Battle of Williamsburg

Battle of Williamsburg
Part of Second Imperial-Balonic War
Date 4-6 June, 1872 Location Williamsburg, Lareno, Columbia
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch	Union Republic of Urat
Commanders and leaders
Lord Richmond	Gabriel H. Beauchamp George Whittaker
Strength
55,000 78 guns	40,000 30,000 82 guns
Casualties and losses
11,058 (3,558 killed; 6,864 wounded; 636 captured/missing)	24,600 (estimated; at least 8,000 killed)

The Battle of Williamsburg was a major battle of the Second Imperial-Balonic War. The Imperial Expeditionary Army, under the command of the Viscount Richmond, defeated a combined Balonic-Uratic army under the joint command of General Gaberiel H. Beauchamp and General George Whittaker. The Imperial Expeditionary Army, cut off from supplies by Balonic movements during May, was caught by an outnumbered army of Balonic and Uratic troops while attempting to march on Woodsburg. The capture of Woodsburg would allow reinforcements and supplies to be brought in by ship and Beauchamp was wary of this possibility.

In the ensuing battle, which lasted from midday on the Fourth of June until 6pm on the Sixth, Lord Richmond's army bloodily repulsed multiple attacks by the Uratic Army of Balion and, later in the battle, counterattacked. The Union army was driven from the field in disarray, having taken heavy casualties at a rate of over a third.

Background

Following the Battle of Greenfield Station in early May, the Imperial Expeditionary Army had been cut off from their supply base at New Tevetdale by General Stanley P. Peck's pursuing Army of the Yellowback. Lord Richmond reacted by turning his army towards Woodsburg, a port town with only a small militia garrison. Richmond planned to seize Woodsburg and hold it against Peck's army by fighting a pitched defensive battle as he knew the ground well and believed the position was well-suited to being quickly entrenched. The port would also allow Richmond's army to receive supplies and reinforcements despite being cut off from New Tevetdale.

The combined army of General G.H. Beauchamp and the Uratic General Whittaker had received the news of Lord Richmond's plan from a captured runner. The man had been captured attempting to inform Lord MacCernau, who commanded the garrison at New Tevetdale, of Richmond's objectives but was intercepted by Beauchamp's scouts. The combined Balonic-Uratic force made all speed to intercept the Imperial Expeditionary Army and planned to, with the help of Peck's army, surround Richmond and force him to surrender or be destroyed in a decisive battle. However, when they finally met Richmond at the town of Williamsburg, the Army of the Yellowback was nowhere to be found. General Peck had turned back to seize New Tevetdale back from MacCernau. MacCernau held the town against tremendous odds at the Second Battle of New Tevetdale and received the General Order of Valour.

Low on supplies and in poor spirits, the Imperial Expeditionary Army formed a battle line with Williamsburg itself acting as the leftmost part of the line. Richmond garrisoned Williamsburg with the 3rd Infantry Division and formed his main line of the Glynmoran, Grythshead and Guards Divisions with the Teutonberg Division in reserve. On the left flank, Richmond placed the Frankenlisch Cavalry Division and on the right, he placed the King's Own Cavalry Division.

The Uratic-Balonic force drew up in a line to attack. Whittaker's Uraticans formed the right flank of the army with the 1st Infantry Division taking the lead of a dense attacking formation. The Balonic forces formed the army's centre and left. Whittaker and Beauchamp agreed to attack in two stages. The Uratic forces would attack the Imperial 3rd Infantry Division at Williamsburg and the Grythshead Division next to the town in a direct attack. The Balonic left wing would simultaneously conduct a sweeping attack against the Imperial right flank with the objective of turning the Guards Division and rolling up the line. With Williamsburg in Uratic hands and the Imperials pressed thoroughly on the right, Beauchamp and Whittaker could take the Imperial center in enfilade and destroy a vast portion of Richmond's army, if not destroying it completely. Beauchamp, a career soldier, was delighted by the opportunity to damage General Peck, a former senator, whom Beauchamp saw as a privileged amateur who did not deserve his large command.

Imperial Army

The Imperial Army came under the command of General Lord Howard Richmond, renowned for his victories during the War of the Vionnan Coalition twenty years prior. It was divided into seven divisions comprising a total of fifty-five-thousand men and 78 guns.

• 3rd Infantry Division (Sir Daniel Whitlock)
• Glynmoran Division (Lord Robert Cochrane)
• Grythshead Division (Prince Quentin Edrington)
• Teutonberg Division (Sir Archibald Poltov)
• Guards Division (Lord Richard Halliwell)
• King's Own Division (Lord Frederick Picroft)
• Frankenlisch Cavalry Division (Sir Alexander Pender)

Balonic Army

The Balonic Army came under the command of General Gabriel H. Beauchamp, whose attack on Fort Edward started the war. It was divided into five divisions with three independent brigades.

• 1st Division (John Henry Carlot with eight regiments in 2 brigades)
• 2nd Division (Isiah Elliot with seven regiments in 2 brigades)
• 3rd Division (J.W. Vaughn with nine regiments in 3 brigades)
• 4th Division (Henry F. Thompson with six regiments in 2 brigades)
• 5th Division (Matthew P. Randyll with ten regiments in 3 brigades)
  • Cavalry Brigade (Roger Hempstead with eight troops in four squadrons)
  • Travis' Legion (Edgar Travis with three infantry regiments, two cavalry troops and an artillery battery)
  • Artillery Brigade (I.J. Folstowe with an infantry regiment and six batteries)

Uratic Army

The Uratic Army came under the command of General Thaddeus Whittaker. It consisted of thirty thousand men in three divisions.

• 1st Infantry Division (Harold Horton with three brigades and two artillery batteries)
• 2nd Infantry Division (John Martin with three brigades and two artillery batteries)
• 3rd Infantry Division (Matthew Bandman with three brigades and two artillery batteries)

Battle (4th June, 1st Day)

In order to better shield themselves from artillery fire, the Balonic-Uratic army had deployed at the edge of a forest beside a dirt road which they had marched up. The battle's first shots were fired at noon on the Fourth of June as the Balonic artillery began firing on the Imperial line which had, itself, deployed at the edge of some woods. Between the two armies lay a clearing which would offer little cover and Beauchamp hoped to weaken the Imperial defence with a strong artillery bombardment before he advanced. With field guns and howitzers, the Union artillery pounded the centre point of the Imperial line, striking the Teutonberg Division and Glynmoran Division with shot, shrapnel and explosive shells. The Imperial guns answered at half past noon and began counter-battery operations. Richmond's skilled artillerymen had learned to hold fire until they had discovered the exact position of enemy batteries and then bring down heavy fire on that position. The artillery duel continued for three hours without causing heavy casualties to either side, though the Union forces lost several cannon to counterbattery fire.

First Attack

The first assault began at four in the afternoon. The 9th Lareno Regiment, 11th Lareno Regiment, 50th Oakcliffe Regiment, 24th Eastone Regiment and the 32nd Rockwell Regiment of J.H. Carlot's 1st Division on the Balonic left flank, advanced in a dense formation against the Guards Division, which formed the right flank of the Imperial line. Meanwhile, the 1st Infantry Division (nicknamed "Goldenboys" for their golden tunic buttons) of the Uratic Army marched on Williamsburg itself. The Imperial artillery focused on the Balonic advance and many men were killed by cannon before reaching rifle range. The Frankenlisch Guards regiment and the Prince of Riverland's Guards regiment fired volleys into the 11th Lareno as it closed, killing its Colonel and turning it back in disarray. The resulting gap in the line separated the 50th Oakcliffe from the rest of the unit. While the Guards Division traded volleys with the Balonic force, the Royal Grythshead Dragoon Guards charged into the flank of the 50th Oakcliffe from the cover of the woods, capturing their colours and some of their officers and men. The prisoners were escorted back by troops of the Frankenlisch Guards while the cavalry withdrew back into the woods.

Under an endless hail of volleys, the Balonic attack was turned back with hundreds of killed and wounded. The Union forces were mostly inexperienced, new soldiers recently raised from the old state militias. The Lareno Regiments in particular, though high in the Union order of precedence, were inexperienced through lack of training and the large percentage of replacement troops. John Henry Carlot, who led the First Division, was hit through the thigh by a pistol bullet as he led the retrat. The shot was supposedly fired by Lieutenant Michael Smythe-Browne, later Lieutenant General commanding XI Corps during the Great Europan War and Marquess of Doveberg. The Guards Division took minor casualties, mostly amongst the Frankenlisch Guards who were at the very end of the line. Lord Ravenstern reformed his division several meters back and shortened the line by withdrawing the Frankenlisch Guards to his reserves, this left the Prince of Riverland's Guards as the end of the line.

At Williamsburg itself, the Uratic 1st Division came under heavy fire from light artillery clustered around the town. The batteries of the King's Own Cavalry Division and the Frankenlisch Cavalry Division had been emplaced in gardens and open streets, with clear lines of fire towards the advancing Uratic troops. Though the Imperial Army was missing the elite Light Division, which had remained at New Tevetdale, the light companies of the Third Division still performed admirably in skirmish order as they sniped away from behind cover. These troops retreated further into the town as their enemy approached, the Uratic troops firing on the advance. The houses and shops were occupied by Imperial troops and Major Richard Hill of the Uratic 1st Division commented that there was: "A pair of rifles in every window and a cannon on every street." He added, "Approaching the town was hell and at least a thousand men were killed and wounded before we even reached the first building." Though the numbers were in fact closer to five hundred, heavy casualties had still been sustained. Though the steady advance had spared their strength for the fighting, the Uratic troops arrived in Williamsburg demoralised from casualties and disorganised by the loss of officers and NCOs.

Brutal hand-to-hand fighting commenced immediately as Uratic troops flooded into Williamsburg. The Imperial guns could not be extradited in time and were left where they were emplaced, the gunners retreating behind the infantry. Some Uratic troops tried to turn the cannons on the Imperial positions but they were not loaded and Uratic infantry were not trained in the use of cannons. No equipment was available to destroy the abandoned guns or carry them away, General Harold Horton of the First Division lamented this deeply to his staff. As isolated platoons of Imperial troops held buildings, barricading doors and windows, the 54th Regiment of Foot drew up in the town square in line of battle to defend General Sir Daniel Whitlock's headquarters. Wherever the Uratic troops made breakthroughs, the strung-out companies of the 54th poured volleys into them, or flying detachments from other regiments were rushed in to plug gaps.

Though the fighting in Williamsburg was tough for both sides, Lord Richmond decided the situation was not desperate. He dispatched Sir Alexander Pender's Frankenlisch Cavalry Division to move around Williamsburg and cut off the Uratic troops' only path of retreat. Richmond, from his position at the center of the Imperial line, could not see the main positions of the Uratic army and was preoccupied with the fighting on his right.