The Battle of Crook's Farm

Battle of Crook’s Farm

Lord Thomas set out his plan and justification for the upcoming ejection (hoped for) of the incursive Parliamentarian force who had , according to the reports he had received , taken Crook’s farm . From here the Puritan aggressors had set about their task of brigandage, theft, arson and possibly rapine .

Lord Thomas admitted that the two opposing forces had exactly the same number of unit, but his proposed nighttime attack would cause havoc amongst the rabble who opposed the King’s Will, delivered by his devoted servant, Lord Thomas.

Consequently Lord Thomas’ force assembled near East Parkham, and by good fortune and excellent intelligence, not to mention overwhelming force, an entire troop of enemy cavalry were ambushed and taken prisoner. Lord Thomas exhorted his commanders to strike whilst the iron was hot as the non return of the troop would put the rebels on warning.

Sir Josiah Letterman was well aware of what the cavalry troop’s non return might presage. Consequently Mudford’s Dragoons were out on Picket to West and North and South and East. He was not prepared to be caught napping or be unprepared for attack from ANY direction.. He knew the troops under his command would be nervous and did his best to reassure them  and got his commanders to stand 2/3rds of their force to during the night in case of attack. The whole force to stand  to at dawn.

All decisions determined by percentage dice or random chance chosen by Exel spreadsheet random number generator

 Lord Thomas encouraged his commanders by pointing out that the enemy were enclosed by hedges and walls Put a cork of cavalry and dragoons into the ‘neck’ of that bottle and the enemy could not get at the Royalists especially when masked by the darkness. Consequently while his Infantry advanced across the open ground towards the farm the Dragoons made their way towards the front of the farm from the Northern road dismounting about 100 yards from the building The cavalry accompanied the Infantry, but they had not gone far before the Western Picket raised the alarm and retired towards the farm as did the other pickets as per standing orders.

 

 

Sir Josiah had been hoping that a stout defence could be made but the panic which ensued from the enemy’s advance made him realise that he would be extremely lucky to save any of his command.( NONE of the Parliamentarian units passed a ‘morale’ test ALL scoring below 3 on a 1-6 dice !! ) It took 2 full turns of utter confusion before the Parliamentarian’s got any semblance of order. Col. John Crabbe’s Foot blasted away towards the West and failed to hit anything. Not that the Royalist Foot managed to hit anything in return…. Sir Peter Mullet’s Foot, depleted by 2 companies  escorting booty back to Parliamentarian lines, stayed in the enclosure South of the farm according to Sir Josiah’s original dispositions.

The burning cressets at the farm's main entrance the Royalist dragoons a better chance of causing casualties to Mudford’s Dragoons who opposed them, and the emerging Cavanagh’s cavalry were charged by Sir John Tremble’s Horse in what little light reached that far. Because Cavanagh’s Horse took a long time to deploy, they sustained casualties and bottled up De Preste’s Horse behind them.

A few casualties were suffered by the Foot but Cavanagh’s Horse suffered the most. De Preste managed to get his troopers out and thundered into Sir Thomas’ Raw dragoons who promptly broke and fled. Mudford’s Dragoons were badly mauled and Sir Josiah decided to abandon the farm and get as many men safe away as possible. The Mudford Dragoons mounted up and set off,  following Mullet’s Foot who provided a rearguard, Cavanagh’s Horse broke and fled. De Preste’s Horse squared off against Lord Thomas and Tremble’s tired Regiment of Horse. A few indecisive rounds of combat ensued before both sides decided to call it a night and disengage. Crabbe’s Foot scuttled away towards the River Trout with casualties but in the main intact.

The Royalist Foot smoke stained and shivering peered into the dawn light As Lord Thomas led Trembles Horse towards them. Davis looked at his father who saw his son and grinned.

“ Rejoice, we conquer” , said Lord Thomas.

Sir Josiah was ambivalent to the result. Yes he had been driven off, but no colours had been lost, booty had been taken and the Malignants had been reminded that the Sovereign Rule of Parliament could overturn the Rule of a Sovereign, if only for short periods.

Neither Commander considered what may have happened to Farmer Crook.