Category: Great Roads (Page 4 of 5)

The are the best roads I have covered.

Battle of Neuve Chapelle Map
New York Times "Current History". The European War, Vol. 2 No. 2, May 1915.

Battle of Neuve Chapelle 10-13 March 1915

15 January 2018 / / 1 Comment

By early 1915, the lines in northern France had become static and the trench warfare that WWI is known for had commenced. Many soldiers and officers found themselves not only green, but found their senior leadership green in the tactics of the trench as well. New ideas had to be considered and new tactics developed to break the enemy lines for any offensive to succeed. The British First Army, under the command of the often maligned General Douglas Haig, was given the task of taking the immediate German positions, Neuve Chapelle and finally Aubers ridge. The First Army was made up of British, Canadian, and Indian troops.

Although the battle is not often associated with the major battles of the First World War, it is highly significant in the analysis of the planning, technology, and tactical advances of the time. The battle exhibited major breakthroughs in four key areas.

  • The German lines were mapped extensively by aerial reconnaissance by a British air arm that was in its infancy. This allowed;
  • Detailed maps to be distributed to the ground forces which contained phase lines and timed intervals for movements which were co-ordinated with;
  • Air support in the attack and;
  • Heavy artillery preparation of targets in advance with the lifting and shifting of fires in time with infantry movements. More rounds were sent skyward in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle than in all of the Boer War.
Battle of Neuve Chapelle

These innovations paid off at first with Haig taking the immediate objective of the German line salient and then the village of Neuve Chapelle. However, the attack bogged down soon thereafter, well before reaching the final objective of the Aubers ridge. A competent German counter-attack was partly the cause, but unforced errors also came into play. There were several tactical explanations for the halt that are common to many battlefields;

  • Poor weather on the second day limited aerial observation and support which contributed to;
  • Poor communications that kept the leadership from knowing where things were progressing properly and where they weren’t which led to;
  • Bad tactical intelligence that led some areas to be allotted more troops than needed and others less than needed which led to;
  • The fog of war where things tend to freeze on the senior decision level, but local fighting goes on, but is uncoordinated with the larger picture.

The battle was a limited tactical win for the British, but at a heavy cost of approximately 12,000 casualties. In the longer term Neuve Chapelle became the professional template for a new set of tactics that would become prevalent for the rest of the war.

Map credit – New York Times “Current History”. The European War, Vol. 2 No. 2, May 1915.
Downloaded from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15479

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

This is a great ride when you are going somewhere else in France. It is only 60 miles from Calais and can be seen on the way to the south of France, Paris or Belgium with only a minor detour. From Calais, head to Neuve Chapelle, then take the following circular ride of the area. This is not a spectacularly scenic ride, but you get to ride along the British front line from Neuve Chapelle to Fleurbaix (with a British Cemetary in Fauquissart), then see the Aubers ridge objective, then down to the pivot point in the line at La Bassee.

USMA History Guilford Court House
Courtesy USMA History Department

Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina 15 March 1781

14 January 2018 / / 0 Comments

The early part of the American Revolutionary War was fought mostly in the North of the colonies, but after a series of defeats, the British decided to focus on the southern colonies in their persistent belief that Loyalist sympathies ran deeper there than the North. The British had built up a string of victories in the south by early 1781 by chasing down southern militias and defeating them one by one. General Washington sent one of his best Generals, Nathaniel Greene south to revive the Patriot effort. Greene had tried to separate his forces and hoped to catch the British off guard by making them attack him piecemeal. This had had some success, namely at Cowpens two months earlier, but it was getting harder and harder to avoid a major showdown with the British main force. After strategically retreating across South and North Carolina and preserving his force, Greene decided to turn and face his pursuer, Redcoat General Lord Cornwallis. Cornwallis was sure that if he could corner Greene’s force and inflict a decisive defeat on the Rebels, he could soon claim the American south for the British cause. The field for this critical battle was in the small hamlet of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.

Battle of Guildford Courthouse

On the cold morning of 15 March 1781, Greene deployed his mixed militia and Continental Army force of approximately 4,500 in three lines in depth. The first line was North Carolina militia, the second Virginia militia and the final line was mainly Continentals. Cornwallis took his 1,900 British and German professional soldiers and attacked head on, breaking through the first line quickly, but with serious losses that he could ill afford. The second line held longer and bled the British further. However, the British broke through and finally reached the Continentals where a fierce give and take erupted with attacks and counter-attacks. The resulting mass of fighting men confused the situation to the point that Cornwallis felt that he needed to break up the two armies with grape shot fired into the middle of it. The artillery killed indiscriminately, but had the intended effect of separating the armies. At this point, Greene decided to pull away and save his force. Cornwallis stood victorious on the field, but strategically hamstrung.

From this victory, Cornwallis headed for the coast for re-supply for his depleted force. The condition of his army led him to begin his doomed Virginia campaign which would end later in the year with his surrender at Yorktown.

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

Check out this ride that leads to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park through the Colonial Heritage Byway.

Royalists Win Battle of Roundway Down 13 July 1643

11 January 2018 / / 3 Comments
Roundway Down

Roundway Down may have one the most dramatic geographical features of any battleground, bar the cliffs at Pont du Hoc on the Normandy coast. The escarpment that falls away from the back of Roundway Hill is a sheer drop off and was the scene of a desperate retreat in the English Civil War that ended with many cavalrymen and their horses going over the cliff.

After the stalemate at Lansdowne Hill a few days earlier, Waller wanted a decisive engagement with the Royalists that were working the area, so he set siege on Devizes in Wiltshire. Royalist Hopton, who had been injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion after the Lansdown Hill battle, knew he needed help, so he sent Prince Maurice on a end run to Oxford to get more forces to come to his aid. Those forces, under Lord Wilmot and Sir John Byron, approached from Oxford and Waller met them on the sweeping expanse of Roundway Down with a numerically superior force. Waller had what he wanted.

The Bloody Ditch

The battle opened with a cavalry charge by Sir Arthur Haselrige’s cuirassiers or “lobster” cavalry that was beaten back on the Parliamentary right flank after two tries. Haselrige was lucky to have his beating early when several escape routes were still available to him and he took one from the field. The other flank was just as decisively engaged with charges and counter-charges swirling around the flanks of Waller’s lines. Waller’s infantry could only watch as their cavalry flanks were decimated by determined Royalist charges. Finally, to the horror of everyone watching, Parliamentary forces were cornered and fled over the cliff to their deaths in “Bloody Ditch,” the steep escarpment off the back of Roundway Down. Some Royalists were in such hot pursuit that they followed the Roundhead cavalry over. After such a fight, Waller’s infantry was left stunned and almost defenseless to the Royalist cavalry and a large detachment from Devizes that had marched to the sound of the guns, but arrived late.
What had begun as an overwhelmingly favourable position for Waller, ended up with one the most decisive Royalist victories of the war. Roundway Down would affect Waller for years to come and made him overly cautious in future battles, especially those with his old friend, Hopton.

Recommended Ride

Good ride here. Take the A361 Northeast out of Devizes to Beckhampton, where you turn left onto the A4 and go to Calne. Take a left onto the A3102 to Chittoe. Near Chittoe, take a left on the A342 and go to Rowde. Just after Rowde take the lane to Roundway. At Roundway, take the farm lane north to a “Y” and take the left fork. This fork will give away to a very good, solid gravel road where you can view the whole of the battlefield on the down. You can also park up and walk about 500 yards to Oliver’s castle and look over the edge into “Bloody Ditch.” If you have the time, try the A360 from Devizes to Salisbury across the Salisbury Plain (additional 27 miles).

Steptoe Battlefield plaque By Philkon Phil Konstantin (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Battle of To-Hoto-Nim-Me / Steptoe Fight 17 May 1858

9 January 2018 / / 0 Comments

After being hectored by the fast and loose talking Isaac Stevens, the Washington Territory Governor, into signing a treaty that would see them removed from their ancestral lands to reservations in 1855, the native tribes of present day eastern Washington state became restless with the intruding white settlers and miners. Repeated raids and revenge killings spiraled the area into open confrontation between the U.S. Regular Army of the Northwest and combined tribes of eastern Washington.

Stevens’ disputed 1855 agreements were falling apart as several tribes (a Yakima faction, Coeur d’Alenes, Palouses, Cayuses and Spokanes) raided the eastern end of the territory. From 1855 through 1857 the pace of the unrest grew, until the exasperated Stevens called up volunteers to seek out the Indians that they felt were not complying with the treaty. Stevens had looked to volunteers, because, the military commander of the area, General John E. Wool, had held Stevens’ demands for federal troop intervention in contempt. Eventually, Wool sent a force under Colonel Newman S. Clarke to clear out the area, but very little action was found by Clarke and the area slipped into a relative calm. Wool started making concessions to the treaty in return for continued peace. Stevens was livid, but Wool felt it was better to try to live in peace with the Northwest Indians, rather than rankle them all of the time. Unfortunately, the tribes of eastern Washington began to view the concessions as weakness and the pace of the attacks picked up again, especially against miners digging for gold in the Colville area.

Eventually, Stevens had used his political connections to get Wool re-assigned and Clarke, now a Brigadier General, took over from his boss. Clarke was an old Indian fighter from the Second Seminole Indian War in Florida, but held many of Wool’s sympathies for the Indians and was just as disgusted by the actions of many of the whites. Both officers had either seen or had direct knowledge of the Cherokee’s Trail of Tears and were abhorred by it. However, Clarke was an old Army hand and knew that he would follow Wool out if he didn’t do something to stop the killings around Colville. In May 1858, Clarke sent Major (Brevet Lieutenant Colonel) Edward J. Steptoe, a respected and decorated Mexican War veteran, on an armed reconnaissance of the Colville area to see if there was a way to cool hot-heads on either side. Steptoe headed out of Fort Walla Walla in southeast Washington near the Oregon border on 6 May 1858 with approximately 160 soldiers (1st Dragoons, Companies C, E and H and E Company of the 9th Infantry).

Steptoe took off in early May 1858, but turn back immediately with a wagon train that was just too heavy to maneuver to his animal’s liking. After unloading ammunition (leaving an average of 40 rounds per man), he set off again. After crossing the Snake River at Red Wolf’s crossing, Steptoe had Indian company from thereon. The Allied Indians had already received advance notice of his movements and were waiting. They followed his movement up past what is known as Steptoe Butte today and through the town of Rosalia, Washington.

As Steptoe passed Rosalia going North on 16 May 1858, he was confronted by approximately 1,000 Indians of the combined tribes. Steptoe, realizing he was outnumbered, deciding to parley with them. The talk merely confirmed to Steptoe that the Indians were spoiling for a fight and could take his whole command if he wasn’t careful. The Indians thought Steptoe had come to fight and were unmoved by his explanation that he came to try to settle the Indian / miner disputes in the Colville area. Thinking discretion was the better part of valor, Steptoe decided to withdraw back to the Snake and await re-enforcements who he had requested through a courier, now on his way.

The Battle of To-Hoto-Nim-Me

The night passed with an uneasy truce, but the morning of the 17th found Steptoe on the move and aggressive Indians following and waiting for a moment of weakness. By 8 AM, the soldiers were taking regular assaults from the Indians. They just accepted them at first, but had to start retaliating when the Indians started taking high ground in advance of Steptoe’s column. Eventually, the fire from the soldiers took down several Cour d’Alene chiefs which raised the blood of the Indians, namely Chief Vincent whose Brother-in-law was one of the dead. Vincent had been one of the restraining voices in the Indian camp. With Vincent’s rage ignited, the combined tribes began to attack in earnest. On the Army side, all ideas of a quiet withdrawal were now gone. A series of running skirmishes on the flanks by Company E and C of Dragoons, led by Lieutenants William Gaston and Oliver Hazard Perry Taylor, respectively, were getting increasingly hot. Steptoe sent H Company, led by Lieutenant David McMurtrie Gregg, ahead to secure high ground, but even this was not enough to secure his force. Once the force had consolidated on the Gregg secured hill, Steptoe decided to keep moving to the vicinity of his 15 May camp Southeast of present day Rosalia, near To-Hoto-Nim-Me Creek (now known as Pine Creek). Along the way, Gaston and Taylor went down mortally wounded. The Tribes were calling in re-enforcements as they realized an opportunity to cut off Steptoe’s command.

The Steptoe Fight

Finally, the soldiers reached the hill which today is the Steptoe Battlefield State Park, on the Southeast outskirts of Rosalia. Steptoe set up a perimeter with the howitzers guarding the main approaches. The Indians surrounded the hill and tried attacking from multiple angles, but were beaten back each time. However, the soldier’s ammunition and water was running disastrously low. One example of the fierceness of the fighting on the flanks as the hill was being occupied was Trooper Victor De Moy, a former French Captain, swinging his rifle as a club and firing off all of the rounds of his Colt revolver except one…which he saved for himself. As night closed in, Steptoe gathered his remaining officers and suggested they fight to the bitter end. His lieutenants thought otherwise and convinced Steptoe to evacuate the hill under cover of darkness and make an end run for the Snake River. Burying the dead they could find and the disassembled howitzers, the soldiers left their fires burning, blacked out their gear and horses, tied down jangly items and exfiltrated through a gap in the Indian lines. Rumor has it that the great Yakima chief Kamiakin made it to the site by evening and encouraged a full scale night attack, but was not taken up. Instead, a series of uncoordinated attacks from different angles would harry the soldiers. The first of such was around midnight, but the Coeur d’Alenes who attacked found no soldiers, but most of their gear left behind. The temptation of scavenging the remaining goods overtook reporting the lack of soldiers, so Steptoe got a good head start.

Steptoe’s troops then made an extra-ordinary march of approximately 90 miles to Wolf’s Crossing on the Snake in 24 hours. There they were met by friendly Nez Perce Indians who secured their camp for them as they took well needed sleep. This ended a potentially disastrous engagement for the U.S. regulars, but the sting of having to retreat in the face of Indians was new to the U.S. Army.

Although in military history hindsight, Steptoe’s retreat was one of the most innovative, lucky and resourceful imaginable, his decision to take too little ammunition and his decision to withdrawal in the face of the combined tribes was questioned heavily at the time. The tribes of eastern Washington were resurgent and felt their strength when they fought together and in great numbers. The Army could not allow this “humiliation” to stand and immediately began preparing a column to address the issue. This column, which included future Indian fighting legend Lieutenant George Crook, met the combined tribes on 1 and 5 September 1858 at the battles of Four Lakes and Spokane Plain, respectively, and won decisive victories that ended the problems in the Northwest for the time being.

Ride Recommendation

This is a long ride if you want to follow the Steptoe line of march. (A glitch in Google Maps is causing the route to go through Moscow, Idaho on US-95. The map I designed is correct when I view it, but the insertion code moves the route east. The route should follow Highway 195 through Pullman, Washington. Sorry, but I can’t really complain, Google Maps are pretty good normally) Once in the area, consider the Palouse Scenic Byway for some great scenery. Finally, check out the Rosalia Visitor and Interpretive Center at an old Texaco station for a map of the whole engagement.

At Clarkston, WA, you are near the Nez Perce reservation and it is well worth a stop if you have the time. I’ve spent some time on the Nez Perce Trail.  Of course, this area is also Lewis and Clark country. Further south is the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway which is beautiful. Below is possibly the best picture I’ve ever taken. It is Hells Canyon on the Snake River from the scenic byway.

Hells Canyon on the Snake River on the Idaho / Oregon border

Lincoln Address Memorial
Lincoln Address Memorial, National Cemetery, Gettysburg Battlefield (Public Domain)

Abraham Lincoln Delivers Gettysburg Address – 19 November 1863

7 January 2018 / / 0 Comments

On November 19, 1863, a little over 4 months after the battle, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at what today is the cemetery across from the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.

Transcript of Gettysburg Address (1863)
Executive Mansion,

Washington, , 186 .

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal”

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow, this ground– The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us, the living, to stand here, we here be dedica-ted to the great task remaining before us — that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln, Draft of the Gettysburg Address: Nicolay Copy. Transcribed and annotated by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. Available at Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C.: American Memory Project, [2000-02]),http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html.

In my mind, this is still the most eloquent and forceful dedication to a cause that a leader has yet to deliver. Unbelievably, Lincoln left Gettysburg with the impression that the address had been a miserable failure and he had not risen to the occasion. Showing signs of his self-doubt that plagued him at times, Lincoln reminds us that brevity and directness, though seemingly incongruent with enormous endeavors, is often what history demands of its giants.

Battlefield Biker at Cheriton Battlefield
Battlefield Biker at Cheriton Battlefield © TJ Linzy 2008

Waller Defeats Hopton at Battle of Cheriton on 29 March 1644

5 January 2018 / / 0 Comments

Introduction

In the summer of 1644, the Royalist forces were threatening London in the English Civil War with the Parliamentarians. The Royalists confidently blocked a Parliamentarian force near Winchester and forced a battle. They would regret it. The battle was a turning point in the southern campaign and suddenly stopped the Royalist pincer strategy on London by destroying the lower jaw of it.

This is one of my favourite local rides. The battlefield is highly accessible by bike and foot with multiple farm tracks and lanes. Additionally, this part of Hampshire is beautiful and the lanes and good “A” roads around here make it a great Sunday morning ride.

The Battle of Cheriton

Around 27 March 1644, the Royalist forces of Lord Hopton, joined by the Earl of Forth had succeeded in halting Hopton’s old friend William Waller’s Parliamentary forces from securing Winchester by blocking the main road between London and Winchester near Alresford. Two days of skirmishing in the area left Waller’s army near the village of Hinton Ampner and Hopton’s army northeast of Cheriton with pickets on a ridge overlooking Hinton Ampner to the south.

Hopton’s pickets and Waller’s patrols skirmished in the night of 28/29 March. Waller had flanked Hopton’s pickets on the south ridge to the point of making it untenable. Thus the day of the battle began with Waller on the south ridge and Hopton on the north ridge. Upon seeing the ground between the two forces, Waller saw that Cheriton Wood would be the key to Hopton’s left flank and dispatched 1,000 musketeers there. Understanding this threat, Hopton countered with 1,000 musketeers of his own under Colonel Matthew Appleyard. The two forces met in the dense Cheriton Wood and by all accounts fought a fierce hand-to-hand melee with Appleyard’s forces securing the ground. Hopton had been frustrated by previous attempts to bring his old friend, Waller, to battle, due to Waller’s pessimistic nature and previous defeats, most notably Roundway Down and Lansdown Hill. Alas, Hopton would be frustrated, but not by Waller this time.

Although intending to hold their position on the north ridge, one of Hopton’s lieutenants, Royalist Sir Henry Bard, on his own initiative, led his regiment on a ill-starred attack from the right on Sir Arthur Haselrige’s regiment of horse, known as the “lobsters” for their 3/4 armour suits. Haselrige made Bard pay for his folly and destroyed the entire regiment in plain sight of the Royalists. The Royalists were so horrified by what they saw in front of them that they felt compelled to send re-enforcements to Bard. However, they were sent piecemeal without supporting fires or flank protection. The Roundheads met the challenge and soon the entire front became engaged between the two ridges.

Parrying between the two forces ended up in close quartered fighting along the hedges. Meanwhile, several cavalry actions played out over a period of hours with the Parliamentary cavalry gaining the upper hand. Finally, Waller’s infantry enveloped the flanks and forced Hopton to salvage his troops and guns with an orderly retreat up today’s Scrubbs Lane towards Basing House, passing the point where the commemorative stone sits today.

Ride Recommendation

This is a good ride with the tour of the battlefield in the middle of the ride along the farm lanes northeast of the village of Cheriton. Use Ordnance Survey Landranger 185. The battlefield is centred on SU 598294. If using a road map, the battlefield is located northeast of Cheriton village. It is 42.8 miles beginning and ending near Winchester, Hampshire. There is a National Trust property at Hinton Ampner, a good pub called the Flower Pots in Cheriton, a Husqvarna dealership (Husky Sport) in Cheriton and a BMW Motorrad dealer (Bahnstormer) at Lower Faringdon.

Google Map Link

Statue of Andrew Jackson at New Orleans
Statue of Andrew Jackson at New Orleans © TJ Linzy 2011

Jackson Defeats British at Battle of New Orleans 8 January 1815

5 January 2018 / / 0 Comments
The Battle of New Orleans

Fifteen days after the Treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas Eve 1814, but before it had taken effect, General Andrew Jackson decisively defeated the British at New Orleans. Neither the British, nor the Americans had received news of the peace treaty which had the provision that it would take effect as soon as news was received in the field. Although the final engagement happened on 8 January, 1815, the fighting around New Orleans had been going on since 14 December 1814, starting with a Royal Marine victory over US gunboats guarding the entrance to New Orleans on Lake Borgne. Also, throughout this period, Creek and Seminole Indian forces led by British Royal Marine Major Edward Nicolls had been patrolling the West Florida and Alabama gulf region. Jackson dispatched Major Uriah Blue to keep the Nicolls / Indian flank secure while he focused on where the British would land. On 23 December, Jackson failed to dislodge the British at their quarters on the Villeré Plantation. Jackson fell back and occupied the approach to New Orleans at the Rodriguez Canal. On 28 December, the British probed the line in force, but were repelled. On 1 January 1815, the British attempted to dislodge Jackson with artillery, but the duel ended with the American artillery victorious, probably because they had more ammunition. The Americans had more ammunition due to Jackson’s temporary alliance with the Baratarian pirates, including Jean Lafitte, who hated the British more than the Americans. Knowing where the British were likely to strike now, Jackson heavily fortified the Rodriquez canal and tied it into the adjacent swamp to block the British advance on New Orleans. Jackson also had allied Indians, namely the Choctaw, who picked off British sentries mercilously.

Finally, on 8 January, the British executed a frontal assault on the American positions which failed miserably, including the loss of the British commander, Pakenham, the brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington. The British courage could not have been questioned, but their judgement in conducting a full frontal assault against a hevily prepared position could have been. Even though Jackson’s force was pieced together from militia, regulars, pirates, and Indians, it was a formidable force on such a ground. Jackson had delivered the heaviest defeat of the Brits in the War of 1812. The British and the Americans continued the fight in the gulf coast area, not hearing of the peace until 12 February 1815.

Motorcycle Ride

Start at Chalmette, near the site of the 8 January battle and make your way to Louisiana State Route 23, running southeast to the tip of the delta, following the Mississippi River. New Orleans is a bit rougher these days, so be prepared for detours and some deserted areas. As always, be aware of your surroundings when riding through this area.

And the obligatory Johnny Horton reference

Marston Moor memorial looking north over the battlefield.

Battle of Marston Moor 2 July 1644

4 January 2018 / / 2 Comments

Having relieved the siege at York by out manoeuvering the Parliamentary Army, Prince Rupert wanted to engage Parliament’s Allied Army. Rupert believed (controversially) that he had orders from the King to do so. The Parliamentary backed Allied Army of the Eastern Association, local Yorkshire forces along with the Scots under the Earl of Levin accommodated him between York and Knaresborough. Rupert was outnumbered, especially, because he could not get the siege-relieved forces at York to get the lead out until the last minute. The Marquess of Newcastle, who had held York through the siege, was against offering battle at Marston Moor, going so far as to remind Rupert of one of his past failures due to hasty decisions. Rupert prevailed, but even with the mainly infantry forces from York, Rupert mustered only 18,000 to the Allied Army’s 28,000.

The two forces squared off late in the midsummer’s day after having had spent the better part of the afternoon so close to each other that insults were being traded across the lines. Persistent rain showers and the lateness of the day had convinced Rupert that battle would not begin that day. However, for debatable reasons, the allied front surged forward around 7 PM and the fight was on. Rupert could have felt vindicated to choose battle at first as Goring’s cavalry on the Royalist left broke through and routed Sir Thomas Fairfax’s right of cavalry and infantry. Goring’s forces pushed on and took the Allied Army’s baggage train behind the southern ridge. The Allied Scots’ infantry, however, doggedly held the line in the centre. Meanwhile, a wounded Cromwell pushed Rupert’s cavalry back in the vicinity of present day Kendal Lane on Tockwith*s eastern edge. After winning the cavalry engagement, Cromwell’s disciplined forces turned right and flanked the Royalist infantry. This envelopment turned the tide and the Royalist forces were reduced to the last stand by Newcastle’s best infantry, the Whitecoats, who defied Cromwell, until Scottish Dragoons came to finish off the battle near White Sike Close.

Ride Recommendation for the Battle of Marston Moor

This ride runs right through the battle area, which is centred on grid SE 491522 in between Long Marston and Tockwith. (Ordnance Survey Landranger map 105)

Check out the Battle of Towton from the War of the Roses not too far from Marston Moor.

Book cover

Battle for the Southern Frontier Book Review – Creek War

21 December 2017 / / 1 Comment

Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812

On Tuesday this week, I received the Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812, by Mike Bunn and Clay Williams in the mail. It is published by The History Press.

I absolutely devoured this book. This is my kind of popular history. Bunn and Williams have written a book of a great history, but also backed it up with lots of detail on the historical ground where the war was fought. Their bibliographic essay is a dream for those of us who like to dig a little deeper. They even include some of the source documents and illustrations in the book itself. Finally, they include lots of maps, location descriptions and images of historical markers that help us saddled adventurers find the pertinent locations on our travels.

Bunn and Williams break the story up into 5 parts…the origins of the war, war from the south northwards, from Georgia westwards, from Tennessee southwards and finally the Gulf campaign against the British. Each section has the basic history told, but also the key locations described in detail, so you can find them even if they are long lost and/or unmarked. So much of this era is only told when discussing Andrew Jackson. It is refreshing to see a book that gives a little room to the important operations around Mobile and west Georgia/east Alabama.

Timelines and Dramatis Personae of the Creek War

The book also has two things that I love in any history book which is a good timeline to start the book and a list of short biographies of all the main players. In fact, I like to read the timeline and biographies first to give me good mental hooks to hang the story on as I read. These are both tight, stand-alone references for anyone who wants to start a deeper study of the conflict.

I’ve already mentioned the detailed and helpful bibliographic essay, but the selection of original documents are also a great read. Of special note are the accounts of the Canoe fight and Tecumseh’s speech to the Creek, which I have blogged about previously here. There is also a website to support the book that can be found here.

This book, by the author’s own admission, is not meant to add a lot of new scholarship to the history, but in my mind it does what it is meant to do admirably. In some ways, I think the authors do not give themselves enough credit when it comes to their photo documentation of the historical sites as original research. I have read many accounts of this war, but have yet been able to visualize several of the important geographic features. An example is Emuckfau Creek. There are creeks that can be crossed with a leap, or barely getting your feet wet, or wade-able or only swimmable. When imagining the battle, it is hard to determine whether it was hard or easy to cross in the midst of a battle. However, Bunn and Williams answer that for me by giving me a photo on Emuckfau on page 89. No other factual account has done that for me. There are far too few military histories with adequate maps, good directions to the key points for travelers, concise biographies of key players, original images and solid bibliographies written in a way that does not intimidate new readers nor insult those who already come to the subject with some knowledge. This one does all of these things and does them well.

Great book. Bunn and Williams get a coveted Battlefield Biker helmet nod.

Book cover

Mike Bunn and Clay Williams Interview on Creek War

21 December 2017 / / 0 Comments

I’m happy to welcome Mike Bunn and Clay Williams to Battlefield Biker to talk about their new book titled, The Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812. It is published by The History Press. You can see my review of the book here.

Battlefield Biker (BB) – Why did you write this book about the Creek War?

Clay Williams (CW) – Mike and I have a love for this time period in Gulf South History. We had previously worked together at the Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History and had done lots of research on the Mississippi Territorial Period (1798-1817), which included the Creek War and the War of 1812, for a future exhibit. Mike eventually left to take another job in Georgia and the exhibit never took place due to Hurricane Katrina closing the Old Capitol. Mike and I have stayed in touch over the years and wanted to do a large project again together and the Creek War and its related Gulf Coast campaigns of the War of 1812 looked like a perfect fit. We had already done some research, and it is a topic that is basically unknown to many. Mike and I love to visit historic sites and so visiting and documenting these areas where these key events took place would be a key portion of our book and we so we decided to take the project on.

Mike Bunn (MB) – We certainly didn’t set out to write a book at first, though. It’s a project that just grew once we got into it and realized the possibilities and discovered how much info we had to share.

BB – Will you tell us a little about the format of the book ( I love it). i.e. timeline, biographies, geographic points of interest, some original documents and the essay. How did you work out what you wanted to do with the book?

CW – Mike and I initially referred to the book as a sourcebook-a one-stop shop for gathering information on the conflict. We knew it was not going to be a long narrative and didn’t want it to be one. We targeted it for the general public and wanted it to be easily accessible and this was what we came up with. Again, Mike and I have stated this was not to be a new definitive study of the conflict, but a book that hopefully introduced the topic to the many that have no idea about it and that its format would make it easy to peruse and enjoy without getting bogged down with long narratives and too many footnotes. There were components that we wanted in it that we thought be helpful, a time line, a great bibliographical essay, original documents, as well as site locations. Again, I will say the book grew out of the idea to visit these sites, many marked and many unmarked, and document them for the public-the whole historic preservation and interpretation idea.

BB – How did you work as a team? Did you split duties?

CW – Yes, we split duties. By splitting the wars into 4 campaigns, meant we were both responsible for two-that meant doing research, locating historic sites, writing the narrative text as well as the text for the historic sites and the bios for those participants in our respective campaigns, locating graphics, etc. We also split the various other portions as well such as Mike wrote the Origins of War and I wrote the Conclusion. Each of us would write a first draft, then submit to the other for editing and suggestions. Mike and I work very well together in that regard. We don’t have large egos and we can each tell the other that something he wrote was garbage. It was a great pleasure to work with Mike. We both have such a love for the study history and are eager to do projects of this nature.

MB – We started working like that when we worked together at the Old Capitol. We have written so much together that it was easy to critique each other’s writing. Editing can be a touchy process for many, but fortunately not for us. We didn’t edit so much as fine tune what we knew we were each trying to say. We were truly on the same page and as I look back on the work, I don’t think readers will be able to tell which section was written by who; it comes off as one voice.

BB – The bibliographic essay was great. Who inspires you in this field? i.e. clear source display.

MB – Their are a lot of authors we like and we both have ridiculous personal libraries. As far as this topic specifically, though, I’d have to say that Robert Remini, Frank Owsley, Jr., and Henry S. Halbert and T.H. Ball stand as the foremost inspirations. Remini is a master storyteller, Owsley wrote what we consider to be the definitive study of the conflicts we cover and was the only one to rely exclusively on primary sources, while Halbert and Ball produced one of the first serious studies of the wars. The fact that they co-authored their work made them an especially significant inspiration for us.

CW – Not sure I have an answer for that. I know Mike and I both enjoy books that are well documented and have great bibliographies so we can find other books, articles etc. that touch on a topic we like and can search ourselves. I know our wives would agree that we both spend waaaay too much money purchasing books.

Editor’s note… Don’t ever let the Mrs. Bunn, Mrs. Williams and the Battlefield Bikette meet in the same room. The pressure to eBay the libraries may get too strong.

BB – What role did technology play in the writing of the book? i.e. online research, collaboration software, Skype, IM, etc?

CW – Not too much-Some small online research, but mostly through books and articles. E-mail is a wonderful thing-cheap for Mike and I to contact each other as well as for us to contact historians located across our theater of war. Mike and I met many local historians who had done great research on their particular area and we were able to combine alot of their research into this book.

MB – As Clay says, this was not a tech-heavy project. We of course have the website and relied on a digital camera and photoshop, but email was about as advanced as most of it got.

BB – Other than Andrew Jackson, which historical figure(s) jumped out at you and made you wish you had more space for biographical detail?

MB – William Weatherford was a complex individual. He was as white as Creek, yet became one of the foremost Redstick leaders. During the war he was a fearless and intelligent leader. After the war, he returned to life as a planter in south Alabama and was apparently an accepted member of the community. He must have been fascinating.

CW – Agreed. William Weatherford is a great figure-We wish there was more information out there on him.

BB – In your opinion, how much of the Creek Indian war strategy, tactics and supply were informed or provided by the British directly?

CW – Hmmm, another good question…..I will say not much. Of course, the Creek War had basically ended before the British could become directly involved. However, please be aware that many of the Creek leaders, such as Weatherford, had as much European ancestry as they had Creek ancestry, so many had read or were familiar with “white tactics” of war.

MB – Yes, this was a war planned and fought by the Redsticks. Everything might have been different had the British managed to get involved earlier, but that is just conjecture.

BB – What was your favourite map of the book and/or research?

MB – For me, it was learning about Floyd’s campaign with the GA militia. Two of the largest battles of the war were fought by troops under his command, but they remain among the most unknown battles of the war. There are no markers commemorating either of them, sadly. As far as maps, I am proud that we were able to create a series of them that detailed the battles of each campaign fairly accurately. So many of the ones we have seen are wildly inaccurate.

CW – Another tough question…..I enjoyed so much of the research. The War of 1812 sections concerning Mobile, Pensacola and Lake Borgne were so fascinating to me. Many have heard of Jackson’s win at New Orleans, but the events leading up to it are really unknown and I liked delving into it. The contemporary maps created by Latour were awesome and I really liked all the maps we have created to help others understand the conflict. Maps are so essential when reading any type of military history. Nothing is worse than reading a detailed account of a battle or campaign and not having a reference map to chart the movements of armies.

BB – What use was GPS and geo tagging in your research?

CW – Not much, Our favorite map was produced by Delorme. They were awesome and got us out of many fixes.

MB – Yeah, topo maps got us back to civilization a few times when we thought we’d never see another paved road!

Editor’s note; Delorme is a Battlefield Biker favourite as well. See Battlefield Biker’s Ride Recommendations for specific Delorme maps for battlefield touring.

BB – What support did your employer’s give to the book?

CW – I did work on the book independently of my regular job with the Mississippi department of Archives and History.

MB – This was totally independent of our jobs.

BB – Did you have any great road trips together or separately in the research?

CW – Yes, the best part of the book were the trips Mike and I took together. We would meet in a central location in Alabama, drop off one car, and with maps and notes in hand, take off on a circular route to locate various areas. We took several long weekend trips. They were great, but exhausting. We would both leave our respective homes at like 6am, meet up 3 hours later, then drive around til dark, stopping at historic sites, then stay at a some hotel, then get up the next morning and repeat the process. It was always a great thrill to find a historic marker or monument off the beaten path after following some vague directions or such. Plus, those moments at Fort Mims, Horseshoe Bend, and Chalmette, overlooking the battlefield while we take photos still fills me with awe-to be on the actual ground where these momentous events took place. It is this feeling that Mike and I hope we can convey to our readers with our book.

MB – Clay and I have made many trips together, but as a group the ones for this trip were certainly the most rewarding.

BB – What was your favourite driving/riding road in your travels?

MB – Well although they were a little hazardous and difficult, I’d have to say all the unpaved roads we ventured onto were my favorite. When we did find old markers (placed in their location as much as 90 years ago when these dirt paths were thoroughfares) it was very rewarding. It gave us a sense we had truly discovered something people zipping by on the highways are missing.

BB – What’s next for Bunn and Williams as a team or individually?

CW – Well, in the pipeline, Mike and I want to do a similar formatted book on the entire Mississippi Territorial period-early 1800s to 1820-tracing locations where events took place that eventually transformed this frontier area of the Gulf South into the states of Mississippi and Alabama. Again, this is such an unknown part of history that we are eager to inform the public about it and its importance.Not sure when we will be able to get into it. We are both still a little exhausted having completed this one book while both working full-time jobs. We both wish we could win the lottery or something and do this type of work full-time.

Thanks Gentlemen for a little insight to your work. It has been a pleasure reading the book and interviewing you. Please support practical scholarship like this by buying their book at the link below.

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