Mutiny at Dinapur - July 25th 1857

First of all thanks for taking a look at my blog.

This will finally be somewhere I can track my hobby progress and love for History. You can expect regular painting updates and Battle reports. As a heads up, my reports won't be broken down entirely, but rather paint a picture and story from the images. Don't expect granular Battle reports detailing every single specific of dice rolls.

My current project is the Indian Mutiny which I started around June this year, and have made some really great progress. The mix of flavorful units mixed with real life eye witness accounts makes this a great period to game, one I slept on for far too long. My aim was to create forces for both sides to represent the numerous regiments and solo game a campaign myself with the Sharp Practice rule set. (Expect to see named characters/officers reoccurring!)

I'll be introducing my units slowly through the blog and through more Battle reports. I still have lots of unpainted models to get through! I'd like to start working soon on things like baggage trains, elephants and civilians to really get the feel of the period.

Anyway without further delay, onto the main topic of today.

With the Mutiny well already underway the British had been struggling to gain momentum whilst waiting for reinforcements from other continents. Delhi was in the hands of the Mutineers and under an arduous siege from the forces of Sir Archdale Wilson.

In the Dinapur Cantonment forces of the 7th and 8th Bengal Native Infantry were volatile. In the early morning haze of July 25th Mutineers sprang to action, torching any British owned building in sight and freeing prisoners from a nearby jail, thus quelling their ranks with opportunists. Their plan was to march onto Delhi to merge with the army of Mutineers currently occupying it.

The small armed garrison of the British was vastly outnumbered and could not afford a direct attack on their forces, instead looking to hold the nearby British embassy in case of any attacks. Luckily most civilians had gotten away unscathed, such was not the case at Cawnpore.

"Major" Bernard Haycroft and his 7th Royal Fusiliers organized a defense with elements of Anderson Wards 34th "Cumberland" Regiment of Foot. The force under their command was not even a fraction of regimental strength scattered all around nearby towns. With their brave men they looked at stopping the momentum of the Sepoys marching towards the embassy.

The Army Lists

British Forces

34th Cumberland Regiment of Foot
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" Anderson Ward
British Regulars with Muskets - 7pts
British Regulars with Muskets - 7pts

7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers)
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Major" Bernard Haycroft
British Regulars with Rifled Muskets - 10pts 

Total - 36pts

Mutineer Forces

8th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Subedar" Sanjay Goswami
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts

8th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank I Officer - 3pts - "Havildar" Chandran Singh
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts

8th Regiment of Native Infantry Skirmishers
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Havildar Major" Gopal Khan
Sepoy Skirmishers - 7pts

Group Total - 38pts

I tried to keep the British with uneven forces to represent the quickly gathered garrison troops. As a result the battle may be a little one sided. I would expect the Mutineers to gain a slight victory as they did at Meerut, where the British forces could not really confront them.

 The Dinapur Embassy

View from the Embassy road

Chandran Singh's forces march towards the defending British

Gopal Khan's accompanying skirmishers scout ahead looking to gain favoring terrain

The finely ordered Sepoys of the 8th Bengal Native Infantry, under command of Sanjay Goswami

The 8th Bengal Native Infantry descending onto the battleground

 

View of the field as the 7th Royal Fusiliers arrive

The Sepoy Rifles move quickly and open with an early volley 

Haycroft orders his Fusiliers into cover and to pick their targets well

"Sergeant Major" Anderon Ward's 34th Cumberland arrives in orderly fashion, bayonets glistening 

Sepoys keen to close with the enemy, supported by flanking skirmishers

Haycroft's unit unleashes an ineffective volley of Enfield fire

Both sides hold their nerve and advance

Sepoy skirmishers keep up a withering fire onto Haycroft's unit

The 34th Cumberland present, take aim and unleash a well timed volley

Another view of the British line

The 8th Bengal lose their discipline and start firing away hastily

The British are being beaten on the right flank

Fire and advance, Gopal Khan's skirmishers proving their worth

The 8th Bengal's fire doesn't stop the British Advancing, and they charge with shouts of "Huzzah!"

After a vicious melee both sides are bloodied and Anderson Ward struggles to get his men under control

The British line starts faltering under constant pressure

The retreat is sounded and the men fall back in an orderly fashion

The 8th unleash a final volley which sends the British packing.

Result : Mutineer Victory

As expected the British were not prepared to deal with a numerically superior force! 

In terms of a narrative perspective this did play out perfectly. The British had a smaller force, less command tokens to work with and were not able to keep up the pressure. Anderson's unit did deliver a fantastic charge which sent Goswami and his unit running, (Which I forgot to take a picture of) but they took too much shock and folded. Gopal Khan's skirmisher unit really caused a lot of problems for the Royal Fusiliers.

The Mutineers now gather the 7th Bengal Native Infantry who were also causing mayhem in Dinapur and head for Delhi. That story however, is for another time.