Historical Background
In 1758, British Brigadier General John Forbes was ordered to capture the French stronghold that was Fort Duquesne, at what is today Pittsburgh. This maneuver took the form of a slow and careful consolidation of ground taken by the construction of outposts, supply depots and forts along the way.
The trail that was hacked through the wilderness towards Fort Duquesne was called the Forbes Road, and the final outpost on this road, to be used as a staging area for the ultimate attack on the French fort, was Fort Ligonier. Known for the first year of its existence as the Post at Loyalhanna for its location on Loyalhanna Creek (Delaware for middle stream ), work on what would become Fort Ligonier began on September 3, 1758.
The botched mission on Fort Duquesne by Major James Grant, where about one third of his men were lost and Grant himself taken prisoner, convinced Forbes to stay put at Loyalhanna. Forbes who had not authorized the mission, was livid that his subordinate officers had jeopardized his well-planned advance with such a rash venture. While Forbes was en route to the post at Loyalhanna with the bulk of his army and before the fort was completed, on October 12, 1758 the French and Indians returned the favor by raiding Fort Ligonier.
A force of 590 French troops & allied Indians first attacked a number of British troops stationed outside the post and then beat back the 200 Maryland Battalion that commanding officer James Burd had sent out to deflect the attack. The Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina Provincial troops scattered back to the fort, and artillery was brought to bear on the attackers.
Unable to counter the introduction of artillery to the battle, the French and Indians retreated to the woods, where they hunkered down until nightfall. The attackers tried again at 9 pm, expecting the darkness to negate the advantage of the artillery, only to find that it did not. The French and Indians, repulsed again, contented themselves with killing or taking away some 200 British horses, and returned to Fort Duquesne.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history?
Battle Notes
French Army
• Commander: Aubry
• 5 Command cards & 3 Combat cards
• Move First
British Army
• Commander: Burd
• 6 Command cards & 3 Combat cards
Victory
7 Victory Banners
Special Rules
- Opening Cannonade rule is not in effect.
- The five hills on the British left flank represent cliffs. Units crossing the cliff face (outlined in red) must stop and move no further this turn. These are considerd hillsacross this cliff line for battle purposes. Otherwise they are considered clear terrain.
- An Artillery unit cannot move across a Fieldworks hex side.
- The French player gains a permanent victory banner when occupying any hex within the Fascine Battery (outlined in blue) at the start of their turn.
- Indians cannot ignore flags from artillery for any reason other than ‘Retire and Rally’.
- The stream is fordable. The shallow ford has no movement or battle restrictions