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 Ferozepore regiment to carry out this task. Meanwhile "Major" Bernard Haycroft was gathering the remaining 7th Royal Fusiliers at the utmost haste to join Anderson 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
Regiment of Ferozepore
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, but will be for future. 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!
Badmashes decide now is the time to leave....
Mutineer Skirmishers take cover near the town
View of the Ferozepore 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 Singhs 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 Caddens 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 strongpoint
The Sikhs beat Khans 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.
Andy C
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