The World Turned Upside Down - 15th Virginia Continental Regiment.

The 15th Virginia Regiment was authorized on the September 16th, 1776, as a part of the Virginia Line, of which Virginia raised fifteen Continental Regiments for service with the Continental Army, the 15th being under the command of Col. David Mason, a Virginia planter and politician in Sussex County and seeing the regiment assigned to the Main Continental Army on December 27th, 1776.

In early 1777, the regiment undertook its initial major movement, marching from Williamsburg under Colonel Mason's command to Philadelphia for inoculation against smallpox before joining Washington's main army at Morristown, New Jersey; and were organized on February 12th, 1777 to consist of nine companies from Chesterfield, Brunswick, Southampton, King William, Mansemond, Princess Anne, Isle of Wight, Surry, Sussex, Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Richmond Counties and the Borough of Norfolk.

After organization and marching north with approximately 280 men on April 4th and expecting reinforcements of 150 more at Fredericksburg, the 15th Virginia Regiment engaged in initial training and drilling at camps near Morristown, New Jersey, during the spring of 1777, as part of efforts to standardize Continental Army tactics, including light infantry manoeuvres for reconnaissance and rapid response.

Brigadier General William Woodford

It was assigned on May 11th, 1777 to the 3rd Virginia Brigade, under Brigadier General William Woodford an element of Major General Stephen's Division.

Division: Major General Adam Stephen (1,500)

3rd Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General William Woodford

3rd Virginia Regiment
7th Virginia Regiment
11th Virginia Regiment
15th Virginia Regiment

4th Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General Charles Scott

4th Virginia Regiment
8th Virginia Regiment
12th Virginia Regiment
Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment
Patton's Additional Continental Regiment

Internal challenges plagued the regiment throughout the summer, including high desertion rates estimated at 20-25% across the Virginia Line, driven by harsh conditions and short enlistments. Court-martial records document several cases from the 15th, such as the conviction of four soldiers—William Nicholson, Abraham Hill, Thomas Banks, and Anthony Payne—for desertion on June 9th, 1777, each sentenced to 20-25 lashes at brigade parade; another soldier, William Fogg, was acquitted on July 4th. 

Disease outbreaks, including dysentery and fever from poor sanitation in summer camps, further strained manpower, with Virginia-specific measures like state-authorized rewards for recaptured deserters employed to maintain order. Disciplinary actions followed Continental Army protocols but incorporated Virginia enlistment incentives to encourage retention.

On September 11th 1777 the regiment as part of Woodford’s Brigade would participate in the Battle of Brandywine with an estimated strength of around 200 men, part of Washington's force detailed to resist the approach of Howe's flanking attack that developed four hours into the battle; and with the 15th Virginia together with the rest of Woodford's brigade, positioned around the Birmingham Meeting House opposing the advance of the British Light Infantry and Hessian Jägers.

Following the defeat at Brandywine, and the British occupation of Philadelphia, Washington's reorganised army attacked at Germantown on the 4th October 1777.

General George Washington’s complex battle plan at Germantown included sending four separate columns against the unsuspecting British, an operation made more problematic than it otherwise might have been due to the thick fog that enveloped the battlefield.

General George Washington’s complex plan of attack envisioned four separate American columns enveloping the British positions around Germantown with Major General Nathanael Greene's flanking column, that included McDougall's Connecticut Brigade (1,000 men), Greene's own Virginia Division (1,500 men), and Stephen's Virginia Division (1,500 men), attempting to turn the British right flank.

Greene’s formations were disordered by the maze of fences, meandering streams, and thick clumps of trees they encountered. Natural obstacles were made worse by a thick fog that stubbornly refused to dissipate. One of Greene’s units, the Virginia Brigade under Colonel William Woodford, was drawn irresistibly to the sounds of the fighting at Cliveden as Lieutenant Colonel Musgrave and six companies of the 40th Foot barricaded themselves into the great house and put up a stubborn defence.

A 19th century engraving depicts the intense struggle that developed around Cliveden House

The Virginians reached the rear of the house, and when the redcoats began firing at them from the second floor they lost no time in unlimbering their guns, and the roar of cannon and rattle of musketry around Cliveden became so intense that other American regiments also began to take notice.

Some of General Anthony Wayne’s troops halted and began to counter-march, retracing their steps in Cliveden’s general direction, and worse was soon to follow as, with General Adam Stephen’s troops, being lost and disoriented, the situation not helped by the fact that the general was in fact dead drunk, Stephen’s men stumbled forward, and suddenly encountered a body of troops emerging from the fog.

Thinking the strangers must be British, Stephen’s men fired a volley, which the opposing force immediately returned. Tragically, the unknown troops were part of Wayne’s division, the same men who had been marching toward Cliveden and the sounds of the guns, and an untold number of Americans were killed by friendly fire before the confusion was straightened out.

At about this time, the American attack lost impetus and both columns retreated, whilst the two wide flanking columns numbering 3,000 American militia had little effect on the outcome. American losses were 152 men killed, 521 wounded and 438 captured, while Howe's men suffered 71 killed, 448 wounded and 14 missing.

George Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge - John Ward Dunsmore

Following Germantown and just prior to the American troops moving into winter quarters at Valley Forge the regiment was reorganized on November 1st, 1777 to consist of eight companies.

The entry of Washington's army into Valley Forge in 1777 marked a pivotal moment in the American Revolutionary War. The encampment lasted six months, from December 19th, 1777, to June 19th, 1778. During this time, the Army underwent significant training and reorganization, emerging as a much more disciplined and effective fighting force, and despite being undersupplied, underfed, and plagued with disease, the Continental Army's resilience and determination were evident as they prepared for the next campaign against the British.

That preparedness was a challenge for British forces, who would need to manoeuvre past them following their evacuation of Philadelphia in June 1778 to reach Sandy Hook, New Jersey to sail to New York.

The Battle of Monmouth fought on June 28th, 1778 marked the end of the Philadelphia Campaign and the longest single day of combat in the American War of Independence, in which the 15th Virginia Regiment would muster 146 men all ranks.

The return of Crown forces to the southern theatre changed the deployment pattern of the southern states with Virginia and North Carolina now needing to redeploy their regiments southward to halt the British invasion of Georgia and South Carolina.

The war moves south, illustrating British and American movements and battles in the south
1778 to 1781

For Virginia, 1779 found the state at breaking point, as she attempted to maintain her troops serving under Washington, protect her western boarders in Kentucky and Illinois, defend her coastline from the Royal Navy, protect the 'Convention' prisoners and send what troops she could to Major General Benjamin Lincoln, now commander of the Southern Department since September 1778.

The troops under Washington were consolidated first from fifteen infantry regiments to eleven, to meet Virginia's new quota, where in reality only nine existed with the other two being the 1st and 2nd State Regiments. The enlisted men of the disbanded units were then used to reinforce the remaining regiments, whilst the surplus officers were sent home to raise additional recruits.

Thus in September 1778, in line with the overall reorganisation of the Virginia Continental Regiments, and amid severe manpower shortages in the Continental Army caused by enlistment expirations, casualties, and disease, the 15th Virginia Regiment underwent consolidation during the reorganization of the Virginia Line at White Plains, New York. 

Survivors from its northern campaigns, including longer-term enlistees, had their companies merged into the newly designated 11th Virginia Regiment on May 12th, 1779, to consist of nine companies, effectively dissolving the 15th as a distinct unit while contributing to the compression of Virginia's fifteen original regiments into eleven.

My 15th Virginia Regiment are composed of plastic American Continental Infantry from Perry Miniatures, a 'Grand Divisional' colour, which is speculative on my part, from GMB, and sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.

I have chosen to represent the regiment in the 1778 uniform regulation that proposed brown coats faced buff with buff turnbacks, with the obligatory hunting shirts thrown in for variety, and with a strength of 16 figures representing a regiment struggling to retain its strength.

Next up, I have two different units to showcase for the French Indian War and a little diversion as I did some painting for Steve M and a game we have planned for June.

As always, more anon.

JJ

The Battle of Portland (a.k.a. The Three Days' Battle), 18th - 20th February 1653 - General at Sea.

Blake and Tromp - William Lionel Wyllie.

This post follows on from Capt. Steve's narrative of the events leading up to the Battle of Portland in 1653 and his plans to recreate this 'clash of titans' as three of the greatest admirals of the Anglo-Dutch Wars and indeed naval history, Tromp, de Ruyter and Blake at the head of 75 to 80 ships on each side, met off Portland in the English Channel on the 18th of February 1653, to contest mastery of this most vital of waterways to both nations mercantile and commercial interests, see the link below for the post covering the preparation for this game.

JJ's Wargames: The Battle of Portland (a.k.a. The Three Days' Battle), 18th - 20th February 1653, Game Plan and Preparation - General at Sea

For the refight of this very large battle Steve was using General at Sea ruleset by Ian Stanford, which enables the large fleets that characterised the Anglo-Dutch Wars to be modelled on the table by having models represent three to four actual warships to keep the fleets manageable on the table.

The fleet summaries above and below illustrate the arrangements of the models into their various divisions and squadrons with twenty models in the English fleet and nineteen in the Dutch with their combat statistics shown as CV (combat value), SF (shooting factor), BF (boarding factor), and DF (defence factor), with the Fleet total at the top showing two evenly matched opponents, slightly favouring the English with a CV of 304 versus 250 for the Dutch, that reflects the larger more powerful English ships of this period.

For a more detailed order of battle showing which actual ships are represented by the models, you can see them illustrated in the planning post linked above.

The scenario setup plan below captures the situation with the Dutch having the wind as they close on a dispersed English fleet trying to close up having just found their quarry but having had to recall their squadrons from the wide search arrangements they had set up to make sure the Dutch would not slip past them in this the wider part of the Channel. 

Game Setup and Start Positions

So with the game plan arranged Steve made a slight alteration to the setup to better align things to the table that sees the compass adjusted to allow the Dutch to enter the table from the long edge now repositioned as the north west.

The table is arranged for battle and as all wargamers know, the plan changes on first contact with the enemy, so to allow the large fleets to make best use of Steve's table the Dutch can be seen entering from the right table edge now identified as north west rather than the corner as illustrated in the plan.

Blake is hove to in the centre, separated from the rest of the English fleet, with four Dutch squadrons now bearing down on him. Monck is off table and will not appear on table until Turn 7.

Turn 2

As the Dutch bear down on Blake, the English commander opens fire at long range, to no effect, as Penn and Lawson manoeuvre their respective forces to try and join the battle from upwind.

The Dutch bear down on Blake, as the English commander opens fire at long range.

Turn 3

Tromp closes with Blake and receives a bow rake from the powerful English ships that cause a Level 2 disruption, requiring the Dutch commander to take a risk with the Command Stand check.

Tromp closes with Blake and receives a bow rake.

Disaster for the Dutch fleet as Tromp rolls a 12 on his Command Stand check that sees Tromp killed and leaving his stand impaired for three turns until another officer can take charge.

The likely scene aboard Tromp's quarterdeck as he takes a battering from Blake, leaving the Dutch commander dead.

His squadron fails its reaction test and all its stands are disrupted, however Evertsen and Floriszoon manage to pass their respective tests.

Disaster for the Dutch in Turn 3 as Blake's squadron delivers a punishing bow rake on Tromp's command stand that leaves the Dutch commander dead and his squadron disrupted.

In the process of all this drama Admiral William Penn has managed to tack his way into a position that will allow him to attack de Ruyter.

Turn 4

The misery continues for Tromp's stand as it receives further damage and is dispersed, but manages to pass its Squadron test and stays on the table.

Tromp's stand as it receives further damage and is dispersed.

Meanwhile Penn beats upwind towards de Ruyter who turns to meet the threat.

Penn beats upwind towards de Ruyter.

Turn 5

Tromp's scattered stand attempts to disengage, whilst Evertsen passes the rear of Blake and begins to engage Howett and is disrupted for his trouble.

In the background Evertsen's squadron has passed the rear of Blake and Tromp in the centre, whilst on the extreme right Howett's squadron have engaged Evertesen

Three of de Ruyter's squadron concentrate their fire at long range on the foremost stand of Penn's squadron, causing it to be disrupted.

de Ruyter's squadron concentrate their fire at long range on the foremost stand of Penn's squadron.

Turn 6

The battle intensifies as the following stand in Tromp's squadron receives a battering from Blake and is scattered, whilst Floriszoon bow rakes Lawson but causes no damage, and Evertesen is disrupted by Howett's squadron.

Blake continues to batter Tromp's squadron, centre-rear. Evertsen is disrupted by Howett, top-right, and  Floriszoon bow rakes Lawson to no effect, bottom-right.

Penn exchanges fire with de Ruyter at long range, to no effect, whilst the rest of his squadron charges into the attack.

English gunners pouring on the hurt!

The stage is now set for the arrival of General at Sea Monck, next turn.

Penn exchanges fire with de Ruyter at long range, to no effect.

Turn 7

Tromp's scattered squadron turns away and starts to limp back in the direction of the Dutch convoy, whilst Blake sustains a level 1 damage due to the accumulation of disruptions it has received in the fight with Tromp's squadron.

Tromp's stand can be seen limping away from the fight with Blake, top, centre-left, whilst the lead stands of Penn and Lawson have passed through their Dutch opponents extreme left and right, whilst in the background, top right Evertsen has turned to starboard in pursuit of Howett, whilst the first two stands of Monck's squadron can be seen approaching, top-right.

Some of Penn and Lawson's stands break through their Dutch opponents, stern raking as they pass and causing level 1 damage and disruptions. 

Battle is well and truly joined as Tromp's lead stand limps away with a dead admiral aboard, whilst battle rages around Blake's squadron in the background.

Evertesen swings around in pursuit of Howett, only to spot the leading stands of Monck arriving from the south.

Turn 8

Tromp's squadron continues to break off, whilst some of Penn's squadron are moving in to take prizes. 

The Dutch are beat and both Floriszoon and Evertsen take the opportunity to escape off table. 

The Dutch are starting to break off leaving damaged and scattered stands in their wake as the English pursue in an attempt to take prizes.

However de Ruyter gamely takes the battle to Penn's English Blue Squadron as he circles around them and damages their rearmost stand in a parting salute.

The Dutch are beat but de Ruyter gamely takes the battle to Penn's English Blue Squadron as he circles around them and damages their rearmost stand in a parting salute.

So Blake comes out on top again and I attach Steve's comments on the fight, which might take some interpreting from the pictures so I have included Steve's sketch of the game action;

'. . . these battles do turn into pell-mell actions, which is why contemporary accounts are so hard to follow what happened. This one is slightly clearer as the squadrons were quite far apart, but I have attached a sketch of what happened during this game to help . . .'

Steve's sketch of the game action

The real battle (and the next two) showed that the traditional Dutch tactics of “board and burn” – which had worked so well against the Spanish and Portuguese – simply could not cope with English firepower, especially when employed in line.

This game had the same historic outcome, except that the Dutch had the misfortune to lose Tromp at the beginning of the action, causing confusion and dismay amongst his fleet. Tromp’s intention had been to come to close range of Blake and then launch a fireship. Even though Blake was undamaged, his stand was heaved to and vulnerable. This plan was thwarted when Blake fired first, inflicting level 2 damage, disruption and in the process killing Tromp. 

Tromp might have lessened the effect of Blake’s broadside by turning to starboard at the end of the move, thus avoiding a bow rake, however with Blake’s SF of 33 against Tromp’s DF of 14, Tromp was always going to come off much worse in close action; and Tromp’s stand is the most powerful in the Dutch fleet.

Blake's line arranged, hove to awaiting Tromp, with weaker stands placed behind the heavier warships to prevent the Dutch breaking through.

If Tromp had altered course to pass ahead of Blake and rake him, all Blake had to do was set sail and move off to block him. Even with lucky dice throws, Tromp could not break through Blake because of the weak stand positioned behind him and his second.

Due to the inferiority of the Dutch ships compared to their heavier English opponents in the First Anglo Dutch War, it is very difficult for the Dutch to win. At their victory at Livorno, they had a more than 2-1 advantage in numbers, and half the defeated English squadron were hired merchants. 

Capt. Steve's refight of the Battle of Livorno, his first battle report using General at Sea, back in June last year.
JJ's Wargames: The Battle of Livorno (Leghorn), 4th March 1653, using General at Sea and the Fireships in action.

For the Dutch to have a fighting chance, we will have to move to the Second Anglo Dutch War, when their emergency shipbuilding programme resulted in larger, more powerful warships more capable of fighting toe-to toe with the English.

I have attached my plan of Day 2 of the battle. The Dutch formed a crescent, shielding their convoy – over 150 vessels – from the pursuing English. Rather like the Armada in 1588, except that the Dutch horns pointed inwards, whereas the Spanish pointed outwards. Ships in this period had much heavier and more numerous stern chasers than in the Napoleonic wars, and when aimed by expert gunners could hold off attackers. 

The high transom of the Vasa, which I photographed last October during a visit to Stockholm, illustrates Steve's point about the numerous ports for stern chasers on ships of this period, compared to the design of later 18th and 19th century warships, a factor that underpins the Dutch tactics for Day 2 of The Battle of Portland.

The English tried to send frigates around the flanks to pick off merchantmen. Dutch discipline held throughout most of the day until they began to run out of powder and shot and this caused some the escorts to run for home. At this point some of the convoy decided to break away and take their chances. It was a major triumph for Tromp to get the convoy safely back to Holland by a feat of seamanship, sailing past Cape Cris Nez at night.

I hope, like me, you enjoyed this further exploration of the First Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Battle of Portland, and thank you to Captain Steve for yet another engaging after action report and battle plan.

More to come on JJ's with another theme to explore as I have some 28mm Seven Years War French Infantry to showcase that I have painted for my pal, Steve M, in readiness for a Quebec Campaign game themed around the Battle of Sainte-Foy fought in April 1760 and the subject of a planned game later this year; in addition I intend to showcase the 15th Virginia Continental Regiment, and I have an overall update and review of my 'The World Turned Upside Down' AWI project showing all the units produced too date and my next steps.

As always, more anon.

JJ

The Battle of Portland (a.k.a. The Three Days' Battle), 18th - 20th February 1653, Game Plan and Preparation - General at Sea

 

In the previous post in this series by Captain Steve, he recounted the situation that led up to the Battle of Dungeness in November 1652, and a refight of the battle using the rules General at Sea by Ian Stanford, link below.

JJ's Wargames: The Battle of Dungeness, 30th November 1652 - General at Sea.

In this post Steve picks up the narrative as the Tromp/Blake duel carried on into 1653 with another major clash around a Dutch convoy attempting to navigate the English Channel, and his plan to refight The Three Days' Battle of Portland.

The Dutch victory at the battle of Dungeness in November 1652 left the the Dutch navy in control of the Channel through the winter of 1652-3 and allowed a revival of trade and commerce, but by early February 1653, the English fleet had been refitted and reorganised; and around eighty ships put to sea on 11th February under the joint command of the generals-at-sea Robert Blake, George Monck and Richard Deane to intercept Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, who was expected to escort a large merchant fleet homeward-bound from the Mediterranean.

Steve's order of battle for the Dutch Fleet at Portland.
This is the biggest of the battles staged so far and we can expect to see a lot of lovely models, thirty-nine precisely, out on the table for this one.

Following Dungeness, the English had reorganised their Navy. The fleet was now divided into three squadrons – Red (Centre), White (Van) and Blue (Rear). Generals at Sea Deane and Monck were sent to support Blake. 

General at Sea George Monck

Monck (in his very first action at sea) was given command of the White (Van) and amused his seamen with such land-lubber orders as “Wheel to the Right”. However, he was a very quick learner as events will prove. 

General at Sea Richard Deane

Deane was a gunnery expert, having commanded the New Model Army’s artillery and unusually held joint command with Blake, rather than command the Blue (Rear), which was given to Penn. 

Tromp's fleet of seventy-five warships rendezvoused with the 150 ships of the Mediterranean convoy at La Rochelle early in January 1653. Tromp hoped to sail home through the Channel before the English fleet was ready to put to sea, but stragglers and adverse weather conditions delayed him. The Dutch convoy finally reached the mouth of the Channel on 16th February. 

Steve's order of battle for the Dutch Fleet at Portland

The English generals planned to attack Tromp in the deeper waters of the western Channel, where the Dutch fleet was far from home and could not salvage damaged ships easily. However, the width of the Channel at its western end meant that the English fleet had to cover a wider area in order to ensure that the Dutch did not slip past.

Blake was determined not to let Tromp evade him, as de Ruyter did the previous year, and spread his fleet across the Channel in the hope of making contact. When they did, off Portland Bill, the English were widely dispersed: Blake and Dean had about 20 ships with them, the rest of the Red Squadron were some way astern and down wind. 

The battle setup for Portland on Day 1.
See the orders of battle above for details of the respective divisions.

The Blue squadron was some way ahead, whilst the White was several miles to the south and would have to tack in order to reach the rest of the fleet.

Seeing the English dispersed and Blake isolated, Tromp seized the opportunity to destroy him before the other English squadrons could come to his rescue and accordingly ordered all four of his squadrons to turn down wind and charge Blake. Blake turned into the wind, hove to in line, and awaited the onslaught in what one historian termed “the Balaclava of the sea.”

Steve's 'Collection Plate' with a wonderful depiction by Mark Myers of Blake meeting the charge of the Dutch fleet in line ahead. 

Penn reacted by turning into the wind and tacking in order to attack the nearest Dutch squadron, which was de Ruyter’s. Lawson decided not to attack up wind in Blake’s aid and be overwhelmed. Instead, he made the risky move of passing Blake to the south and then tacking, following Penn into action. Monck began to tack northwards, but it would take many hours before he could join in.

One of the maps from Three Decks illustrating the previously thought arrangement of the Dutch Fleet at the Battle of Portland
Battle of Portland, 18th February 1652/53 - 20th February 1652/53

There is some dispute over the Dutch squadrons. Traditionally, only three were shown with de Ruyter to port of Tromp and Evertsen to starboard (the two maps in the Three Decks page). Modern research now has de Ruyter and Floriszoon to starboard of Tromp and Evertsen to port, as shown below:

This is a most interesting fight. Like Dungeness, it involved three of the most celebrated admirals in history – Tromp, de Ruyter and Blake. Also, the defence of Blake’s small group of ships against the Dutch is considered by some historians as being the crucial event that convinced the English Generals at Sea to introduce the line of battle, which they used for the first time in the next battle, the Gabbard.

In the next post Steve refights The Three Days' Battle of Portland.

As always, more anon.

JJ