ECW Campaign – Battle of Midlawton – 28th March 1644

This battle took place, primarily, because Lord Porteous, the commander of the Royalist “Army of North Lonsdale”, overruled the objections and counsel of his senior officers, and precipitated an attack on the Parliamentarian force which opposed him. This attack is universally criticised by military historians, and the background to the action is of some interest (we hope…).

Both armies were expecting reinforcements at this time – a sizeable force sent to Porteous by the Marquis of Newcastle had arrived at Woodhouses, some 40 miles distant from Midlawton, but was resting – in accordance with agreed orders – following a remarkably rapid march from Northumberland. The intention was that these troops would be present with Porteous’s army and ready for action from around 5^th April.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentarian army was about to be strengthened by the addition of a contingent of the Scottish Covenanter army, which had, also, had a long and trying march to reach the area.

Porteous, not normally noted as a decisive general, surprised his subordinates by insisting on an early march from Lowther (his chief administrative centre and garrison town) to Midlawton, some 15 miles to the south-west – his stated plan being to put that town into a decent state of defensive order before the Roundheads arrived, and place a strong garrison there.

His officers urged that such a move should be delayed until the Newcastle troops joined the army – at which point they could expect to be strong enough to defeat the Parliamentarians in open battle, which would give far better options than holding Midlawton, which was a market town, without military walls and not easily defended. Porteous had an alternative agenda here – he was concerned that the commander of the Newcastle force, Sir John Darracott, was regarded as a more able general (especially by Prince Rupert, it was said), and that a joining of the forces might result in his being demoted. His information indicated that the Scots were not yet with Aspinall’s army, and he believed that the (fairly minor) action at Hobden’s Mill the week before had caused a great deal of upset and demoralisation among the commanders of the Roundhead horse. He saw a chance to strike a decisive blow quickly (before Darracott was present to take any credit for the success…). He stuck to his argument with such vigour that his officers backed down and agreed to his plan, though Lord Sefton was said to be furious about the whole matter, and had to be persuaded by his friends not to resign his position as General of Horse.

The Parliament army reached Furnace Hill, some 20 miles from Midlawton, on 26^th March, and a column brought from the south east by General Sir Henry Figge-Newton was added to the main force, under Sir Nathaniel Aspinall. Figge-Newton was the overall commander, but he placed Aspinall in command of the foot, and Lord Alwyn (discomfited by his experience at Hobden’s Mill) in command of the horse.

Figge-Newton’s sources of information in this area were not of the highest quality – the local population were traditionally loyal to the King – and his best guess was that there were Royalist troops at Midlawton, but that the main force was still at Lowther – further north.

Porteous arrived at Midlawton, also on 26^th, at the head of the largest army he had yet commanded in the field, but his entry into the town was greeted with open hostility, and he and Lord Sefton were required to attend a meeting with the mayor and the Town Committee, at which Porteous was very firmly told what he could do with his army. The mayor made it very clear that a five-fold increase in the size of the town garrison, which was already causing great hardship to the citizens, was not welcome. Further, if he thought that they could fortify the place and hold out under any kind of formal siege then he could think again. Apart from the violence and suffering inflicted on the gentle townspeople by bombardment and starvation, it was general knowledge that Aspinall had a large force of savage Scottish highlanders with him, and what would happen if the place was taken by storm did not bear thinking about.

To Sefton’s horror, Porteous was obliged to sign a document agreeing that the works and walls of the town would be left alone, that it would remain an open town, and that his army would camp – and, if necessary, engage the enemy – in open country, outside the town. Sefton could not believe that a military governor could be treated like this.

Horror or not, poor Porteous did as he was told, and on the morning of the 28^th he duly lined his army up to the south of Midlawton, facing west, to oppose the Army of Parliament. The old Roman road from Pacefield to Midlawton bisected the field, parallel to the lines of battle. The shallow Manning Water, which runs into the Arith near Lowther, passes by the western edge of the town, where it is crossed by an ancient stone bridge. Manning Water, however, was easily fordable at that time, and offered the Parliamentary troops little difficulty, though it did mean that the foot regiments of Lord Lambton’s brigade were a little damp and chilly as they arrived on the field.

Porteous placed some dragoons and some medium guns on the edge of the town, facing the river, and the Town Guard (the “Untrained Band”, who had received no firearms) were stationed at the bridge to help protect their nearest and dearest from the enemy. The Firelock unit of Captain Groves was placed in the gardens of a house a short distance outside the town’s Stockgate, beside the road. The rest of the army were deployed conventionally, horse on the flanks, foot in the middle, with guns between the foot brigades.

The action began with a determined artillery barrage from both sides. Concerned that his horse were outnumbered, and by the losses his foot were suffering to cannon fire, Porteous appears to have acted in something close to panic. He sent his two leading brigades of foot in to attack, across the road, completely in the open and with no support – the only cover they gained was from the powder smoke, which lay thick in the calm morning.

Predictably, this assault was driven back with very heavy loss, and the attack was badly compromised by the loss of all the infantry brigade commanders within the first 30 minutes of the action. Porteous himself took command of Col Rice’s brigade after Rice had been carried, wounded, from the field, but they took little further part in the combat. On the Royalist left, Col Broadhurst (the hero of Hobden’s Mill) led a brave attack by his brigade of horse, but found to his cost that the hills to his front concealed a greatly superior force of enemy cavalry – his brigade fought gallantly, but were routed and pursued from the field.

Around this time [as the result of a “Chaunce” card] the contractor who had supplied the draught horses for the Royalist artillery decided that it would be safest to take his animals home, thus leaving the artillery train with no means of  recovering their guns. Visibly shaking with fury, Lord Sefton performed one last, wild charge with his cavalry on the Royalist right flank, and succeeded in fighting his way through to a battery of sakers, which were captured, but there was no way of moving them, so they had to be abandoned again. This was the end of the Royalist effort – Porteous’ army was streaming back up the road to Lowther, leaving all their artillery behind, and dragging their wounded as best they could.

The final indignity to the King’s cause was inflicted by the Midlawton Town Guard. Seeing that the best interests of the town might best be served by co-operating with the victors, these fine fellows seized part of Porteous’ baggage train, including a weighty treasury chest and most of the correspondence of the army, and presented the lot to General Aspinall as he entered the town, along with their request to swear loyalty to the Parliament and change sides to serve with his army. [The campaign rules include a commitment check for all militia-class troops in times of stress.]

Orders of Battle

Royalist “Army of North Lonsdale” – Lord Porteous

Horse – Lord Sefton – (Lord Sefton commanded the horse on the right flank):

Right flank (Sefton): Regts of Jenkinson, Sefton & Cressington

Left flank – Bde of Col Broadhurst: Regts of Clevedon & Broadhurst

Foot:

Bde of Col Rice: Regts of Monkton, Galliard & Rice

Bde of Sir Jas Parkfield: Regts of Ullet, Maxwell & Parkfield

Bde of Col Fulwood: Regts of Davies & Fulwood

Unattached: Dingle’s Dragoons, Groves’ Firelocks & Midlawton TB  

Artillery: 6 pieces

Parliament – Sir Henry Figge-Newton

Horse – Lord Alwyn:

Bde of Sir Beardsley Heron: Regts of Heron, Winstanley & Chetwynd

Bde of Sir Rowland Barkhill: Regts of Dundonald, South & Barkhill

Bde of Col Allington: Regts of Sudley & Eastham

Foot – Sir Nathaniel Aspinall:

Bde of Col Buckland: Regts of Buckland, Mossley & Grafton

Bde of Col Bryanston: Regts of Bryanston & Hawkstone

Bde of Lord Lambton: Regts of Burdett, Lambton & Nielson

Unattached: Ancaster’s Dragoons

Artillery: 6 field pieces + 1 heavy mortar

Porteous had about 6400 foot, 2400 horse and 6 guns – his loss in killed, wounded and missing appears to have been about 3300, and he was forced to abandon his entire artillery train. Of his senior officers, Sir James Parkfield and Col Fulwood both received mortal wounds and Col Rice was struck in the arm by a musket ball, from which he is expected to recover.

Figge-Newton had about 5400 foot, 3500 horse and 7 guns – his total loss was officially recorded as 1400. Casualties among the brigade commanders were light - Col Buckland had his ear removed by a sword cut, but is expected to recover.

The action took place toward the end of Week 4 of the campaign. Reports and returns for the end of that week will appear in due course.

[Some further details of the combat can be seen in the photographs – I am delighted to welcome Nick back to the camera role for this episode!]

General view, looking south - Royalists on the left

Lord Alwyn, keen to make amends, with the Parliament horse on the right flank

View along the Roman road - not much traffic today...

Troops placed on the edge of the town, despite the Mayor's instruction 

Tourist shots of Midlawton

The cottage with Firelocks in the garden...

 

The Town Guard all ready to deal with invaders, or clean up the flower beds 

Sir Julius Mossley's RoF [P]

The coloured counters indicate the brigade structure - they may look a bit cheesey,
but they were far easier to see (and handle) than the dumb little beads I used previously

Lord Lambton's brigade chase the Firelocks out of the garden

Suddenly, the Parliament right flank found they had no-one facing them
- note the gallant Col Broadhurst waving his sword in solitary defiance...

Another Chaunce card - believe it or not, one of the Puritan units of
horse were hung-over!

Brave, but too late - Sefton tries to save a little face

This is how confusing it looks to the poor guys in the ranks

ECW Campaign - Week 3

The Lowther Town Guard practising the Stand of Pikes manoeuvre - needs work

Royalist

Having received word of the Parliamentarian troops at Ringrose, heading north, Lord Porteous sent word to Col Broadhurst, at Dransfield House, to bring his cavalry garrison back to Midlawton. This force had a brief skirmish with some Parliamentary horse at Hobden’s Mill [Boot Mills on the map] on 19^th March, in which Broadhurst’s troops (first time in the field against organised troops) performed tolerably well, and got the better of the clash, continuing their march towards Midlawton via the old drover road over Penitent Way and thence Erneford.

The reinforcement from Northumberland, commanded by Sir John Darracott, has now reached Woodhouses, on the northern edge of the area map. Porteous is still very fearful that Darracott will replace him as overall commander of the (newly named) Royalist Army of North Lonsdale, and has stated his intention of keeping their two forces separate, which has produced a violent disagreement among the Royalist command. Lord Sefton is said to have stormed out of a meeting at Lowther, which did, at least, produce sufficiently complete orders to result in a general advance to Midlawton.

Force A (Lord Porteous with the brigades of Fulwood & Parkfield) march from Lowther to Midlawton, leaving the Lowther Town Guard behind – the Town Guard become new Force G at Lowther

Force B (Lord Sefton with a brigade of horse and the Midlawton Town Guard) to hold position at Midlawton, doing what is possible to place defensive obstructions at street ends in the town.

Force C (Capt Grove’s Firelocks) to march from Cark Ferry to Midlawton.

Force D (Col Broadhurst, with a brigade of horse and dragoons, the former garrison at Dransfield House) to march to Midlawton without delay. On the way, this force was involved in a skirmish with Parliamentarian horse at Boot Mills, and have resumed their line of march along the more northerly route – the so-called Penitent’s Way.

Force E (Col Rice’s brigade of foot) to march from Erneford to Midlawton.

Force’s A, B, C and E to re-organise as revised Force A.

Lord Porteous has had some rough sketches produced for a portrait of him in his new blue suit.

Parliament

The Scots have arrived – General Geddes’ Covenanters are now at Briskhill, recovering from their lengthy march. They should be ready to join the main field army in a week or so.

Following the disappointing performance of Lord Alwyn’s brigade of horse at Hobden’s Mill, Alwyn has had the acting commander of Chetwynd’s Horse, Major Trimbell Chetwynd (son of the colonel, Thomas Chetwynd) arrested on charges of treason. This is a result of the failure of that regiment to advance against the Royalist horse, and is seen as a blame-shifting manoeuvre on the part of Alwyn. Since the inaction of Chetwynd’s Horse had little bearing on the outcome of the skirmish, it is generally felt that the arrest is inappropriate, and the morale of Alwyn’s brigade has suffered as a result. They have marched back to Old Claiffe. There are rumours of a threatened duel between Lord Alwyn and Col Thomas Chetwynd, but since Chetwynd is currently sick, at home in Fylde, it is hoped that nothing will come of it.

Force A (Genl Figge-Newton, at Fernbeck House with a regiment of foot and the siege train), Force B (a regt of horse, at Bradshaigh) and Force C (another regt of horse, at High Haddon)to march to Hatrigg, on the Pacefield road. The intention was to meet up with Geddes’ Scots, but Geddes has arrived further south than expected. Forces A, B and C will merge to form a new force A, which is intended to join with Geddes at Hatrigg as soon as the Scots are able to reach that place.

Force D (Alwyn’s force, as described above) were ordered to advance to Patondale, but after their skirmish of the 19^th they have retreated to Old Claiffe to recover.

Force E (Col Allington’s brigade of horse, at Frinckus Abbey) are ordered north to Patonfield, to hold the vital river crossing at the fords there.

Force F (Col Bryanston’s brigade of foot, at Hoskett Castle) and Force G (Genl Aspinall, with two brigades of foot at Thorkeld) to march to Duke’s View Hill, south-west of Pacefield, and form new Force F.

Force I (Geddes, with the Covenanter force, to rest one week at Briskhill.

ECW Campaign – Skirmish at Hobden’s Mill - 19th March 1644

Lord Alwyn's brigade of Parliamentarian horse plods through woodland in
what passes for column of march in these rules...

As soon as he learned that Parliamentarian troops were at Ringrose House, Lord Porteous, the Royalist commandeer in North Lancashire, sent a fast galloper to Colonel Sir Roderick Broadhurst, stationed at Dransfield House with a cavalry outpost, with orders to bring his force back to Midlawton with all haste, to join the main Royalist army.

Broadhurst was a seasoned campaigner, a veteran of the wars in Germany, and was used to exercising his judgement to interpret the orders of his (very inexperienced) commanding officer in whatever way he thought was in the best interests of His Majesty. On this occasion, he considered that – since the estimates he had received of the Roundhead strength gave real cause for alarm – he should simply cut and run; take his entire garrison from Dransfield and head back east, as ordered.

He set off on the morning of 17^th March, with his own regiment of horse and that of Lord Clevedon, plus Major Dingle’s regiment of dragoons and a very small, almost a token, element of light artillery – a frame gun which added little to his firepower but slowed his march down a great deal (though, of course, it might have proved invaluable if he had been required to defend Dransfield House – a situation which seemed unlikely now). A total of some 1200 men.

Some miles to the south, a brigade of Parliamentary horse under Lord Alwyn were plodding towards him through the mud, under orders to hold a position in the area known as Boot Mills – near the site of the long-vanished medieval village of Boot – abandoned and burnt down following the plagues of two centuries earlier. This position would screen the left flank of the Parliamentarian advance and would cover the key fords over the River Arith at Patondale. Lord Alwyn had at his disposal three regiments of horse – those of Thomas Chetwynd, Richard Sudley and Lord Eastham – he had no dragoons, and no artillery presence – speed of movement was considered paramount by the Parliament command. By a complete coincidence, Alwyn also had about 1200 men.

Lord Alwyn knew that a very troublesome force of Royalist horse was present somewhere near Dransfield, but he had no information about its strength or location.

The Parliament forces marched up the road from the bottom; the
mill is the building about two-thirds up the map, beside the road

On the morning of the 19^th the two cavalry forces blundered into each other near a mill belonging to the Hobden family, close to the site of Boot village. Broadhurst’s scouts alerted him first, and he attempted to set a trap for the enemy column in the area of enclosures and hedgerows near the mill. Alwyn soon caught sight of the Royalist troopers in the fields next to the mill, and he halted his column and deployed his leading regiment into line.

There followed a quick and decisive melee between Alwyn’s right-hand unit and Broadhurst’s leftmost one, which resulted in the Parliamentarian horsemen being routed. In the period of confusion which followed, Alwyn’s leading support unit refused to advance, and Broadhurst quit the field leading his force away to the east, toward Patondale fords and the Royalist centre at Midlawton. The Royalists had almost no casualties at all – the Parliamentarian Lord Eastham’s Regiment of Horse suffered approximately 80 killed and missing, 115 wounded.

All units of horse are classed as raw “trotters”, Broadhurst is rated as “Competent” (rating 2) and Alwyn as “Poor” (1). I used my Arquebus rules, which are an adaptation of Clarence Harrison’s Victory without Quarter, quite simply because the action was too small and too tactical to suit the Commands & Colors variant I normally use.

[I would describe the experience of using these rules as “Death by Morale Tests” – there is a definite Old School feel to them, but this extends to a relentless series of traditional-style morale checks which proved, ultimately, to be laborious and dispiriting, considering the modest scale of the skirmish and the short duration. I am not filled with any great enthusiasm to use them again in this form…]

The photos should give a little more idea of the fighting. [Note to self: must encourage my son Nick to return to photography duties for these battles – his pictures are always more interesting than mine.]

Normal, full army returns for the end of Week 3 will follow in a few days.

Broadhurst marches his Royalist force on to the field

Having spotted the enemy approaching, Broadhurst sets an ambush at the
mill, and personally leads Lord Clevedon's Horse in a flanking manoeuvre

Broadhurst's remaining troops hurry into position for the ambush

No ambush - Lord Alwyn sees troopers moving in the fields, halts his
march and forms up, detaching Lord Eastham's regiment in a flanking move to the right...

Lord Alwyn, with his Welsh grandad's sword

Alwyn's boys, all formed up and with Lord Eastham's RoH steaming
ahead on the right flank...

...while the Royalists are also in position, with their flanking column moving up on the left...

Dragoons behind the hedge - I bet no-one expected that...

...while Broadhurst's own regiment take position behind the wall of a field, with
pistols at the ready

The frame gun - not a lot of help today. Maybe another time...

General view, from behind the Royalist position, as the first clash approaches

Lord Eastham's Roundheads, on this side, face up to Lord Clevedon's horse

First impact, Eastham's men are pushed back down the hill, suffering heavy
casualties and becoming shaken

And yet they rally, but do not have time to offer any kind of countercharge before Broadhurst
and Lord Clevedon's men are on them again

This time it's decisive - the Parliament regiment streams to the rear, broken, and Broadhurst
fails dismally in his attempt to halt the pursuit by the victors. Then it all becomes
very confused - the routing cavalry pass their colleagues in Thomas Chetwynd's regiment,
who are now the front line, and give them such a shock that they are shaken and refuse
to take orders from Lord Alwyn. Around the same moment, the pursuing Royalist
horse suddenly come upon Chetwynd's halted men, get a disastrous morale check
result and turn tail and rout. In the resultant confusion, Broadhurst gets his
army on the march, on their original route. There is no immediate prospect of Alwyn
organising any kind of pursuit for a while...

ECW Campaign – Week 2

New secret weapon for the Roundheads; a personal friend of General
Aspinall's, this is Mordecai Hindle, calling down damnation upon the Papist
followers of the King. If attached to a Parliamentarian unit in battle, Mordecai
can add one C&C battle die to their capability. The bad news is that if they have to
retreat from a melee while he is attached, they leave the field in panic (with him)

Each week consists of two turns, and one side has the initiative throughout. This week, since the Royalist HQ had no word of any enemy advance until very late, there is little doubt that the initiative lies with Parliament.

Parliament

Aspinall, seconding a number of chosen officers and sergeants for the job, has arranged for the raising of a pro-Parliament town guard unit at All Hallows (new Force H), to man (and defend, as necessary) a depot there, for storage and shipment of supplies to the advancing army. The job of commanding this unit is given to Captain Joshuah Tweedie, of Hawkstone’s Regiment of Foot.

Word has reached General Figge-Newton, at Fernbeck, that the promised force of Scottish Covenanters, under General William Geddes, are marching from the Ripon area to join his army. Estimates are approximately 6000 foot plus 400 horse, but it is not yet certain when they will arrive, nor exactly where. Figge-Newton has sent messengers to Geddes, requesting that he march towards Pacefield. This group is identified provisionally as new Force I, but they are not yet on the map.

Force D (Lord Alwyn, with a brigade of horse) advance north, along the west bank of the River Arith, from Hoskett Castle to the area around Old Claiffe, to screen the remainder of Aspinall’s army.

Force E (Col Allington’s brigade of horse) cross the Arith at Ringrose House, and march north-east over Old Howk Hill to Frinckus Abbey.

Force F (Col Bryanston’s brigade of foot) march from Harthill, via Ringrose to Hoskett.

Force G (Genl Aspinall, with Hawkstone’s and Lord Lambton’s brigades) marches via Skag Moor, across the river to Thorkeld, destroying the river bridge after crossing).

General Figge-Newton has ordered a new carriage, to allow him to campaign in comfort. We shall hear more of this.

Royalist

Since no word of the enemy movement reached Lowther until Friday, there has been no reaction yet. As from Friday, Lord Porteous knows that the enemy were at Ringrose House a week ago, with a large body of cavalry.

A messenger has also arrived at Lowther with word from Sir John Darracott, commanding a reinforcement sent by the Marquis of Newcastle, confirming that he has lost contact with the Scottish forces, and has opted to march directly to Lowther to join with Lord Porteous – he expects to arrive around 21^st March, his force amounting to about 4700 foot, 800 horse – these troops are all classed as veterans, and comprise a new Force F, which is off the map for the present.

Lady Porteous has finally chosen the drapes for her new home, and the Royalist command are (unusually) united in their relief that her husband will now be allowed to concentrate on the job in hand.