Rescue at Chhapra - August 10th 1857

The British forces were exhausted, hungry and demoralized yet after their 30 mile march towards Chhapra, there was a glimmer of hope. They had been beaten at Ganghara, but even worse was Robert Cadden had been taken captive. Anderson Ward was a long time friend of Robert and the two had grown up in school together, so the wound stung hard. More importantly this was another chance to not only get closer to Delhi, but crush the morale of the 7th Bengal who had enjoyed their recent victory. It seems the 8th Bengal had split off from these forces to cause trouble elsewhere.

"Major" Bernard Haycroft had now arrived with reinforcements from the 7th Royal Fusiliers and the force was prepared to engage. They'd learned the location of Robert from an Indian local who had seen him being dragged through the streets of Ganghara followed by the ragged Mutineers. He'd mentioned that other regiments had now joined the Mutineer cause, useful information for certain. Specifically the 25th Bengal which had avoided their disarming at Benares and deserted on masse, met up with elements of the 3rd Bengal Cavalry to assist.

The early morning sun was beating down on the troops as they moved towards their designated location, victory and a good spot of breakfast was on their minds.

The Army Lists

British Forces

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

4th Sikh Infantry (Punjab Irregular Force)
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" - Nicholas Atkins
Loyal Native Infantry with Muskets - 3pts 
Loyal Native Infantry with Muskets - 3pts

86th Regiment of Foot (Royal Country Down)
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Captain" Fredrick Burnside
British Regulars with Muskets - 7pts 

Total -  51pts

Mutineer Forces

25th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry (Volunteers)
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Subedar" Sukhinder Basran
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts
Well-Ordered Sepoys - 4pts

7th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank 1 Officer - Bhaskor Rai - 3pts 
Sepoy Skirmishers - 7pts

3rd Bengal Light Cavalry
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Jemadar" Abhik Salimullah
Mutineer Cavalry - 6pt

Rank I Officer - 3pts
Badmashes with Big Choppers - 4pts

Prison Guard
Rank I Officer (N/A) - Rishabh Ghani - Required by mission
Sepoy Rabble (N/A)  - Required by mission

Total - 49pts

I'm using the mission "Rescue" within the Sharp Practice rules which proved perfect for the situation. The Mutineers can only deploy one unit per turn, as this simulates their rushed defense against the attackers. Meanwhile the British can deploy from either deployment point (one behind the building where the prisoner is being held) or their main deployment. They must protect the main deployment point, if it is lost the game is over.

Just outside of Chhapra, Robert Cadden is being held.

Under the watchful guard of some 7th Bengal Native Infantry

View from the southern approach
 

 The 25th Bengal Native Infantry patrol the perimeter

The 7th Royal Fusiliers march under command of Bernard Haycroft

And upon sighting the Mutineers make a hasty advance towards nearby outcrops 

The 25th Bengal Native Infantry spot approaching British forces and react

Nicholas Atkin's leads the 4th Punjab onwards

Sukhinder Basran's 3rd Bengal Cavalry scout on ahead of the Mutineer main force
 

Armed with the Enfield P1853 the Fusiliers open fire at incredible range


British firing line, with Sikhs advancing on the left

Accurate shots hit their marks and the 25th flinches

Sepoys from the 7th Bengal formed as skirmishers push ahead of the main line

And let off precision musket fire!

Robert's captors rethink their position and barricade the building


The 3rd Bengal Cavalry advance and pressure the British line


"Form Square" Nicholas Atkin's bellows at the Sikhs

Forces continue to trade shots


"Nows the time men!" Seeing the forces engaged Frederick Burnside leads the 86th towards rescue


Mutineer Cavalry making a charge at the British

The Fusiliers promptly fall into square, thwarting the impending charge

Local Badmashes spot the lone British and think they'll be easy pickings...

The 86th move to nearby cover upon seeing the oncoming rabble

"Present, Fire!" British shots hit their mark and cause the Badmashes to stagger


With the cavalry pulled up and turning back the Sikhs form into line quickly in preparation for a volley


The 3rd Bengal draw back up alongside the faltering 25th Bengal Native Infantry

Badmashes charge in eager for British blood

The 86th showing discipline under pressure, fire another volley

The Sikhs eager, fire their first shots

The Badmashes falter and come to a complete standstill in the face of British Musketry

The 25th starts panicking, as Sukhinder takes a musket ball in his leg

Abhik Salimullah is also hit and struggles to hold onto his horse!

Badmashes in full retreat, another volley breaking their will to fight

The Mutineer line hesitates upon seeing friendly forces fleeing

3rd Bengal Cavalry taking shots from two directions, trys to get out of harms way

"Cease Firing!" The Sikhs reload and prepare to advance

Roberts captors decide to try and make a desperate push for the 86th's position

Abhik Salimullah with his men rout

"Retreat men!" Mutineer line falls apart

Rishabh Ghani orders the men to fall back and leave the Prisoner

The 86th advance towards the building for the rescue

Mutineers taking some parting shots

The 86th Royal Country Down pull Robert out from his cell and setup defensive positions

The full British force arrives and prepares to move out

Well that was the most one sided game of Sharp Practice I think I've ever played! The end morale was 10-0, yikes.

The game was fairly even to start with both sides causing pressure, but once the 86th appeared the command flags very strongly favored British activations. They were able to get off constant volleys and really pile the shock onto Mutineer units. Unfortunately the 25th Bengal suffered some very bad luck and seemed to keep getting killed before they could get into an effective musket range. By that time they were too badly shattered to cause any significant pressure to the British line. The Badmashes were so close to making contact and failed a 4 inch charge, causing them severe issues. Likewise the 3rd Bengal Cavalry had to pull back after British formed square, then really struggled to activate and approach from a different angle. The Mutineers couldn't really afford to play defensively due to the extra range of Enfield Rifled Muskets (appropriate I think!)

Nicholas Atkin's had a good showing taking over command of the Sikhs effectively pinning the cavalry and getting his men in order when needed. Thematically the game played out fairly well, if a bit anticlimactic. It really did snowball badly for the Mutineers, who proceeded to take 4-5 morale point drop in one turn due to units falling back and officers being hit. After that it was kind of a done deal. I would have liked for the 86th to have really struggled taking the building, but the Prison guard were essentially useless after the rest of their army broke. With that said the British do finally get a victory on the board. 

It will be a while now before I can continue with the next story in this series as I'll be travelling overseas, with that said there is no plans to stop the campaign. By the next battle the whole project should have a host of extra units painted, more terrain, elephants and some doolies. The Mutineers are about 90% done with a few units being finished up. The British I'd say are about 50% of the way there.

I'll be continuing to update the blog with project news and relevant ramblings, so keep an eye out for that. 

American Civil War Project Update #1

I thought I would start documenting my next project for 2024. I'm nearing completion to both forces for the Indian Mutiny (the rest will be shown during future battles). The plan is then to paint scenic pieces such as Elephants, Doolies etc. With all purposes that project is then finished. If I wanted to come back in a years time and paint more, I have all the schemes documented. 

My next plan is to start some ACW, a period I never saw myself being interested in. It seemed drab, uninteresting and generally I am not that interested in American History. I read a few books on a whim and my whole opinion changed. There is plenty of colorful uniforms, variety, first hand accounts, films and books to last a lifetime. There is a complete wargaming goldmine of inspiration to be taken from.

The general plan is to play Sharp Practice (I enjoy these rules the most for the way shock works), and build a starting force for each army of around 50-60pts. Terrain wise it is very easy to create gaming boards for, lots of trees, fields, fences and maybe a few houses. Any hobbyist worth their salt will have plenty of miniature trees knocking about, so that's half the job done.

As before I have gone to Foundry for my models. I am aware there is cheaper alternatives about but generally I dislike painting plastic. There's something about the heft of metal models that just feels right to me. The Foundry ACW range is absolutely gorgeous and it was a close call with using Perry Miniatures also, but I prefer the "chunky" characteristic of the old Foundry models.

I've started by placing an order of around 60pts of Confederates, which I am extremely excited to start painting. Painting Greys, Blues, Browns and the much debated "Butternut" will be a nice break from all the Red I have been doing recently. Following that I will be doing the Union troops.

The starting list will contain...

x2 Confederate Infantry with Rifled Muskets (1861 to 1862) - Louisiana Tigers "Wheat's Special Battalion"
x3 Confederate Infantry with Muskets (1861 to 1862) - 1st Texas Infantry "Ragged Old First"
x1 Confederate Skirmishers

Then any appropriate character figures/officers to flesh out the unit.

Good old Foundry with super speedy delivery times!

The Zoave officer model is so full of character


The Assembled Force ready for undercoating

Really happy with the few test models specially with the first type of "Butternut"

Some more Skirmishers ready for shading

Painting Confederates is really interesting, you can kind of just grab anything and go with a Base/Layer Highlight (Adding Grey or White for the Highlight to the original base colour). Its certainly making me reach for some paints before I never touch!

Suppose I better be off to get this metal horde finished.

Engagement at Ganghara - August 2nd 1857

It had been about a week since the disturbance at Dinapur and most of the 7th and 8th Bengal had fled north towards the local town of Ganghara. This place seemed as good as any to settle down for a few days, whilst the army rested, looted and fondled over their ill gotten spoils of war.

Although a semblance of discipline remained within the 8th, the 7th Bengal Native Infantry were a ragged bunch. Stripping off their sepoy uniforms and joined together with local badmashes they were almost unrecognizable from their past glory days.

The British garrison meanwhile had been following the Mutineers tracks for the last week after their unsuccessful defence of Dinapur. They knew the rebels were likely headed north to Delhi and catching them off guard was of the utmost importance. Anderson Ward has assembled more of the 34th and joined with some local Gurkha rifles and Sikhs from the 4th Punjab regiment to carry out this task. Meanwhile "Major" Bernard Haycroft was gathering the remaining 7th Royal Fusiliers with the utmost haste to join Ward and his men at another date. 

As they marched into the outskirts of Ganghara on August the 2nd they finally found their foe, some were asleep, others drinking. They thought this would be easy...

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

4th Sikh Infantry (Punjab Irregular Forces)
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" John Borthwell
Loyal Native Infantry with Muskets - 3pts 
Loyal Native Infantry with Muskets - 3pts

Gurkhas (Nasiri Battalion)
Rank II Officer - 6pts - "Sergeant Major" Robert Cadden
Native Skirmishers with Rifles - 9pts

Total - 47pts

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

7th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
Rank I Officer - 3pts - "Naik" Bhaskor Rai
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts
Sepoy Rabble - 3pts

Total - 47pts

I thought it worth mentioning before we go on, that models such as ensigns/musicians are generally just there for display purposes. At the moment I'm not using them really with the Sharp Practice special rules, rather it just adds to the visual element of the unit (and my collection)

Ganghara Town

Local Badmash roam the surroundings for loot

Gurkhas under Robert Cadden scout ahead to establish the best position

The 7th Bengal Native Infantry is alerted!

  Goswami's 8th Bengal dust off their Shako's and hurriedly form up

John Borthwell leads his Sikhs around the flank

Gopal Khan's men find cover from the oncoming British

The Mutineer forces spring into action far quicker than the British expected

Another view of the Mutineers line

Anderson Ward leads the 34th Cumberland into Ganghara

Gurkhas open up with some skirmish fire into the 7th Bengal Native Infantry

The 7th are keen for action and charge forward!

Looters decide now is the time to leave....

Mutineer Skirmishers take cover near the town

View of the 4th Punjab Regiment

Thin Red Line

The 8th Bengal head for the British flank

The Sepoys let off a rather ineffective volley

Caught between the crossfire the Gurkhas make haste towards the nearest building

The British send a message with devastating return volley fire

"At the double men!" Borthwells Sikhs snap into column

Khan orders his men to withdraw to the nearest building

"Present Arms, Steady boys"

Chandran Singh's men perform a wonderful flanking maneuver

Hastily fired shots cause little to no effect on the Sikhs

Overview of the battle

"Fire!" The Sikhs let forth a well controlled volley

The 8th are about to cause real issues for the British flank

The Rebel line at a complete standstill due to the relentless British volleys

"We can't see them sir!" An easterly wind causes smoke to gather in front of the building

Robert Cadden's unit fighting for their lives, attempting to stop the Mutineer flanking attack

The 8th let forth a devastating flank volley

Although it doesn't kill many, the British are pushed back to the opposite side of the road

Current view of the field

"Fix Bayonets" Borthwell decides its time for glory and his Sikhs close in on the Mutineer position

Khan's unit get ready to stop the British assault

Singh's unit come to a complete standstill, the Gurkha's fire is harrowing

"The enemy are there men!" Anderson attempts to rally the 34th

The 7th decide its time to take that building by force

"Have at them lads!" The brave Sikhs charge

Mutineers force their way into the fiercely defended building

The Gurkhas are slaughtered and they drag Robert out!

The victorious combatants quickly reinforce the strong point

The Sikhs beat Khan's men back, but unfortunately...

Khan and Borthwell are both hit by stray bullets during the melee!

For all their splendor, Goswami's men has been dazed the whole battle. He finally rallies them onwards

The flanks shift and the British line slowly realizes the outcome of this battle

Robert Cadden meets an unfriendly face...

Result : Mutineer Victory

Well looks like another thumping for the British, but the outcome of this has only helped the narrative. 

It looked all dandy for the British as they were pouring fire onto the Mutineers, with great vigor. Goswami's unit was essentially immobile the whole game trying to remove the shock from British volleys. The 34th were starting to get rallied after moving back across the road and the Sikhs were successful in their flank, but after losing John Borthwell the unit was leaderless! 

Although the Gurkhas were a complete nuisance they unfortunately were massacred in a very one sided melee for the central building. With only one unit left with an Officer, I decided it was probably appropriate the British withdrew to fight another day. British morale had also dropped fairly low.

If the Sikhs had pushed through with their leader intact, I think this may have been a whole different game. 

Finally a couple of notes worth pointing out. Khan and John Borthwell were actually "killed" in the game, however as this is a narrative campaign, I then roll a separate chart outside of the game for recovery. In this instance they both recovered, but will be sitting the next two engagements out. Expect to see some new fresh faced officers leading those units. (If they do fail that roll, yes the officers gone forever!)

As this is a solo driven campaign if there is ever a move or action where I cannot decide based on the opportunity's given, I will then roll to decide. This avoids too much of a "bias" for one side and sometimes makes for very story driven moments. For example, I was finding it hard to decide which flank Khans unit deployed on, and as we saw where they ended up was a fantastic fight!

So, the British retreat, their forces fairly intact but without the strength to force the matter. What they do realize however, Robert Cadden needs rescuing.