All at Sea - Far Distant Ships, Rule Additions and Changes for 1:700 Scale Games.

 

Following requests for access to the rule additions and changes I made to David Manley's Fleet Action rules for the age of sail, Far Distant Ships (FDS) that were used to run our 1:700 scale games of the Battle of Camperdown, Battle of Trafalgar, and Battle of Cape Ferrol (Calder's Action), I have finally gotten around to pulling the materials together for those folks who would like to do something similar.

Far Distant Ships - Long Face Games | Wargame Vault

Please note, I'm in the habit of supporting the creative talents we have in the hobby and so my compilation of rule changes and additions are designed to compliment David's original work and so you will need a copy of Far Distant Ships to use my materials, link above for the rules.

The Battle of Camperdown in the opening stages, and fought at the NWS Yeovilton Meeting in 2024 using Far Distant Ships for 1:700.

The sixteen page compilation includes the necessary scale changes of movement, spacing and gunnery ranges to facilitate the battles featured here on JJ's, together with additional sections to the markers we used, changes to turning the models, additional Senior Command Modifier, and additional reminders added to the Turn Sequence and Command Phase.

Samples of the counters we used for our games of FDS, relieving the game of tedious book keeping and allowing the play to keep on flowing.

As regular readers of the blog will know I am an inveterate rule changer and adapter, and with my many years of reading various rule ideas I am a bit of a magpie collector, but all this fed into my changes, and so I have incorporated some signalling ideas from Rod Langton's rules, Fleet Morale from Albert Parker, and Tactical Cohesion from David's other rule set, 'Form Line of Battle'

An example of the Squadron Command Cards we used and included in the update.

So with the Fleet Morale rules I have included copies of the Squadron Command Cards that helped simply record Command Points available each turn and the Fleet Preservation Points for a particular squadron, marked on the card with dice, with the dice turned as the command points were used or the preservation level reduced by ships being lost or captured.

The opening moves of Trafalgar, run at last year's NWS gathering at Yeovilton, again using FDS 1:700

One aspect I was keen to model cleanly in our games was the signalling arrangements for the various Fleet and Squadron Commanders so that orders could be changed as battle circumstances dictated, and so I came up with my own set of flags that could be used as numbers or a specific phrase or word depending on how the flags were presented by the commander.

A section of the 'Others' signal book, using different flag combinations than the British equivalent. The flag counters are included in the pack for printing out with a # symbol on one side to indicate the flag is a number and blank with just the flag symbol that would indicate it is representing the phrase listed in the signal book. 

The signals worked particularly well in the latter stages of the Trafalgar game as the Combined Fleet tried to organise a rearguard as their morale started to collapse threatening a rout amid ever more arriving British ships amid their lines, which saw much hasty signalling to Rear Admiral Dumanoir to turn the van and come to the assistance of the centre.

My 'Fleet Log' included in the update with examples of how signals might be constructed as a guide to my commanders.

The change I borrowed from Rod Langton for my signalling rules was the use of a specific group of signals known as 'General Orders'.

General Orders include the following:

General Chase
Engage to Leeward
Engage to Windward
Engage Enemy More Closely
Engage Opposite Numbers
Engage Enemy Squadron
Engage the Enemy Van
Engage the Enemy Centre
Engage the Enemy Rear
Pass Through Enemy Line
Delay Signals

These signals are a requirement for a commander to fly if he wants his captains to do things they ordinarily wouldn't do unless so ordered.

A Spanish commander signals to close the line up as the British emerge out of the fog in our El Ferrol game run at Yeovilton last year. This illustrates how we use our signal flags in our games of FDS. Note also the damage markers illustrated above used here on the bases of two of the models

For example ships captains used to fighting in line of battle would not normally engage closer than medium range, turning their ships away accordingly to open fire, thus any requirement for them to close with the enemy would necessitate the appropriate signal to make that happen, and obviously a British admiral seeking to get his captains to pass through an enemy line, would require a close engagement order as well as to pass through the enemy line, with a likely test to see if the captains would comply as ordered.

The British attack on the Batavian-Dutch line in our Camperdown game with some captains refusing to pass through the enemy line, whilst others happily complied with orders, dishing out raking fire as they closed with the enemy.

By the time of Trafalgar in 1805 British captains were very familiar with the idea and advantages of breaking an enemy line, however at the time of Camperdown in 1797 the idea was not so readily accepted, and so in our recreation of Camperdown the test to pass through the Dutch line was more problematic than it was in our Trafalgar game.

So the idea behind the slight rule change is that signals such as “Engage Enemy more More Closely’ and ‘Pass Through Enemy Line’ must be given to enable captains to move to short range, but a test will still be required to see if a captain is prepared to manoeuvre between enemy ships, or simply turn away broadside to broadside.

Fighting up close and personal in the fog off El Ferrol using Far Distant Ships at the Devon Wargames Group Meeting at Yeovilton last year.

All this is easily modelled with Far Distant Ships and from the games I have played with them makes them my turn-to set of rules for playing large or multiple squadron big-battle games.

JJ's Wargames: All at Sea - Far Distant Ships, Chance Cards

These rule additions and changes have all been play tested over the last four years in some very big-battle games so I know they work and offer them up for others to use should they want to, alongside the FDS Chance Cards I published back in March and available in my downloads section alongside this update.

The FDS 700 Rule Additions are available as a download request through me in My Resources and Downloads when this post is published. Please don't repost this FDS update on other forums file sections as they are made to be freely available here for all to use with the caveat that you already own a copy of Far Distant Ships.

If you request the file from my Resources link I will give you access to a zip file containing the sixteen page update, the game markers, flag signal markers, command record cards and QRS.

I hope you have as much fun playing FDS as I have had and as always more anon

JJ

The World Turned Upside Down - 7th Virginia Continental Regiment.

 

As the largest, and wealthiest of the new American states, Virginia was called on in 1776 by the Continental Congress for six regiments of infantry; the state however had already decided to raise nine regiments, eight of which were to have ten companies, and the ninth only seven at first, later raising their establishment to ten.

For the 1st to 7th Regiments, the ratio was set at three rifle companies to seven musket companies, with the 8th and 9th all muskets

The 7th Virginia Regiment was authorised on January 11th, 1776,  for service with the Continental Army, at Gloucester, Virginia, and was organized under Colonel William Daingerfield between February 7th - May 8th, 1776 at Gloucester Court House to consist of 10 companies from Halifax, Albemarle, Botetourt, Gloucester, King William, Essex, Middlesex, Cumberland, King and Queen, Orange and Fincastle Counties.

The 7th Virginia Regiment (1776-1778) - Revolutionary Virginia

Even before the news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord reached Virginia, the British Colonial Governor, Lord Dunmore had already clashed with the local patriots in the Gunpowder Incident at Williamsburg on 20th–21st April 1775, later fleeing the city on June 8th, 1775, staying on British warships, which roamed through the Chesapeake Bay.

Governor of the Province of Virginia, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore - Joshua Reynolds

On November 7th, 1775, Dunmore declared martial law and issued an emancipation proclamation granting freedom to enslaved men who joined the British side. British troops occupied Norfolk, Virginia's largest city, where Dunmore recruited loyalists to fight the rebellious colonists, organising them into the Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment, and with the former slaves into an Ethiopian Regiment commanded by white officers.

Colonial Virginia, illustrating the movements of Governor, Lord Dunmore in 1775-76 from Williamsburg to Norfolk and his eventual expulsion from the state following his defeat at Gwynn's Island 

On arrival in Norfolk, Dunmore ordered the fortification of the bridge across the southern branch of the Elizabeth River, about nine miles south of Norfolk in the village of Great Bridge, the bridge forming a natural defensive point since it was on the only road leading south from Norfolk toward North Carolina, and was bordered on both sides by the Great Dismal Swamp, with access to the bridge on both sides via narrow causeways. 

A period map of Eastern Virginia illustrating the position of the rebel held Great Bridge and the British stockade, Fort Murray, near Norfolk at which Dunmore's forces were defeated and forcing him to evacuate Norfolk.

Dunmore sent 25 men of the 14th Foot to the bridge, where they erected a small stockade fort they called Fort Murray on the Norfolk side of the bridge, also removing the bridge planking to make crossing it more difficult, whilst the fort was armed with two cannons and several smaller swivel guns. The men of the 14th were augmented by small companies from the Ethiopian and Queen's Own regiments, bringing the garrison size to between 40 and 80 men.

On the morning of December 9th, 1775, Dunmore ordered an attack across the narrow causeway, with British forces advancing six men abreast, firing by platoons, against the Patriots holding entrenched positions who waiting until the attackers were within fifty yards unleashed a devastating volley, that saw key British officers, including Captain Charles Fordice and Lieutenant John Batut, killed or wounded, and the attack collapsing under heavy fire, later drawing comparisons to events near Boston as Virginia's Bunker Hill.

A sketch by Lord Rawdon of the 1775 Battle of Great Bridge, Virginia. Title: A view of the Great Bridge near Norfolk in Virginia where the action happened between a detachment of the 14th Regt: & a body of the rebels. 

A. A stockade fort thrown up by the regulars before the action.
B. Entrenchments of the rebels.
C. A narrow causeway by which the regulars were forced to advance to the attack.
D. The church occupied by the rebels.

After the Battle of Great Bridge, the British realised that they lacked enough soldiers to keep using Norfolk as a base of operations, and rather spitefully shelled the city setting fires to many buildings on January 1st, 1776 when they evacuated it, abandoning their first land base in Virginia. Virginia rebels would later burn the rest of Norfolk in January, to retaliate against Scottish merchants in the town who had supported King George III and to prevent British forces from using the place as a future base.

After the destruction of Norfolk, the fleet stayed in the Elizabeth River, with Dunmore's presence requiring Virginia to keep militia in the region rather than send reinforcements to George Washington's army near Boston and New York, but a smallpox outbreak aboard the British ships and later during occupation of Gwynn's Island decimated Dunmore's force.

Captain Thomas Posey led a rifle company of the 7th Virginia Regiment
at the Battle of Gwynn's Island.

The 7th Regiment played a prominent role in driving Lord Dunmore and his loyalist forces off Gwynn's Island and out of Virginia. Captain Thomas Posey commanded a rifle company in the 7th regiment and chronicled the engagement in his journal.

British Forces on Gwynn's Island consisted of the 14th Foot (150 men), Royal Marines (100 men), Queen's Own Loyal Virginians (150 men) and Lord Dunmore's Ethiopians (200 men) plus the support of two sloops and two cutters.

Map of action at Gwynn's Island, Chesapeake Bay 1776 - Thomas Jefferson

The American force under Brigadier General Andrew Lewis consisted of detachments from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th Virginia Regiments (200 men), Virginia Militia (1,000 men) and two Virginia Artillery companies manning fifteen guns of various calibres.

Brigadier General William Woodford

Following Gwynn's Island, the 7th Virginia encamped in York and Williamsburg during the autumn and winter of 1776, before marching to join Washington's army in New Jersey, assigned on May 11th, 1777 to Brigadier General William Woodford's 3rd Virginia Brigade.

For 1777 Washington had plans to organise his army on a consistent basis, intending that each division would be made up of three brigades, and that each brigade would have three full strength regiments, however a shortage of general officers and full strength regiments prevented a full implementation of this plan; never the less at the start of 1777 his main army, less those brigades from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire in the Hudson Highlands or with the Northern Army and a North Carolina Brigade en route from home, had the following structure:

Greene's Division - 1st & 2nd Virginia Brigades

Stephen's Division - 3rd & 4th Virginia Brigades

Sullivan's Division - 1st & 2nd Maryland Brigades

Lincoln's Division - 1st & 2nd Pennsylvania Brigades

Stirling's Division - 3rd Pennsylvania & New Jersey Brigades

The first shipments of French aid had arrived, and along with General Henry Knox's practice of now assigning a company of artillery to every brigade, with 3, 4 or 6-pounder guns, the 'Corps of Light Infantry', better known as Morgan's Riflemen was formed in late May early June.

In June Captain Posey and a detachment of 7th Virginia riflemen joined Colonel Daniel Morgan’s Select Rifle Corps for detachment to the Northern Department and would later take part in the battles of Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights during the Saratoga Campaign of that year.

In late August 1777, after a distressing 34-day journey from Sandy Hook on the coast of New Jersey, a Royal Navy fleet of more than 260 ships carrying some 17,000 British troops under the command of British General Sir William Howe landed at the head of the Elk River, on the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay then known as Head of Elk, approximately 40–50 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

After a skirmish at Cooch's Bridge south of Newark, the British troops moved north and Washington abandoned a defensive encampment along the Red Clay Creek near Newport, Delaware, to deploy against the British at Chadds Ford. This site was important as it was the most direct passage across the Brandywine River on the road from Baltimore to Philadelphia. On September 9th, Washington positioned detachments to guard other fords above and below Chadds Ford, hoping to force the battle there.

The 7th Virginia Regiment as part of Woodford's 1,200 strong brigade, under Major-General Adam Stephen, mustered 472 men all ranks, and on September 11th 1777 the regiment would participate in the Battle of Brandywine, 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 7th 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.

Division: Major General Adam Stephen
3rd Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General William Woodford (1,200 men)*
3rd Virginia Regiment (150) all ranks
7th Virginia Regiment (472)
11th Virginia Regiment (377)
15th Virginia Regiment (200)

4th Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General Charles Scott (800)
4th Virginia Regiment (314)
8th Virginia Regiment (157)
12th Virginia Regiment ((117)
Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment (100)

Patton's Additional Continental Regiment (124)

*Numbers of men quoted from G. Novak.

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

I covered the confused actions of the Virginians under Major-General Adam Stephen in my post looking at the 15th Virginia Continental Regiment.

JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - 15th Virginia Continental Regiment.

Stephen's men fought in the fog with troops led by General Anthony Wayne, and he was later accused of being drunk during the battle, and after being convicted in a court martial, he was stripped of his command and cashiered out of the army, making him the only Continental Army general court-martialled and immediately dismissed from the service during the war.

Washington’s men had fought with skill in the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777, often on the offensive while campaigning against superior numbers of professional British soldiers, and although they lost two key battles, as well as Philadelphia, to the British, Washington’s soldiers emerged from these experiences with a renewed confidence in their fighting abilities, needing a little more training to reach their full potential.

Baron Steuben drilling American troops at Valley Forge in 1778 - Edwin Austin Abbey

The encampment at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777 provided the opportunity for the training required under the tutelage of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, with the 7th Virginia Regiment now under the command of Colonel Alexander Mcclanachan, and Lt. Colonel Holt Richardson entering Valley Forge with 427 men assigned to the regiment, but with only 46 fit for duty.

During the encampment at Valley Forge, an estimated 1,700 to 2,000 soldiers died from disease, possibly exacerbated by malnutrition and cold, wet weather, and with the most common killers being influenza, typhus, typhoid, and dysentery.

On November 1st, 1777 the regiment was reorganised to consist of 8 companies.

On May 6th, 1778, the army joyously celebrated France’s alliance with and formal recognition of the United States as a sovereign power; and the expected arrival of the French greatly altered British war plans, triggering their evacuation of Philadelphia in June.

Washington rapidly set his troops in motion to bring on a general engagement with the enemy, with the 7th Virginia Regiment leaving Valley Forge with 376 men assigned, and 226 men fit for duty. On June 28th, at the Battle of Monmouth, N.J., Washington’s men demonstrated their improved battle prowess when they forced the British from the field.

The Continental Congress ordered a reorganization of the Continental Army on May 27th, 1778. Under this resolve, the Virginia quota was reduced from fifteen infantry regiments to eleven. The Virginia regiments were still under strength and continued to dwindle in 1779, reduced to a fraction of their paper strength; at this point, regimental history becomes very confusing to track.

Given the number of men fit for duty, these “regiments” are not really “regiments” at all any more, yet they are still named as such.

On July 22nd, 1778 the 7th Virginia Regiment was relieved from the 3rd Virginia Brigade and assigned to the 2nd Virginia Brigade, part of Major General Lord Stirling's division, and the following year in April 1779, following yet another army reorganisation begun in the latter half of 1778, the 7th Virginia Regiment was at Middlebrook, NJ with 244 men, all ranks assigned, but having just 166 men fit for duty.

As directed by Congress the previous May, the Virginia Line was rearranged in September 1778, by reducing the fifteen regiments to eleven, the reorganization seeing the 5th Virginia Regiment (of 1775) redesignated the 3rd Virginia and the 7th Virginia regiments becoming the "new" Fifth Regiment, with the Commander of the "new" Fifth being Colonel William Russell.

Little is written about the 5th Regiment during the winter of 1778 -79. In the reorganization of the Virginia Line in May 1779, the 5th Regiment became part of Brig. Gen. William Woodford's Brigade, and following operations in the Northern Colonies, the Virginia troops were ordered south to join Major-General Benjamin Lincoln in defence of the Southern Colonies, and these troops under Woodford and Scott entered Charleston, South Carolina on April 7th, 1780.

On May 12th, 1780, General Lincoln surrendered the city of Charlestown, along with the entire Virginia Line of Continental troops to the British.

In 1780, the word “Detachment” comes into use, describing a 700-man conglomeration of these “regiments.” 

The 1st Virginia Detachment was led by Richard Parker. The 2nd Virginia Detachment was formed out of various regiments under the 2nd Virginia Regiment’s original colonel, Brigadier General William Woodford, including elements of the 2nd Virginia Regiment, and the 3rd Virginia Detachment would be formed under Colonel Abraham Buford and was composed of elements of the 7th Virginia, as well as various pieces of other units.

The Battle of Waxhaws - Graham Turner

The first two Detachments of the Virginia Line served at the Siege of Charleston in South Carolina and were surrendered to the British Army on 12th May 1780.

The 3rd Detachment was cut to pieces at the Battle of Waxhaws; the Virginia line had effectively ceased to exist, with the single exception of the two-company 9th Virginia Regiment of 1779, which was stationed at Fort Pitt (the present Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Any discussion about the look of a particular American Continental Infantry regiment is always likely to couched in many caveats and for the historical wargamer looking to recreate a look to his forces many choices have to be made in the decision process of what to depict and how.

In October 1778 General Washington held a lottery, drawing to determine which colour coat, blue or brown, would be distributed to state regiments, which saw blue coats assigned to North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, whilst brown coats were to be provided to Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The colours carried by my 7th Virginia Regiment are taken from the insert in the Perry Miniatures plastic Continentals box set.
I have copied them onto a heavy paper, rather than cut them directly from the insert, which is rather too heavy to fold as required when mounted on the staff. 

My 7th Virginia Regiment are depicted as if Washington had had his way, with brown coats faced in a darker red than usual, together with red turnbacks, and with the officers in the grey waistcoat and breeches ordered to complete the look of the 1778 regiment. The drummer's green livery is purely speculative and assumes a captured British drummer's coat, less the lace, has been rapidly furnished for use.

The colours carried are using some of the options offered with the Perry Miniatures plastic Continentals, with which this unit is modelled, and depicted being carried by the Virginian detachment in Graham Turner's picture above. The regiment is finished off with a set of low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs, and I have built it as a 24-figure strong unit to better represent its strength of 472 men at the start of the Philadelphia Campaign and will likely use it like this to represent a combined Virginia Regiment for other actions.

One of the more interesting aspects of representing the Virginian regiments on the table will be recreating their rifle companies, perhaps providing a more enhanced skirmishing capability, but a reduced rate of volley fire to simulate the slower loading rifle companies. Of course after June 1777, one might just choose to assume the unit is all musket, with the Riflemen on detached service with Colonel Morgan.

Work now proceeds on to the next two units to feature here on JJ's, namely His Majesty's 44th Regiment of Foot, and the 11th Virginia Continental Regiment.

As always more anon.

JJ

Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Chagford, 8th February 1643.

The Battle of Chagford was a classic skirmish action between opposing horse, wielding similar pistols, that would cause the death of Sir Sydney Godolphin amid the village streets of this lovely Devon village.
Cromwell's Ironsides charge Prince Rupert's Horse, 1644 - Graham Turner.

 

It's been a few years since I posted on a battlefield visit in my own home county of Devon, but this opportunity to post about the Battle of Chagford came about due to an aborted hot-air balloon flight Carolyn and I were due to make earlier this month, and always aware of potential places to visit on the excuse of fitting in a pub-lunch we found ourselves sitting in the Three Crowns Hotel, that just happened to be at the centre of this fierce little cavalry skirmish fought in February of 1643.

The village of 'Chagforde' lies on the eastern edge of Dartmoor as seen in this period map, and over which we should have been flying in a hot-air balloon this month, our flight postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

It was in fact July 2021 that I last did a Devon Battlefield post covering a visit to Slapton Sands and Start Point, link below.

JJ's Wargames: Start Point, Hallsands and Slapton Sands

For this expedition I turned to my little tome that often sits in the glovebox of our car, 'Battlefield Walks Devon' by Rupert Mathews which contains walking routes for eighteen battle sites of which about ten have been covered here on the blog, with Chagford completing the eleventh, and with all the other visits labelled 'Battlefields in Devon' in the sidebar.

The Battle of Edgehill fought on the 23rd October 1642, was the first major engagement of the English Civil War and it ended indecisively, preventing a quick victory for either side, and bringing matters to a head between the English Parliament and King Charles I, adamant that he ruled absolutely by the divine right of kings; and the battle demonstrating to both sides that the evolving nature of warfare, transitioning from medieval shock tactics to the use of firearms and artillery set the stage for a protracted civil war between Royalists (Cavaliers) and Parliamentarians (Roundheads), with control of London and strategic towns remaining crucial throughout the conflict.

I visited the battlefield of Edgehill back in 2017, link below.
JJ's Wargames: Battle of Edgehill 1642

In the wider country both sides sought to enforce their grip on local administrations, as control of local councils ensured that taxation from that town or county flowed to whichever side had secured that control.

The guide map from 'Battlefield Walks Devon' shows the
layout of the village and key points of interest.

Whilst the County of Devon declared for the King, some of the small mercantile and industrial towns and villages, particularly Plymouth, preferred the Parliamentarian cause, with Chagford one such village, garrisoned by a small troop of Parliamentary horse, to secure it against Royalist forces mustering in Devon.

The typical old Devon cottages that make up the centre of Chagford, seen here along the narrow Low Street, leading up to the village square, and along which the Royalist horse attacked.

Colonel Northcote and his officers took lodgings in Whyddon House, now the Three Crowns Hotel, whilst the men were billeted in the houses of the village.

One of the finest churches on Dartmoor, St Michael the Archangel, Chagford is undoubtedly little changed from February 1643 when battle raged among the surrounding streets.

Sir Ralph Hopton, the Royalist commander in Devon ordered Colonel Berkeley with a troop of horse and another of dragoons to attack Chagford and capture it.

The view from the church to the east of the village towards the countryside through which the Royalist horse made their attack on the morning of 8th February 1643.

The Parliamentarians were not caught completely by surprise that morning, as the garrison was alerted to the attack by pickets placed at the eastern end of Low Street causing the sleepy garrison to be on the streets when the Royalists came clattering into the village square.

The Market Square is today dominated by this small Council office and shops, but this building was absent during the battle as the square was open for market traders to set up their stalls, and it was here where the fierce fighting took place.

It was in Market Square that the main fighting took place, where a savage street fight erupted between the opposing sides.

The stone porch of the former Whyddon House, now the Three Crowns Hotel.

Led by the dashing Sir Sydney Godolphin, MP for Helston, and famed poet, one squad of Royalist horse made straight for Whyddon House to attack the Parliamentary commanders who, by the time Godolphin and his men arrived, were emerging from the house, leading to a brisk fight around the ornate stone porch of the building.

Godolphin received a pistol bullet in the thigh that severed the main artery, causing him to collapse against the stone walls of the porch.

Redoubling their efforts, the Royalists forced their way into the house, though not before Northcote and several of his men had escaped by scrambling out the back. with most of them getting away and scattering among the hills on the edge of Dartmoor, before regrouping and heading east towards more friendly territory.

The village carpark with Meldon Hill in the background, on the edge of Dartmoor, and over which I suspect many of the Parliamentary garrison evaded capture as they fled the village.

Chagford was secured for the King without much enthusiasm by the locals, but the unfortunate Godolphin lay dying from his wound, made comfortable in Whyddon House, before succumbing and being buried two days later in the chancel of All Saints Church in Okehampton on the 10th February 1643.

In memorial of his gallant passing the poet Clinton Scollard penned the following tribute, part of which read;

They rode from the camp at morn

With clash of sword and spur.

The birds were loud in the thorn,

The sky was an azure blur.

A gallant show they made

That warm noontide of the year,

Led on by a dashing blade,

By the poet-cavalier.

Time moves on and the ancient property evolved into a charming old world inn, its solid granite walls, splendid mullioned windows, massive oak beams and huge fireplace being complemented by, of course, a resident ghost, said to be the sombre shade of the tragic Sidney Godolphin.

The former Whyddon House, now the Three Crowns Hotel in which Colonel Northcote and his officers were billeted when the Royalist attack commenced, and where Carolyn and I enjoyed a splendid lunch.

He wanders the hotel's cosy interior resplendent in full Cavalier dress and sporting a handsome plumed hat, making fleeting appearances, occasionally startling witnesses by suddenly manifesting in front of them and fixing them with a sad stare.

I can highly recommend a visit to beautiful Chagford if the opportunity arises, providing easy access for walks on Dartmoor, and the Three Crowns adding a bit of historical interests as well as local accommodation, bar and restaurant where we enjoyed a very pleasant lunch.

I hope you enjoyed this little excursion into Devon's military history, and as always more anon.

JJ