Battle of the Biscuits! The Volturno (1860)

Early in the life of the BBB project I was in Rome and met up with a fellow wargamer. Ottavio suggested I look at the battle of the Volturno. At that time I was still working my way through the huge epics like Solferino and Koniggratz, so I said that at 25,000-30,000 a side the Volturno was a bit small.

Well, since then we have had plenty of fun fighting Bloody Big Battles that size or smaller. Last night it was the turn of the Volturno. Crispin had created a scenario, painted up redshirted Garibaldini and even made a viaduct.

 

Neapolitan troops advance across the Volturno against Garibaldini

in a strong position around Sant Angelo and Santa Maria.

 Garibaldi himself bestrides his eponymous biscuit like a colossus. 

Can the raw troops he has been raisin' 

withstand the three-rank formation of the grittier Bourbons? Crumbs!

The Volturno is the battle where Garibaldi and his Thousand have already conquered Sicily, landed on the mainland and grown to over 20,000. He is trying to overthrow the Bourbon monarchy of King Francis II in Naples. The Neapolitan royal forces attack the Garibaldini behind the Volturno river, who fight what Crispin christened a DDD - a Doggedly Determined Defensive battle.

This turned out to be a delightful characterful little game. The contrast between the armies is nice. The royal army is stolid regulars, with trained skirmishers and including some Swiss rated as veterans, but not especially agile or motivated. The Garibaldini are that unusual combination of Raw and Aggressive, which makes them good for a swift assault but not so good for a protracted firefight. This dictates contrasting tactics. Low force density makes for some grand tactical options. It also enabled us to swap hats and fight it twice in an evening. Result: one Bourbon win, and one for the Garibaldini. Excellent entertainment. The scenario is now in the BBB groups.io files.

Oh, and the biscuits? Maybe not every reader of this blog is familiar with Bourbon biscuits and Garibaldi biscuits. Apparently the Garibaldi was created in 1861 when the man himself was very popular in England. The Bourbon did not follow until 1910 when the dynasty was mostly history (I believe it lingers on in Luxembourg).