Saturday 3 July 2010

The Battle of Hungerford

At Hungerford the Parliamentarian army faces the Royalists; they have formed up just to the west of the road to Wantage.
Both sides eyed up the opposition, there was some hesitancy in deciding to move forward; neither side was willing to make the first move.  The battle started in the mid-morning with a desultory exchange of artillery fire.  The commander of horse on the royalist left urges his men forward ...
As the royalist horse move, the parliamentarian cuirassiers start to trot forewards
Meanwhile on the other flank the royalist horse and foot are advancing ....
While the foot exchange vollies the horse get stuck in ...

While the rest of the royalist foot move forewards, the action on their right flank intensifies...
The parliamentarian cuirassiers charge forward, the royalist horse hesitated and failed to counter charge and are pushed back, they are gettting the worst of the melee
The royalist horse break and rout, the cuirassier follow and head off to plunder the baggage train ...
The battle in the centre heats up, the lead royalist regiment is at 'push of pike' with the opposition ..
On the royalist right flank their horse won the melee and pursue the parliamentarian horse ...
The royalist horse are unable to resist the tempting target of the parliamentarian baggage train ...
In the centre the parliamentarian foot have won the melee and the lead royalist foot has routed, as it streams past the supporting regiment the artillery crew loose their nerve and run ...
The cuirassiers have returned and pose a threat to the royalist left, one of the foot regiments forms a shiltron. The rest of the royalist foot refuse to advance and start to edge backwards ...
The royalist horse return only to find themselves having to cover the retreat of royalist foot ...
The royalists retreat leaving the field of battle to the parliamentarians 
-  A Victory for Parliament