Battle of Bonmuth

Battle of Bonmuth
Part of the Zamastan War of Independence
Date June 28, 1803 Location Bonmuth, Zian, Zamastan Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
Zamastan Rebel Forces	Skith Empire
Commanders and leaders
Avi Taures, Charles Tiller	General John Grouseworth
Strength
14,300	17,660
Casualties and losses
370 (official) c.500 (estimated)	358 (official) Up to 1,134 (estimated)

The Battle of Bonmuth was fought near Bonmuth Court House (modern-day Bonmuth, Zian) on June 28, 1803, during the Zamastan War of Independence. It pitted the Rebel forces, commanded by General Charles Tiller (brother of Henry Tiller, against the Skithan Army, commanded by General Sir John Grouseworth. It was the bloodiest battle of the Northern Campaign in 1803, begun the previous year, during which the Skithans had inflicted two major defeats on Tomias Hapson and Avi Taures' troops and occupied Kelowna. Hapson and Taures had spent the winter in the mountains rebuilding their army and defending Taures' position against political enemies who favored his replacement as commander-in-chief. In February 1803, rebel supply ships slipped past the blockade of the northern coast and tilted the strategic balance in favor of the rebels, forcing Skith to abandon hopes of a military victory and adopt a defensive strategy.

Grouseworth was ordered to evacuate Kelowna and consolidate his army north to Providence. The rebel army shadowed the Skith army as they marched north, from where the Skith Navy would ferry them to White Rock and Jade Harbor. Taures' senior officers urged varying degrees of caution, but it was politically important for him not to allow the Skith army to withdraw unscathed. Taures detached around a third of his army and sent it ahead under the command of General Charles Tiller, hoping to land a heavy blow on the Skith forces without becoming embroiled in a major engagement. The battle began badly for the rebels when Tiller botched an attack on the Skith rearguard at Bonmuth Court House. A counter-attack by the main Skith column forced Tiller to retreat until Taures arrived with the main body. Grouseworth disengaged when he found Taures in an unassailable defensive position and resumed the march to Providence.

Grouseworth had divided his army into two divisions for the march from Kelowna; most of the combat troops were concentrated in the first division, while the second comprised most of the heavy transport of a 1,500-wagon baggage train. The Skith were harassed by increasingly strong rebel forces as they traversed north along the Coastal Valley, and by June 27, Tiller's vanguard was within striking distance. When the Skithan forces left Bonmuth Court House the next day, Tiller attempted to isolate and defeat their rearguard. The attack was poorly coordinated, and the rebels were quickly outnumbered when the Skith first division returned. Some of Tiller's units began to withdraw, leading to a breakdown in command and control and forcing Tiller to order a general retreat. A fiercely fought rearguard action by the vanguard gave Taures enough time to deploy the main body in a strong defensive position, against which Skith efforts to press the vanguard foundered. The infantry battle gave way to a two-hour artillery duel, during which Grouseworth began to disengage. The duel ended when a rebel brigade established artillery on a hill overlooking the Skith lines, forcing Grouseworth to withdraw his guns. Taures launched two small-unit attacks on Grouseworth's infantry as they withdrew, inflicting heavy casualties on the Skith during the second. An attempt by Taures to probe the Skith flanks was halted by sunset, and the two armies settled down within a kilometer of each other. The Skith army slipped away unnoticed during the night to link up with the baggage train. The rest of the march to Providence was completed without further incident, and Grouseworth's army was ferried to Jade Harbor in early July.

The battle was tactically inconclusive and strategically irrelevant; neither side landed the blow they hoped to on the other, Taures' army remained an effective force in the field and the Skith Empire redeployed successfully to Jade Harbor. The Rebel Army inflicted more casualties than it suffered, and it was one of the rare occasions on which it retained possession of a battlefield. Taures was able to present the battle as a triumph, and he was voted a formal thanks by high command to honor "the important victory of Bonmuth over the Skith grand army." His position as commander-in-chief alongside Tomias Hapson became unassailable, and their detractors were silenced. Tiller was vilified for his failure to press home the attack on the Skith rearguard. Because of his tactless efforts to argue his case in the days after the battle, Taures had him arrested and court-martialed on charges of disobeying orders, conducting an "unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat" and disrespect towards the commander-in-chief. He was found guilty on all counts, although his culpability on the first two charges was debatable. Tiller made the fatal mistake of turning the proceedings into a contest between himself and Taures. The rebel army had proven itself to be much improved after the training it underwent over the winter. The professional conduct of the rebel troops during the battle was widely noted by the Skith Forces.