"Best regimental/battalion commanders in AWI?" Topic

The rule set that I use for the American Revolution allows players to designate outstanding regimental/battalion commanders as "brave colonels" (if a unit was commanded by a major or captain, this would also apply).

Any ideas on which unit commanders you'd designate with this status? I would be interested in either side.

Thanks everyone,

Don

John Glover
John Stark

Smallwood

Tarleton
Simcoe

Morgan

Daniel Morgan, John Howard, another vote for John Stark. But you have to roll dice for Stark to see if he's feuding with his superiors.
For the British, Rawdon.

John Haslet, John Glover, Otho Williams, James McCall and William Washington.

And the Old Waggoneer, Dan Morgan, who stands alone.

For the Brits

Tarleton, Simon Fraser and Patrick Ferguson.

Unless I am misreading the original post, a lot of the suggestions are hitting the mark a bit high.

I think the best way to go about meeting your rule set is to identify the above average units, which usually had above average battalion commanders, and award them. Seems like a double bonus, but good battalions rarely had bad commanders. Of course I am generalizing.

In fairness, I think anyone who ended up commanding a brigade, much less an independent force, should at least be considered for the appellation "good regimental/battalion commander" (although seniority often played a more prominent role earlier in the war). In addition, it's worth remembering that being appointed an AdC to a senior commander, which often carried the prospect of being given an ad hoc/emergency battlefield command, was an indication of being held in high esteem. Being appointed to command a converged flank company battalion certainly was.

For the British:-

Webster/33rd Foot – Lamb describes the 33rd as being, by common consent, the best drilled/discipline Line unit in America and Webster was the choice of Cornwallis (the Colonel) to command it

Fraser (Simon)/24th Foot – considered good enough, thanks to Fraser's dedication as CO, to serve with the Advance Guard of Burgoyne's army

Stirling/42nd Foot – without covering himself in glory, he also doesn't seem to have put a foot wrong in commanding a very efficient unit

Percy/5th Foot – commanded the regiment in Boston at the start of the war; he instituted marksmanship and good conduct badges for the rank-and-file and paid for the passage home of all the wives and families of the dead and seriously injured

A good brigade or even independent commander must have started out as a regimental commander.
so Morgan certainly qualifies.

Morgan certainly was a battalion CO at Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights (which I think is really 2nd Freeman's Farm).

Echoing SM's list of Crown officers and adding-

-the Hon John Maitland, Major of Marines, who commanded the 2nd Light Infantry 1776-1778. We don't hear much of him tactically in this period but he clearly set the standard for a composite 'Flank' unit that was very effective, at times ruthlessly so. Maitland came into his own as a leader in the field when he transferred as Lieutenant Colonel to the 71st Highland Regiment as a battalion commander. He became de facto commander of the regiment when it went'Southward' and led a very successful campaign in Georgia which culminated in the defense of Savannah against a Franco-American force, only to die of fever days after the siege was lifted.

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Musgrave CO of the 40th Regiment 1776-78, who arguably denied Washington his last chance of victory at the battle of Germantown in 1777 by his determined defence of the Chew house with 120 men of his regiment. The 40th, rather like the 33rd, the 42nd and the 71st, seem to have operated as some kind of unofficial flank battalion.

John Stark.

When you beat Grenadiers using only militia, both while defending a position AND when you are attacking a prepared position, you've got that special something going on.

"Light Horse" Henry Lee deserves consideration as well, I'd say.

Morgan was outstanding at all levels.

Shan

@42ndflanker,

Thank you – Musgrave is a glaring omission from my list (he also commanded a Light Battalion until wounded at Pell's Point, of course).

I was trying to think of who commanded the 71st, which had a reasonable war record for a Line unit, but couldn't recall anyone specifically – I'd always thought it was a different Maitland from the Light Infantry commander, and the latter had returned to the Marines and thence back to Europe.

I suppose whilst talking of the South, we should also include Prevost of the 60th, and Kruger of Fort Ninety Six fame.

When you beat Grenadiers using only militia, both while defending a position AND when you are attacking a prepared position, you've got that special something going on.

Whilst agreeing that Stark qualifies as impressive – he was almost certainly responsible for Bunker Hill lasting as long as it did – I'm pretty sure he himself never faced any Grenadiers and he certainly did not do so with "only militia". It was the British light infantry (a particularly unimpressive unit in the opening months of the war) at Bunker Hill, and a guy called Safford who eventually defeated Breymann's relief column at Bennington.

At Bunker Hill, Stark's regiment was packed with F&IW veterans – far exceeding the combat experience of his opponents – whilst at Bennington he had several ranger units and a strong detachment of Warner's Regiment. It was these two types of troops who turned the tide against Breymann after the latter had driven back the initial line of defenders (who were militia).

Not sure how impressive we should consider Lee, given the massacre of Pyle's non-resisting Loyalists.

'Massacre'- a tricky topic in relation to the AWI.

Maitland's 'light bobs', and also the 71st under his command in Georgia, were branded with accusations of massacre- not to forget 'Tarleton's Quarter.'

Stirling's 42nd were also accused of being free with the bayonet at Pisquatawa in 1777.

Of course, they would probably have argued 'Big Boys' Rules'

Everything I have ever read has British Grenadiers at Bunker hill, if this is some type of debunked myth, let me know sources. And Hessian Grenadiers at Bennington in small numbers initially, as well as significantly more with the reinforcements.

But hey, if you want to credit Warner for the defeat of the Grenadiers and have Stark as a non-credited CiC, that's up to you. Personally I give Stark the credit for commanding a milita force that attacked entrenched regulars. Oh. And there were Grenadiers in the forces that he defeated. And in the reserves that the forces under his command also defeated. That's not taking anything away from the individual initiative of the leaders under him--it's just a fact.

If there is some other leader of a militia force that performed a similar feat, say in the South, then they deserve consideration as well.

Shan

At Bunker Hill, there were flank companies of light infantry as well as grenadiers, I believe, attacking along the shoreline down on the colonists' left flank. Those units suffered significant losses in two unsuccessful attacks, reducing some companies to ten men. In the third, successful attack on the redoubt atop Breed's Hill, the attack on the fence-line and dry-stone wall was essentially a feint. Despite the familiar image of a British grenadier in Trumbull's painting, if any of the surviving flankers, eithergrenadiers or 'light bobs,' were diverted to the main attack they will have been few.