ACW Action: Battle of Middletown - Part Five.

So, at the end of Turn 13:

The Union cavalry have won the fight on their right flank, but Blake's brigade is hard pressed in the centre and has lost Bleak Ridge to Merlin's troops.

On the Union left, Coverdale's men are on the back foot, with Mutton's brigade

pushing them back from North Hill.

With Blake wounded, Major General Hill is reorganising his brigade to hold the next line of defence.

On Bleak Ridge, Major General Best watches on as Moon's and Henry's Batteries

pound the Union line.

Hill's remaining artillery, 'B' Battery, 5th Pennsylvania, open fire in defence of the ford.

End of Turn 15 and dusk is falling. On the Confederate right, Mutton's men have reached the fence as Coverdale hastens to rally his regiments. In the centre, Merlin's brigade goes forward against the Union hasty fieldworks.

The 5th North Carolina make a gallant charge, but the 8th New York meet them with heavy fire and they are repulsed before reaching the defence line.

Colonel Stevens of the 4th Michigan takes command of Blake's brigade.

On the right, Mutton's men are brought to a halt as the 17th New York repulse the 1st North Carolina, leaving the Confederate brigadier to urge forward the 16th Louisiana to take the fence line.

On the Union right wing, Mount has erred on the side of caution and halted his dismounted troopers, reluctant to enter the wood for the moment in case they are ambushed by Confederate cavalry.

In go the 16th Louisiana and the 17th New York gives way, abandoning the fence line.

In the centre, 8th New York and 5th North Carolina exchange fire as Merlin's advance stalls before the Union fieldworks.

However, a quick counter-attack by the 2nd Ohio catches the 16th Louisiana off-guard and the Union troops regain the fence line.

Mutton urges forward the 15th Alabama, the 6th Virginia close up in support, and the Buckeyes abandon the fence and retreat for Dry River. 

End of Turn Eighteen and night is falling, with Confederate batteries on Bleak Ridge and North Hill shelling the Union lines heavily. In the centre, Hill is trying to threaten Mutton's breakthrough from the flank by moving across a regiment to the road to the ford. Coverdale's regiments are falling back as Mutton's troops press forward.

End of the game, with nightfall. Hill has managed to hold on in the centre, the fieldworks proving too much for Merlin's men, and while Mount is still hesitating before the wood, he has kept open a line of retreat over South Bridge. On their left, the Union troops are recoiling before Mutton's advance, but rallying enough to prevent the Confederates reaching Dry River. But Best's batteries on Bleak Ridge and North Hill will make holding Middletown almost impossible the next morning, given the Union commander only has one battery with which to reply. So Hill resolves to pull out under cover of darkness and fall back.

So victory to the Confederates under Major General Best.

Hill's infantry brigadiers put up a creditable fight even though they were rated cautious, while his cavalry brigadier excelled himself even though rated average. Hill himself proved better than his average rating suggested as well. On the Confederate side, Best left the fight to his infantry brigadiers, both of whom lived up to their bold ratings, being well-forward with their men and pressing their attacks, while the cavalry brigadier, in spite of one bold move against Bleak Ridge, failed to fulfil his orders. Though he could argue Best should not have kept back his third regiment on the rather feeble excuse of 'just in case'!

A drummer's calls.

 

    Two drummers of the mid to late 17th Century.

(courtesy British Museum)

I have been translating Gaya's Art of War from 1677 and in the course of checking details and facts I managed to gather some information on French drummer's calls, which I thought might be of interest. It is by no means a definitive list, I would be interested if anyone knows of others for France or, indeed, those of other nations.

The principal calls were:

“La diane” – “reveille” – beaten at dawn to wake the men.
“Aux champs” – “to arms” – ordered the men to dress and gather their equipment and was usually the first order of the day, sometimes known as “le première”, “the first”.
"L’assemblée” – “the assembly” – called the men together to an allotted place in order to form up.
“Le dernier” – “all present” – beaten when all the men had arrived to form up.
“La garde” – “the guard” – was the call to guard duty.
“La retraite” – “the retreat” – was to close up the town gates and stand down the guard or to cease fire and rally on the flag.
"L’ordre” – “the order” – confirmed an action.
"La générale” – “the general” – was a general alarm call for a large force.
“La marche” – “the march” – directed the men to form up ready to march off.
“La charge” or “la guerre” – “the charge” or “the war” – to prepare to fire.

In addition, there were:

"La prière” – “the prayer” – called the men to religious service.

"Le ban” – “the fanfare” – for issuing official, municipal or royal decrees.

"La chamade” – “the parley” – used when a fortress or defended position sought to halt the fighting and seek terms of surrender, to which the opposition would beat “La réponse aux chamades” – “the response to the parley”.

“La fricassee” – “the fricassee”, which was a rapid beating of the drum to signal the raising or lowering of the flag, or to advance in battle or retire.

"Appeller” – “to call” – to summon soldiers for a parade before a passing senior officer. 

There were also particular national marches – English, French, Swiss, for example – which were beaten for identification purposes on the battlefield or on the march. The French, for example, sounded “La caisse” – “the drum”, when there were French troops in garrison in a fortress.