Battle of Monsa (1614)

Battle of Monsa
Part of War of the Magpie and the Dragon
Date 14 July 1614 Location Monsa Result Exponential victory
Belligerents
Cadenza	Empire of Exponent
Commanders and leaders
Khaledro Pamma	Paullus Augustus Aluredes Decimus Senecio
Strength
c. 1250 men 37 ships
Casualties and losses
164 dead, 92 wounded 8 ships lost	3 ships burned at anchor, 1 ship stolen

The Battle of Monsa took place on 14 July 1614, early in the War of the Magpie and the Dragon. Led by Khaledro Pamma, Earl of Do'rediq, a Cadenzan force attempted to raid the port of Monsa, then a dominion of the Empire of Exponent. Pamma led three dozen ships to the prosperous port city intending to loot or capture it, hoping to emulate the resounding victory achieved by his rival, Earl Teodos Molatiri of Canve, at Portus Regalis in Scottopia.

Despite the size of his fleet, which included almost every ship in his earldom and possessed far more cannons than the harbour defences had, the battle went almost immediately awry for Pamma. It was the earl's first major battle, and he, inexperienced and headstrong, overrode and countermanded his captains' advice and orders and sailed directly into the bay to attempt a landing. A handful of imperial warships at anchor put up a stiff resistance, which was overcome through sheer weight of numbers. Dozens of Cadenzan troops were killed storming the quays, and Pamma's fleet remained under heavy fire from the city's defences which he had neglected to first disable. His men set fire to warehouses during their retreat, one of which was holding livestock awaiting slaughter. The animals stampeded, sowing further confusion, and Pamma himself was reportedly butted by a goat.

Although not a complete rout — many of his soldiers believed they were winning until ordered to withdraw — the battle was an almost unmitigated disaster. Only the refusal of some of his commanders to obey orders meant that Pamma abandoned the field with any plunder: during the battle, warehouses at the foot of the Montecarlo hill were plundered by crews of three ships that had changed course, and they carried off jugs of wine and olive oil. Additionally, in their retreat from the city, some of Pamma's men mistakenly boarded the wrong craft and, after killing its crew or driving them into the water, fled from Monsa in a stolen Exponential warship.

Prelude

Following the First Battle of Portus Regalis in May 1614, Cadenzan earls began clamouring to gather their own war fleets and sail for the territory of the ailing Empire of Exponent in hopes of seizing gold and glory for themselves. Khaledro Pamma, Earl of Do'rediq, set his sights on the port city of Monsa, a tributary of Exponent. Pamma was in part driven by a commitment to Do'rediqi merchants, who promised to forgive his considerable personal debts if he were able to eliminate Monsa as a regional trade rival. He was also considering a run for the office of duke, then held by Eskamar ti'Als-Arnan, who had lost considerable face among the earls as a result of his dispute with one of his neighbours. Pamma expected a triumph over Monsa, and the plunder he could gain there, to set his political career in motion. Thus, with the promise of having his debts erased and the potential to gain wealth and status for himself, Pamma gathered a force of thirty-seven vessels and set sail.

News had reached Monsa of the great destruction wreaked at Portus Regalis two months earlier by Teodos Molatiri, and fears were aroused among the populace and merchant classes that the city-state, as the closest Imperial territory to Cadenza, would soon come under attack. The Imperial leadership attempted to allay these fears, reminding the people that Cadenzan politics were fractious and Molatiri was just one earl acting alone; nonetheless, the legate in charge of the port city's defense, Paullus Augustus Aluredes, hastily arranged the installation of additional batteries and bastions in preparation for an attack. To supplement the defences, Aluredes met with the Prince of Monsa, who agreed to provide a half-dozen merchant vessels-turned-gunboats to the Imperial fleet at Monsa. With the addition of the prince's vessels, the fleet numbered fourteen warships.

Aftermath

When word of Pamma's defeat reached Cadenza it was regarded as a sensational disgrace. Cadenzan commanders had not believed that Monsa would pose any threat, and there had previously been competition among the earls to see who would be the first to capture the city. Teodos Molatiri, the earl of Canve and a rival of Pamma, said of the incident, "Monsa could be overcome by two swords and a man on a goat; Khaledro Pamma needs only the goat to be overcome." The embarrassment is believed to have motivated other expeditions to restore the nation's honour. The most successful of these was that by Tariq Kimepra, which began with the Long March and concluded with the conquest of Imperial Kamalbia.

The escapade had more serious ramifications for Exponent's authority in Monsa. Whereas the city's ruling Giusti family owed allegiance and tribute to the imperial crown, the raid on the city of Monsa fed into their growing dissatisfaction with that arrangement, and it was a significant factor in their decision to stop paying tribute.