Due to recent events in the Americas, the British have taken to hiring our Count's valiant armies to assist them in suppressing a rebellion among their colonists. Lumerier, le Comte de Villenois set out on the road from the coast yesterday with his troops, the Regimento de Azul, the Madiran Dragoons, and his siege train and marched them to meet up with the allied British and Hessian continents at the village of Charlesburg in the Carolinas. Leading men freshly raised from Villenois, and with his second in command, General Antonio Spoletti, the Count proceeded by cunning strategy to divide his forces with the left flank, the Regimento de Azul, headed by himself, and the right flank, the Madiran Dragoons, led by General Spoletti, with the artillery following behind. Originally meant to bolster the Allied forces holding the town, the Count moved his men to the front lines to boldly (if albeit unwisely) charge the more experienced enemy head on.
The Villenese column marching up the road to Charlesburg. Count Lumerier in the vanguard.
Allied troops file through the town to their defensive positions. Led by the able General Kevin, who unfortunately had to retire early due to a communique from headquarters.
The rebel Hessians lead an assault on the Allied center, colonial militiamen close behind.
Captain Davy's Black Legion advances into a nearby cornfield.
Colonial artillery battery on the heights above the town open fire on the Allied center.
A view of the town with the Allied positions and the Villenese infantry on the far left flank lined up for a charge.
The Madiran Dragoons arrive on the right flank fresh and enthusiastic about their first engagement. Spoletti keeps them in line as they are shelled by the Colonial guns.
It was at this time that the Villenese opened fire on the Black Legion, a rogue band of cutthroat pirates aiding the rebellious colonials. Also aiding the colonials in the center line was a unit of mutinous Hessian troops, angered they had not received their pay in a timely manner. Their objective was the little church where the British command was holding the paychests, along with a much needed supply of Villenese winecasques. The rebels advanced on the Allied center and fired a ferocious volley before charging into their brethren Jagers on the opposite side of the Charles Creek and forced them to retire to the rear, they were disordered though by a point blank volley from the British regulars, the 54th Royal Scots Regiment of Foot. They held the center while the Villenese forces made the pincer attack on the Colonial flanks.
Rebel Hessians advance on the Allied center.
The rebels are disordered as the Royal Scots advance on them. Meanwhile the Count's Regimento lines up to fire a volley across the stream.
After an ineffective volley at the Black Legion, the Count ordered the Regimento to charge across the Charles Creek into the teeth of the pirates muskets. This sudden display of bravado disordered the pirates momentarily but behind their defensive hedges they rallied and drove back the inexperienced Villenese who, much to the anger and embarrassment of the Count, broke and ran back across the stream and didn't stop until they'd reached the rear and the artillery train and the casques of wine in the supply wagons. Count Lumerier, who valiantly though vainly tried to rally his men gave one last look at the pirates who so easily defeated his men, turned his back openly to the enemy and trotted calmly back across the stream and to the Allied commanders to find news of what was happening to his men on the right flank.
Meanwhile on the Allied right, General Spoletti led the dragoons on a wild charge into the unprotected Colonial artillery. Fierce combat ensued, in which the inexperienced Dragoons won much glory for themselves when they captured the artillery and drove off the crews thereby signaling an end to the battle for the Colonials as this loss threatened their flank and rear. By nightfall the Colonials retreated as the Allies, weary from the fighting chose not to pursue their enemy through the local marshes outside of the town.
The Comte de Villenois though stung by the embarrassment of his men fleeing the field after so short an action, was rightly pleased to hear Spoletti's report of how well the dragoons performed that day. Ever afterwards, the Madiran Dragoons would have Charlesburg added to their battle honours, while the Regimento de Azul would spend the next few months going through the harshest training any Villenese regiment had ever undergone. Officers that had shown their true colors were stripped of their ranks while French, Hessian, and Prussian officers were hired from abroad to drill the Regimento to standards befitting a more professional army.
The dragoons charge the Colonial heights.
Charge!
The Villenese artillery train still on its way to the battle. The French officers urged the men onwards but the Italian crews had a little too much vino...
The Count readies the men for the charge.
The Black Legion holds firm while the Regimento de Azul crashes into the hedge.
Vive le Villenois!
The men break and flee to the rear after suffering only a few casualties.
Where are you going? Get back here you sons of dogs!
The Villenese force crumbling. Thankfully the Hessian grenadiers behind them are enough to hold the Allied flank in the event of a countercharge.
Hessian grenadiers waiting in the wings.
The dragoons celebrate their triumph. Viva la Conde!
Aftermath of the Battle of Charlesburg.
The dragoons haul away their captured plunder.
Huzzah! the dragoons, but harsh retraining for the foot methinks.
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