Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777

  A week ago Mark, Mike and I gathered in my basement for a playtest game of the Brandywine Scenario I will be running twice at Historicon in about a month. Rules were slightly modified Field of Battle, 3rd edition, by Brent Oman, including period specific changes, mostly but not all as suggested in the section of the rules dealing with the American Revolutionary War. The British had 36 units in 11 commands, whilst the Americans had 33 units in 9 commands. The average quality of the British/Hessian units was better than the Americans, and their Leader quality somewhat better overall as well. Both Howe and Washington wound up being LD 10 Leaders. 

View of the Northern 2/3 of the battlefield, looking East. The British and Hessians will be entering from he near table edge.

Looking South; the Americana s will be deployed to contest the crossing of the Brandywine creek, which can only be done at the five Fords

View from the South. From near to far the fords are Pyle's Ford (which is opposite an impassable cliff), Chad's Ford along the main road to Philadelphia where Washington is expecting the main attack, Brinton's Ford, James Ford, and Wistar's Ford. The Brirtish secretly allocated their forces to the various approaches, and then the Americans deployed their defending troops with no British on the table to start. 

Americans deploy.

Closer view of the forces opposite Pyle's, Chads, and James Fords.

Chads, James, and Wistar Fords

My shot of the table, with British commander Mike

Another shot with Mike and Hessian Commander von Mark.

Lord Howe won the initiative for * impetus, and handed to the Americans (as there was little if anything they could do with it until the enemy appeared)! I'll change that so that the British will go first to start the battle regardless of who wins the first initiative. 

The British lose little time after that - here is a Highland Brigade backed by Simcoe's Rangers and some cavalry at Wistar Ford.

General Alexander's Brigade appeared opposite James Ford

Von Stirn's Hessian Brigade emerged opposite Brintons Ford, supported by Smith's British.

Grant's Brigade emerged opposite Chads Ford, supported by some British Grenadiers. 

Same from the American viewpoint - Wistar Ford

James Ford

Brintons Ford

Chads Ford. As in the actual battle, the British ignored Pyle's Ford, which was guarded by a small brigade of indifferent Pennsylvania Militia, seen off in the upper left of the picture..

First shots are fired by both sides. 

The Battle becomes general. The British must cross the Fords in March Column or skirmish - this pretty much means they have to drive off the defenders with musket and/or cannon fire first! Washington dispatches the Orange Brigade under his best leader ("Mad" Anthony Wayne, who rolled up as LD 12+1, as good as it gets) towards the North, as the enemy has sent more troops to the Northern fords than expected. . 

Uh oh!  Lord Howe is at the head of a column of British troops heading down the Birmingham Road!

Amidst heavy fighting, Washington also sends Pulaski's cavalry to the Noth as well. 

Things are going well for the Patriots at Chad's Ford.

British troops are routed by American musket, rifle, and artillery fire. 

To the North, though, the Highlanders have forced Wistar Ford!

Hessians are sent to support the assault on Chads Ford.

Lead elements of Wayn'e Division arrive just as the British approach Birmingham meetinghouse. 

The American position at James Ford is looking very shaky indeed!

Trading volleys near Birmingham meetinghouse. 

British light Infantry threaten the rear of the James Ford position. 

Hessians force the Brintons Ford position!

Washington sends in reserves under the drunk [variable die roll for Leader Quality - wound up LD 8, worst possible] General Stephens.

Chad's Ford still holds - the D12+1 Patriot battery in the works atop the ridge plays no small part in that!

Patriot Cavalry threaten to charge the skirmishing British Light Infantry in the rear!

British Guards are forced back by Patriot firepower... and the remainder of the original forces at Wistar's Ford are now in their rear!!

More British and Hessians are across the Brandywine at James Ford!

Chad's Ford remains a tough nut to crack!

British Light Infantry extricates itself from a very vulnerable position. Shortly thereafter, their fire will empty a great many patriot saddles.

Although not apparent from the photos, the Americans have been hemorrhaging Moral points, and have been paying them out to the British at an alarming rate. Not long after this, Washington failed his Army Morale, check, and the Americans withdrew for the field in dome disorder. The British had more Morale Points than they had started with (!), securing a Major Victory for Lord Howe and company. 

1st Connecticut State Regiment - American Revolutionary War

This unit is an example of a "State Line" regiment. The term refers to units raised and (hopefully paid) by the individual colonies, and not by the Continental Congress. The term state is of course an anachronism; there were no "states" during the Revolution, that came later with the US Constitution in 1788. 

I find the design of this historically attested flag (by Adolfo Ramos) somewhat odd. The color of the ground of the flag doesn't reflect the color(s) of the uniform or the state. By 1712, the Colony of Connecticut was already using a seal almost identical to the modern one; Three supported grape vines in natural colors, and a scroll with the motto "Qui Transtulit Sustinet", "He who transplanted still sustains".

The "Charter Oak" might have been another logical symbol - "On October 9, 1662, The General Court of Connecticut formally received the Charter won from King Charles II by the suave diplomacy of Governor John Winthrop, Jr., who had crossed the ocean for the purpose. Twenty-five years later, with the succession of James II to the throne, Connecticut's troubles began in earnest. Sir Edmund Andros, His Majesty's agent, followed up failure of various strategies by arriving in Hartford with an armed force to seize the Charter. After hours of debate, with the Charter on the table between the opposing parties, the candle-lit room suddenly went dark. Moments later when the candles were re-lighted, the Charter was gone. Captain Joseph Wadsworth is credited with having removed and secreted the Charter in the majestic oak on the Wyllys estate." It is estimated that the white oak tree may have been hundreds of years old at the time, and it stood until 1857, when it was blown down by an enormous thunderstorm. Wood from the tree was used to make a variety of artifacts, and acorns from the original trees were collected and planted in roughly 100 locations across the state, often near post offices, cemeteries, town halls and the like. Descendants of those trees have been planted for various ceremonial occasions and historic anniversaries - two seedling were even sent to France to be planted in the modern gardens at Versailles! 

In 1998, the University of Connecticut , my alma mater twice over (and of which I was a clinical professor in Family Medicine for 30 years) adopted a new logo and seal inspired by the charter oak (as well as a new  version of the Husky logo for the athletic teams in 2013, the whole Husky thing being a play on UConn, the common shorthand for the University for decades, and, as of 1998, now the way that the University refers to itself in most correspondence.

Ok, that's enough UConn stuff, but as well as myself and my wife, my sister in law is also a UConn graduate. Back to the Revolution...

In any event, the flag is the flag!

This regiment is documented to have had red coats with white collars and cuffs. I have used a very dark "barn red" kind of color for the uniforms; scarlet cloth was very expensive and hard to come by at this time, especially in North America!

Connecticut regiments were often noted to be especially well clothed and equipped during the Revolution! The drummer wears fashionable reversed colors. Figures are by Brigade Games once again. 

Addendum:

The state actually did set forth regulations for the flags of its State Line regiments in 1775, as follows:

In 1775, the standards of all Connecticut Regiments were of the same design, but of different colors. Wooster’s was to be yellow, Spencer’s blue, Putnam’s scarlet, Hinman’s crimson, Waterbury’s white, Parson’s azure, Webb’s blue (?), and Huntington’s orange. On Prospect Hill in Somerville, the strongest work in the siege line around Boston, General Putnam raised his scarlet standard, bearing on one side the Connecticut shield with its motto, “Qui Transtulit Sustinet” (He Who Transplanted Still Sustains). The other side of the [Putnam} standard bore the motto of Massachusetts, “An Appeal to Heaven” (John Locke, “Two Treatises of Government”, 2nd Treatise.

Taken from:

https://www.sarconnecticut.org/the-scarlet-standard-no-2/

Then there is this:

Source: "The Flag Book of the United States", Smith (1975)

This flag belongs to the Second Connecticut Regiment. The flag is described in the book as "Red field, yellow scrolls, fringe and outer edge of shield, blue inner edge of shield and ribbon above shield. Grapes are purple, leaves green and ground brown." There is also a little narrative of the flag and its regiment:

"This flag was probably used after 1775, when the Connecticut General Assembly ordered eight regiments to be raised, and before 1777, when the Continental Line was organized. The three grape vines on the shield, the arms of Connecticut, represent the three original settlements of the colony; Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. The motto is abbreviated from Qui Transtulit Sustinet, 'He who brought us here will take care of us.'"

Randy Young, 29 January 2001

Whitney Smith's Flag Book of the United States (Smith,1975) points out that the Connecticut arms with three grapevines were used on flags from an early date. The regimental color of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Connecticut Regiment, circa 1775, is still extant. It shows the arms on a red field; each Connecticut regiment in the Revolutionary War carried this basic design on a different colored field. A 1780 regulation provided for the addition of 13 stripes in a lower quarter if necessary to distinguish similar colors from one another.

Taken from:

https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-ct%5Er.html

Another listing says the colors of the flags for the 8 regiments were:

• 1st Regiment: Yellow
• 2nd Regiment (Wooster's): Yellow
• 3rd Regiment (Hinman's): Crimson
• 4th Regiment: White
• 5th Regiment (Waterbury's): White
• 7th Regiment (Parsons's): Azure
• 8th Regiment (Huntington's): Orange
• Webb's Regiment: Blue

British Foot Guards, American Revolutionary War

 

As my AWI project has grown, and my Brandywine games at Historicon approached, I realized that I needed more British troops. 

A "brigade" of 1,000 Foot Guards was sent to North America in 1776.

It was formed by drawing 15 men from each of the 64 companies composing the three regiments of  Foot Guards.

It saw action at the battles of Brooklyn, the other fighting around New York City, Brandywine, Germantown, Guilford Courthouse, and Yorktown.

His Majesty permitted the officers to substitute white lace for their usual gold while on service in North America!

The flag is by Adolfo Ramos. I am no expert on British flags, to say nothing of those of the Guards, but the regimental colors of the Guard Regiments were crimson rather than the blue that might have been expected, and they bore various badges appropriate to the regiment. In this way they were actually less ornate than the corresponding regimentals of the Line regiments!