Battle of Williamsburg

Battle of Williamsburg
Part of Second Imperial-Balonic War
Date 4-6 June, 1872 Location Williamsburg, Lareno, Columbia
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch	United States Republic of Urat
Commanders and leaders
Lord Richmond	Gabriel H. Beauchamp George Whittaker
Strength
75,000 78 guns	30,000 40,000 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 terribly high 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 and, able to march faster than General Stanley P. Peck's pursuing Army of the Yellowback, Lord Richmond turned towards Woodsburg, a port town with only a militia garrison. Richmond planned to seize Woodsburg and hold it against Peck's army by fighting a pitched defensive battle. The port would 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 General S.P. Peck's army, surround Lord Richmond's host and force him to surrender. However, when they finally met Richmond at the town of Williamsburg, Lareno, the Army of the Yellowback was nowhere to be found. General Peck had turned back to seize New Tevetdale back from MacCernau. MacCernau later held the town 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 Glamorgan, 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 forces would then conduct a sweeping attack against the Imperial right flank with the objective of turning the Guards Division and rolling up the line.

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.

• 3rd Infantry Division (Sir Daniel Whitlock)
• Glamorgan 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)

Battle

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 Glamorgan 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 and fifteen Balonic guns were destroyed. Lord Richmond's divisions sustained around eight hundred casualties from the bombardment.

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 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 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 seperated 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.