Second Caid Rebellion
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The Second Caid Rebellion occured on May 15th, 1976; between the forces of the Kingdom of the West, and its "rebellious" southern principality, Caid.
From the Crown Prints
ANNUAL CAID REBELLION FAILS ... AGAIN On the 15th of May Rebel Forces under Prince Gregory of York marched into Rieslingshire, hoping to crush the Loyalist Forces before the rest of King Paul's army arrived. Had the Rebels arrived a day sooner, they might have succeeded, but Paul arrived the night before with a large army. Although Caid mustered a record 36 fighters, King Paul's army totaled 52 fighters, 6 of whom were Dukes. Cleverly observing that he was outnumbered, Gregory, aided by the noted Rebel, Baron Sir Hugh the Undecided, chose to defend a bridge just south of Rieslingshire. Much to the Rebel's concern, the King's army slowly advanced behind a shied wall, over the top of which a vast array of pole arms protruded. Despite the North's large numbers and shield wall, the fight was long, hot, fiercely contested, hot, dusty, and hot. After more than an hour of fighting 2 Loyalist fighters had uncontested control of the bridge. However, by the time Paul's army had licked its wounds and began to march South, Gregory & Hugh had rallied 29 Rebels to meet Paul's army in the open field. The King faced the main Rebel line with his unbelted fighters & shield wall, then led all six Dukes plus other knights in an attack on the Rebel left, which gave ground and was overrun. Meanwhile the main line was cut down one by one from the left. The surviving Rebel forces finding themselves surrounded, charged through the Loyalist main line and rallied into a small group, which was promptly butchered by King Paul's army. Paul's army then spent so much time celebrating their victory that Gregory & Hugh were able to rally about 25 survivors at a nearby castle. As soon as King Paul noticed this last act of defiance, he marshalled his army and sent them over the battlements behind their shield wall, where their mass was sufficient to push many defenders off the battlements into the courtyard below. The question of rebellion having been definitively settled beyond any reasonable doubt (for this year, anyway), the populace returned to camp to bathe in the stream, have dinner & sing around a campfire. A small pack of die~hard crazies fought challenges Sunday morning presumably having found parts of their bodies that were neither sore nor bruised. P.S. At Opening Court, Awards of Arms were given to Charles of Dublin, Charles de Rouen, Guy Marchand de Montvert & Robear du Bois.
- from CROWN PRINTS, VERY LATE MAY & EARLY JUNE, 1976 ISSUE - Baron Fredrick of Woodlyn
Memories
From Balin of Tor
SECOND CAID REBELLION The Second Caid Rebellion occured on May 15th, 1976; between the forces of the Kingdom of the West, and its "rebellious" southern principality, Caid. The movement toward Caidan independence was enhanced and spurred by this series of “rebellions”.
The history of the Caid rebellions went back to the reign of Prince Hugh the Undecided, the second Prince of Caid. During his reign the year before, he had led the fighters of Caid in a mock rebellion against the parent kingdom, the West; in the First Caid Rebellion. In A.S. XI, during the reign of Prince Gregory of York (fourth Prince of Caid) this series of wars continued with the Second Rebellion.
The war was held in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at a place called Johnny Barton's Ranch, near King's Canyon. The West fielded a force of 52 experienced and well equipped fighters, led by the king of the West, Paul of Bellatrix. Caid, led by Prince Gregory and Viscount Sir Hugh the Undecided, numbered only 36 fighters; which only those serving with the Brotherhood of the Blade having much experience in war-fighting.
The first scenario was the Bridge battle. Again, as in the previous Rebellion, it was a very hard-fought affair. And, in what was becoming a tradition, it ended with the West's last fighter, Sir William the Lucky, crossing the bridge on his knees carrying the Western banner!
(This Bridge Battle was notable in that it was the first and last time that 12’ rattan mauls (a spear shaft with a club-end) were used as an impact weapon. Also, at least one 12’ flail was deployed by the West. After the Second Caid Rebellion, the Kingdom Earl Marshal outlawed any impact/great weapon over 7’ in length; and further outlawed greater-than 90 degree arc swings.)
In the Open Field that followed, Caid fielded a strong line of shields, anchored on its right by the boundary marker (representing a river). On Caid's left-flank, the ground rose up a slope. There Prince Gregory and Viscount Sir Hugh the Undecided (the acknowledged warlord of Caid) placed our key tactical unit and only reserve: a hunter-killer team, calling itself “The Mean Machine”; an elite group of some half-dozen experienced Brotherhood of the Blade fighters, led by Robear du Bois; arguably the best spearman in the army.
The Caidan battle plan was to "fix" in place the Western (or "Northerner", as West Kingdom fighters were referred to by Caid back then)battle line by advancing their own into contact. At which time the Mean Machine on the Caidan far left would attempt to outflank and chew down the flank of the West Kingdom line.
The West, however, was not caught napping. They too had been upping their game.
Already enjoying both a quantitative and qualitative advantage, the West fielded the first scutum shield-wall yet seen in the SCA (Reislingshire and Southern Shores both fielded scutum equipped units). To counter Caid's “Mean Machine”, King Paul kept around himself a 10 man reserve, heavy in Royal Peers; including at least 4 Dukes.
As the two battle lines advance, the Caidan center and right was baffled by the scutum shield walls of Reislingshire and Southern Shores. On the Caidan left, the Caidan forces faced Sir Kevin Peregrine (then Earl Marshal of the Kingdom) leading a strong Western right wing, heavy in knights. When Robear du Bois attempted to counter this group, King Paul committed his full Ducal reserve to support Sir Kevin. The result was that “The Mean Machine” was driven back behind the Caidan line, while Sir Kevin was thus free to chew down the Caidan line.
King Paul and his reserve of Dukes chased Robear’s reserve all the way to the opposite end of the line, finally destroying them and attacking the rear of the Caidan right and center. The Caidan line dissolved, and the battle soon ended with Western victory.
The final battle was the Castle. This was constructed of hay bales, and had large areas where the one-bale high wall could be stepped over. The Caidan forces attempted to defend this scant barrier; but were driving back and defeated by the Western scutum shield-walls; which proved very effective against the unprepared Caidans.
The Second Caid Rebellion ended as had the First, with a Western victory. However, this loss further stimulated enthusiasm for war fighting in Caid; and led to improvements in tactical doctrine.
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