Clear The Way

Of the many engagements in which US troops defeat British ones (spoiler: almost all of them) one deserves examination for what it tells us about TFSmith's idea of tactics - at least, tactics employed by the British - and of the relative quality of infantry.



During the invasion of Maine, much of the 1st Division of the 2nd Union Army Corps is rushed to Portland overnight and engages the British landing in the morning. The comparison between the US troops (who arrived at midnight and are ready for battle) and the British troops (who theoretically turned up at dawn the previous day and are only ready by "mid morning") begins there.

The troops present in one section of the battle consist of the British Brigade of Guards facing the Union's Irish Brigade. To compare these men, it is useful to compare the experience of their regiments, the time the regiments have been constituted, and their equipment and training.

The British Guards Brigade present consists of one battalion each of the Rifle Brigade, the Scots Fusilier Guards and the Grenadier Guards. (The presence of a battalion of the Rifle Brigade is an inaccuracy, as the Rifles should be the Coldstreams instead, but we will let it pass for now.)
The Grenadier Guards is the senior unit of infantry in the British Army, and has existed since 1656. As of 1862, the Grenadier Guards have three recent battle honours (The Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol, all from the Crimean War) and the men of the unit have been with it for several years. In addition, the Guards (like every regiment of the British Army of the time) are armed with the Enfield, and the battalion present here happened to be the second in the army in using it (with 61% of the battalion being "first class shots", effectively sharpshooters able to hit a target at half a mile).
The Scots Fusilier Guards are not quite so senior, but have the same recent battle honours and the same long experience for the men constituting it. The battalion of the Scots Fusilier Guards sent to Canada was also the best unit in the entire army at musketry, though contained only 56% first-class shots.
The Rifle Brigade is the youngest of the formations here, being formed in 1800. In addition to having the three Crimean battle honours of the two Guards battalions, the Rifle Brigade also has battle honours from the Indian Mutiny (Lucknow) and some of the men in it may remember the experience of winning the South Africa battle honour (1850-2). They are not quite as high scoring as the Guards or the best Foot regiments (they are 28th), and have only 38% first-class shots. (The 1/Coldstream were 7th in the army and had 53% first-class shots.)

Summed together, out of the approx. 2550 men present in the brigade a little more than half (approx. 1330) are first-class shots able to hit a target reliably at half a mile. The whole force is armed with the Enfield rifle, and they are certainly able to use it effectively at a longer range than most US regiments could; in addition to this, they are elite battalions in other ways. (The Guards consist exclusively of especially large and strong men, big enough that sleighs able to take eight regulars could only take six Guardsmen.)
In all cases the men enlisted for about eleven years, with an option on another ten, and many took this option; the average British soldier would have been with his regiment for about eight years, and so this brigade consists largely of elite, blooded veterans who are also good shots with their rifles.


The Union's Irish Brigade consists of three regiments (the 63rd, 69th and 88th New York).
The 63rd New York Infantry was constituted in November 1861. It has had no battle experience yet, and is armed with smoothbore muskets.
The 69th New York Infantry was a direct descendant from the 69th New York Militia. As such it has taken part in the First Battle of Bull Run, and has a few days a year of training before being called into Federal service in mid-1861; like the 63rd, it is armed with smoothbore muskets.
The 88th New York Infantry, like the 63rd, was constituted in November 1861. It also has had no battle experience yet, and is armed with smoothbore muskets.


Summed together, these three regiments are nothing like the Brigade of Guards. Armed specifically with short range weapons and without any real seasoning to date, any of the men in the brigade who had been trained in the British Army (such as in the 88th Connaught Rangers) would be unable to use whatever rifle training they may have obtained there.
While it is a famous brigade historically speaking, there is nothing as of yet to distinguish it from any other regiment - unlike their British opponents, who are largely veteran sharpshooters.



TFSmith's account of the battle between these two brigades is that the Irish Brigade stands on the far side of a totally unfortified stream (one too long for them to hold a front line along), and the British Guards repeatedly charge directly into them before being repulsed with bayonets and clubbed muskets.

This is frankly absurd - it has the British Guards and Rifles acting like men with smoothbore muskets (or possibly with spears) and then has the inexperienced American troops repeatedly repel the highly experienced and strong Guards in hand-to-hand combat.

The rest of the battle makes this appear typical. Another engagement is between the 66th New York Infantry (a unit with a similar service record to the 63rd; to whit, seven months old and no battle experience) and the entire British 2nd Brigade (composed of the 62nd, 63rd and 1/15th - none quite so experienced as the Guards, but all still well trained and good shots). Outnumbered three-to-one by veteran units (and then five-to-one as the British commit two more regiments), the newly-trained 66th fights so well that after an hour they have been pushed back less than two hundred yards; American reinforcements then arrive, and (now at five regiments against five) push the British back to their start line.


This, then, is the way TFSmith handles US and British troops. The best of the British Army forget everything they have ever learned, while inexperienced American infantry are able to hold out at 5:1 odds and able to push back defending British troops at 1:1 odds.
Service length matters hugely when describing Canadian militia versus Union volunteers, but evaporates completely when describing Union troops opposed to British regulars.