During the Spanish Civil War, both sides of the conflict fielded ideological militia units. Today, I am sharing my Right-Wing militias, in preparation for Scenario 3: The Battle of Caspe. Below, you will find photos of the Requete militias, followed by those of the Falange.
Poets in the Trenches - Exploring revolutionary history through wargaming
Monday, May 29, 2023
Right-wing Militias
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Why Pirates of the Golden Age?
In the early 1700s, pirates posed an existential threat to the "Triangle Trade," by which European royals and merchant elites used the labor of African slaves and poor Europeans, and the land and resources of Indigenous Americans, to create massive wealth for European empires. This international economic system involved thousands of ships and hundreds of thousands of maritime laborers. It also factored in the many wars between the European powers, when navies swelled and sovereigns granted "Letters of marque" to private naval forces, or privateers, to attack the shipping of their enemies.
One such conflict, the War of Spanish Succession, brought all of the major powers of Europe into a war over the next king of Spain. After thirteen years, the war ended in September of 1714, putting thousands of sailors out of work.
In the years following the War of Spanish Succession, over two thousand of these sailors turned pirate. They did so for a range of reasons. Most ship captains were cruel tyrants, making sailors' lives miserable on long voyages lasting months or years on end. The disparity of pay between crew and captain was staggering, when the men got paid at all. For many a weary seaman, the opportunity to exact revenge on their masters and to earn money worth their effort drew them to mutiny or join existing pirate crews.
Pirates preyed on merchant and slave ships, building their own fleets, and threatening the economic basis of the empires. As the pirates became more organized, the monarchs and merchants struggled to regain control of the shipping lanes that kept the empires afloat. According to a display at the Whydah Pirate Museum, the navies of the world managed to catch not one single pirate ship in the years 1715 and 1716, at the height of the Golden Age of Piracy. A pirate ship was finally captured in 1717 "off St. Croix, but the men managed to escape. Some were picked up by Bellamy and joined his crew."
The Caribbean Islands, close to the major shipping routes and with thousands of coves and bays to hide out in, proved to be an especially advantageous region for pirates to hunt for prize ships. Pirates set up their own ports and hideouts, and gained influence in certain larger colonial ports. Port Royal, Jamaica, was one such pirate haven until it was destroyed in an earth quake on June 7, 1692. Soon thereafter, Henry Avery established a trading relationship with the Royal British Governor of Nassau, Bahamas, in 1696, unlocking a new base of operations that would prove essential to the Golden Age of Piracy. In the ensuing years, pirates gained influence in Nassau. During the War of Spanish Succession, Spanish ships attacked the port in 1703 and again in 1706, leading to its abandonment by the British government and many of its settlers.
When the War of Spanish Succession ended, Nassau was already home to a growing network of small pirate fleets and crews. In November of 1715, Benjamin Hornigold sailed a heavily-armed ship into Nassau harbor, claiming what remained of the town and the fort there for the pirates. He helped organize the pirate crews into a loose confederacy, calling itself the Flying Gang. Two of the most powerful captains, Hornigold and the privateer Henry Jennings, figured heavily in the early self-governance of what would later be referred to as the Republic of Pirates. That Hornigold refused to attack English ships, and that Jennings was technically a privateer employed by the British crown may have bought the fledgling pirate society time to strengthen itself. Hornigold and Jennings, however, would become bitter rivals, and the society they founded would soon cast off any pretenses of loyalty to the crown, welcome pirates of all nationalities, and declare war on all governments.
The pirates of Nassau represented an alternative of the imperial order that governed a growing portion of the earth. While many pirates joined up for personal freedom or gain, they developed their own political conceptions and presented themselves as warriors against the tyrants. These pirates used direct democracy to govern themselves, their ships, and their island. They elected captains to lead them during battle, when there wasn't enough time to debate and vote. In other times, Captains were the equals of their crews.
The pirate captain with perhaps the most developed and best articulated political position was Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy. Often called the Prince of Pirates for his charisma, kindness, and merciful treatment of captives, Sam Bellamy conceived of his crusade as a war against the crowned heads of Europe. His crew called themselves "Robin Hood's Merry Men," and they spoke of their captain as "Robin Hood of the Seas."
The Cape Cod museum for the wreck of Bellamy's flag ship, the Whydah Galley, explains how Bellamy's group,
were not only among the most successful sea rovers of the “Golden Age of Piracy,” they were also among the most egalitarian, diverse, and democratic.
The Whydah pirates were a brotherhood of poor sailors, former slaves, and political exiles who struggled against an era of institutionalized oppression, exorbitant economic disparity, and limited individual rights. Their daily lives were directly impacted by the effects of constant warfare between monarchs, colonialism, globalism, and the transatlantic slave trade. And yet, this motley crew of different cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds banded together to achieve a degree of freedom, fortune, and equality that society would have otherwise denied them. 1
Sam Bellamy, in the one speech attributed to him, also displays an understanding of the global political-economic system of which sailors like he were but a cog. Bellamy recognized his position within that system, and believed that making piratical war against the benefactors of that system was in his interests and that of his crew, other seamen and maritime laborers of the world, as well as Africans and Indigenous Americans, who were present in high numbers among his crew. According to the quote, reported in A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724) by Captain Charles Johnson, when Bellamy's crew voted to burn one of the ships they had captured, Bellamy told Captain Beer, the ship's captain,
I am sorry they won't let you have your sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a mischief, when it is not to my advantage; damn the sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of use to you. Though you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment?[Beer replied that his conscience would not let him break the laws of God and man, and Bellamy continued]You are a devilish conscience rascal! I am a free prince, and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea and an army of 100,000 men in the field; and this my conscience tells me! But there is no arguing with such snivelling puppies, who allow superiors to kick them about deck at pleasure. 2
Upon disembarking, those liberated people would discover that in Libertatia “an equal Division was made of their Treasure and Cattle” so that private property was administered under a “Democratical form, where the People were themselves the Makers and Judges” so that the earth was shared as common treasury. A democracy before America, a republic before France, socialist before the Soviet Union, Libertatia was more revolutionary than all of them, her radical promises a counter-melody to colonialism and capitalism. Eventually, Libertatia collapsed because of Portuguese assault....The real impediment, however, for this democratic, anarchistic, socialistic utopia is that it probably never actually existed. Libertatia and Mission’s existence can’t be corroborated in earlier sources, even though most of Johnson’s book is an accurate account. 3
Blackbeard freed a lot of slaves during his piracy career but he was no abolitionist. A number of ships he captured were slave ships, which tended to be larger to account for maximum ‘cargo’. Upon capture, a large proportion of slaves joined the pirates – clearly the better choice rather than life on a plantation. However, reports also account that Blackbeard and his associates also returned slaves to the mainland to be sold at auction. 7
Kevin Duffus, author of The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate, in an opinion article for the Virginia Daily Press, writes that after Blackbeard purposely sank his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off North Carolina to deceive "all but his closest allies out of their communal treasure," he took the royal pardon in Bath, North Carolina, a colony that was in desperate need of inexpensive labor. What he did next was even more despicable.
Depositions filed by former members of Blackbeard's crew — the ones he left behind — are very detailed. When Blackbeard sailed to Bath, he had with them 60 African men. Historians have marveled at the apparent diversity of Blackbeard's crew, noting that six out of 10 of Blackbeard's pirates were black. What they don't tell you is that five months later, when Blackbeard was killed at Ocracoke, he had aboard only six Africans. What happened to the other 54?
They were the pirates' secret treasure, a labor force delivered to the impoverished plantation society of the Pamlico region, which was short on manpower and far from the slave markets at Williamsburg and Charleston...The 60 blacks who departed Beaufort Inlet with Blackbeard were most certainly treated as commodities to be bought and sold, and were used as servants.
Over six months, Blackbeard's company acquired, traded and gleaned the healthiest, fittest, strongest African men and delivered them to North Carolina's destitute settlement of Bath — the very place in colonial America that needed them the most — a "treasure" worth millions in today's dollars. 8
Duffus posits new and unique theories about Blackbeard in his book, including that he was actually Edward Beard, AKA "Black Beard," of South Carolina, rather than Edward Teach, AKA "Blackbeard," of England. Other authors support the claim that Blackbeard sold many of his Black crewmen into slavery in North Carolina, such as Colin Woodard in his great book, The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man who Brought them Down.
Not all of Blackbeards crewmen of color met such a fate. One of the freed slaves who remained at Teach's side until his death was Black Caesar, "who raided ships in the Florida Keys for almost a decade before joining Blackbeard aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge." 9 Black Caesar was a legendary pirate in his own right. We could only wonder what he thought of his captain's treatment of the other Black crewmen.
Further Reading:
-Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates. By David Cordingly.
-The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. By Colin Woodard.
-Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age. By Marcus Rediker.
-The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found. By Martin W. Sandler.
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Scratchbuilding the sloop Marianne and the Sultana Galley (Tutorial)
Folks seem interested in these cheap, easy, and fun cardboard ships I've been making. So for the next round I attempted to make a tutorial. Be forewarned, halfway through I got bored of taking photos and missed a few steps.
Here is the process I used to build a small sloop which I imagine as Sam Bellamy's Marianne. Below that, I'll add a short description of steps I took to build a slightly larger, 3-masted ship which I imagine as the Sultana, another of Bellamy's.
The Marianne
The Sultana
Saturday, May 20, 2023
Scenario 3: July 24, The Battle of Caspe
-Scenario 3: July 24, The Battle of Caspe
In Caspe, a town in the east of Aragon, Captain Negrete of the Guardia Civil joined the rising, arrested the Republican government men, plus leftists and CNTstas, and set up patrols. Negrete went to Zaragoza for weapons and ammo, to arm the 200 right-wing volunteers who joined his 40 civil guards on July 22.
On July 24th, the Durruti Column left the Bruc Barricades, now renamed the Bakunin Barricades, in Pedralbles. Headed by truck through Cervera and Lleida, the excited anarchists forgot many of their supplies, soon arriving in Caspe. There, they found volunteer militia already fighting for the city, though outnumbered. The combined forces of revolution pushed to liberate Caspe. During the battle, Negrete tried to protect himself with women and children as hostages, but died for his efforts.
In this scenario, the Durruti Column, advancing along the highway in trucks and cars, reaches and fights for Caspe. A small group of militia will be present already in the town, fighting against a force of Civil Guard, and Falangist and Carlist militia. Halfway through the game, the anarchists will receive reinforcements of improvised armor and weapon supplies, arriving by highway or railway. At the same time, the nationalists will receive reinforcements consisting of an artillery group. The side that conquers the town wins.
Set up: Clear summer weather, visibility at 40”, 60” with binoculars. Arrange a town centered on a main road, with a church in the center of town surrounded by narrow streets and tightly-packed houses. A train line runs parallel to the road on the northern edge of town, with a station toward the center of the table. Farmlands surround the town.
Unit Sheets: Make unit sheets for the groups.
Ammunition: Nationalists have 10 ammo each, with an additional 200 rounds in each of the 2 stores in (the church and a farm house.)
CNTstas begin with 8 ammo each, and receive resupply by train or truck halfway through the game, 50 points each. They will receive supplies by train only if they have already secured the rail line up to the train station.
1st Half (Rounds 1 - 10):
Nationalist orders:
Defend the perimeter of town. Capture civilians, hold them at HQ as human shields. Fall back position, the church, location of storage and Negrete’s HQ. Unit orders should be written for each sector of defense.
CNT Orders:
Capture the train station, link up with advanced militia, capture the farm
Nationalist Forces:
Civil Guard:
-HQ: Captain, runner, priest, 4 guards, 1 75mm cannon and crew, 1 advanced spotter, 2 MG and crew.
2 trucks.
-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men
Falange
-HQ: Sergeant, 4 grenadiers/molotovs
-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men
Carlists:
-HQ: Sergeant, armed priest, nuns, 4 grenades/molotov men
-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men
Republican Forces
Caspe Militia:
-1 delegate, 19 militia
Durruti Column:
HQ: Durruti, 1 bearer, 1 runner, 2 x 75mm cannon and crew, 2x msg and crew, 5 dynamiters. As many non-armored vehicles as possible. 2 Tiznaos.
1st Centuria:
-HQ: 1 delegate, 1 bearer, 1 cannon and crew, 1 mg and crew,
-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
2nd Centuria:
-HQ: 1 delegate, 1 bearer, 1 cannon and crew, 1 mg and crew
-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
2nd Half (Rounds 11 - 20):
Nationalist orders:
Await arrival of reinforcements, then push to reclaim lost ground. Use Human Shields. Church is the final fallback, if lost, retreat out of town.
CNT Orders:
Resupply forces. Move down the flanks of Caspe to silence artillery. Besiege the church, if possible cut off escape routes. Rescue hostages.
Nationalist reinforcements:
Artillery battery:
-HQ - Captain, staff, 1 advanced spotter.
-Battery of 3 cannon and crew.
Infantry company:
-HQ: Captain, staff, a runner, 1 MG and crew. 2 trucks.
-1st platoon: 1 officer, 19 men
-2nd platoon: 1 officer, 19 men
-3rd platoon: 1 officer, 19 men
CNT reinforcements:
-200 rounds of ammunition
-2 Tiznaos
3rd Centuria:
-HQ: 1 delegate, 1 bearer, 1 cannon and crew, 1 mg and crew,
-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
4th Centuria:
-HQ: 1 delegate, 1 bearer, 1 cannon and crew, 1 mg and crew,
-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
5th Centuria:
-HQ: 1 delegate, 1 bearer, 1 cannon and crew, 1 mg and crew,
-1st group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-2nd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-3rd group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-4th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
-5th group: 1 delegate, 9 men
The Winner:
The side that controls the town after 20 turns, or who controls more of the town, wins.
Outcome: If the workers are victorious, they may move on to the next scenario, and carry over any remaining ammunition, including the captured ammo dumps of Caspe. Lastly, any and all machine guns and cannons captured in the fighting are added to the equipment list in your general supply. Check the briefing for additional expropriations to the column’s stock.