Battle of Rushville

The Battle of Rushville 1830.

The Red Queen's forces under Maj. General Horne.
The Blue Republic's forces under Maj General Von Tschatschke


Note re pictures: White caps = 1 hit, Red =2.
Red Discs indicate Broken units which must attempt to rally.
Generals are submitting orders and questions by private email as well as private reports only when deemed necessary or if the subject is only known to one side. Otherwise they are having to follow the battle by the posts here.

12:00 The Blue Republican forces deploy to attack the skirmishers holding College Hill as the Red Queen's infantry arrives in the distance.

12:20 Blue advances taking hits from rocket and rifle fire.

12:40 Blue's 1st Brigade attacks! The 7th Infantry is repulsed and General Moore wounded leading the charge but the 1st & 2nd infantry storm the center of the hill. 

12:40 The view from the other side. Red's 1st Brigade has deployed in support just as Blue's attack crests the hill.

13:00. Blue's attack in the center has been repulsed but skirmishers from the second line are already engaging as their artillery deploy.

13:00 The view from the other side. Red's retreating light troops rally while his 2nd line uses its skirmishers and artillery to assist in the containg the breakthrough.

13:20 Blue's 2nd Brigade has attacked up the hill and a fierce point blank battle is raging. With the din and smoke of battle on a congested field I'm sure it is hard for commanders to pick out all the important details.

13:20 The view from the other side.
13:40 Red's elite Royal Fusiliers impetuous charge drives the 2nd Lafayette County Regt off the hill but the a fierce close range firefight still rages along the ridge farther south. 

13:40 The other side. Reinforcements pour onto the table on all sides.

13:40 Everyone saw this group start to arrive last turn right? 

14:00 The fighting along the ridge continues but another Blue battalion has fallen back to rally. Reinforcements continue to arrive.

14:00 A closer look at the fighting. 

14:00 The view from the other side.

14:00. The view from the far corner.
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14:20. The remnants of Blue's battered 1st Brigade has broken to the rear. Can they be rallied? The 2nd Brigade is still pressing the attack and a hole has once again been opened in Red's line.

14:20. Red continues to reinforce his line.

14:20 Blue's strength to the south continues to grow.
15:00. The drifting smoke must be interfering with the cameraa after 20 odd tries I gave up.
There is a lull in the battle. Red has fallen back from College Hill and apart from some skirmishing and artillery fire, both sides are regrouping and preparing for Blue's  next attack.
15:20 Both sides have rearranged their lines and Blue has set a new assault in motion. Artillery and skirmishers have begun their work of weakening the enemy. 
16:00 Overviw. The battle now rages across the field. 

16:00. The confused close range fighting in the center. Blue's line attacked impetuously down the hill. On their left a tremendous volley sent one battalion reeling back through the woods. On their right, as they walked into the cannister, a squadron of cavalry suddenly appeared out of the smoke.  Luckily for the fleeing survivors, a battalion of Lafeyette volunteers had occupied the college ground and opened a hot flanking fire on the cavalry forcing them to break off pursuit and retire. In the center Brigadier Perry fights alone at the head of the th Infantry but the rallied Volunteers are close behind.

16:00. A closer view of the center after the retreating units have been moved. In thw distance can be seen the parade ground lines of more Redcoats in reserve.
16:20. Along the North & South Roads a fierce close combat continues with only the Elite status of the Rifles and Fusiliers holding the line in place.


16:20. Along the West Road, Red's 1st line has broken when, after taking heavy casualties from accurate rifle and artillery fire for an hour, they were hit by cavalry and the Veteran 3rd Infantry. Blue's Dragoons took heavy casualties during their charge though and got a bit out of hand when the redcoats ran. Pursuing rashly forward they broke themselves on the steady Red reserves.

All now depends on whether Red's units rally and on how steady his reserve is. Both arnies are in now in danger of cracking if things go just a little bit sideways and the sun is low in the sky.  
16:40. Fate has decided to smile on Red. Blue opened by vigorously pressing forward all along the line. Once Blue was fully committed Red fell nimbly back. General Horne himself rallied the 1st 84th in the streets of Rushville and the Dragoon Guards again smashed forward into the advancing Blue infantry while the gun and 104th Foot fell back. On the right the Rifles also broke contact leaving the Fusiliers holding the line. And hold they did. With a courage (and the favour of Lady Luck) they not only held but dealt such heavy blows to the enemy that the 2 battalions of Fusiliers broke 3 enemy units, opening a coridor through the enemy by which the broken remnents of the right hand battalion were able to retreat thus avoiding the ignomy of surrender.  On Blue'ls left and impetuous rush by riflemen forced the retreating redcoats to move a little faster but once clear,a storm of cannister blew the riflemen back faster than they had come. 
16:40. Blue's battered infantry falls back to safety.

17:00 Red has successfully broken contact and reformed his lines. Although some long range bickering is still going on as dusk approaches, Von Tschatschke commanding the Blue army is forced to concede that his tired men who no longer outnumber the enemy are unlikely to be able to capture the town today. Perhaps tomorrow when the men are fresh and reinforcements arrive, he may try to outflank the enemy on the right.

Thanks to Greg and Stokes for playing and thanks to those who have dropped by for a look.

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