Battle of Stifforest
| Battle of Stifforest | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of War of the Vionnan Coalition | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Vionna-Frankenlisch |
 Saxondale | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Lord Eldham |
Freiherr von der Larrenwald | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| I Corps | Army of East Saxondale | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 44,000 | 32,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Stifforest was an engagement of the War of the Vionnan Coalition during Lord Lynwood's Saxondale Campaign. The First Corps of the Imperial Army, under the command of the Viscount Eldham, met with the Freiherr von der Larrenwald and his Army of East Saxondale near the market town of Stifforest on the outskirts of the Larrenwald forest. Lord Eldham's corps achieved a decisive victory over the Saxoners and sent them tumbling back towards the fortress town of Hardyng, defeating them again two weeks later at the Battle of Warner's Stream.
Background
Following Imperial victory at Drayglossop, Lord Lynwood's army split to advance on seperate roads. The target of his offensive was Tevetdale, an important city in southern Ballaeter, protected from the north and east by the Dermott Line of fortifications but open to the south where Ballaeter bordered Saxondale. Therefore, with his army energised after their victory at the Siege of Drayglossop, Lynwood planned a swift advance through Saxondale, avoiding fighting where he could, to cross the border at the river town of Market Lundy and strike swiftly at Tevetdale. His belief was that the loss of one of their most important cities would knock Ballaeter out of the war, isolating the Saxoners and forcing them to make peace also.
For the commander of the Imperial First Corps, the Viscount Eldham, Lynwood's plan was sound but he did not appreciate his commander's hopes to avoid battle. Sent along a different road to Second and Third Corps, Lord Eldham purposely failed to keep pace with the main body of the army, in the hopes that Saxoner or Ballaetan forces would engage him. A young general and a glory-seeker, Eldham sought to prove himself for higher command by proving himself as a field commander.
The city of Stockdorf was home to not only an important military arsenal but also to the Freiherr von Larrenwald's Army of East Saxondale. The Army of East Saxondale was the primary Saxoner field army following the defeat of the Duke of Saxondale's own army at the Battle of Stowford.