O' Maryland, My Maryland (actually, you should have let the Brits takeBaltimore)

Today was my big day of driving around to War of 1812 sites. Unfortunately I only made two-Bladensburg and North Point. I'm posting from my iPhone, so I'm not sure about pics but I'll do my best.

I blew out of Baltimore this morning at about 10:30 and successfully navigated my way south toward D.C. Not an easy feat given the aggressive drivers near our nation's capital. Lots of highway should make it easy to find things, but it doesn't. I finally broke down and used information from websites and the GPS feature on my phone to locate the village of Bladensburg on Maryland Hwy 1.

Bladensburg is located on both sides of the Anacostia River. It seems pretty unprosperous by any standard I'm used to. The Maryland Historical Association/Society received a grant to begin studying the battlefield, which includes the state highway bridge over the river and a lot of privately owned businesses.

There are two valuable sites to see in Bladensburg. First is the Waterfront Park on the river. From here you can look across the Anacostia along the British line of advance. The other site is the Fort Lincoln Funeral Home/Cemetery-strange place for awar memorial. Yet, at the top of the hill behind the largest structure on the grounds is a marker showing the position of Joshua Barney's flotilla men and a memorial to the handful of Marines that accompanied him.

North Point post tomorrow

Fort Lincoln Cemetery is located on the site of Fort Lincoln, an actual Civil War fort in the outer defenses of Washington D.C.  In the distance is Lowndes Hill which was more easily defended than the Bladensburg crossing

View upriver to the (Maryland) Highway 1 bridge.  Likely crossing point for the British, and proposed archaeological site.for Maryland Historical Society

Marker for the small band of Marines that fought alongside Barney's bluejackets.

Barney's view from the American third line, down the hill toward the Anacostia crossing

 

 

 

Plaque dedicated to Barney in the Fort Lincoln Cemetery

British view of their line of advance across the Anacostia River.  Taken from the Bladensburg waterfront park.

Bladensburg: The British

72 hours since my last visit to TMP.  The urge is growing less all the time. 

The British marched to the Bladensburg battlefield under orders from Admiral Cockburn to punish Brother Jonathan.  The British force, commanded by General Robert Ross, was landed on August 19th,  marched up the Patuxent River, accompanied by come of Cockburn's smaller vessels.  He forced the burning of Barney's flotilla of gunboats before turning inland toward Washington and Baltimore.

Robert Ross forces his way into Washington D.C. through the American lines at Bladensburg.

Again, the scale for this battle are 50 men per stand.  We use the Regimental Fire and Fury rules, plus the additional support provided for the War of 1812.

The British order of battle for Bladensburg is as follows:

Commander:  General Robert Ross

1st Brigade (light infantry) Col. William Thornton
Converged Light Infantry battalion           six stands                        veteran light infantry
85th Regt.                                                  twelve stands                   veteran light infantry
Royal Marine light infantry                       four stands                      veteran light infantry

All these troops are capable of fighting in extended (skirmish) order.  Facing the Maryland militia, with three sections of artillery in fairly close proximity requires this brigade to form skirmish order and cross the bridge in skirmish order.

2nd Brigade Col. Arthur Brooke
4th Regt.                                                   eight stands                     veteran line infantry
44th Regt.                                                 eight stands                     veteran line infantry
Royal Marine rocket battery          three-four sections                     veteran rocketeers

This brigade appears at the bridge on turn 3.  The rocket battery was extremely mobile and should be two-action artillery.   The battery had some sixty rocket frames and fired quickly.  If you have a copy of Rocket’s Red Glare, the rules by Canadian Wargamers Group, you might take a look at the rocket template in those rules.

3rd Brigade: Col. Patterson

21st Regt.                                                eight stands                      veteran line infantry 

2nd Battalion Royal Marines                  eight stands                      veteran line infantry 

elements 3rd Battalion Royal Marines    four stands                        veteran line infantry 

Colonial Marines                                     four stands                        trained line infantry

 This group appears at the bridge on turn 6.  

A modern view of the Bladensburg battlefield.

We've played this scenario a couple of times, and both times, nobody was particularly satisfied with the outcome.  The Americans just can't be as bad as their morale and training were, and can't be as poorly led as badly as their political and military leaders made use of them.  However, I'm working on it.  

This summer I'll be painting a unit of the Annapolis militia and the U.S. Marines using Knuckleduster Miniatures.  I'll also finish assembling and paint up the battalion of converged British light infantry using Victrix figures.  Maybe I'll get more than that done in July and August, but I'm not going to stress myself out about it. 

Planning for Bladensburg: American Order of Battle

I've been able to stay away from TMP for 24 hours.

I am actually trying to plan for my summer painting and I've pretty much settled on the two areas I'll be painting.  Once I clear my painting table of  a few extraneous units I'm working on, I'll focus on two projects.  The first is the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, and the second is the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.

Bladensburg is the battle outside Washington D.C. in 1814.  There is a simple synopsis.  The Americans, with a superiority in numbers opposed the crossing of what is now the Anacostia River by a British force.  The British fired some Congreve rockets at them and the Americans fled.  Though some units in the American third line resisted heroically, they were outnumbered by the advancing British, were overwhelmed and the Brits marched on to Washington. 

Lossing's map shows the deployments of the Americans.

Doug and I have run Bladensburg before, but I've decided to paint all the units actually at the battle.  We will use Regimental Fire and Fury with the War of 1812 modifications.  Each four man stand represents 50 men.  I'm working in 28mm, but there are certainly some fine 15mm War of 1812 ranges from Old Glory and Blue Moon. I'll be using Old Glory and Knuckleduster miniatures for my Americans, and Victrix and Old Glory for the British. The source is Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812.

American Order of Battle  under command of General Winder

American First Line-Pinkney
Pinkney's Maryland Riflemen           three stands                raw militia
Maryland Militia Artillery                 three sections 6 pdrs. raw militia

Sterret's 5th Maryland eventually broke after its supporting units dissolved.  But it regained its reputation as a fighting militia unit as depicted by Troiani fighting at North Point.

The first line is entrenched, facing the bridge the British will cross over the Anacostia River. Unfortunately the embrasures for the guns are designed for larger guns, and the gunners are forced to scrape out new ones.

American Second Line--Stansbury
Sterret's 5th Maryland Battalion        nine stands                   trained militia
Schurz's Maryland Militia                  seven stands                raw militia
Raglan's Maryland Militia                 seven stands                 raw militia

These troops, together with Pinkney's small corps form the volunteers from Baltimore.  Their original position, supporting Pinkney was changed by James Monroe, Secretary of State.  Monroe sent them up the hill to the rear, to far away to be a support to Pinkney and exposed to fire from the British rocket batteries and musket fire.

American Third Line-General Winder.

Joshua Barney led his mixed force of green regulars, Marines and bluejackets to the battlefield at Bladensburg.  His naval gunners did great execution among the British, but their resistance collapsed when Barney fell wounded.

 

This line begins arriving on turn 1 and includes the following troops:

 

Scott’s Regulars                                              six stands                    raw regulars

Marines                                                           three stands                 veterans

Barney’s Flotillamen                                       six stands                   veterans

Barney’s Naval Artillery                                 two sections                naval guns

The next group begins arriving on Turn 4 and includes the following troops:

Beal’s Annapolis Militia                                 six stands        raw militia

Morrison’s Annapolis Militia                         six stands        raw militia

Wadsworth’s Militia Artillery                         two sections    raw militia artillery

The final groups begins arriving on Turn 7 and includes the following units: 

Three Units of District Militia                        Four stands each         raw militia

The Americans mustered about 6,900 men for the battle.  Of those troops, about 700 or so were regulars.  The rest were militia.  Of the militia, only the 5th Maryland had a reputation for being well drilled, and well trained.  The rest were raw.