Missing Man Formation

During the battle of Berthierville (which has still not been entirely explored) we have several descriptions of the number of troops present at various smaller engagements. We also have a description of the number of troops present for the whole battle.

However, when this is more closely examined, it transpires that there is something important missing.




The battle itself is described as being 52,000 British vs. 57,000 Americans.

 It was at this point in early September, when the Canadian Volunteers found themselves at the center of what rapidly became the largest battle of war so far in British North America, pitting Grant’s Army of the Saint Lawrence, some 57,000 strong, against Williams' Army of Canada, with some 52,000 British regulars and colonial troops.

The British order of battle contains four divisions (under Paulet, Rumley, Doyle and Russell) and two cavalry brigades (under Low and Griffiths); the Union order of battle contains six divisions (Wood, McCook (2), Hurlbut, Reynolds and Prentiss) and some additional cavalry.





During five separate engagements, every one of the British formations mentioned above can be localized, while the American divisions are identified and their cavalry is largely not. The engagements are

British (Paulet, Rumley) vs. Americans (Wood)
British (Doyle) vs. Americans and Canadians (McCook - two divisions)
British cavalry (Low) vs. Americans (Hurlbut)
British cavalry (Griffiths) vs. Americans (Reynolds)
British (Russel) vs. Americans (Prentiss, Kearny - one division total)

Numbers for smaller units:

 Paulet’s crack 1st Division, trained at Aldershot and the only field formation maintained at full strength in Britain before the war began, had moved up quietly on the Americans’ left flank, avoiding detection even by Willich’s well-trained scouts; the British artillery began firing for effect from front and flank, and some 9,000 British infantry in three brigades attacked Willich’s single American brigade.

(Paulet is 9,000)

 In the end, however, Paulet’s and Rumley’s numbers and discipline overwhelmed even that example; Willich’s horse was shot out from under him, and the gallant old German was captured, along with most of what was left of his brigade. But for every American dead or wounded, there were as many British regulars or Canadian volunteers; even with 2-1 odds and the surprise of Paulet’s flank attack, the strength of the defensive over the offensive, especially when the defending force was dug in, even behind simple field defenses, was undeniable.

(Paulet and Rumley put together outnumber Wood 2:1)

 Doyle’s division, some 9,000 strong, found itself facing some 16,000 Americans and 2,000 Canadians, not counting the remnants’ of Wood’s shattered force;

(Doyle is 9,000, and McCook's two divisions are 18,000)

 The first in a series of running actions, across a north-south front of almost 22 miles, from Sainte-Élisabeth to Saint-Cuthbert, occurred between Hurlbut’s force of some 9,000 men and Low’s “Lancer” brigade of less than 2,000 at Sainte-Élisabeth.

(Hurlbut's division is 9,000, Low's cavalry brigade is less than 2,000)

 Six miles north at Saint-Norbert, Reynolds’ column faced off in a similar action with Griffiths’ 2nd Cavalry Brigade, made up of the 10th Hussars, Lt. Col. Valentine Baker, the 13th Hussars, Lt. Col. Soame G. Jenyns, CB, and the 18th Hussars, Lt. Col. Richard Knox, and another battery of the RHA.

(No reason to assume that this is different from the above)

 Throughout the day, distant gunfire, like the thunder of unseen lightning, had echoed across the prairies and fields, but even with the minor skirmishes south of Saint Cuthbert, few of Prentiss’ men – more than 8,000 infantry and artillery, and another 1,000 cavalry – had seen a red coated enemy.

(Prentiss' division is 9,000)

 The sounds of the skirmish wafted across the fields, bringing both Buford’s brigade and the entire column to a halt until Kearny could learn what was going on; likewise, to Russell, whose division was paused at Saint-Barthelemy, it was confirmation the Americans were on the march and close enough for an attack. The British general ordered his division, some 10,000 men in three brigades of three battalions each, plus artillery, to move to contact toward the southwest. Likewise, as soon as di Cesnola’s troopers got word back to the main force, Buford’s cavalry moved northeast, with Kearny directing Prentiss’ infantry division forward in column.

(Russell's division is 10,000)

The only formations not explicitly given strength are Wood for the Americans and Rumley for the British. 

 We know the strengths of four of the six American divisions (9,000 in all four cases).
 We know the strength of one of the two British cavalry brigades (2,000)
 And we know the strength of three of the four British divisions (9,000, 9,000, 10,000)

 Based on this, we can reasonably assume that the missing formations are the same size as the ones we know of:

 The missing British cavalry brigade has the same number of regiments in it as the known cavalry brigade.
 The missing British division has nine regiments, like the other British divisions.
 Wood's division has twelve regiments, much like all the other American divisions, and the same is true of Reynolds' division.


The smaller engagements are thus as follows:



18,000 British (Paulet, Rumley) vs. 9,000 Americans (Wood) - British mount flank attack, very close British victory
9,000 British (Doyle) vs. 16,000 Americans and 2,000 Canadians (McCook) - British attack frontally, lose handily
2,000 British cavalry (Low) vs. 9,000 Americans (Hurlbut) - British attack frontally, lose handily
2,000 British cavalry (Griffiths) vs. 9,000 Americans (Reynolds) - British attack frontally, lose handily
10,000 British (Russel) vs. 9,000 Americans (Prentiss, Kearny) - British attack frontally, lose heavily



Apart from showing the bias present - the British need 2:1 advantages and a flank attack to win, but are always on the offensive even against superior numbers - something else should be evident.
The total number of Union troops mentioned is 52,000 Americans and 2,000 Canadians, totalling 54,000 - this leaves 3,000 unaccounted for, probably in the cavalry or simple rounding errors. This is about as should be expected.
The total number of British troops mentioned is 41,000 - this leaves 11,000 unaccounted for, the equivalent of an entire (real) British army corps, with no units to whom they should be assigned. This is important because a key feature of Berthierville is that the British are nowhere quite strong enough to succeed - which should not be surprising, since the number of troops erased by TFSmith from the order of battle is vast. If returned it would allow each of the four British divisions he describes to gain an extra brigade, which would ironically make them the size of a real (four brigade) British army corps, instead of the (ahistorical) three-brigade divisions TFSmith insists on using.

This great removal may be accidental or deliberate - if it is deliberate, the possible motive is quite sinister. For TFSmith to announce the British are attacking with 41,000 troops to the Union 57,000 would leave him open to claims of bias and of making the British gung-ho idiots; by adding an extra 11,000 men to their roster for the purposes of direct comparison, only to remove them once more when the actual battle comes up, allows him to avoid this accusation.

Making this all especially sinister is that TFSmith's motive for making all the divisions the same size is explicitly to allow him to more easily compare the forces from different countries. As we can see here, he does not.

This, then, is more to indicate that Berthierville is a battle marked largely by cheating. TFSmith loses over ten thousand British troops behind the sofa, either due to awful maths or as a more deliberate effort, when a simple mental calculation should have told him that a 52,000 strong British army divided into 4,000 cavalry and four equal parts should have had roughly 12,000 men per unit.

Perhaps all the missing men are secret Union sympathizers.