First Battle of Bradwater

First Battle of Bradwater
Part of Second Imperial-Balonic War
Date 1st May 1871 Location Bradwater, West Oakcliffe Commonwealth of Oakcliffe, Balion Result Imperial Victory Imperial troops occupy Bradwater
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch	United States of Balion
Commanders and leaders
Sir Ian Carrin-Jones Marquess of Tevetdale	Gabriel H. Beauchamp
Strength
13 warships 40,000 soldiers	1,800 soldiers 3,000 militia

The First Battle of Bradwater was an engagement of the Second Imperial-Balionic War, the first major battle of the war and the opening engagement of the Bradwater Campaign It was fought by Vionna-Frankenlischian forces under Admiral Sir Ian Carrin-Jones and the Marquess of Tevetdale, against Balionic regulars and militia defending Bradwater under the command of General Gabriel H. Beauchamp.

In response to the Balionic seizure of Fort Edward, war broke out between Vionna-Frankenlisch and Balion and an invasion force was despatched from Frankenlisch to retake the fort. Capturing the city of Bradwater was also a main objective, as the Fort could not be held without it. 40,000 soldiers under the Marquess of Tevetdale made up the Imperial Balion Corps.

Background

After the war began with the Balionic attack on Fort Edward on 12th April, the Imperial government had made the recapture of the fort and a swift return to the status quo its war aims. This was soon considered insufficient as Fort Edward, located in the center of Gestoria Bay, West Oakcliffe, would be highly vulnerable as long as the surrounding city of Bradwater remained in Balionic hands. Quickly a plan developed to not only retake the fort but also to capture Bradwater and use it as a bargaining chip to secure a swift victory. Sir Ian Carrin-Jones was given command of a naval squadron of 13 warships and an auxiliary fleet of 40 transports and an army corps of 40,000 troops was assembled under the Marquess of Tevetdale. These forces set sail from Frankenlisch on 18th April and arrived off the coast of New Frankenlisch on the 30th.

Opposing Forces

Imperial

Lord Tevetdale's Imperial Balion Corps was made up of two infantry divisions, an infantry brigade, a cavalry division and six batteries of artillery. The corps was organised as follows:

• Glynmoran Division - 8 battalions in two brigades under Major General Robert Cochrane, Baron Balstow
• Guards Division - 8 battalions in two brigades under Major General Richard Halliwell, Viscount Ravenstern
• Ballaeter Brigade - 4 battalions under Major General Edward Bastamore, Earl of Kennilone
• Frankenlisch Cavalry Division - 6 regiments in 2 brigades under Sir Alexander Pender

Six batteries of seven guns each were part of the corps but were not involved in the battle. Artillery support was provided by the Imperial warships. Marines of the Imperial Navy were also involved in the battle but were not part of the IBC. Sir Ian Carrin-Jones' squadron consisted of the following warships:

• HMNS Beauclare - Central-battery ironclad of 22 guns
• HMNS Battingworth - Central-battery ironclad of 22 guns
• HMNS Royal Prince - Ship-of-the-line of 98 guns
• HMNS Imperial Scepter - Ship-of-the-line of 98 guns
• HMNS Recruit - Steam frigate of 32 guns
• HMNS Tiger - Steam frigate of 28 guns
• HMNS Phoenix - Steam frigate of 28 guns
• HMNS Lion - Steam frigate of 24 guns
• HMNS Highflyer - Steam frigate of 30 guns
• HMNS Amphitrite - Steam frigate of 34 guns
• HMNS Ajax - Steam frigate of 18 guns
• HMNS Hornet - Steam frigate of 42 guns
• HMNS Cossack - Steam frigate of 30 guns

Balionic

General Gabriel H. Beauchamp's defending forces were vastly outnumbered and mostly militiamen. He had not left a garrison at Fort Edward following its capture earlier in the month and the fort was undefended. In total the Balionic forces numbered 4,800 troops with twenty-two pieces of artillery. With the exception of the batteries emplaced around Gestoria Bay, the Balionic forces were not well dug-in with only a few street barricades within Bradwater itself. The Balionic forces consisted of the following:

• 8th West Oakcliffe Regiment - 800 men under General Gabriel H. Beauchamp
• B Company, 11th West Oakcliffe Regiment - 100 men under Captain T. Wickens
• West Oakcliffe Engineer Company - 300 men under Major O.P. Docherty
• 4th Union (West Oakcliffe) Artillery - 6 guns, 200 men under Captain W. McDunnon
• 5th Union (West Oakcliffe) Artillery - 6 guns, 200 men under Major K.T. Allen
• 1st West Oakcliffe (Militia) Artillery - 4 guns, 100 men under Lieutenant Veld
• 2nd West Oakcliffe (Militia) Artillery - 3 guns, 80 men under Lieutenant S. Strevens
• 1st Siege Artillery - 3 mortars, 80 men under Captain V. Travers
• 1st Squadron, 3rd (West Oakcliffe) Dragoons - 120 troopers under Captain P. Deckwin
• 2nd West Oakcliffe Militia - 600 men under Major H.H. Hollens
• 3rd West Oakcliffe Militia - 550 men under Major W. Mulchahey
• 4th West Oakcliffe Militia - 550 men under Lt Colonel P.O. Richter
• 6th West Oakcliffe Militia - 600 men under Colonel F. Watringham
• West Oakcliffe Volunteer (Militia) Engineer Company - 150 men under Captain K.P. Mitchell
• Bradwater Precinct, West Oakcliffe Police (Militia) - 70 men under Commander E. Whitmore
• 1st Bradwater Volunteer Rifles (Militia) - 200 men under Major L. Parker
• 2nd Bradwater Volunteer Rifles (Militia) - 200 men under Captain A. Price
• 3rd Bradwater Volunteer Rifles (Militia) - 200 men under Lieutenant A. Tarasov
• 4th Bradwater Volunteer Rifles (Militia) - 200 men under Captain M.L. Morton
• 1st West Oakcliffe (Militia) Horse - 100 men under Captain P. James

Battle

Before landings begun, the Imperial squadron nosed its way into Gestoria Bay led by the ironclad HMNS Battingworth. Sir Ian Carrin-Jones' flagship, Beauclare followed, with the frigates Ajax and Lion behind that as they were considered the sturdiest of the smaller ships of the squadron. News of the Imperial fleet's arrival had reached Bradwater the night before and General Beauchamp had enough time to site his batteries and establish some light defences. Beauchamp's two federal batteries, the 4th and 5th West Oakcliffe, were placed overlooking Fort Edward from the east and west banks of the bay respectively. No garrison had been placed in Fort Edward. The seven guns of the 1st and 2nd West Oakcliffe militia artillery were positioned singularly around the small port of Bradwater at the end of the bay, commanded by a Lieutenant Veld they covered the jetties and were able to fire across to any potential landing-point around Bradwater itself. When the Imperial fleet arrived off Gestoria Bay at noon, observers rode to spread the warning and the batteries were ready for action by the time the first Imperial warships began sailing into the bay at 1300. General Beauchamp made his headquarters at the Saint Morgan Hotel in the middle of Bradwater but he was visiting the east batteries when the Imperial ships entered the bay and gave the command to begin firing himself at 1205.

Fort Edward

Carrin-Jones was unperturbed by the Balionic gunfire which was initially inaccurate. HMNS Beauclare fired back with her eight starboard 10-inch guns. Though the guns themselves were powerful, the crews manning them were inexperienced and strict loading procedures led to a lower rate-of-fire. Imperial counter-battery fire was ineffective against the well-entrenched and concealed Balionic guns. One battery of six guns was distributed over an area of 500 meters which made precise aiming difficult. Though the Imperial gunners were unable to destroy any of the Balionic artillery, the ironclads were impervious to the fire they were receiving and the Imperial counter-battery efforts were at least able to blind the Balionic gunners with smoke. At 1220, boats were launched from Beauclare and Battingworth carrying marines to take Fort Edward. Unoccupied, the fort was taken by 1300 but, with no ammunition for its guns, remained uninvolved for the rest of the battle.

The landings were led by Lieutenant Frederick Fitz-Howarth, second officer of Beauclare, and involved 200 marines in a variety of small boats. There were no casualties as the boats were shielded by the ironclads, protecting them from Balionic fire. One cutter was lost when it was broken against an unseen cluster of fort debris but its occupants all reached safety relatively unharmed. Sergeant Farris of Beauclare's marine contingent raised the Imperial flag over Fort Edward at 1310 and the attention of the Imperial commanders turned to landing troops on the mainland.

Landings

With Fort Edward taken and the Balionic artillery under heavy Imperial fire, the order was given for the transports carrying the Imperial Balion Corps to move up. The ships carrying the cavalry, artillery, and supplies were at the rear as these were not expected to land until the port had been taken. At the front were the transports carrying the Glynmoran and Guards divisions, protected by the frigates Recruit and Hornet. Ninety-six small boats had been prepared to allow significant numbers of infantry to land immediately. These were carried aboard the transports or towed behind them and it took an hour for the Imperial troops to move from their transports into the boats. During this time the ironclads and the Balionic batteries fought a fierce artillery duel that nonetheless caused little damage to either side. The shallow waters prevented the Imperial warships from moving closer to shore and they were forced to remain in the middle of the bay around Fort Edward firing away from distance.

By 1420, the boats carrying the first landing wave had been manouvred into position around Fort Edward.