Tuesday 22 November 2022

The Battle of Bound Brook 13th April 1777

So for the next AWI Battle in our ongoing campaign we have moved to April 1777. The Battle of Bound Brook took place in New Jersey on the 13th April. Having looked up the history on the net I needed to amend things to create something that gave an element of balance for both sides. Historically the small American force of around 500 men form various Pennsylvanian Regiments under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln held a defended position at the crossing of the Raritan River at a village called Bound Brook. Although dug in to a redoubt the British approached the crossing with a massive force of  3 to 4,000 troops in three different columns. Whilst the Americans put up a spirited initial defence when the second column arrived at a second crossing General Lincoln ordered a retreat which the Americans executed well. 

Whilst I have never been to the Battlefield there appear to be a number of small information and commemorative boards at the site of the battle and they have had a number of rather fun re-enactments https://youtu.be/N0SWLt2oa5E .

Shrinking the battle down, our skirmish focusses on the initial engagement between the first column commanded by General Grant which was led by Hessian Jaegers, and it is their  report of the battle which appears to be the most notable record.

A rather nice historical map of the engagement I think made by the Hessians involved
Our battlefield with the key elements. American pickers are holding both bridges. Grants Column will approach from the right across the causeway. They have little choice but to push towards the Old Stone bridge. The second British column under Colonel Donnop composed of Hessian Grenadiers will arrive on Queen’s bridge. These and some American reinforcement will arrive on a rams on D6 roll. The Americans objective is too hold the bridges for as long as possible. Anyone who has already read Jon’s report will know that we joked at the start that if he could hold for three turns he would consider it a victory. The British troops are all General graded higher than the defenders and have an advantage in points.
American pickets on the Old stone bridge
General Lincoln in the redoubt, this was a pre game shot and actually in the battle we moved the cannon slightly further forward
Grants Column arrives led by the Jaegers who are superior to the pickets
A spot of luck for the British the Grenadiers arrive early on Queens Bridge giving the British two lines of attack
The pickets start to pull back and the jaegers push forward but are unsuccessful in killing any 
More fortunate dice rolling for the British the second unit of Hessians arrive fairly early as well
They just have to storm across the bridge, but the skirmishers cleverly pull back revealing an American unit formed up and ready to fire
The cannon in the redoubt also opens up, so rather than pulling back the Americans are really up for a fight
The stone bridge is now forming a bottleneck for Grants troops who can’t deploy !
The leading Hessians are devastated by a volley from the Americans (the first of many poor morale rolls sees them flee the field)
Things are starting to go from bad to worse the second Jaeger troop mistaking their colleagues for advancing Americans in the smoke and confusion delibera a volley of friendly fire !!!!
Even at this stage all is not completely lost as the British are across both bridges
But they find themselves literally surrounded on all sides by enemy fire which is devastating
Insult to injury the British artillery fails several activations and barely gets on the battlefield, not even firing a shot 
Another failed morale check and the final Grenadiers flee back across Queen’s Bridge
General Grant has made it to the bridge but can’t make any headway
The Americans with their tails up ‘pour it into them’
and the British call it a day to await the third British column to arrive. General Lincoln will be able to withdraw in some comfort having given the British a very bloody nose.

Are well…..😢 some thoughts. Firstly as Jon has mentioned on his blog the British did make a number of really poor morale checks way below average. This should be counted by a couple of double 6’s at the start and the early arrival of the Hessians, it may of course have been better if they had arrived later. The Americans rolled extremely well on their fire rolls and catching the British in very effective cross fire. The British cannon played no part and this evened out the two forces numerically. I wondered after it it would have been better to bring this on at the front of the column ? Hindsight of course. As so often happens it felt fairly balanced at the start but the British were thrown into confusion early on and couldn’t tactically find a way out of it.

It really was an enjoyable battle, we had great fun and both laughed at the misadventures of the British assault. I have reflected on the campaign so far it really isn’t about ‘winning’ battles, and with out pontificating too much,  I see the campaign as a journey through the AWI learning as I go about the history, the challenge is creating scenarios which reflect the history in key elements, shrinking this down onto the table and hopefully giving both sides chances for victory. Of course it doesn’t always work out 🤔

Anyway more to come as we move through 1777

All the best Matt👍



17 comments:

  1. Jon actually had a picture of the double ones on his blog which, I am sorry to say Matt, I expected to make an appearance at some point. An entertaining AAR as usual, and your tables always look great.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence we had fun and if we provided some entertainment as well even better 👍

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  2. Good to see you both getting so much out of these rules and situations.

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    1. Thanks Norm the AWI is providing an excellent narrative for our gaming and it is half the fun adapting the historical situation to something we can play on the table.

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  3. You have a great attitude Matt, I think I might be getting "over" these rules if I had played the attackers in all your AWI games so far! I have just commented on Jons latest AAR that the sign of good rules to me is, they can produce a historical outcome without a whole lot of scenario specific tampering.....for me, it seems like the rules you are using are too harsh on the attackers....generally the Crown forces! It is always hard assaulting bridges of course, but you seemed to get the hard part done, ie getting across the bridges, but then got shot to pieces......I do like the whole concept of your journey through the AWI via smaller, lesser known actions though, so please don't think this is all negative....I am just looking for an occasional British win 😊✌

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    1. Keith, I find attacking is hard in Rebels & Patriots too. The attacker must outnumber the defender to offer up an equal chance. We do take this into consideration when developing scenarios. With the disparity in troops quality in this action, I figured my Rebels would present little more than a speed bump to the elite British and Hessians. One must remember that all troops stop bullets the same regardless of quality, though. Concentration of fire is a great equalizer in an unequal match.

      As for pitying the Crown forces, I suggest going back and looking at some earlier battles. The Rebels have suffered some stinging losses too.

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    2. Thanks Keith and thanks for your thoughts, I actually quite like the rules although as we have mentioned on previous battles we are probably testing them to the limit with the variety of scenarios we are playing. It is in my nature when setting up scenarios to try to not give either side an advantage but I may inadvertently be over compensating slightly. I am learning as I go and I too am definitely looking forward to a British victory 🙂 the next battle will give the Americans some challenge as they won’t be only defending but trying to escape at the same time !

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  4. Great looking presentation and a great game regardless of the outcome. As you so well put, we do this to enjoy a game, hang out with friends, and maybe even learn a little history. I have really enjoyed this series of small battles. Each one has been unique, challenging, and loads of fun.

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    1. Thanks Jon a fine battle, I think we can put some extra challenge on the Rebels next time 😀

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  5. Another beautiful table and story Matt.

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  6. A grand report as usual and a spiffing game, I too feel the rules are skewed towards defenders a tad to much (though your consistently poor morale scores contribute🙂) and skirmishers have way to much effect than reality suggests, none the less they give an enjoyable game of toy soldiers that's the main thing.

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    1. Certainly if the two forces are equal sizes then yes defending is definitely easier, in most battles we do give the attacker an advantage, obviously not enough o compensate for my dice rolling 😢

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  7. A splendid game there, enjoyed following that immensely. I'm looking forward to the next outing Matt.

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  8. A cracking little game Matt…
    Dice wise… It was almost as if I was there 😂

    All the best. Aly

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