This is one of the short scenarios of Birth of America and it describes the 1779 Insurgent unsuccessful attempts to expel the British from the Deep South, and in particular the aborted assault on Savannah by a Franco-American army.
Historical context
Since the aborted assault on Charleston in June 1776, the British had been completely absent from the South. This changed when, on 28 November 1778, a British expeditionary force landed on the Savannah River below the town, overwhelmed and outmaneuvered the American defending force under General Robert Howe, and captured Savannah. Augusta, Georgia, fell next at the end of January 1779. The American commander, Maj. Gen Benjamin Lincoln had collected a force of approximately 5,000 men, less than half of which where Continental regulars. The British under Gen. Prevost and their American opponents spent the next 6 months marching and countermarching each other between Savannah and Charleston, until the summer heat quieted them all. §American fortunes seemed on the verge of changing when, on September 8th, D'Estaing's French fleet of 22 ships returned from the West Indies to the southern coast and began to debark troops at Beaulieu, 14 miles south of Savannah, with the intention of attacking the British at Savannah. A combined force of 1,500 Americans under General Lincoln and more than 5,000 Frenchmen from D'Estaing's fleet laid siege to Savannah, which was defended by about 3,200 British regulars. D'Estaing's fears for the safety of the French fleet led to an early Franco-American attack on October 9th against the entrenched British, which was repulsed with heavy casualties. Frustrated, Admiral D’Estaing raised the siege 10 days later and sailed away, leaving Georgia firmly in British hands.
My Strategy
I have decided to play first with the Americans. The challenge is tough: I have to keep my assets and capture two strategic cities that are strongly defended. Time is running fast, as we only have the 8 months of the fair season, from March to November, to achieve our objectives.
My plan is to try to draw some of the British forces away from Savannah, in order to weaken that city in anticipation of the French fleet arrival. The risk is that I may end up on the losing side if they capture more than I thought they could.
[color="darkred"]March 1779[/color]
I start first by pulling out one of the two Georgia Militia garrisoning Ninety-Six. The city now looks weaker to the British intelligence. They march south-east to Amelia, where I plan to have them meet Pulaski and his Horse brigade, the 1st South Carolina Rgt and SC militias that simultaneously move north from Charleston
With Lincoln, 3 regiments and the artillery, all well supplied and entrenched, the South Carolina capital looks strong enough.
De Kalb, Sumter and the forces up north at Hillsboro (NC) are hampered by mud and rainfalls, so no hope to get them quickly down south. Nevertheless, they’ll start their trip by capturing Ramsay mill and Salisbury, the last 2 Tory stronghold in the region, safeguarding our rear (no Tory militia could be raised there in my back later if I take control of the region now).
[color="darkred"]April-May 1779[/color]
The weather is bad and rain slows down movement almost all over the Deep South. De Kalb moves towards Camden, where he is expected in June. Pulaski and his force painfully reach Amelia, where they merge with the militia out of Ninety-Six. I cannot see much of the English moves, as most is covered by the fog of war. So I detach Sumter from De Kalb’s command and send him quickly south to take command of the Cross Creek garrison of militia. I am planning to use his superior abilities (he is a partisan leader) to move fast towards my enemy and scout his forces. I should have done that earlier.
leure:
[color="darkred"]June 1779[/color]
The trap worked better than I thought. Pulaski caught the British commander John Campbell and his mixed force of regulars and Tories in the open around Amelia, right after he had crossed the Savannah river.
Campbell escapes the battle alive but with just a battalion of panic stricken Tories.
[color="darkred"]July 1779[/color]
On the 3rd anniversary of our Independence, another battle takes places in Ninety-Six, where I have just retreated Pulaski, in wait for De Kalb. I realized I made two critical mistakes: Pulaski stayed outside the city, while I missed the approach of a large British force under Augustine Prevost. The English reach the region in time to fight an inconclusive battle there. Well, inconclusive is only a matter of interpretation, as most of Pulaski’s units are wiped out, and he barely misses to be the last casualty (he is wounded and sent back to Camden to recover). Siege of Ninety-Six commences.
[color="darkred"]August 1779[/color]
The British are still besieging me, but they have been badly weakened by their attack and are not strong enough to assault my lone Georgian militia. At the same time, long-awaited Admiral d’Estaing and his fleet appear off the coast, from the West Indies.
I immediately order the Royale (the French Navy) to blockade Savannah.
[color="darkred"]September 1779[/color]
The French are now moored in front of Savannah. Having lost most of my American forces upcountry, I realize that I cannot expect help from the closest Insurgents down in Charleston, as General Lincoln refuses to leave the city, uncertain of the whereabout of the English foe (in fact, his strategic rating is good – 4 – but was not enough to have me activate his forces).
At the same time, it seems British reinforcements have landed in Savannah just before we set up the blockade.
D’Estaing (he is an admiral, but can also lead land troops) decides to take his chances and disembark the whole French expeditionary corps under the nose of the British guns at Savannah (a very risky proposition).
[color="darkred"]October 1779[/color]
I have been lucky: the British in Savannah withdrew behind the city walls, so I avoided a slaughter of French blood on the sandy beaches. I immediately start building entrenchments of my own, and order the army to siege, expecting a quick fall of the city.
I noticed the move had an immediate effect on my foe’s strategy: the siege of Ninety-Six has been raised and the English have regrouped their forces around Augusta (the presence of Thomas Sumter nearby helps me get the right information out of the fog of war).
The political control shows that my opponent still clings to the south-west part of the area.
[color="darkred"]November 1779[/color]
This is the last month, and the weather is bad again. My plan worked not so bad, as the siege of Savannah is a success (a breach occurred and the French regiments assaulted the defenders, killing them all…discovering they were mostly supply units…quelle piètre gloire!!)
Anyway, I achieved my goal and captured the city.
[color="darkred"]End of Scenario[/color]
The scenario ends with a victory for the USA, but not a decisive one, as although I succeeded near the coast, the British are still holding on to Augusta, one of the objectives I had to capture to ensure a sudden death victory.
The whole scenario took me 30 minutes to play (I spent some time shooting those screens for you too
).
NB: the screenshots have been taken from the French version of the game, but of course our North American friends can play it in English.
