Return to Chronicles of Rajistan: Second Attempt to Relieve Hak al-Kumara

 

The armies lined up for battle: 7th 'Meerut' Division
on their start lines; 35th Turcowaz Division with 
cavalry support lined up in defence.

After the failure of Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Reddington's relief attempt, Major-General Sir Grinmore Scarlett was forced for several weeks to wait out the siege at Hak al Kumara. A serendipitous discovery of a large hoard of grain had at least given his 6th Division - such as had so far survived the rigours of a failed offensive operation and the siege - the stamina to hang on for the two months before General Reddington could mount a second relief attempt. On 7 March 1876, two months and one day following the first attempt, 7th 'Meerut' Division launched its second assault upon the Turcowaz positions close by Shaikh Sa'ad village.

The Turcowaz right - west side of the Pardis 
River: 103rd Infantry, 3 cavalry units and half 
the army's artillery

In fact, poor old Sir Grinmore has had to sit there for over three years before I finally got around to mounting this second relief attempt. At that I might have used the time to research the progress of the subsequent events of early 1916 to relieve Major-General Townshend's beleaguered Division at Kut al Amara, but that would have added to the OOBs of both sides. My second attempt pitched the same forces against each other, with but two trivial changes (the camelry became cavalry, and 6th Jat infantry became a skirmishing rifle unit). The respective forces were:

 Army of Turcowaz:

Corps Command: Nasr ed-Din ... 6SP

35th Division: Duya ed-Din ... 3SP

• 103rd Regiment, 3 Bns (stands) @6SP = 18SP
• 104th Regiment, 3 Bns @6SP = 18SP
• 105th Regiment, 2 Bns @6SP = 12SP
• Nordenfeld MG Company @2SP
• Artillery, 2 batteries @2SP = 4SP

Cavalry:

• 43rd, 44th Regular cavalry @4SP = 8SP
• 75th, 76th Irregular Sipahi @4SP (poor) = 8SP
  
• 61st, 62nd Tribal Light Horse @4SP (poor) = 8SP

Reinforcements (off table):

52nd Division: Abdullah Jemal ... 3SP

• 154th Regiment, 3 Bns @6SP = 18SP
• 155th Regiment, 3 Bns @6SP = 18SP
• 156th Regiment, 3 Bns @6SP = 18SP
• Nordenfeld MG  Company @ 2SP
  

These reinforcements were scheduled to arrive on table once the first line of entrenchments had been breached.*

24 units, 146SP, E.P. -49SP

* For this action I made this change. The arrival of 52nd Division was triggered by Ruberian breaches of the first line of fortifications, but they had to be diced for. At the end of the turn in which an attacking unit forced its way across the trench line into the Turcowaz position, I rolled a single D6 die.  If the score matched the number of attackers who had successfully done so, then the whole of 52nd Division arrived on the Turcowaz table edge to moved into the table next turn. As it transpired, it was something like 4 turns before 52nd Division arrived, by which time at least five and I think six units had forced the first line of defence.

 

Turcowaz centre: 104th Infantry supported by the 
other half of the artillery. Nasr ed-Din stands with 
the artillery; Duya ed-Din with III/104th Battalion

Turcowaz left - protected by a vast salt marsh.  
The understrength 105th Regiment, beefed up by the 
35th Division machine guns. In support, the other 
half of the cavalry: regular sipahis and 
tribal light horse.

Army of Ruberia:

Seventh Meerut Division, Lt-Genl Sir Aylmer Reddington ... 6SP

19th Dehra Dun Brigade (Col Wm Dennys) ... 3SP

• I/ Seaforth Highlanders ...6SP (elite)
• 28th Punjinjab Infantry ...6SP
• 92nd Punjinjab Infantry ...6SP
• 125th Napier's Rifles (Skirmishers) ...4SP
• Gatling detachment ...3SP
  
  

28th Garwhal Brigade (Brig-Genl Geo. Kemball) ... 3SP

• II/ Leicestershire Infantry ...6SP 
• 51st Hydansikh Infantry ...6SP
• 53rd Hydansikh Infantry ...6SP
• 56th Punjinjab Infantry ...6SP
• 62nd Punjinjab Infantry ...6SP
• Gatling Detachment ...3SP

  

  28th Brigade on west bank of
  Pardis River

  
  

35th Brigade (Brig-Genl G.B.H. Rice) ...3SP

• I/ 5th Buffingtonshire Infantry ...6SP
• 37th Dogra Infantry ...6SP
• 97th Deccan-Decca Infantry ...6SP
• 102nd King's Own Grenadiers ...6SP
• Gatling Detachment ...3SP

  

  35th (nearer thr river) and 19th Brigades 

  
  

21st Barrelly Brigade (Col G Ross) ...3SP

• II/ Black Watch ...6SP (Elite)
• 6th Jat Light Infantry (Skirmishers) ...4SP
  
• 41st Dogra Infantry ...6SP
• 9th Bhoped Infantry ...6SP
• Gatling Detachment ...3SP

  

  21st Infantry and 6th Cavalry Brigades

  
  

6th (Indian) Cavalry Brigade: (Brig-Genl R. Thered) ...3SP

• 14th King's Hussars ...4SP (elite)
• 4th Cavalry ...4SP
• 7th Harian Lancers ...4SP
• 33rd Queen Adelaide's Own Light Cavalry ...4SP
• 'S' Battery, RHA (Horse artillery) ...2SP

Divisional Artillery:

• IV, IX, XIII Brigades, @2SP = 6SP 

  

  HRMS Shoofly gunboat. Captained by 
  Lt-Cdr James Rosemount, she played a far more
  active role than in previous actions.
  
  

  
  

Gunboat:

• HRMS Shoofly, ...8SP  

36 units, 163SP, Exhaustion Point -55SP.

Earliest moves by Ruberia's attacking formations.

To be continued: the battle narrative...