The battle of Billington Moor 798AD - The scenario

Following on from my post 'Do I do any actual wargaming' I mentioned re fighting Billington Moor to the MNGers and they seem interested.  Phil has 15mm DBA troops including Anglo-Saxons and Pre-Feudal Scots so we may be able to do something in 15mm rather than in 6mm.  Which means I now need to look into the numbers and make up of the forces with a view to having a couple of commands a side.  So big battle DBA (BBDBA) is looking favourite for this one.  The rules are DBA 3.0

Rather than getting too hung up on numbers I have decided to focus on the number of elements required and then amend the battlefield layout to suit.  Using BBDBA would normally give 36 elements drawn from the DBA lists with min-max numbers multiplied by three.  Each side is then divided into three commands of no less than 6 elements.  While DBA doesn't stipulate a maximum size for any of the command a bit of basic math tells me that it cant be larger than 24 elements and that this is probably going to be an issue for PIP allocations if a 24 element command is chosen. For this refight I am creating modified army lists to reflect the slightly different compositions of the two sides but sticking with the overall number of elements.

These lists are:

Middle Anglo-Saxon (Alderman Wada's Rebels)

• 2 x Generals (4Bd) one representing Wada as CinC
• 1 x General (Sp)
• 2 x Hird (4Bd)
• 1 x Fyrd (Sp) in effect a third poorer quality Hird unit
• 24 x Fyrd (Sp) or (7Hd) For each 2 x Sp selected 1 x 7Hd must be selected
• 3 x Archers or Scouts Ps or Fyrd (Sp)
• 3 x Archers or Scouts (Ps)
• 3 camps which can be massed together at one point (or the village may be considered the joint camp)

Middle Anglo-Saxons (King Eardwulf's Royal Army)

• 3 x Generals (4Bd) the King, Alderman Eardbehrt (Herbert). Herbert's son
• 6 x Hird (4Bd)
• 21 x Fyrd (Sp)
• 3 x Fyrd (7Hd)
• 3 x Scouts (Ps)
• 3 x camps which must be placed one per command (the king's camp counts as a double loss if captured)

As an aside I am currently having serious problems on my PC with posting photos between windows and blogger.  It seems to be an issue with memory overflow but I can't seem to get to the bottom of it.  The second I click the insert button on the blog the PC crashes and I find myself looking at the dreaded blue screen of death!  All pictures posted over the last half a dozen posts have been shipped out to my smartphone posted to the blog from there before I  return to the PC to ensure they are exactly  where I want them.  It isn't really an issue when its a photo as those are generally on my smartphone anyway.  Where it does become an issue is where I have created a map in a graphics program as that won't easily transfer to the phone.  Thus it was with the map for Billington Moor!

Scenic Ribblesdale.  The top of the map is North.  The village is 'Old Langho'  Billington is roughly south of there.

It would be probably accurate to add some scrubby woods in a thin band along the banks of the head waters of the streams as a scenic item but I wouldn't give any terrain effect to them.  The banks of the Ribble and Calder were probably not wooded.  At least not in this location.

The map is divided up into one foot squares.  The idea is that the defender is able to choose which 3' by 3' area to fight over by choosing the nine adjacent squares which will make up the battlefield.  No matter which area is chosen Wada's troops are the defenders and will deploy on the east side and Eardwulf will be the attacker and deploy on the west.  The Rivers Ribble and Calder are tested for passability separately to each other.  The standard DBA check is amended so that it is only paltry on a throw of 1, a 2, 3 or 4 makes it slow going and 5 or 6 makes it a slow crossing with effects as per DBA 3.0.  all other streams are 50:50 chance to be either paltry or slow going (DBA scores of 1-4 with no chance of the worst result of a 5-6 arising) The Roman road counts as a track (its not been properly re-surfaced since the late 4th Century after all).  The solid green is a steep hill and the green dotted areas are boggy ground.

If any one plays this out under DBA or any other rules I'd be interested in your feedback.

Do I do any actual wargaming?

From reading this blog you might be forgiven for thinking that I spend my time painting figures which never get used in a wargame.  To some extent it is true that I have been doing a lot of 6mm painting of late courtesy of having a painting table set up 24/7 which makes it easy to do a few minutes here and there most days.

My gaming has mostly been provided by the Monday Night Group, you know the ones who meet on a Tuesday evening.  Graham blogs the details of the games over on Wargaming for Grown Ups and as they are his games, by and large I don't like to steal his thunder.  This year we have had some excellent games ranging from Ancient Mesopotamia through the mid 20th Century Spanish Civil War.  What I have not done is provide the game rules or scenario for any of these run outs.

With that in mind and considering that I don't really want to inflict an untried game on the MNGWMOAT (Monday Night Gamers Who Meet On A Tuesday) I am thinking of suggesting a game I have played solo a couple of times before using BBDBA and DBM.  This is the first Battle of Whalley, not the one fought in 1643, but the one from 798 during one of the regular Northumbrian Civil Wars, AKA the Battle of Billington Moor.  Unlike the later ECW battle where there is a reasonable amount of information available, this one is shrouded in mystery.  The Anglo Saxon Chronicle has a very laconic entry.  It reads:

'AD798.  This year a severe battle was fought in the Northumbrian territory, during Lent, on the fourth day before the nones of April, at Whalley; wherein Alric, the son of Herbert was slain and many others with him.'

I had to look up Nones of April.  Its Roman calendar reckoning and in the shorter months fell on the 5th day of the month so by my arithmetic this means the Battle was fought on 1st April.  I'm pretty sure that the name in my copy of Stenton's translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles isn't Herbert but as I can't get to it at present I will have to accept it for now.  I'm guessing that it will turn out to have been Eardberht or similar and that he was famous enough to warrant mention by virtue of his rank although it is of passing interest that his son's name wasn't worth mentioning.

Not much to go on there then.  We know from other sources that the Northumbrian crown was in dispute at the time and one of the claimants,  the previously deposed King Osbald, seems to have held lands around York at Osbaldwick and more importantly based on place name evidence perhaps also close by the site of this battle at Osbaldeston.

Osbald's claim seems to have had support from Mercia who following the death of King Offa were struggling to keep their status as the leading English kingdom.  They were campaigning in the East and South East and an internal succession dispute would have been useful to keep their Northern frontier secure.  The Northumbrian dispute could also have roots in the earlier organisation of the kingdom which had two power bases Bernicia on the North East Coast and Deira based in Yorkshire and the Pennine valleys of what is now East Lancashire.  The pro Osbald party was lead by Alderman Wada possibly from Waddington a few miles up the Ribble valley.  He met and was defeated by King Eardwulf at Billington Moor.

There is little evidence as to exactly where the battle was fought but there is a well used Roman Road which runs down the Ribble Valley along the East bank of the Ribble angling of to the west after Whalley to the old Roman fortress of Ribchester.  It would make sense for the combatants to have used this route.

So in my scenario I have Wada rallying support from Osbald's holdings between Ribchester and Whalley and calling in others from his own supporters.  The easiest way to move into the Northumbrian heartlands would be march North East along the Roman Road with a view to attempting the Aire Gap at Skipton.  Some historians suggest that the battle was fought somewhere close to Billington or Langho South West of Whalley (Hence Billington Moor).   So that's the ground I'm recreating and as a bonus it helps me to visualise the location as I went to school at Billington!

The Ribble valley is open here with flat land to the east of the river rising to a steep ridge above Billington with a number of small streams running down from the ridge to join the Ribble.  Slightly further to the North East at Whalley itself the River Calder joins the Ribble and personally I wouldn't want to fight with that to my back so I'm placing the action a little  further down the valley towards Old Langho which matches with the description of the Battle as being at Billington Moor.

The two forces are both essentially similar consisting of the Nobles Hearth troops backed up by Fyrdmen drawn from the rest of the local population.  Neither side would have been particularly numerous so I'd guess at no more than 1,000 a side.  The Royal Army would probably have an edge in quality over Wada, but Wada knows the ground so gets to choose the battlefield.

I'm going to allow Wada his own Hearth Troop plus some supporters of Osbald who are equally well equipped as a second unit of Hearth Troop.  The balance of his forces will be Fyrdmen split roughly 1:2 between the better so called 'Select Fyrd' and the the less well equipped 'General Fyrd'.  The Royal Army will have the Kings Heath Troop, plus Herbert's and one other Hearth troop unit.  The balance of his force will be 'Select Fyrd' quality.  Both sides will have some light infantry as skirmishers.  I normally give slightly more of these to Wadda as he is on home ground and can drum up more support from the locals.

I need to think about how many units to use overall as I may work to a lower figure:men ration to get more toys on the table.

The Battle of Whalley - designers notes

So far we have the details of the terrain and the troops.  In this post I want to look at how to make the game enjoyable without loosing sight of the historical background or deviating too far from the known facts.

The problem with this battle is that it didn't follow the expected script!  Parliament wouldn't win this fight under most sets of rules (including mine).  To try to make the historical outcome possible risks making the game unenjoyable for the Royalist player.  Lets be honest here this isn't a balanced scenario.  The scenario as designed is intended to produce a result similar to reality and pose both sides with the same decision points and problems their historical counterparts faced.

Lets start with the terrain.  The key features are the valley that Sabden Brook flows through.  The impact of this must be depicted as it slows the advancing Royalist scouting party.  In my rules it disrupts their formation too.  I would treat it as soft ground if that is what is required in your rules to create the disruption required.  Next are the stone walls that edge the road after the bridge.  These should give good defence against return fire from the Royalists once the ambush is sprung.  The woods along Sanden Brook should also stay as described.  The rest of the woods are conjectural so they could be reduced in size or effect if you feel they restrict Royalist options too much. One account talks about the Parliamentarian foot sniping at the Royalist main body from hedges so those could be added close the Whalley board edge.

Next are the troops.  It is just possible that Colonel Shuttleworth brought a small piece of artillery to the later stages of the battle.  The Discourse mentions that two or three shots were fired by the artillery "at the tower" the only tower would be that in Whalley and it is difficult to understand why the Royalists would bombard their own positions.  This could be used to justify giving Parliament a piece of artillery, but it isn't mentioned until the action in front of Whalley so it should arrive late in the game.

Alternative scenarios
1.  Derby strikes at once
All of the Royalist forces are free to act from the start.  Tyldesley isn't sent ahead to scout instead the entire force moves forward from Whalley at first light. There are no constraints on the Royalist orders.  Their objective is to exit units of horse and/or Dragons from the Read table edge within three hours of the game start and to have no effective Parliamentarian units left on the table ( effective means able to fight not necessarily routed or destroyed).  Parliament start with all of the listed units from the main scenario on the table at the start including one piece of artillery.  Their objective is to delay the Royalists from exiting the board in the time limit.

This should give a more balanced fight especially if Parliament deploy in a good defensive position.

2.  Shuttleworth pushes his luck
This scenario assumes that Shuttleworth is given a longer warning of Derby's approach and is able to assemble more troops by the end of 19 April.  Bolstered by these additional troops and fresh supplies of  powder and shot he pushes forward under cover of darkness to launch an attack on Derby early on 20 April.

Parliament has two full units of foot in place of the 400 commanded shot from the historical scenario.  These are of 600 men each 2:1 shot to pike, trained and experienced.  These represent the militia of the Blackburn Hundred under Shuttleworth and Starkie.  The Parliamentarian force includes the small gun discussed above.  They are deployed no further forward than one cavalry move towards Whalley from the centre line of the board.  Their objective is to destroy the Royalist force.  Derby starts with all of his forces deployed at Whalley as in optional scenario 1 but with Derby off table as in the historical scenario.  He can enter on a dice roll or on the turn after Parliamentarian forces are sighted by the Royalists.  Royalist forces cannot advance until Parliament's forces are sighted. The Royalists objective is to survive the day.

I haven't run the battle yet so I may revisit this topic with amendments or an after action report in the future.  In the mean time please comment if you have tried the scenarios especially about game balance issues v the historical outcome.  I hope you enjoy the scenario.

The battle of Whalley part 3 the troops.

The forces engaged at Whalley will never be fully known and numbers quoted in the sources vary enormously.  What is clear is that Parliament were outnumbered by a significant amount.  Sources vary between 10:1 to 4:1 in favour of the Royalists.  The Parliamentarians may have been short of powder and shot too.  Their Forces were not all on the field at the start as some appear to have been arriving from Padiham while others seem to have been preparing to retreat in the face of the Royalist numbers.  Only the shot seem to have been up for a fight and even then perhaps only because initially they were not facing the whole Royalist force.

On the other hand the Royalists main numbers lay in their clubmen who were inexperienced, untrained and according to some accounts only stayed in the field because there were mounted men behind then threatening them with swords and loaded pistols!  The initial encounter at Sabden Brook only included a small part of their forces as the main body was waiting at Whalley.  The Earl of Derby and his senior officers don't appear to have been with the main body, but further back in Whalley itself.

Lets start with the period accounts.  The battle was fought on 20 April 1643 numbers detailed from prior to that date may not have been available by the time of the battle.  As a result I am only going to look at information for around a month before that date.

Parliament Forces
The Discourse tells us that on the 19th Parliament's forces were dispersed and short of powder and shot. But that Colonel Shuttleworth sent out a call for them to assemble "with their best weapons".  By the early morning of 20th April Colonel Shuttleworth had been joined by Colonel Starkie at Padiham (about 4 miles to the east of Sabden Brook).  Some Captains, with their men, were sent to scout towards Whalley "as far as Read".  We know that this force included Musketeers as these were the men who insisted on standing to fight.

On hearing the ambush sprung many others "came up" so additional troops must have been in supporting distance.  This included a Lieutenant Marsden who seems to have encouraged the troops in hot pursuit of the fleeing Royalists.  The discourse glosses over the rest of fight implying that the main body of Royalists broke and ran when the fleeing men came down the hill to Whalley.  Although there are some clues that there must have been some fighting as a piece of artillery had time to fire three shots.

The true relation gives more detail of troops it claims that two troops of horse were at Dunkenhalgh Hall (at Clayton le Moors) which withdrew to Padiham on hearing of the Royalist advance.  The Parliamentarian forces at Padiham are described as "60 Horse, and some 400 foot, not above five hundred I am sure at the first". This account also includes "some few clubmen".  "At the first" suggests additional forces were coming in and this is supported by the statement that an additional 150 horse met them at Read Bank.  It also mentions a Captain Ashton as being present.

Lancashire Vale of Anchor states that Parliament's forces were 200 - 300 shot and 80 - 100 horse.  It goes on to tell us that initially there were only 100 shot at Read.

Broxup gives the numbers being 500 foot plus the horse as above.

All accounts suggest that Parliament scouted forward beyond Read towards Whaley but retired once the true size of Derby's forces became apparent.

Royalist Forces
The Discourse states that the Earl of Derby called his soldiers and Clubmen to Preston along with a piece of artillery and advanced up the line of the River Ribble.  By the 19th he appears to have reached Whalley.  Mr Tydesley (later Sir Thomas Tydesley) is sent to scout towards Padiham on the morning of the 20th.  This force included horse and some foot as it is reported that Parliament took prisoner "divers"... (meaning many)... "Foot Clubmen".

The True relation states that the Royalist force consisted of The Earl of Derby, Lord Molyneux, Sir Gilbert Hoghton and Colonel Tydesley and all the chief Catholics of the county, with "eleven  troops of Horse, 700 foot and infinite of clubmen, in all conceived to be 5,000".   It goes on to state that after the ambush at Sabden Brook Parliament took 40 prisoners, some horse and 60 muskets.  The capture of muskets suggest foot or dragoons as being present with Tydesley's scouting force.  If we assume an average strength of 50 per troop that gives 550 horse.

Broxup pulls together all of the sources available to him and tells us that on 13 March Derby had assembled 3,000 clubmen for the march against Lancaster.  so that gives some indication of the numbers that could be raised.  He also states that Tyldesley came from York with 600 foot armed 50:50 pike to shot.  This unit of foot may have been from Newcastle's army and have had some combat experience, but equally may have been freshly raised men.  Either way they don't seem to have fared any better than the rest of Derby's forces at Whalley.  All sources place Tyldesley with the Royalist advance scouting party

Suggested forces for the refight

Royalists
Advanced Scouting party
Thomas Tyldesley -average commander
1 unit of 150 Horse - experienced but untrained.
1 unit of 100 dragoons  - raw, trained

Main body
Commander in Chief-  The Earl of Derby. He should be brave but not effective as a commander. Starts off table - see special rules below.
Sir Gilbert Hoghton - average commander. Place as required with the main body
Lord Molyneux - average commander. Place as required with the main body

1 x 600 foot 50:50 pike to shot. Experienced and trained.
5 x 600 clubmen (improvised weapons including some muskets) inexperienced, untrained and unwilling (in my rules this means that they are the worst troops possible)
1 x of 150 horse experienced and trained
1 x 150 horse experienced and trained
1 x light gun (Robinette or similar size)

Special rules
The scouting party deploys along the road between the centre line of the long edge of the table and the turn to Ashterley. They must have orders to make a rapid advance along the Whalley to Read road.  Under my home brew rules orders have three components movement rate, target and action on reaching the target. The Dragoons may not dismount until attacked.  So Tyldesley would have orders of "fast advance, along the road to the far table edge, hold on arrival.

The main body must deploy north of the Calder in any formation desired but no further forward than level with the point where the R Calder exits the south of the table.  Split into two or three commands and assign to commanders (except Tyldesley) as required. Clubmen may be merged into larger bodies in an attempt to make them a more robust fighting force! The main body is under initial orders to hold and cannot take any action or change orders until attacked by Parliamentarian forces or Retreating troops from Read reach them.

The Earl of Derby starts off table at Whalley and only enters when

1. Retreating troops from Sabden Brook are sighted by the forces at Whalley.
2. After 1 hour game time on a di roll.  Roll 1D6 each turn on the first roll only a 1 will release him on the second a 1 or 2 on the third a 1- 3 until on turn 6 he automatically arrives.

On arrival he is placed on the road leading from Whalley to Read at the table edge.  He cannot move further on the turn of arrival.   He cannot issue any new orders until he is free to move.
3. Orders
Parliament
This is a more difficult deployment to arrive at as numbers are low and vary between the accounts.  To allow flexibility and prevent the Royalists having certainty as to where the initial ambush will be sprung, Parliament's shot are in hidden deployment. They may be in any of the woods on the Read side of Sabden Brook or behind the Stone walls that line the road after it crosses the brook.

Advance Party
1 x 400 Foot (shot only) experienced, trained and elite.
1 x 100 horse inexperienced, trained
1 x 150 horse inexperienced, trained.

Captain Ashherton - good commander
Captain F good commander

Deployed to the East of Sanden Brook.  The Horse must be within 1 full move of the East table edge deployed as one command under Captain Assherton.  Captain F commands the Shot.

Reserve
1 x 200 Clubmen inexperienced, untrained.

Colonel Shuttleworth commander in chief Average commander
Colonel Starkie average commander
Lt Marsden - average but rash commander

Speculative reserve troops
All we know for certain is that more troops came in.  These may have been the Clubmen and the second body of horse.  However, we know Shuttleworth called in all available troops, so additional men may have been available.  If we need to place more forces at Parliament's disposal I suggest the following.

1 x light artillery - experienced and trained
1 x 150 horse - experienced, untrained
1 x 200 Clubmen - inexperienced, untrained

Special rules
Reserve (and/or Speculative reserves) enter the table one hour after the ambush is first sprung.  The two Colonels arrive with the reserves.  Lt Marsden arrives 15 minutes after the ambush is sprung.  he can use his command abilities only to get Parliament troops to take aggressive action.

As an option you might want to enforce a limited number of shots for the ambush force.  The true telation suggests that they had little powder until they could loot from the routing Royalist scouting party.

In the last part I will post any last minute thoughts on the scenario and any additional suggestions for altenative versions of the refight.

The Battle of Whalley 1643 part 2

A couple of posts back I copied the text of a period account of the Battle of Whalley.  At the time I suggested that I would try putting a game together.  Well, I haven't had the game yet but I have created the scenario for it.

To create the scenario I needed to find some additional sources on the battle to try to fill out some extra background details.  Luckily, most of the original sources are available online or through Amazon now.  Not that there is much of it.  The main sources are "A discourse of the warr in Lancashire" which was the source of the description I posted before.  That is available through the Chetham Society via Amazon as a Kindle download.  Next are Tracts relating to Military Matters in Lancashire which forms vol 2 of the Chetham Miscellanies also found as a Kindle download.  Both of these are OCR scanned copies converted to text which does  create a number of errors but these are easy to spot as they usually come out as nonsense words or as symbols.

The tracts have two documents of note "A True Relation of a great and Wonderful Victory obtained by Captain Ashton and the Parliament's Forces against the Earl of Derby at Whalley in Lancashire" and "Lancashires Valley of Achor".  As Kindle downloads both the discourse and the tracts both cost around £5.00 which is good value even with the OCR issue.  The internet archive.org provided a copy of Broxup's Great Civil war in Lancashire as a free document.  Again there are some OCR scanning errors but overall it is legible.  As a bonus Broxup cites all of his source material which is useful.

I would like to read the Letters of the Countess of Derby and Henrietta Maria's Letter book as these have some references to other troop movements at the time of the battle.  Bull's Civil war in Lancashire is my next purchase as it draws on a Grattan's Lord Derby's Catholic Army which I don't have.

So what do we gain from the sources?  Details of the site of the battle are pretty clear The discourse places the initial contact as being at Read Head "above the house of Mr Nowell of Read"  Mr Nowell being Roger Nowell of Read Hall.  The Royalists were first sighted "mounting out of a hollow dingle betwixt Ashterly and Reed Head" (the discourse).  The bulk of the Royalist forces were drawn up in a body apparently on the North side of the Calder at Whalley (according to the Discourse) "in a bodie as to receive an enemie".  The Dingle is almost certainly the small steep sided cutting through which Sabden Brook runs and there is still a farm above the brook now called Easterly.  We are also told by the discourse that following the ambush Tydesley fled and mistook his way passing into the lane that leads to Ashterley and then down via Portfield to Whalley.  All of these locations can be identified on the modern OS map.  Parliaments musketeers were hidden behind the stone walls on either side of the highway between Whalley and Padiham.  This would have been Read Old Road as the current main road is an 18th century turnpike.

After the initial ambush there was a running fight from close to where Read Old Road crosses Sabden Brook at Read Old Bridge.  The ambush described in the Discourse occurred on the east side of the brook.  The pursuit followed down to the outskirts of Whalley where the rest of Derby's forces were drawn up.  This was presumably along (or close by) the line of the road down to Whalley.  At Whalley the pursuing musketeers fired upon Derby's forces from the hedges (a true relation) and his forces broke and ran. They crossed the Calder and headed back towards Ribchester turning and standing occasionally. This wasn't the volley and chase suggested by the Discourse but a four stage action.

1. Royalists scout towards Read and are ambushed.
2. The pursuit towards Whalley
3. The action at Whalley itself
4. The fighting withdrawal towards Ribchester

I propose to re-fight the first three stages in this scenario.

Setting the table up
Using 2mm figures and a 1mm to the yard/metre (the difference is notional at 2mm level) I will be using 4 boards 1220mm by 606 mm. as shown below this is enough to cover the ambush, the pursuit and the fight at Whalley.

General layout of the battle field with contours

The woods (The green areas) have been taken from the 18th century map of Lancashire held on Lancashire County Counsel's website.  There is no guarantee they existed in 1643 or were as large as shown if they did.  The woods along the bank of Sabden Brook were probably there and like now would have been a narrow band of scrubby open woodland.  I would depict all other woods as being fairly open as well, sufficient to screen sight lines and disrupt formations.  I haven't included any hill markers or contours as everyone seems to portray hills differently.  The key features are the valley through which Sabden Brook runs.  This is steep sided, narrow with a flat bottom and prone to being boggy.  It's about 100 yards wide at most and probably around 60 feet (say 20 meters) deep.  On the Read side of the Brook the ground climbs with the highest ground being towards the top right area of the map.  On the Whalley side of the map there is a plateau above Ashterley running back towards the large woods between the road junctions.  This is higher at the top of the map and drops towards the bottom.  Other wise the land trends downwards towards Whalley and the R Calder.  Take a look at the OS map for details.  Other terrain should be stone walls for the ambush on either side of the highway from the Bridge (at least on the Read side).  Possible some stone walls denoting the grounds of Read Hall.  And some hedges around Whalley.

Next post will provide details (such as we know) of the troops numbers, make up and morale states.

The Battle of Whalley - 20 April 1643

Flatter than a very flat thing could be the alternative title for this post. My phone that is, and on that phone are the photo's of the new painting project I had intended posting today.  So while I'm waiting for it to show enough charge to allow me to link the images to the PC, here is something I prepared earlier on the ECW battle which was fought closest to my home town.

I grew up in the town of Clitheroe in the Ribble valley of North East Lancashire and as a child I recall the kids talking about “the battle that happened at Sabden Brook”.  No one knew when it had happened or who was fighting or why, it was just one of those odd facts kids pass on from generation to generation of eight year olds and which most grown ups had once heard about and then long forgotten.  Then about some years ago I came across “The Great Civil War in Lancashire”by E Broxap.  This is one of the series of county histories of the war written by the Victorians and Edwardians.  From this I learned that there had indeed been battle fought on Sabden Brook – The Battle of Whalley.   However, even this didn’t give any detail about the battle, just the location and date and a couple of lines on the effect of their defeat on the Royalist cause in Lancashire.

Recently I came across a Victorian edition of a seventeenth century account of the war in Lancashire.  This is “A discourse upon the course of the war in Lancashire” (Unknown author but possibly the Parliamentarian Captain Edward Robinson of Kirkham) which dates from 1652.  The version I have access to was printed by the Chetham Society in 1864 and edited by William Beaufort from a manuscript copy in the Earl of Derby’s library.  I found it online in one of the free to view sites.  This period account gives a broadly chronological account of the war and gives a detailed account of the Battle.  Before reproducing the 1652 account of the battle it is worth setting the scene.

Lancashire in the 1640s was an isolated county, there were only a limited number of places where military forces could enter the county and as a result most of the fighting was purely between local forces.  Generally the South West and West of the county was pro-Royalist and the East and South East was for Parliament.  The North was largely moorland and so was largely pro sheep.  The Parliamentarian cause centred around Manchester and Bolton with the Royalist support being the rural areas of the Fylde (the lowlands east of present day Blackpool) and the area between Preston, modern Southport and Wigan.  The Royalists had what at least appeared to be a unified command under the Earl of Derby operating from his fortified home Latham House near what is now Skelmersdale.  Parliament on the other hand looked to have a fragmented command structure with officers appointed to command each of the six “hundreds” that the county was sub-divided into. 

The Lancashire Hundreds

 The early fighting centred on skirmishes and attempted stormings of Manchester and Wigan.  As the fighting settled down Parliament’s forces secured Bolton and captured Blackburn from the Royalists.  In the east the Royalists under the Earl of Derby consolidated their hold on the west of the county by taking Preston the key link between the Fylde and South West Lancashire.  As 1643 opened both sides looked to further consolidate their base areas and then strike against their enemies.  The Parliamentarians operating out of Blackburn scored the first success by taking Preston.  They alsoattempted Warrington but were repulsed.  Meanwhile the Royalists moved towards Lancaster succeeding in taking the town and burning it in early April.  They then turned back towards Preston.  Derby issued a summons to all able bodied men in Amounderness Hundred (the Fylde) and seems to have raised a large force of foot.  Many of these were clubmen armed only with cudgels and agricultural implements.  With this force they stormed and recaptured Preston.  Derby then decided to keep moving, his plan was to strike from Preston, North West along the Ribble valley and swing around on Blackburn from the North.  He crossed the Ribble at or near Samlesbury Hall ( and continued along the river towards Whalley.

Now to the geography.  The Ribble valley is a broad flat area that narrows slowly as it climbs North West towards the bulk of the Pennines.  Close by Whalley two major tributaries join the Ribble, the River Hodder from the North East  and a mile or two further upstream the River Calder joins from the West through a gap in the hills.  Whalley sits in the angle of the Calder and the Ribble in the valley bottom.  The valley through which the Calder flows forms a natural defensive point against forces advancing East along the Calder, towards Padiham, and Burnley, as the hills come down towards Whalley on either side of the river.  The last two or three miles dropping on a relatively steep gradient.  It was along the hills to the North of the Calder the two forces met just south of the village of Reed close by the point where Sabden Brook flows down to the Calder.

This shot shows how close the hills come to Whalley

The initial action occurred close to where the old Roman road crosses Sabden Brook.  The brook runs through a valley here and the road climbs up out of the valley towards reed passing close to the stone walls of the estate of Reed Hall.

This Image of Reed New Bridge shows the point at which the road crossed Sabden Brook.

So now to the actual description of the fight written sometime in the nine years after the battle (Complete with seventeenth century spellings or lack of them!).

“The Earle of Darbies last undertaking (before hee forsooke the Countie and that wherein God appeared most against him) was his voyage into Blackburn Hundred to Whaley ; no doubt to requite the Parliament Commanders in it with the like they did him by getting some into the King's possession that soe he might vexe the rest if not gaine it all.  Therefore not long after his regaining of Preston and Burning at Lancaster hee calls his Commanders and Souldiers to Preston again with his Club of the feild (Could this be a odd spelling of Fylde?); and having them in a bodye with his afforesaid piece of Ordenance and Horse, the [there is a small gap in the text here which might have given total numbers of the royalists] or thereabout sets forward and marches by Ribchester from thence over Ribble at Salesbury Boat and by Salesbury Hall and soe was well neare gotten to Whaley before he was discovered ; his Clubmen according to their practice plundering in most of the townes they passed by or thorrow (through?).  News of his approaching being brought to Padiam and Galthrop to Colonell Shutleworth in the night tyme that Hundred being then in a weak condition to rescist him, the souldiers at that tyme in no parte of it in any bodie or companies but dispersed and also wanting Ammunition and Pouder.  Neverthelesse the ould Colonell sent intelligence into the Hundred before morning of the Earle's approach summoning all to come up to him in the morning with speed with their best weapons.  Betymes in the morning the Earle's Armie were all drawne up and over that River that runs by Whaley called Calder and there they with the piece of Ordenance were set in a bodie as to receive an Enimie.  The Earle with other of his Commanders where up to the Abbey Sir Ralph Ashton's House whilst Mr. Tildsley with others scouted up towards Padiam yea as far as Reed-head.  Now the Colonells, Shutleworth and Starkie being both come to Padiam with some of the Captaines were in a great perplexitie know[ing] not what to doe being (as was said) unprovyded. Yet some Captaines were sent, some souldiers accompanying to scout towards Whaley as far as Read Mr Nowell's house to hear whether my Lord advanced or no and making a stand there, consulting amongst themselves what was likeliest to be done upon the exigent. The Captaines were all of one mind as that it was not safe to withstand the Earle there. He was a strong partie and came on purpose provided and they weake their companies away scattered. Therefore the safest way was to retreat and preserve themselves out of their Enimies hand till their Companies could be gathered into a bodie with some aid and withall furnished with Ammunition which now they wanted, this being their Resolution at Preston.

This pleased not the Souldiers then by, That they should turn their backs upon their enimies before they saw their faces. Therefore a many of Musketiers being resolut men replyed to the Captaines bouldly, bidding them take what course they pleased for their safeties yet they would aventure themselves, see the enemie and haue one bout with them if God will. And therefore gathering themselves together mad themselves readie to receive the enimie. And belyke eyther imagyning of themselves or having intelligence from others that the enemie would (pass) that way They planted themselves in fields on the high way sid betwixt Whaley and Padiam under the Stone walls with their muskets, readie charged, being hid, to give the enemie a volley of shot if they appeared. Long they lay not before they espied some of the Earles Horse and Foot mounting out of a Hollow dingle betwixt Ashterley and Reed-head. And Maister Tildsley was one of the foremost and having gotten the tope of the Hill he enquired of a woman that dwelt in a little house by, where he was or how that place was calde. Sir said she you are at Read-head above the house of Mr Nowell of Read. I am the more sorrie said he ; I would not haue his wyffe disquieted (Mr Nowell was a strong  malignant).  Not long after this Discourse the Musketiers under the walls waiting their opportunitie let goe a volley of shot against them very hotly which did put such a fear into them That immediately without any delay they turned againe and downe towards Whaley with all the speed they could make. And (as the report was) Mr Tildsley was soe terrified and amazed that forgetting his way for haste took into that lane that leads to Mr Shutleworths house at Ashterlee and then forced his horse to leape over a gate and passed down by Portfield to Whaley. The Musketiers perceiving them flee soe fearfully pursued them hotly and took divers Foot Clubmen. Presently upon the Report of the Muskets many came unto them and some caried the Prisoners to Padiam and the rest Joyned with the Musketiers to pursue the Enemie.

Amongst those that came in then to them was Marsden then a Lieutenant after mad a Captaine, a man of courage and hardie spirit. He incoradged the souldiers much with manly words to goe one, God would fight for them, and the like. So they pursuing with great shouting and the nearer that they came to Whaley the shouting was more and greater the hills and valleys giving the ecchoys besids more comming and encreasing. Whalley standeth in a Vale having the hills on every side on which was much people standing and all shouted, putting Amazement into the Earles Armie. The Earle being in the Abbey and divers of his companie in the Church and Tower, vpon that great noyse made haste to get ther. The peice of ordenance was discharged twise or thrise at the most towards the Tower; but with noe execution that was hard of. A boy that was upon a Steele in the field was shot about his knees whether with a musket or the Ordenance was not certaine whereof hee died but not immediately.  He was all that was slayne of the Parliament parte. Off the Earles Companie an emenent Captaine of much respect with him (yet a greate plunderer) his name was Conney was shot in the one of his eyes whereof he died afterwards and was carried away with them.

The Earles Clubb men being in the Reare of his Army hearing the great noyse of shoutting, apprehending it fearfully fled through the River in much haste, he being most happie that could get through it with most speed and run the fastest away. Noe command of the officers nor force of the horsemen could make them turne again or staye, but gone they would be ; which wrought soe upon the rest of the Armie that they lykewise turned their backs and fledd soe disorderly and confusedly That (as relation was) the Earle himself had much adoe to cause them to take their Ordenance with them, he being of the last Companie that was with it.

Thus hauing turned their backes of Whaley, the shouters increasing, they pursued them with a greater noyse And dyvers horsemen comming in followed with more speed taking some Prisoners and fynding Armes of all sortes cast in the way, not leaving of till they came so far as Salesbury Boat. The prisoners taken were most of them Clubmen of the ffeild, about fortie who weare kept at Padiam till they were released. “

This contemporary account lays the reason for the victory as being the shouting of the Parliamentarian troops which appeared to have panicked the raw Royalist foot.  It was likened to the trumpets at the battle of Jericho and the whole ascribed to God’s favour.  Interestingly the Royalists managed to get their artillery piece away which suggests that the Parliamentary pursuit was not that keen to come to grips with the enemy.  As battles go it wasn’t the most brutal fighting but it is probably representative of the small actions that occurred around the country between locally levied, untrained troops.  It is clear that in fights like this morale and the effect of a sudden unexpected appearance of troops close at hand is far more important than the equipment and tactics used.  Plus as a Sargeant of musket in the Sealed Knot I like the idea that the shot just decided to have a go regardless of numbers or commanders and succeeded in carrying the day.

One I really must try to re fight sometime I just need to make up some clubmen bases in 2mm.