Battle of Highgarden
| Battle of Highgarden | |||||||
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| File:Uhtred Shieldwall.jpg "Uhtred's Shieldwall" - Oil on canvas, 1812 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Template:Country data Castarcia Empire of Castarcia |
 BryteneTemplate:Country data House Canillac Template:Country data House Gallagher Template:Country data Castarcia 'Lucite' rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Template:Country data Castarcia Empress Hermione |
King Uhtred VI Template:Country data House Canillac Lord Arthur | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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Template:Country data Castarcia 1,200 knights & women/men-at-arms 4,000 infantry 800 crossbowmen and crossbowwomen |
600 thegns 400 archers Template:Country data House Canillac 400 spearmen 200 archers Template:Country data House Gallagher 400 infantry 150 crossbow archers Template:Country data Castarcia250 cavalry | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Template:Country data Castarcia 800 killed, 1,000 wounded, 600 prisoner TOTAL: 2,400 |
180 killed, 200 wounded Template:Country data House Canillac 150 killed, 120 wounded Template:Country data House Gallagher 80 killed, 80 wounded Template:Country data Castarcia70 killed, 50 taken prisoner TOTAL: 930 | ||||||
The Battle of Highgarden was a clash between the Empire of Castarcia and forces loyal to the Kingdom of Brytene in the spring of 1264, as part of the larger Hundred Years' War raging between the two nations. Empress Hermione attempted to cut off and destroy a large part of the Brytisc strength in the area of Parovea, but was repulsed with heavy losses suffered by both sides.
Background
For several decades, Brytisc lords and bannermen had been settling the region of Parovea, killing and displacing Castarcian citizens and working with the local House Gallagher to establish a new province along the coastline.
The Brytisc had adopted a tactic of fortifying towns and castles, using them as powerbases to control the region without fear of reprisal, and Empress Hermione knew that her best chance at breaking the Brytisc power in the area was to catch their armies out in the open.
She had marshalled a large army, but she advanced with her vanguard in hopes of catching the Brytisc unaware when her spies reported that King Uhtred VI was leading his personal army, along with units loyal to House Canillac and House Gallagher, south to threaten her advance.
Battle
Order of Battle
The Castarcian Empire
The Castarcian Empire was large and wealthy. Though they lacked gunpowder at the time, they had an abundance of heavily armed and armoured cavalry, as well as plenty of crossbow militia. Compared to the Brytisc infantry, Castarcian foot soldiers were lightly armed.
The Brytisc
In comparison to the Castarcians, the Brytisc had practically no cavalry other than a few light scouts. The surprise arrival of some Lucite rebels added over 200 armoured lances to the Brytisc lines, but in such small numbers they were not able to make much of a difference.
Otherwise, the Brytisc army consisted mostly of heavy infantry with a scattering of powerful longbowmen.
Combat
The Castarcians used their knowledge of the land, as well as their superior numbers of cavalry, to set an ambush for the invaders, aiming to sweep down the valley the Brytisc were marching in and cause a rout, killing or capturing them with a single opening hammer blow, letting the infantry and crossbow soldiers take the hills to either side to seal off any chance of retreat.
The Brytisc were caught off-guard and in marching order by the attack, and only timely intervention by the Lucite cavalry allowed the column to extricate itself and escape back down the valley, where they climbed to Highgarden, a monastery and brewery on a shallow grassy slope, clear of trees.
The Lucite charge was reckless and costly, with roughly 70 knights killed and almost as many taken prisoner. The remaining Lucites fled the field, chased away by superior numbers of Castarcian heavy cavalry, which left the Brytisc completely lacking in cavalry screening.
The hill of Highgarden, however, proved to be more of a challenge than either side had reckoned with. The Castarcians opened with a heavy cavalry charge that arrived at the top of the hill in disarray, the horses blown, and the cavalry baulked rather than charge into a thick shieldwall.
After several attempts to break the Brytisc line, the Castarcian infantry moved up, screened by crossbow fire, but a prevailing wind meant that the Brytisc archers atop the hill far outranged the Castarcians and their long arrows took their toll. The Castarcian infantry pressed the Brytisc shieldwall hard, but the more heavily-armed and desperate Brytisc managed to hold their ground, forcing the Castarcians back repeatedly.
King Uhtred himself led a counter-charge which saw the capture of many important Castarcian nobles and leaders, though Empress Hermione was not amongst them.
The fighting lasted for the better part of the day. By dusk, both armies were exhausted and had lost almost a third of their fighting strength. In the night the Brytisc slipped away, leaving the Castarcians effective masters of the field.
Aftermath
The Brytisc forces and their allies retreated to a nearby stronghold, and began to harass and raid the Castarcian supply lines instead of facing them in open battle. The prisoners captured in the battle were ransomed back to Castarcia for large sums of money, arguably the most profit the Brytisc ever saw from Parovea.
Although the Brytisc and their allies had inflicted heavy losses on the Castarcian army, they were losses the Castarcians could afford, whilst the Brytisc were thin on the ground and could ill-afford to lose so many soldiers at once.
This battle effectively ended the presence of Brytisc armies on the open field in Parovea and dampened enthusiasm for further incursions. However, the Brytisc network of fortifications and castles, along with their large number of adept longbow skirmishers, meant that they were able to frustrate Castarcian attempts to retake the region for years to come.