Battle of Rachdale

Battle of Rachdale
Part of Vionnan Civil War
Edward Hornigold's The Rallying of the Ninth, Prince Harold rallies the Ninth Regiment to rejoin the battle
Date 12th October 1805 Location Rachdale, Brumley Status Imperial Victory
Belligerents
Empire of Vionna	Frankenlischian Rebels
Commanders and leaders
Cerly I Jamie Cerly	Harold of Berchtestein † Edward of Gestoria  (WIA) William IV of Briceport Abraham Edmont
Units involved
Imperial Army	Army of Frankenlisch
Strength
64,000	45,000
Casualties and losses
9,000 Killed and Wounded	11,000 Killed and Wounded 21 Guns Captured

The Battle of Rachdale was a major battle of the Vionnan Civil War fought on the 12th of October, 1805 at the farmstead of Rachdale outside Brumley between Imperial forces of Empress Cerly and her brother Jamie and Frankenlischian rebels commanded by Prince Harold Rotail and Duke Edward Picroft. The rebel Army of Frankenlisch was defeated by the Imperial Army in a fierce engagement lasting ten hours. It is one of the bloodiest single days in Vionna-Frankenlischian military history with an estimated 7,000 dead or 20,000 casualties.

Background

The Battle of Rachdale can be best analysed when viewed in the context of the First Frankenlisch Campaign which it was a part of. Prince Rotail had divided his force following St Edmunds and now marched with about half of the rebel army, consisting of troops from Gestoria, Briceport and his own princedom of Berchtestein. Since St Edmunds, Prince Rotail had not come across a single enemy force of substance and, despite only fighting skirmishes with smaller units, was convinced that a sizable Imperial force in the area and determined to take Frankenlisch as soon as possible. So when he was met by the Imperial Army itself, commanded personally by Empress Cerly, he was understandably concerned. Nonetheless, he displayed a great deal of confidence in his men and decided to meet the enemy rather than attempt to escape or to go entirely on the defensive.

Rebel plans and Imperial moves

Rotail planned to make a quick impression on the Imperials by attacking strongly on their flanks and by turning his guns quickly against them. Duke Picroft personally commanded the right wing of the army, made up mainly of men from his own dominion. On the left was General Abraham Edmont and in the centre was the Count of Brice. Prince Rotail and Duke Picroft, the joint commanders of the army, decided to try and push the Imperial forces back to Durolipons, cross the Emerald Channel, link up with small rebel units near Frankenlisch itself and then take Londinium.

Empress Cerly, while not a great general, had previous military experience and a good staff of loyal and experienced officers. Her brother, Jamie, was commissioned as General of Division and acted as the Empress' main field commander. The Imperials, having watched the course of Prince Rotail's army for a fortnight was certain he meant to take Brumley (only a town at the time) and wait until the following spring to march on Frankenlisch. His true intentions were realised when Rotail marched past Brumley on the high road to Frankenlisch. Empress Cerly moved her forces quickly and managed to intercept him before he crossed the border between the lordships of Brumley and Londinium.

Prelude

Battlefield

The battle took place directly east of Brumley itself on plain farmland at the farmstead of Rachdale, due south of Kamber Castle where Prince Rotail planned to cross the Emerald Channel. Empress Cerly made her headquarters at a stable which no longer exists. Prince Rotail and Duke Picroft set up their headquarters at the Crowned Stag, a country inn which exists today between two prongs of a forked road. Various tiny farmsteads and hamlets scattered the area, which were collectively known as Rachdale and represented strategic points during the battle.

Opposing Forces

More Info: Order of Battle Rachdale

The 64,000 Imperials with 68 guns were opposed by 45,000 rebels with 42 guns. Although many small rebel units attempted to reinforce Prince Rotail, none succeeded.

The Imperial Army was organised into twelve divisions of around 6,000 men each. There were nine divisions of infantry, two of cavalry and one 'special division' which included mostly skirmishers but also several companies of engineers. Artillery was separated from the divisions and all twelve batteries came under the direct command of Benjamin Pearce, General of Artillery. Imperial troops were almost homogenous when it came to equipment and they were uniformed well, this, rather than their numbers, was the strength of the Imperial Army.

Whereas the Imperials were well equipped and supplied, the rebel army had recently ended a long trek through the Riverland and up through northern Gestoria. The army was lacking in supplies and had some discrepancies in equipment but all-in-all were in relatively good shape. The 45,000 men were divided into Corps and Divisions. The Briceport Corps of 15,000 were in the centre, led by their lord. Picroft's Corps was on the right and on the left was Edmont's Corps. Each corps contained three divisions of 5,000 men each and divisions contained foot, horse and artillery.

Battle

Empress Cerly opened the battle with a suppressing barrage. Due to the expert logistical skills of Benjamin Pearce, her artillery commander, the Imperial guns had been placed swiftly and they were in action by 9 am. The artillery fire, mainly from long guns but howitzers were also deployed, screened an advance by the Imperial Special Division. General of Division Archibald Hendrik deployed companies of skirmishers to each of the farmsteads and hamlets of Rachdale, supported by engineers to reinforce the positions.

The bombardment failed to force Prince Harold to pull his forces back and instead forced his hand and he ordered an advance. The Briceport Corps were ordered forward and, screened by their light infantry and with dragoons on the wings, they advanced against the Imperial positions. The Imperials had planned for the artillery bombardment, which continued as the Count of Briceport's Corps advanced, to force the rebels to pull back until the Imperial positions in Rachdale could be reinforced. By starting the advance early, Prince Harold checked this move by the Empress and the advance of Lord Brice's Corps, while costly, particularly to his dragoons, succeeded in ejecting the Imperials from their forward positions and many pieces of entrenching equipment were captured.

Rotail's guns were quickly emplaced, atop the ridgeline where his headquarters at the Crowned Stag sat, and were brought to bear against Empress Cerly's Third and Fourth Infantry Divisions which had begun a swift counterattack. The two divisions marched against Lord Brice's left flank which was marked by a small barn and farmhouse and succeeded in turning his flanks as the Eighth Infantry Division made a manoeuvre against his right from the cover of a cornfield. The other two corps of the rebel army were quickly ordered forward, Rotail intending to repulse this understrength Imperial attack and sweep against his mother's forces by her left flank, rolling up the battle line. His guns were redirected to fire against the main Imperial line on a wide arc, denying Brice further artillery support. Runners reached Picroft and Edmont at about the same time but both officers took different approaches.

General Abraham Edmont was a cautious man, educated by the book at Gestoria's largest military academy before the Vionnan conquest and he directed an excellent textbook advance against the Imperial right flank, deploying forward skirmishers and keeping his cavalry on his left to threaten the Imperials. He advanced with his staff at the rear of his corps, well out of the range of Imperial fire and under the cover of a battery of 12pdr guns.

Duke Edward Picroft of Gestoria was entirely different, educated at court and raised on stories of medieval glory, he was young and fiery and led his corps from to front atop his white thoroughbred. His corps was arranged by regiments in solid lines and blocks and advanced in these dense formations against the Imperial line which was steadily being pounded at by cannon and howitzers. In contrast to Edmont's attack, Picroft's was badly screened as he neglected to deploy his skirmishers to the front and kept his cavalry in reserve. Major General Faulkner, who commanded Picroft's Third Division, wrote after the battle: It was messy, it was dense, we were pummeled from across the front by infantry and cannon. But by God it was glorious.

The Imperial staff begged Empress Cerly to allow the Imperial line to advance and meet the rebels but Cerly forbade it, as did her brother. The Imperial line remained sitting until the last possible moment, preserving the stamina of the Imperial troops, they stood to just after noon and began firing. Seven brigades of infantry were deployed with two in reserve and the cavalry was on each flank. On the Imperial right flank, the cavalry was prevented from attacking due to Edmont's cautious positioning of his cavalry, but on the left flank, Picroft's decision to keep his cavalry in reserve meant that General of Brigade Arthur Rackham was able to advance his brigade, consisting of lancers, dragoons and line cavalry against the advancing rebels.