Corps and was created a Marshal soon after.

http://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/friedland-or-the-consecration-of-marshal-victor/

Victor led his I Corps d'Armee into Spain in 1808 defeating Blake's Spanish army at Espinosa and together with the Emperor spearheading the attack through the Somosierra Pass leading to the capture of Madrid.

In 1809 he he won decisive victories over Spanish forces at the battles of Ucles and Medellin where in the latter he he defeated General Cuesta's 35,000 men with just his own corps of 16,000.

Uniform of a French Marshal

By the time of Talavera, Victor had won for himself a reputation for outstanding bravery and impetuosity which goes much of the way to explain how he came to have his way over the weak willed Joseph and the cautious Jourdan.

However Victor had never fought the British and he seems to have been totally oblivious about their tactics or abilities and his troops paid a heavy price for his ignorance and impetuosity.

For my model of Victor I chose to use the AB model of Marshal Ney as a suitable stand in as another of Napoleon's rather impetuous commanders.

Alongside the commander of I Corps can be seen a senior staff officer drawn from the ranks of the 2nd Hussars

French 2nd Hussars were part of the Light Cavalry brigade under GdB Beaumont in Victor's I Corps

General de Division Sebastiani (1771 - 1851)

General Horace Francois-Bastien Sebastiani commanded IV Corps at Talavera. Like Napoleon, he was a Corsican and was commissioned into the army in 1789.

Sebastiani served as the future Emperor's cavalry commander in the Army of Italy during his Italian campaign and saw action at Marengo. After the campaign he was sent on his first diplomatic missions to Turkey and Egypt before promotion to General de Brigade in 1803.

In 1805 he was wounded leading a cavalry brigade at Austerlitz and was subsequently promoted to General de Division.

He then returned to the diplomatic corps serving as Napoleon's ambassador at Constantinople, before returning to the army in 1808 to command an infantry division in Lefebvre's IV Corps as part of the Emperor's Grand Armee for the invasion of Spain.

He saw action with his division at Zornosa in October in pursuit of Blake's Spanish army and at the end of the year was promoted to command IV Corps when Lefebvre was sacked for continuously disobeying orders.

In early 1809 he and IV Corps were deployed south of Madrid observing General Cartaojal's Army of La Mancha which in the March he successfully attacked and routed at Cuidad Real.

However the Spanish troops soon rallied after their defeat  and Cartaojal was replaced by General Venegas who was supposed to have detained Sebastiani and his corps whilst Wellesley and Cuesta moved against Victor at Talavera. He however skilfully slipped away from Venegas to bring his troops along with those of King Joseph to fight at Talavera.

Sebastiani was more suited to leading a cavalry charge than high command. His corps acted with little cohesion during the battle, with the German Division becoming disorientated during its advance and attacking first when it was supposed to have attacked last in a plan to refuse the French left flank. However it was Sebastiani's own division that came the closest to winning the battle for the French.

Uniform of a French General de Division

I have modelled Sebastiani using one of the AB French general officer models accompanied by an ADC displaying the red brassard of an aide serving a General de Division.

Uniform of a French General de Brigade

Alongside the senior French commanders are the balance of five French General de Brigade to complete the command of the French forces.

If you have enjoyed reading this post then add to your enjoyment by popping over to the "Talavera 208 Just Giving" page using the link below and make any contribution you care to, towards a great cause, Combat Stress, and enjoy the warm feeling that will come knowing you have added to the good in the world; not to mention the thrill when you see these command bases in action in 2017, and a message from me thanking you for your support. After all we are in that season when giving is what it's all about.

Cheers all 

JJ

Just Giving - Talavera208

Other sources referred to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bonaparte
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Jourdan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Victor-Perrin,_Duc_de_Belluno
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_François_Bastien_Sébastiani_de_La_Porta
Osprey Campaign, Talavera 1809 - Chartrand & Turner
Talavera, Wellington's First Victory in Spain - Andrew W. Field