Rising of the Clans After Action Report: Turns 5-8

Turn 5: On the British right, Lascelle's mortars find the range on Roy Stewart's men, infilicting two casualties. Cholmondeley continues to be sluggish in deploying his brigade, but does manage to get one of his regiments to form a line behind the beleagured 8th Foot. Macdonald pulls back his cavlary to the hill to reorganize.

Murray is still lacking urgency in trying to support Drummond's vulnerable brigade.

Drummond is able to get his artillery sited and it fires, but doesn't do any damage. In trying to pull back Glengarry's regiment he rolls an "11" and can no longer issue any orders. This leaves Clan Glengarry exposed to Mordaunt's fire which does terrible effect, reducing the regiment to "worn" status.

At the end of the turn, Olgilvey's large brigade of lowlanders arrives on the Jacobite left. Though low in quality, their six battalions will add a lot of weight to the attack on the British right.

Turn 6: On this turn, both sides suffered from poor command rolls. Olgilvey's lowlanders refused to adavance and Mordaunt failed his command roll as well, giving Drummond the chance to pull back his battered regiments and reorganize them.

Roy Stewart's mortars inflict a casualty on the depleted 8th Foot, now minus a complete stand.

Upon the completion of this fairly quiet turn both sides receive their final allotment of reinforcements. Wolf enters on the British right, but is unable to advance due to the problems Cholmondeley is having getting his men into position. Campbell brings his brigade of militia and government highlanders in on the road behind the British center. For the Jacobites, Stapleton's French regulars and Perth's Atholl brigade march in from the center. Macdonald also begins to move his cavalry to support Drummond on the right.

Turn 7: Once again, Olgilvey is unable to press his men forward with any vigor. A very frustrated Prince Charles attaches himself to this command to try to light a fire under them. Stewart's artillery, despite being worn, fires upon Cholmondeley's limbered battery and gets two hits. When Cholmondeley tries to pull it back, he rolls an "11". His inablility as a commander is becomming epic. In stark contrast, Wolf gets three actions and moves his brigade to shore up the British center which is almost certainly going to be attacked soon.

Murray finally gets his men up to the front, drawing the attention of the British artillery dug in near the church. Cannon balls tear into on of his regiments now formed into an attack column, causing losses.

On the British left, brigades are stacking up. General Hawley recognizes that something must be done to clear the way for Legonier's cavalry to get across the ford and come to grips with the Jacobite infantry. He orders Mordaunt to push two of his regiments forward. He rolls and only gets on action for each of them. They are only able to move three inches and are disordered by the waist-deep river. This presents a remarkable opportunity for Lord Drummond, but when his card comes up he rolls a "12" and the moment eludes him.

Stapleton's crack regiments move rapidly to the aid of Drummond. The Duke of Perth, in contrast, marches at a much more leisurely pace.

Turn 8: Things on the Jacobite left are fairly quiet. Olgilvey's men, despite the efforts of the Bonnie Prince, continue to move to the front cautiously. Being in march column, even the crippled battery of Cholmondeley can't miss and causes two casualties on Olgilvey's lead regiment. On the other flank, Mordaunt personally takes charge of th 27th Foot and charges the Lochiel Camerons. He narrowly wins the combat, creating some space on the other side of the ford, but he is lightly wounded in the process. Drummond orders Clan Barksdale to counterattack Mordaunt's other regiment which they do with enthusiasm, driving them back across the river. This small clan will prove to be some of the best fighters in the Prince's army before the day is over.

The real action of this turn, though, is in the center of the line. Lord Murray more than makes up for his lackluster advance by quickly getting his men to attack the thinly held government center. Three of his regiments splash across the river, braving defensive fire from Flemming's Regiment of Foot. Shrugging off the losses they come to grips with the redcoats and completely shatter them. The British line has been breeched. However, the clansmen's exultation is short-lived as Cholmondeley's card is drawn and his supporting battalion unleashes a frightful volley into the disorganized highlanders, reducing one column to worn status.

Legonier approaches the ford with hopes of being able to trample down the tiring Jacobite right. Stapleton's men are arriving just in time to counter this.