HAWKESWORTHE'S BURROS
An After Action Report
Spain 1810. The British are pulling back from another failed offensive and while the army goes north to draw the French in that direction, a small detachment of soldiers are assigned by General O'Brien to ensure that a group of notable civilians, many of them English, and a few pack mules loaded with 'critical' logistics get west and out of French hands. The Convoy is under the command of Lt Col Brexton. In the convoy are 4 companies of Highlanders, 2 or 3 companies of elite riflemen, a section of artillery, and a company of light dragoons.
Among the ragtag group of pedestrian civilians is a certain beautiful Lady Tupperingdale. Wealthy, single, and charming, she is a very attractive prospect for the single officers in the convoy. Also though in the caravan is the infamous Alejandro 'The Bastard' Calatrava.
The journey of the small party will take them through a ravine, across a river, past a village, and then west and away. It will also take them through the territory of the famous Guerrilla leader Don Julio. Don Julio, having heard word through certain priests that the treasure will be passing through his lands, has no intention of letting it slip through his fingers. Complicating matters further is that a force of French is pursuing the convoy.
The expedition gets underway with the traditional communication breakdown between Major McGonagall and Captain Hawkesworthe. The Highlanders march defiantly down the right flank while the riflemen push aggressively down the left. The civilians launch themselves forward on the road. Hawkesworthe keeps up with the civilians and tells many saucy tales to Lady Tupperingdale.
Very quickly, guerrillas begin to appear in the ravine and commence to assemble to capture civilians. A single company of Highland infantry is dispatched to protect the civilians and another company hangs back to become a rearguard. In this shot you can see the congestion begin to plague the British in the center. Lieutenant Day identifies a band of guerrillas in the woods in the foreground but is unwilling to launch his light dragoons against them, preferring instead to wait until the Black Watch can drive them out of their cover.
Guerrillas press against the British center, achieving some telling effects from the musketry on the infantry. Lt Colonel Brexton has ridden over to reprimand Capt Hawkesworthe for giving too much attention to Lady Tupperingdale and not enough attention to his riflemen where a small band of bandits have pressed themselves against a wall and brought the light infantry's progress to a virtual halt.
Forming line, the Highlanders commence to exchange musketry with the guerrillas to their front. In the center, bandits close with their opposite numbers. Lieutenant Day about faces his cavalry in anticipation of arriving French pursuers. Captain Hawkesworthe refuses to leave the side of the charming Lady Tupperingdale, but the young Lieutenant Dallyrumple manages to drive off the guerrillas at the wall. In the exchange, Sgt Corgi is brought down.
Guerrillas charge and the Highlanders will be driven off. Immediately after that, the second wave of Spaniards pushes forward and there is a desperate battle as Captain Hawkesworthe and Lt McFitzwilliamson must fight alone against the ruffians to protect the civilians. It will be a fight that will see Hawkesworthe's trumpeter, Nigel, fall badly wounded. The Captain of Rifles will be captured while McFitzwilliamson will escape to rejoin his battery. The civilians, including Lady Tupperingdale and the bastard, are captured.
The French arrive in force and it is terrifying. Lt Col Brexton tries to organize a rearguard out of the already battered Highlanders but they will be mauled by the steady fire of the pursuing French infantry. Courageously, the Scots charge the long line of blue but are repulsed.
Below, we see the Hussars chasing toward the mule train but also we see what happens when young Lt Dallyrumple leads an attack of the riflemen against the guerrillas that had captured his Captain. Hawkesworthe is rescued! Lady Tupperingdale is saved!
The Highlander rearguard is sent fleeing with a deafening and steady volley of fire from the French. All seems not lost though for, with a 'Tally ho!', Lieutenant Day and his 15th Light Dragoons charge toward the French infantry. Tragically, at the last instant the infantry will manage to reload and get off enough of a volley to force the horsemen to balk.
The bandits are now forced to put up a ragged defense at the river line. They are marginally effective against the approaching limbered artillery but the force of Major McGonagall, which chooses to steadily remain in place and just pour volley after volley into the Spanish, they have no answer for. It is only a matter of time. In the distant right the civilians are being hustled forward but beyond them the French Hussars have captured the mule train and are retiring with their prizes. General O'Brien will not be happy.
The battle draws to a close with the last of the rifles intermingled with the frightened civilians. They would force their way across the ford and manage to get safely back to the British army. One the other flank, Major McGonagall will cross the northern ford and get his command into secure territory. The French will occupy the village and halt, certain that there is no opportunity to catch any more easy prizes.
The British expedition failed, particularly Captain Hawkesworthe for the mule convoy was allowed to fall into enemy hands, including the art treasures of General O'Brien. There is some consolation though in that the civilians charges were brought to safety and Lady Tupperingdale and Captain Hawkesworthe have begun a romantic affair.
Because the British troops never entered the village proper, there was no opportunity for them to fall into the ambush of fourteen priests that was waiting to relieve them of their plundered treasures.