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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
Renatus wrote:

The fear of ambush point seems to be relevant to the open plain. I read this to indicate that Paulinus  wanted to be sure that, when he left the protection of the defile, he would not be attacked by enemies emerging unexpectedly from cover. The open plain allowed he to see the whole of the enemy force and to make his dispositions accordingly.

I hadn't looked at it quite that way but it is certainly a valid option.

Nathan wrote:
 My guess would be that from that point things might have gone as follows:

1. As the rebels approach St Albans from the south, Paulinus pulls back along Akeman Street, aiming to meet up with his reinforcements from the western garrisons.
2. Arriving at Tring, he meets the veterans detachment of the 20th, and, hearing that the rebels are following him from St Albans, sends out scouts to pick a defensive site in the vicinity.
3. At this stage I would imagine he would pick Newground as a place to confront the advancing rebels directly. It seems to meet most of the requirements of a defensive position with attack capabilities, not so enclosed as to limit manoeuvre if necessary.
4. However, if he did not pick Newground, he may have decided instead to use the V-shaped valley below Chivery Top - perhaps he thought there might be another rebel force to the north, or that rebels might be approaching along the Iknield Way? These are unknowns. But he would need some good reason for tucking himself away in such a tight spot, I think.
5. If he was using the valley below Chivery, I suppose he could wait until the rebels had already passed Newground and swung west before moving back into the defile and deploying his men there - this would slightly resolve the problem of the Britons being able to surround him from the high ground... although there is still that parallel valley on the eastern side of the Hastoe ridge...

I think that yours is a good summation and I can understand your reservations regarding the access to the rear but in many other aspects this site "fits the bill".

I will try to show that this is difficult to access later.

Interestingly Aston Clinton (Tring) is about halfway between St  Albans  and Alchester using the Roman Road network - shouldn't there be a fort around here on this military highway?
Deryk
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Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by Theoderic - 12-14-2017, 02:03 AM

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