"Gray Skies" - The Battle of Hubbardton Wargame, 2009
Regular "Brigade" (22 effectives) (Ross)
"Regular Line" (9th, 24th) approx 10 effectives — possibly fewer (Novatny)
"Regular Lights" (20th, 64th) Approx 8 effectives
Northern Brigade (42 Effectives) (Cameron)
Fraser's Company of Rangers (CSM) 14 (Copeland)
Singleton's Company (KRRNY) 11 (Paine)
Converged Greens (KRR LI, KRR Grens, QRs) 12 (Millard)
King's Rangers 6 (Sorenson)
Warner's Battalion (37 effectives) (Cliff)
Ranging Company with Lee's rifles (8)
1St Company (16)
2nd Co. (13)
Light Batt. (20 effectives ?) (Balchus)
2nd NH (Bob Balchus) (9)
2nd Albany (?) Ranging Company (Will Armstrong) (5)
Other Dragoons and Lights (?) (5)
Massachusetts Line Battalion (24-30 effectives)
2nd Mass
11th Mass
Mohawk Valley Militia Battalion (20-24 effectives)
BVMA and CL units
LHA Brigade??? (12-16 effectives)
At least 3 units of 4+ men at arms, probably LHA members.
Armed artillery crew of A Congressional 3 Pounder
The Scenario portrayed a late July 1777 raid by local Congressional forces on the British Army Field Hospital set up on the battlefield at Hubbardton. The Crown Forces were split in two parts. The Regular Lights, as well as all the refugees and regimental women with the main force were placed in the original area of the Hospital (see map). The rest of the Crown were deployed from the CSM camp as a rescue force. The Crown objective was to cross the map, rescue the hospital staff, and return them to the CSM camp. The Congressional objective was to destroy the hospital train and wipe out the refugees.
Nice, eh? Here's the rough lay of the land.
Here's the same map with the starting force positions. Some of the rebel positions are guesswork, as none of them were visible as we commenced. Yes — they outnumbered us 2:1 or worse AND got to start hidden and attack a marching column…
The Northerners have been split so our "Greens" are the advance guard of the column under Millard and both of our "Red" units are the rear guard under Paine. The main body is smaller than any of the forces guarding it…
Sorenson asked to be left behind as a "bluff" force against the rebel right and rear. Good choice, Neil.
Ten minutes have elapsed and the Crown has covered much of the field un-contested. Millard's "Greens" have pushed the LHA's skirmishers away with little fighting, but now the Mass. Battalion is uncovered. Hospital has not moved. Paine is commanding the rearguard with CSM and Singletons.
Life is now complicated, with firing on every part of the field. The regular Lights, although badly outnumbered, are exchanging fire with the Congressional lights and moving them. They have reached the hospital and the hospital is supposed to move immediately, supported by the regular line — but instead, they all stay in the gate of the enclosure, shooting.
Behind, at the CSM camp, the King's Rangers have engaged the Warner's ranging company, first in the woods, then outside them. The rest of Warner's stays in hiding. However, after Paine has turned his division (Singleton's CSM) around to face the "rear" he posts pickets on the crest of the ridge, and the pickets see Warner's moving…
Millard and the Greens are facing four or five times their own numbers — the Mass. Continentals and the LHA troops — but neither group chooses to push at Millard, who skirmishes in very open order and prays…
Paine elects to attack into the Warner's Attack, having the advantage of ground and nearly even numbers (which wasn't the case anywhere else on the field) and appears to have caught Warner's flat footed — or just climbing that damn hill we all hate so much…
Warner's is stopped dead, and driven back.
Elsewhere, Millard is buffaloing three times his numbers or more, while the Crown Regular Light infantry accomplish nothing against the Congressional LI, who (by later accounts) are waiting to see where our real forces are — remember, they cannot see the CSM or Singletons. And they expect the worst. Heh.
The hospital — the objective — moves a short way onto the battlefield and then — stops. Cameron starts yelling…
Sorenson has lots of attention from Warner's. He's fighting their ranging company AND worrying Cliff, who now has a large red line pushing him downhill…
Sorenson is saved by the "main body" who, with the refugees, look quite big (9 muskets). The ranging company in orange falls back briefly, driven away, and then returns, but never really engages the objective, which nonetheless stops in the middle of the field.
Paine presses his attack on Warner's and Warner's fights back with élan. Best looking fight many of us have ever seen. Recovering from the initial onset of the "Reds," Cliff gets a solid line and then pushes back, waiting for his ranging company — or any of the other divisions in his army — to come up and finish the "Reds." Although the Mass. Line is BEHIND Paine, they never enter the field to crush him.
Millard withdraws from in front of the Mass Line and the LHA line, leaving them standing. For several moments, he has no opponents. Men in green take a breath and wipe the powder from their mouths and spit…
The "Crown Lights" are apparently being drive steadily back by Balchus, who's still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Crown "bubble" is collapsing, but Paine and Copeland are winning their fight — and Warner's Rangers are fairly inexperienced…
Cameron grabs Millard's Greens, who are resting, and leads them from one end of the battlefield to the other in a running charge. Warner's Rangers never see them until they are overrun and destroyed. The Greens turn the corner and fall on the rear of Warner's. Cliff, very sportingly, declares his command destroyed and withdraws.
The objective walks off the field, and the game should be over, but now the Congressional Lights and Mass Line realize they've been had…
Victims of their own success, the CSM and Singletons, who have (with the Greens) just won the battle, now relax and don't even know that their retreat is being cut off by the mass Line and LHA, finally pressing forward… lack of sight lines were endlessly realistic.
Jevon Garrett, messenger extraordinaire, bluffs his way past the Mass Line and delivers a message to Copeland, who gets up over the wall, deploys, and with Millard, ATTACKS the Mass line, driving them back and giving Singletons time and space to get over the wall.
The "Regular Line" comes back from camp and joins in the fight, driving the Congressional Lights back with the Crown Lights.
Having re-established their "bubble" the Crown retires off the field in good order.
Why was this so good? Why does the Brigadier feel this may have been our best military hour?
First, all that stuff we practice? I think we did every maneuver, every whistle signal, and every rapid change of front ever seen at Fort York Armoury or Meyer's Hill.
Second, as the bubble collapsed, every unit continued to do exactly as they were ordered, allowing officers to exploit enemy failures — at incredible speed. Two or three volleys AND two or three changes of front or short double time attacks PER MINUTE were common in the final two phases.
Third, the Brigadier was able to trust to every officer and NCO that they would continue to fight — and won — their part of the battle while he moved other units — and no one very let us down. Sorenson, Millard, Copeland and Paine each made all the right decisions from pre-battle to the end.
It was pretty cool. And thanks to Amanda Moore for these four photos.
| The Greens |  | |
| The Reds |  | |
| The Moment of Decision |  | |
| The Charge! |  |
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