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.

The battle of South Clifton

Well ... the first encounter has taken place. Ubfortunately the Commanders inexperience was only exceeded by mine. It did not go well. 

Lord Thomas Markham of Foresby had led his mainly raw force, financed and led by his friends and acquaitances, from Eastspring, and across the River Trout South of Forksey. To tempt away beseigers from the strategically important town of Oldfetter.The agreed plan was for him to take and hold the large village of Dollingham. This would disrupt local Parliamentarian recruitment, supply and also threaten the link between besiegers and Linden the shire's only city. His force was 3 Infantry regiments 2 pieces of  Artillery. and a Regiment of horse. Artillery would make fortification of Dollingham easier, but it would slow him down

Sir Josiah Letterman of Spalsby was on a mission too. He was required to lead a strike force on a spoiling attack against the Royalist food sources between Eastspring and Graftsop.He was pleased with his force,  2 regiments of Horse 1 of Dragoons and 3 regiments of Foote. This would give him the chance to hold a secure base whilst causing mayhem for the malignants in the area.

The Parliamentarians formed up on the Southern ridge with the Horse covering the road and the Dragoons on the Right with the intention of outflanking the Royalists from the Farm in front of them.

For their part, the Royalistrank and file put great faith in the Artillery they had brought with them. Those of their leaders who had experience of military action in the Low Countries were  far more apprehensive.

Appalling initiative throws for Parliament, gave Lord Thoresby hope. and when the Roundheads centre Infantry suffered damage from the exalted Artillery. The Parliamentarians advanced ( as best they could... those poor dice rolls.) Lord Thomas was happy to await the enemy and hoped to break the rraw enemy troops by making them face their fate and have to walk toward it

The Royalist right of the Horse and the trained and experience Foresby Regiment of Foot moved to cover the wing and negate the threat of the enemy horse... who seemed content  to just watch what was going on and let their horses graze...

The early successes of the gunners wre not to be replicated  and although the enemy was picking up damage  Lord Thomas could see that the enemy casualties were not having the effect that he had hoped for.. The guns would not be in his care for much longr at this rate. The raw levies were getting more and more erratic. There was a lot of smoke and noise but precious few casualies to force an outcome. In an effort to force the issue , the Royalist horse charged across the fiield  and slammed into the flank of Crabbe's Foot. Regrettably for Lord Thomas the cavalry would have been more effective if they had been armed with stinging nettles. After a round or two the Parliamentarian Horse charged into the rear of the Royalist Horse and after a while, routed them.  However, they Had bought Lord Thomas time, The guns were limbered  and the Thoresby foot escorted the guns away whilst the remaining foot of both sides decided that the gathering twilight made a good excuse to go home. The Parliamentary horse and dragoons had been exhausted by the little work they had done ( the dragoons spent most of their day birdwatching.) so the Royalists skulked away back towards the River Trout and a safe route home.