Sir William heads for home ...

After Cheriton the Royalist forces had been scattered - most of the horse remaining had gone north with Hopton and Forth to Oxford; of the poor foot, most had either surrendered or been cut down - however some had made it to Winchester and sought refuge in the castle and city.

There were Parliamentarian horse patrols all over the place; Sir William de Willoughby with what was left of his regiment of horse and dragoons plus a few stragglers had decided to return home to northern Wiltshire - they went by the back ways to the south of Winchester....

before turning northward to make for Hungerford, Sir William sent a couple of riders ahead to Salisbury to warn the garrison there and order them to fall back north to Devizes.

Waller was driving the royalists out of Hampshire; most of the army was on it ways to Winchester, part had been detached to root out the remaining garrisons - Bishops Waltham was put under siege.

The Battle of Cheriton

Game report appropriately posted 370 years since the day of the actual battle (29th of March 1644).

The royalists make the first move by attacking the wood, the dragoons move forward and exchange fire with the defenders ....

 The royalist dragoons are in the wood and pushing the opposition back

 While wood is secured, the royalist foot start their advance, supported my a forward movement of some horse on their flank....

 The parliamentarians react - Haselrig charges the royalist horse with his 'lobsters' ...

While the melee is in progress Lord Forth orders royalist horse to attack the parliamentarian horse on the common ...

 Haselrig's lobsters rout the royalist horse ....

 While Haselrig get his lobsters under control, the engagement between the horse on the common intensifies ....

 The parliamentarians have beaten the royalists back leaving the royalist infantry flank exposed ....

 Waller orders the parlimentarian infantry forward, while Haselrig has rallied his lobsters and is positioned to attack the royalist foot with Bard's regiment forming a schiltron ....

 The parliamentarians led by Sir Warwick Hunt attack the wood, the royalist foot tries to withdraw in some sort of order...

 The parlimentarian horse on the other flank have charged and are being held .....

 Hopton's regiment tries to protect the withdrawal ...

 The royalist horse having seen off the parliamentarian horse, are ordered to cover the retreat by Sir William de Willoughby ......

 The resolve of the royalist foot crumbles and they rout off the field .....Haslerig attacks Bard's regiment as they break ranks to flee ......

A victory for Parliament ....

Cheriton - opposing forces take up their positions .....

On the right Lord Forth's royalist cavalry can see the opposing parliamentarian cavalry commanded by Haselrig who are deployed in front of Cheriton village.

In the centre Lord Hoption looks across the valley to see Waller in command of the main body of parliamentarian foot...

 On the left Sir William de Willoughby is tasked to protect the flank and clear the wood with help from Appleyards regiment of foot.

 The parliamentarian foot in the wood - ready for action.

 In command of the parliamentarian right behind the wood is Sir Warwick Hunt ....

both sides prepare for battle  - who will make the first move ?

to be continued

Preparation for Cheriton

While the two armies are doing their 'historical' manouvers I've been getting the gaming table ready for the re-fight of Cheriton. I've managed to get the key features in place - the wood on the left and the hedged common in front of Cheriton (represented by two low relief buildings).

 

 Next thing to do is to fit in both of the delpoyed armies ... time to get the soldiers out to play ...

A scout from Waller's army checks the lie of the land ...

 

Royalists Muster at Tictchbourne

Lord Hopton has called a muster of his forces at Titchbourne (to the west of Winchester, south of Alresford).

Some troops are already there and set up camp, others are arriving - officers are marshalling the troops, counting numbers and assigning places to camp ........

The weather closes in ....

The weather has turned and its has been snowing.  At Twyford William de Willoughby has finished checking there is enough fodder for the horses and has stopped by a sentry post to warm up by their fire...

The bad weather has stopped any action, both sides hunker down to keep warm ...

Royalists retake Romsey....

In early February Romsey had been retaken by a small Royalist force and then lost again a couple of days later to the parliamentarians.

Sir William de Willoughby was ordered to re-take and hold Romsey. He left Twyford at dawn taking his regiment of horse and dragoons.

After a brisk skirmish on the edge of Romsey, the dragoons entered the town ....

A bit later Sir William with his regiment of horse entered the town taking control of the market square, the dragoons flushing out the remnants of the parliamentarian garrison