Battle of Glaenarm

Battle of Glaenarm
Part of War of the Vionnan Coalition
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Date 16th June 1851 Location Glaenarm, Duchy of Cunaris Result Vionna-Frankenlischian Victory Coalition Offensive Repulsed
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch	Vionnan Coalition Kingdom of Oxbridge Kingdom of Ballaeter
Commanders and leaders
Howard Richmond Hugh La-Minnings †	King Richard II Horatio MacTavish
Strength
54,000, 72 guns	90,000 52,000 38,000

The Battle of Glaenarm was a major battle of the War of the Vionnan Coalition fought between Vionna-Frankenlischian militia and regular forces commanded by Lieutenant General Howard Richmond and forces of the Kingdoms of Oxbridge and Ballaeter commanded by King Richard II Stuart of Oxbridge. The battle took place just outside the town of Glaenarm on the Cunard border and some fighting reached the streets of the town. Vionna-Frankenlischian militiamen fought a meeting action against Coalition forces in an attempt to halt their offensive into Vionna-Frankenlisch in its early stages. Despite a number of setbacks, Vionna-Frankenlischian forces achieved a decisive victory, meeting both their tactical and strategic objectives in severely hampering the combat capabilities of the Combined Oxo-Balleatan army and turning back their offensive. This battle was soon followed by the Battle of Stowford.

Background

Following several important early victories against the Duchies of Eglantine and Saxondale, along with the Kingdom of Ballaeter, the Vionna-Frankenlischian Army put the walled town of Drayglossop under siege. Seizing the opportunity, King Richard II of Oxbridge assembled a large force of troops from his own kingdom along with Ballaeter and launched an offensive against Vionna-Frankenlisch, aiming to reach Lawrenceville through Cunaris, at the Battle of Clausbrücken his forces beat the hastily assembled Vionna-Frankenlischian 10th Division and crossed the river Clausach.

In response to this, Lieutenant General Howard Richmond, the military governor for the region, called a muster for all militiamen in the Riverland and Cunaris and formed them together with the remnants of the 10th Division and the other reserve divisions that had been raised and marched on the town of Glaenarm as King Richard's army was said to also be marching on the town. Mounted scouts of the 10th Division raced ahead to the town where they met King Richard's advanced guard and the rest of each army drew up for battle to the west of Glaenarm.

Armies

Main Page: Battle of Glaenarm Order of Battle
The Vionna-Frankenlischian forces consisted of the Tenth Division of the Imperial Army, hastily assembled to combat the Oxo-Ballaetan offensive and down to around 80% strength following dogged skirmishes at the Battle of Clausbrücken. The Tenth Division had a full complement of 11,291 including 451 officers. The remainder of the Vionna-Frankenlischian force was militia forces numbering 43,000 and were organised into Reserve Divisions under a united command of the Army of Vionna. Along with this force was the cavalry division of the Earl of Clare. The Vionna-Frankenlischian army was supplemented with 72 cannon, howitzers and mortars.

King Richard's Army was a joint command with General Horatio MacTavish, who took direct command of the Ballaetan forces, the entire Coalition army numbered about 90,000 men. The army of Oxbridge consisted of 52,000 men and Ballaetan forces numbered 38,000 men. A large number of cannon supported this force along with new 5.5 inch howitzers from the Teutonberg works. King Richard suffered from a severe lack of good cavalry throughout the battle and this heavily influenced the battle's outcome as the Coalition forces found themselves poorly disposed to opposing the Earl of Clare's division, particularly the Church Dragoons and Cuirassiers.

Opening Stages

Lieutenant General Richmond, while marching to meet Richard II's invasion, was met by the battered but still mostly intact 10th Division which had been on the retreat ever since the Battle of Clausbrücken which they had only just managed to slip away from. The commander of the 10th Division, Major General Hugh La-Minnings, explained to Richmond that King Richard's army had crossed the river Clausach and was marching on the town of Glaenarm. Richmond, determined to meet the Coalition forces in open battle, also began to march on the town and took the 10th Division with him. His cavalry, consisting of the Earl of Clare's Division and the mounted scouts of the 10th Division, were sent out to scout ahead and it was during one of these patrols that the 10th Division's scouts entered Glaenarm and met with the advanced guard of King Richard II's army.

Commanded by Captain Reginald Hamelin, formerly a Sergeant of the Gestoria Lancers, the 10th Division's scouts consisted of 170 mounted dragoons and were officially designated as La-Minning's Company of Horse after the division's commander, Hugh La-Minnings. The company entered the town of Glaenarm at 7:30 on the morning of June 16th and were quickly met by skirmishers of King Richard II's advance guard commanded by Colonel Stephen Akehurst. Hamelin ordered a charge and thanks to the wide street it was majorly successful and many of Colonel Akehurst's skirmishers were cut down, those surviving fleeing for the safety of the surrounding buildings. After this initial attack, Hamelin and his scouts were soon forced to retreat as the Oxbridgen skirmishers rained a murderous fire on the cavalrymen from the windows of surrounding houses and shops, during this skirmish the scouts lost fifty men in the space of around ten minutes while the Oxbridgen forces lost around a hundred men killed and wounded.

The scouts returned quickly to Richmond's army and reported to Major General Lord Omond, commander of the II Reserve Division, of the enemy presence in the town. Omond, rather than holding the column up, sent a runner to report the news to Lieutenant General Richmond and made haste towards the town. Omond's Division did the majority of the fighting within Glaenarm and proved vital in protecting the Vionna-Frankenlischian right flank. The head of the division, led by Colonel Nathaniel Milbourne's 3rd Riverlanders, reached the town just after Omond's runner met Richmond and reported Omond's moves. Richmond, deciding to seize the initiative, ordered his troops to advance steadily and take the hights to the south-west of the town and deploy the army's artillery to shell the Vionnan regiments which were still forming up for battle. King Richard, predicting such a move, moved his light dragoons quickly to take the heights first and they began firing at the advancing V Division around 8:25 in the morning and continued keeping up sporadic gunfire until 8:40 when the Imperial division began advancing uphill towards them under the close support of their 18in mortars.

The hill was abandoned twenty minutes later, both sides suffered few casualties, V Reserve Division captured the heights and Richmond began to move the VI Riverland Division and the VII Colonial Division onto them, along with his remaining artillery. These guns were deployed hastily and lacked ammunition which was brought in as the battle progressed, forcing Richmond to ration shot to his own guns. Nonetheless, despite this setback, the artillery placed on the high ground were able to cause havoc amongst King Richard's forces as they advanced against the heights to attempt to retake them.

Between the heights and the outskirts of Glaenarm, where Lord Omond's skirmishers and artillery were drawn up, lay the farmstead of Burnaby's Farm which saw heavy fighting throughout the battle. In support of Omond, Richmond moved elements of the III Division under Major-General Sir William Turrell, the King's cousin. Along with this force was a squadron of Light Dragoons, detached from the Second Battalion of the Earl of Clare's Light Dragoons. On the low ground in front of Richmond's position on the heights, he placed the rest of the III Division along with the bulk of the IV Division. Behind these forces and the forces atop the crest of the heights, he placed his headquarters and other structures including a field hospital and supply depot. In reserve, he kept the VIII Division and the Earl of Clare's Division.

These positions were taken up by Richmond's troops by 9:15, by which time King Richard's army was drawn up for battle. He had a staff meeting at 9:20 in which his battle plans were outlined and coordinated with not only his own officers but the Ballaetan officers too. At 9:30 he commenced the first stage of his attack, a general advance with the Ballaetan 'A' Brigade and the Oxbridgen 2nd Division detaching to march on Burnaby's Farm to cut off Omond's division from the rest of the Imperial Army and to keep Richmond from receiving supplies. As his own artillery was yet to deploy, Richard had to depend on swift movement to keep his troops from taking too much fire from the Imperial guns on the heights.

First Vionnan Attack

Richard's splinter force moved rapidly on Burnaby's Farm, taking mortar fire as they went, and were fatigued by the time they got within rifle range. Advancing in columns and ranks, the Vionnan infantry, commanded by Lieutenant General Willis Philpots, took withering small arms fire from the farmhouse and perimeter wall manned by skirmishers of Omond's II Division. The Oxbridgen 2nd Division had taken 500 casualties by 9:50, by 10 the Ballaetan 'A' Brigade was down to 80% strength and began to withdraw with the intent of reforming for a more organised attack. Omond's skirmishers, commanded by Major Henry Walcher, and the light dragoons with them consolidated their positions and sent a runner to inform Major-General Omond of their situation. At the time he was visiting Colonel Shellford's First Riverlanders who had taken up positions in the buildings on one side of the market square in Glaenarm.

The situation within the town had calmed but was incredibly tense. 'C' Brigade of the Ballaetan Army, under the command of General Jean de Marchand, took up multiple positions within the town, most importantly was the 1st Battalion of MacDonald's 4th Regiment which positioned itself in the buildings on the opposite side of the road to Colonel Shellford's First Riverland Militia. While visiting the front the runner from Walcher reached Omond and was killed by gunfire while returning with his reply which ordered Walcher to abandon his position if it was put under too much stress. If this message had reached Walcher then Richmond may very well have lost the battle as soon after the Vionnan force reformed and began their second attack.

The Ballaetan 'A' Brigade, led by the First Battalion of Fraiser's 2nd Regiment, began their advance against the weak right flank of Walcher's position which was occupied by the light dragoons who had dismounted. Their rifled carbines were accurate but not in enough numbers to effectively check Fraiser's attack which General Ryder, commander of 'A' Brigade, reinforced with the Second Battalion. He ordered a covering force of skirmishers detached from the First Regiment to engage with the centre of Walcher's position, pinning that flank and preventing it from moving to resist Fraiser's attack. He sent a runner requesting reinforcements to General MacTavish and prepared the rest of Colonel Alban's First Regiment to assault the left of Burnaby's Farm.

Having now thrown his whole force into the attack, General Ryder became more and more anxious as time went on, by 10:30 he had sent and received 12 runners to and from his respective units and from General MacTavish. Each time a request came to MacTavish he rejected it, electing to retain the rest of the First Army in reserve lest King Richard need support. Instead, he deployed his artillery to shell the Imperial positions around Burnaby's Farm which succeeded in weakening them but they refused to break. Walcher visited each flank as often as he could, keeping his men steady while he waited for a reply from Omond which, of course, never came. He sent a second runner to his commander who managed the treacherous journey to Glaenarm market square only to find that Omond had returned to his headquarters.

At about 10:45, King Richard's artillery was fully deployed and began shelling Imperial positions on the heights, the Imperials returned fire with their own guns and a fierce artillery duel commenced. Neither side inflicted major damage on the other but the Imperials used up most of their stocked ammunition and were unable to keep up a steady volume of fire for another hour while more supplies arrived. Lieutenant General Sir Barston Sharrow, commander of the Oxbridgen First Corps received orders around 11 am to muster eighteen battalions for an attack against the Imperials on the heights. In twenty minutes Sharrow had his battalions, 12 of Oxbridgen infantry, 5 of Ballaetan infantry and a battalion of Oxbridgen dragoons, he formed them up in ranks with the dragoons on the right flank and began an advance on a wide front against the Imperial line.

Sharrow was forced to take great pains to keep his force together as the rest of the Vionnan forces were still reaching the battle and King Richard was still awaiting the arrival of over 40,000 men. The Vionnan advance was slow but organised and disciplined, able to advance most of the way unmolested as the Imperials continued to be suppressed by the Vionnan barrage. At 11:45 Sharrow's force engaged with the Imperial line and the battalions quickly fell into individual duels with Imperial battalions. The Oxbridgen forces, operating in platoons, were able to utilise a well-developed fire-and-advance doctrine of attack and sustained fewer than expected casualties while ascending towards the Imperial positions. Unfortunately for the Vionnan attack, the Imperial mortar shells and charges arrived during its advance and the attack on the right was bloodily repulsed when the Saint Gall Grenadiers counterattacked with heavy support from 18lb mortars.

The Coalition attack against the Imperial centre was at first very successful thanks to the aforementioned attack doctrine which allowed a quick advance but the Imperial artillery, restocked further since the earlier barrage, began to wreak havoc amongst the advancing ranks. Sharrow knew his attack had no hope of success if the Imperial artillery was permitted to check his advance. He depended on General Philpots' attack against Burnaby's Farm to break through and cut off the Imperials on the heights from the troops in the town and the incoming supplies. Unfortunately, thanks to Major Walcher's unsurmountable and unyielding defence of the farm which, three times in an hour, fell into bloody melee fighting which the hardy peasants of the Imperial Army won.

With Philpots' attack on the left unsuccessful and repulsed entirely, with his right flank in retreat and his centre stagnating, General Sharrow ordered a withdrawal and formed a new line. He hoped with the use of superior Coalition artillery the Imperials could be coaxed into attacking. King Richard called a council meeting and his officers agreed to reserve their forces which were now arriving en masse to defend against an Imperial counterattack of which they were certain. Instead of wilting or being forced onto the offensive as the Coalition council had expected, the Imperials simply took cover behind the crest of the heights from the Coalition guns. Behind this natural defence, only the howitzers could get at the Imperial forces and they were poorly aimed and caused relatively small casualties as a result.

Lull in the fighting

By one in the afternoon, the fighting had died down following the repulsed Vionnan attack and the Imperials began to take inventory of what they had. Two Reserve Corps, a Regular Division and an understaffed Cavalry Division. 72 guns and other artillery pieces were deployed and with Burnaby's Farm secured, ammunition and other supplies flowed freely up the main road to the Imperial camp. Lieutenant General Richmond had set up his headquarters atop the heights and had an excellent commanding view of the terrain. He was attended by Lieutenant Generals Tannenbray and Pennington, commanders of the 1st and 2nd Reserve Corps respectively, a range of Brigade and Division commanders along with his staff officers. Notably absent was Major General La-Minnings who nobody had seen for several hours and whose division was absent from the field, at least as far as Richmond was concerned.

La-Minnings and his 10th Division were, in fact, making a long march around the town of Glaenarm towards King Richard's camp in a daring flanking attack which, according to the testimony of Colonel Wentworth Weston, he intended the manoeuvre to be a kind of atonement for his failure at the previous Battle of Clausbrucken. One of La-Minnings' staff officers, Lieutenant Marston, testified that La-Minnings had intended to kill King Richard, this is unconfirmed and Weston denied that the general ever suggested he intended to kill Richard. The decision was made at around eleven and the Division arrived on the North-West outskirts of Glaenarm at about 1:15 in the afternoon.

King Richard and General MacTavish called a meeting of the war council to discuss the failed assault and put the blame on lack of support for the infantry. The four battalions of cavalry available to the Vionnans had failed to support the attack and the artillery had done completely insufficient damage due to their poor targeting. King Richard, originally in favour of forming a defence, decided that as his forces were arriving at the battlefield in droves he would make a second attempt to assault the Imperial forces on the heights while Ballaetan forces took the town. Richard made a point of planning his attack in depth and set his best engineers to aiming his cannons correctly. His cavalry were readied to support an assault on Burnaby's Farm and his full-strength battalions were formed up for a fresh assault on the Imperial positions, focusing on the left flank of the Imperial line. King Richard's hypothesis was that a strong attack on the left combined with an assault on Burnaby's Farm on the left would force Richmond to weaken his centre to support his flanks, allowing a sudden push to break the centre and push Richmond off the hill.

Second Attack

At 1:30 pm, King Richard authorised Lieutenant General Sir Egbert Maxwell, commander of the Oxbridgen II Corps, to launch the second assault with a combined force of just over 25,000 men. General Sharrow, with a force of 5,000 was ordered to clear Glaenarm and signal the success of his attack with two green rockets. Major General Andrew Hopkins, who led the Royal Guard Brigade at Clausbrücken was given a force of 5,000 foot and horse and ordered to take Burnaby's Farm, signalling his success with two red rockets. After a brief deliberation between the three commanders and with their units in position to launch the attack, the advance began at 1:45 pm.

Hopkins, as he had at Clausbrücken, led his advance personally on the back of his famous black stallion Thunderer. Under his command were two battalions of the Guards, two battalions of cavalry and four battalions of foot with two companies of skirmishers armed with rifles. Under the command of Major Robert Blunt, the riflemen screened Hopkins' advance excellently and effectively suppressed the Imperials at Burnaby's Farm while three battalions of foot followed up and advanced on the farm. Blunt made a major blunder however when he ordered his skirmishers back to allow the infantry to advance. This removed the hindrance of suppression from the farmhouse garrison and they began to put down fire on the advancing infantry with muskets, rifles and carbines. The light artillery based around the farm provided supporting fire but they were themselves suppressed by Oxbridgen mortars. Instead of continuing the advance, Colonel Hamilton, who commanded the advancing battalions, halted his men and began trading fire with the farmhouse. He was killed relatively quickly and Major Albert Hamilton, his nephew, took command of the attack and led them forward against the farm.

While Hamilton's attack neared the farmhouse, General Sharrow began advancing on Glaenarm to relieve General de Marchand's brigade within the town with his light infantry reaching Colonel MacDonald's regiment at 1:50 pm. With light infantry and grenadiers, supported by light guns drawn by teams of fast horses, Sharrow pushed strongly against Omond's II Division within Glaenarm. With the support of de Marchand's C Brigade, Sharrow was able to retake the centre of town and push Omond's 1st Brigade under Brigadier General Carlton back to the town hall with multiple companies taking up positions inside it. Omond was hard pressed to repulse the attack and instead of counterattacking he formed a defensive line in the streets of Glaenarm with the town hall as its apex. With his men in reinforced positions such as buildings and behind hastily erected barricades, Omond was able to hold out, albeit with casualties and particularly heavy losses in the centre.

Burnaby's Farm

Hopkins led his attack at the head of his guards. On the left was the Royal Grenadiers and on the right was the Guard Fusiliers. An issue swiftly arose when Hopkins' guards ran into the halted forces of Major Hamilton who only continued the advance when he realised his forces were blocking the also-advancing guards. Hamilton, with sword aloft, kept his battalions moving forward at a steady pace which conserved their stamina and allowed them to fire, albeit without ability to reload, while on the move. The attack took heavy casualties as it was over open ground against a dug-in position but, with supporting fire from mortars and skirmishers, Hamilton reached Burnaby's Farm and engaged in a harsh melee with Major Walcher's defending forces.

Lord Omond recieved word from Walcher almost immediately that the enemy had reached his position and he would not hold out for long. Omond, in turn, sent word to Richmond that his men were hard pressed at Burnaby's Farm and that without reinforcements they would soon collapse. He expected an immediate reinforcement by infantry on the heights, persumably Major General Bartholomew Kaylock's Colonial Division. Richmond's response was somewhat different, ordered the Earl of Clare to divide his force, sending his two regiment-sized battalions of Light Dragoons to the right side of the heights under the temporary command of 2nd Battalion commander Colonel Finbarr McNeil. As Major Walcher's defence began to crumble, Richmond threw the Light Dragoons into the fight, making a spirited charge against General Hopkins' Guards Brigade. Moving quickly from an elevated position, the Light Dragoons charged downhill and cut into Hopkins' attacking column. Hopkins himself was able to reorganise his troops and escaped unscathed but his Brigade was only saved by the swift intervention of the Oxbrigen 2nd Dragoons, a battalion of Light Dragoons which were both outnumbered and lower quality to the Imperial light horse. Both the Guards Brigade and the 2nd Dragoons sustained heavy losses but managed to withdraw in good order.