Battle of Northburn

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Battle of Northburn
Part of Riverlandian Conquest of Grythshead
King Malcom's War
Date15th January 1750
Location
Northburn, Kingdom of Grythshead
Result Grythsheader Victory
Belligerents

Kingdom of the Riverland

Kingdom of Ballaeter		 Kingdom of Grythshead
Commanders and leaders

Earl of Tarringway

Lady Taewen

Osgood Stanley

Sir Jarred Knowton
Strength

35,000

44 guns

20,000

60 guns
Casualties and losses
1,200 dead and wounded

500 dead and wounded

200 captured

The Battle of Northburn was an engagement of King Malcom's War fought on 15th January 1750. Following his victory at Helderny, the Earl of Tarringway pursued the escaped Grythsheader forces of Osgood Stanley. With 13,500 men and a considerable contingent of militia and civilian refugees, Stanley had withdrawn south from Helderny, taking much of the town's military stores with him. At Northburn, a small town ten miles south of Helderny, Stanley had met up with the Grythsheader 5th Division and Sir Jarred Knowton's 1st Foot Guards. Suitably reinforced and posessing a large amount of artillery, Stanley chose to fight at Northburn to prevent Tarringway's advance further into Grythshead.

Background

As the armies which had been fighting in Ballaeter in 1749 settled into winter quarters, the Grythsheader Western Army under Sir Eustace Salter used the opportunity to reinforce his forces at Helderny and plan a grand offensive north into Ballaeter. Informed of this by spies in the Grythsheader camp, the new commander of the Riverlander Army of Ballaeter, the Earl of Tarringway, marched his army south to disrupt Salter's plans. At the Battle of Helderny on 8th January 1750, Tarringway shocked the world by defeating the battle-hardened and entrenched Grythsheaders with his newly-formed and inexperienced troops. The battle was a disaster for the Grythsheaders, who sustained 8,000 casualties (half of those captured) and lost 24 guns, 15 standards, and four generals including Salter.

The Grythsheader 1st and 2nd Divisions, along with the Royal Brigade of Dragoons, had been extracted from the disaster at Helderny by 2nd Division commander General Osgood Stanley. Upon arriving at the town of Helderny, Stanley had called up the local militia, emptied the military stores and destroyed all of the supplies which could not be taken. Before the Riverlanders could encircle the city, he marched south with 13,500 soldiers, 50 cannon and about 4,000 civilians and militia. Though Helderny had been a disaster, Stanley's escape represented a significant break for the Grythsheaders who still had forces available to block Tarringway's path deeper into Grythshead. After a day's hard marching, Stanley's force stopped at Northburn to await reinforcements and organise a defence.

For Tarringway's part, he did not make any serious attempt to pursue Stanley for several days. His army was tired and battered from an afternoon of heavy battle in cold weather and the first priority was to rest in Helderny. When his scouts brought reports of Stanley's halt at Northburn, Tarringway relaxed and decided to remain in Helderny until the 13th. This wait allowed the army to be rested and resupplied and also gave time for the arrival of 500 replacements and Lady Taewen's brigade of Ballaetan light cavalry. True to plan, Tarringway marched his army south on the 13th at a very slow pace, covering only 5 miles a day. Though the Earl wished to engage Stanley before more Grythsheader reinforcements arrived, a desire not to overtire his army in the cold weather kept him from forcing a faster march.

At Northburn, Osgood Stanley had been delighted by the arrival of Colonel Sir Jarred Knowton, who commanded the 1st Foot Guards regiment and was in temporary command of the Grythsheader 5th Division. The arrival represented a significant reinforcement and brought Stanley's force up to a strength to 20,000 men and 60 cannon. Protected by a bend in the River Lochen and with plenty of high ground upon which to situate artillery, Stanley considered Northburn a strong place to fight and decided to hold his position there instead of marching to link up with further reinforcements.

Forces

Grythsheader

General Stanley's army at Northburn was a potent but ramshackle one. Made up of a mixture of troops that escaped Helderny, militia and Sir Jarred Knowton's reinforcements, it numbered a total of 20,000 men including gunners and rear echelon troops. Though smaller than Salter's army had been at Helderny, it possessed far more artillery to the tune of sixty cannon, these were mostly guns taken from the fortifications at Helderny but also included cannon brought along with Sir Jarred Knowton's reinforcements and the galloper guns of Brigadier Crispe's dragoons.

Three infantry divisions made up the core of Stanley's force. These were the 1st (3,800) under Seyward Tillett, the 2nd (3,900) under Stanley himself, and the 5th (3,900) under the temporary command of Sir Jarred Knowton. The infantry was augmented by Knowton's elite 1st Foot Guards (600) and a division of militia (2,000), which was placed under the command of Colonel Matthew Schimmer. Stanley's only cavalry force was the Royal Brigade of Dragoons (1,400) under Geoffrey Crispe. The artillery was split into six batteries and consisted mostly of six-pounder cannons from the Helderny fortifications.

A detailed breakdown is as follows:
Commander-in-Chief: General Osgood Stanley

  • Artillery - 56 guns
    • 1st Battery - 8 guns (6pdr)
    • 2nd Battery - 8 guns (6pdr)
    • 3rd Battery - 8 guns (6pdr)
    • 4th Battery - 8 guns (6pdr)
    • 5th Battery - 10 guns (8pdr)
    • 6th Battery - 10 guns (12pdr)

Riverlander

Just as they did at Helderny, Tarringway's Riverlanders significantly outnumbered the Grythsheader army. The Riverlander army had taken three thousand casualties at Helderny and the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions, along with the cavalry corps, were still under strength although the arrival of 500 replacements had helped. The arrival of Lady Taewen's brigade of light cavalry had brought Tarringway's army back up to its pre-Helderny strength of 35,000 men but many were still inexperienced and suffering from a lack of battle experience. Also, the 24 cannon captured at Helderny had not yet entered service in the Riverlander army as Tarringway was awaiting the arrival of engineers and experienced gunners. Even without the captured guns, however, Tarringway's artillery was still strong and of higher calibres than the Grythsheader guns.

As at Helderny, the main component of Tarringway's army was the eight infantry divisions and the ad-hoc light and grenadier brigades. The cavalry came under the supervision of General Sarah Fitz-York and the army had forty-four pieces of artillery. The infantry divisions were Alexander Dunham's 1st (3,700), Harold Audley's 2nd (4,000), the 3rd (3,000) under the temporary command of Colonel Geoffrey Ingham, Lady Euphemia Sparrow's 4th (3,300), Sewell Cotton's 5th (2,900), Sir Percival Kent's 6th (3,000), Lord Bedingfeld's 7th (3,600), and Nicholas Yden's 8th (3,600). Also the Grenadier Brigade (800) was led by Colonel Higden and the Light Brigade (750) by the Baronetess Estone. The cavalry were the Brigade of Life Guards (600) commanded by Lord Chernocke, Dennis Beresford's 1st Cavalry Brigade (900), Robert Pen's 2nd Cavalry Brigade (750), and the brigade of lancers (400) led by Major Cambet after Colonel Culpeper was killed at Helderny. Also part of the cavalry was Lady Taewen's brigade (2,500), a strong brigade of irregular light cavalry from Ballaeter. This created a total of 28,650 infantry and 5,150 cavalry.

A detailed breakdown is as follows: Commander-in-Chief: General Lord Michael Fowler, 5th Earl of Tarringway

  • Artillery - 32 guns
    • 1st Field Battery - 8 guns (12pdr)
    • 2nd Field Battery - 8 guns (12pdr)
    • 1st Siege Battery - 6 guns (24pdr)
    • 2nd Siege Battery - 6 guns (6pdr howtizer)
    • Mortar Battery - 4 guns (12pdr mortars)

Battle

Battle was joined early on 15th January as Tarringway's army drew up for battle on the open plains facing Northburn. The armies were divided by the River Lochen, which bent around Northburn and was crossable at a large stone bridge on the main road from Helderny to Redmalden. The bridge was the only place on the battlefield that the river could be crossed. Stanley's infantry were drawn up in lines around the village of Northburn and his artillery was positioned in large batteries on the plentiful high ground around the village. The first shot was fired at 10:00 when the foremost Grythsheader battery began firing to disrupt Tarringway's deployment. Unlike at Helderny, where high ground was available to both armies, Tarringway had nowhere to hide his reserves and the full force of his army was drawn out in open ground

Lockmann's Bridge

The stone bridge across the Lochen was the most important place on the battlefield as it was the only place where Tarringway could cross the river to engage the Grythsheaders closely. For Stanley's part, he was content to keep the Riverlanders on the far bank and pound away with his artillery. The longer he could keep them from closing the distance, the more damage he could inflict with his guns. Although the Grythsheader guns were not as powerful as those at Helderny, they were plentiful and their lighter weight meant they could be moved quickly to turn their fire. Ammunition was in short supply, however, as Stanley had prioritised evacuating as many guns from Helderny as possible and had destroyed vast quantities of powder and shot to avoid their capture by the Riverlanders.

The bridge was held by a mixture of forces under the command of Sir Jarred Knowton. His own 1st Foot Guards had only 600 men and so their force was augmented with the militia under Colonel Schimmer. A portion of Crispe's dragoons were deployed to the left of the bridge with the brigade's four guns. With the rest of the army positioned some distance behind, this force (numbering about 3,000 in total) was merely a holding force to keep the Riverlanders on the far side of the Lochen for as long as possible. Schimmer's militia drew up in a line blocking the bridge and companies took up positions in a tollhouse and a wooden blockhouse. Armed with quality muskets and powder from the Helderny garrison, the milita were nevertheless poorly trained and organised with only ten officers for two-thousand men. Most of them were from Helderny and were motivated by the desire to retake their homes.

Tarringway's hopes were that his infantry could weather the storm of the Grythsheader bombardment and overwhelm Stanley's tired army. Before he could make any attempt on the main body of the Grythsheader force, however, he would have to take the bridge over the Lochen and destroy Knowton's holding force. While he oversaw the deployment of his main force, Tarringway delegated the task of taking the bridge to Lady Taewen. Along with Lady Taewen's own brigade, the flank brigades of Colonel Griffin Higden (Grenadiers) and the Baronetess Estone (Lights) were assigned to seize the bridge and hold the tollhouse and the blockhouse. Led by the two Riverlander brigades this force advanced on the bridge under the fire of the Grythsheader artillery, the artillery was inaccurate as the Grythsheader gunners had yet to ascertain the range at which they were aiming. The brigades divided and formed in thin lines to either side of the bridge and began firing at the defenders on the far bank. They were supported by the four galloper guns of the Ballaetan light cavalry. While the Riverlanders harassed the bridge's defenders from the far bank, Lady Taewen's brigade attacked across the bridge.

Led by the squadron of Sir Douglas Lockmann, the brigade crossed the bridge at the canter to keep together on the narrow bridge. The cavalry came under heavy musket fire but pushed on across the bridge and engaged Schimmer's militia on the other side. Though heavily engaged on both flanks by musket and carbine fire, the Ballaetans carved a path through the Grythsheader militia and put many of them to rout. With the militia fleeing towards the main body of the Grythseader army, two obstacles remained in the form of Crispe's dragoons and the remaining militia companies and Knowton's foot guards in the tollhouse and blockhouse. Intense musket fire compelled Lady Taewen to order her brigade to retreat back across the Lochen but Sir Douglas Lockmann remained against orders. Lockmann dismounted his squadron and, in the cover of the bridge's walls, his men returned the fire with carbines and pistols of their own. While Lady Taewen was reorganising her brigade, Colonel Higden and the Baronetess Estone rallied their own men and led them across the bridge to Lockmann's aid.

Artillery fire from Tarringway's main force began hitting the blockhouse where Sir Jarred Knowton had centered his defence. Aware that the wooden structure could not hold up to a sustained bombardment, Knowton ordered the retreat and his 1st Foot Guards withdrew in good order, covered by the remaining militiamen. Higden's grenadiers stormed the tollhouse and the collapsing blockhouse and captured what defenders remained. Forced back by gunfire, Crispe's dragoons abandoned their positions on the riverbank and fled back to the main force. The fight for the bridge had cost both sides around five hundred dead and wounded, while two hundred militiamen had been captured by Higden's Grendadier Brigade.

Dunham's Attack

With the bridge taken and Tarringway's army arrayed for battle, his planned attack on the main body of the Grythsheaders could begin. Three divisions, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry, were placed under the command of Alexander Dunham and ordered to cross the Lochen. Tarringway planned for Dunham's attack to sweep across the Grythseader right flank, as Dunham had done before at Helderny, and clear Stanley's artillery from the heights before Northburn. With the Grythsheader artillery neutralised, Tarringway could commit the rest of his army to surround and destroy Stanley's army entirely.

Dunham's three divisions marched off just after noon and problems began immediately. Casualties from the battle for the bridge had to be cleared to allow the infantry to cross and dead horses of Lady Taewen's brigade required several men to hoist over the side of the bridge. This delayed the crossing until 13:30. The Grythsheaders did not waste this time standing idle, the troops which survived the clash at the bridge were reformed and folded into the line. Stanley's engineers spent the extra time surveying the range of the Grythsheader guns and the gunners laid their pieces ready for the Riverlanders to carry on their advance. Without cavalry support, Dunham's infantry came under fire from Grythsheader skirmishers as they reformed on the Northburn side of the Lochen, this musketry was mostly an annoyance but still inflicted casualties including killing the colonel of the 17th Foot. When finally arrayed for battle at about 14:00, the advance continued towards the Grythsheader right.

After only a few minutes of marching, the Riverlander line suddenly came under fierce artillery fire from the heights. 56 Grythsheader guns, though mostly light, began a well-placed bombardment which held up the attack and caused severe casualties. The Riverlander guns were well out of range and there was not enough time to move them across the river. His three divisions suffering badly from the cannon fire, Dunham ordered a retreat and reformed his men along the bank of the Lochen, beyond the range of many of Stanley's guns. 700 men had been killed and wounded by the devastating bombardment without a single shot being fired by the Riverlanders. Conscious that Grythsheader reinforcements were on the way and time was critical, Tarringway ordered the army to disengage.

Riverlander Withdrawal

The 11,000 men of the Riverlander army who had crossed to the other side of the Lochen dejectedly marched back across the bridge. Though there was an attempt to destroy the bridge, most of the charges failed to detonate and those which did were impotent. Tarringway prevented his artillery from destroying the bridge in case it would be needed again during the campaign. By 17:00, the army was drawn up in column and Tarringway led the organised withdrawal to Helderny. He briefly considered the possiblity of outflanking Stanley by marching along the Lochen and finding another crossing but, though his staff urged him on, he decided to fall back on Helderny where he could expect further reinforcements and warm billets for his tired men.

For his part, Osgood Stanley refused to consider pursuing Tarringway. He was well aware that the Riverlanders still outnumbered his army significantly and that crossing the Lochen and inviting open battle was suicide. Having fought and gained a victory, however minor, he faced no dishonour by retreating but decided to stay where he was. The Grythsheader army dug in around Northburn to await reinforcements and supplies. The first men to arrive were a cavalry squadron of the Guard Lancers who had been sent to present Stanley with his promotion to full General and to escort Sir Eustace Salter's body back to Grythshead. Stanley accepted the promotion reluctantly but disapointedly informed them that Salter's body had not been recovered. In a prisoner exchange two days later, the body was returned by the Riverlanders.

Aftermath

Having sustained 1,200 casualties, Tarringway's army retreated to Helderny in a state of depression. As opposed to the more experienced troops of the Grythsheader army, the new Riverlander troops were prone to swift changes of mood. Helderny had boosted the morale of the Riverlander army significantly and the costly disapointment of Northburn had lowered it. Tarringway himself was mostly unphased by the defeat, only lamenting the loss of life but remaining relatively unperturbed by his first defeat. From prisoners, the Riverlanders learned much about the Grythsheader dispositions, their new commander, and that reinforcements from the 5th Division had already arrived. Heavy rainfall on the 16th and 17th kept the Riverlanders in Helderny and the arrival of 2,000 replacements on the 19th brought Tarringway's divisions up to strength. On the 20th, cavalry scouts reported a crossing point at the market town of Redmalden. Lady Taewen's brigade rode ahead of the main army to secure Redmalden and Tarringway marched out later that day.

Victorious at Northburn, Stanley's men entrenched themselves around the village to protect from the weather. Reinforcements and supplies, mostly of ammunition, steadily trickled in over the next week. A large body of militia from accross the county arrived under the command of the Bishop of Evenburgh along with the main body of the Guards Lancers Regiment and the Grythsheader 6th Division. Now thirty-thousand strong, Stanley's army was still outnumbered but not as significantly and orders from the King forced Stanley to move against Tarringway. Refugees from Redmalden brought news of the town's fall to the Ballaetan brigade of Lady Taewen and Stanley marshalled his army to march on Redmalden the next day. On 24th January, the armies met at the Battle of Redmalden.

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