Battle of Jefford's Junction

Battle of Jefford's Junction
Part of the Aquitaynian War of Independence
Imperial Guard cavalry slam into Aswickian lines
Date October 3, 1741 Location Jefford's Junction, Aswick Result Pyrrhic Imperial victory; Destruction of much of the Imperial Guard Corps
Belligerents
Aswick	Empire of Exponent
Commanders and leaders
Col. Joseph Mercer	Castus Tamphilus
Strength
1,550	1,300
Casualties and losses
Aswick 427 dead 611 115 captured Total: 1147	336 killed 551 wounded 14 missing Total:901

The Battle of Jefford's Junction was fought on October 3, 1741, between forces of the Empire of Exponent's Imperial Guard Corp and the Royal Aswickan Army. The Imperial forces were successful in clearing the Aswickans from the field, but the battle severely mauled the Imperial Guards, causing them to withdraw from combat for the remainder of the campaign.

Battle

Forming of the lines and initial advance

Colonel Joseph Mercer, commanding the Aswickan forces defending the road junction, deliberately chose for a defensive strategy. The terrain was advantageous to his forces, and gave clear sight to the battery of 4 12-pounder guns he had available to him.

Imperial forces initially formed up in a line opposing the Aswickan troops just out of range of the Aswickan artillery. As the began advancing, however, the cannons quickly began firing at the Imperial formation. At some point, quite quickly on, a stray shot flew through the General's group and barely missed Legate Tamphilus, killing two members of his staff and wounding another.

Having closed the distance between the two lines by half, Imperial forces then began taking fire from Aswickan irregular forces: Riflemen and skirmishers had positioned themselves in a slight ditch between the two formations. Though they could not do much, they did harass the Imperials with the rifles, which had a higher range than the Imperials' muskets. The irregulars specifically targeted Imperial officers and non-commissioned officers in an effort to cause disarray in their ranks while performing a fighting retreat to stay out of the ever advancing Imperials.