A reminder of where we left things, with the Austrians attacking all along the line, and the French left flank looking shaky.
Turn 4
The Austrians win initiative, but both Archduke Charles and Hessen Homburg roll poorly and the reserve cavalry remains stuck under orders to merely support Von Bellegarde's Division, missing the opportunity to potentially run riot. Napoleon meanwhile, sensing the Austrian hesitancy orders Kellerman's heavy cavalry to attack!
Over on the French left Pire, furious with the 6e Chasseurs a Cheval and seeing an opportunity to wipe out the stain on his (and their) reputation orders them to charge the reformed Uhlans. Unbelievably, the Chasseurs lose their nerve and refuse to charge home, crucially also losing their cohesion. As the French light cavalry mill about in fear and confusion, Von Frolich seizes the opportunity to send them packing and launches his Uhlans in a counter charge. In the ensuing melee the Uhlans again defeat the hapless Chasseurs, killing two for the loss of one of their own and sending them into a second panicked retreat, this time off the table and out of the battle - uncovering the French left flank! The victorious Uhlans' horses are again blown and they will have to recover before they can take advantage of their victory.
The 6e Chasseurs a Cheval, just prior to fleeing in panic
In the centre Von Bellegarde's Division charge the French! The Kaiser Franz Regiment charged the 63e Ligne, who waited calmly before unleashing a devastating volley at point blank range, inflicting 4 casualties on the unfortunate Austrians and causing them to retreat. The Schroeder Infantry Regiment are unable to advance with the rest of the Division as they are charged by the 7e Dragoons of Kellermans' cavalry and forced to form square on the lower slopes of the Kleinberg. The Dragoons, seeing the disciplined resolve of the Schroeder Regiment falter and fail to charge home.
At the same time the Wartensleben infantry attack the horse artillery battery that had been peppering them with shot and shell. The French gunners, seeing Austrian bayonets coming at them out of the smoke swiftly limbered up and retired out of range.
The Ride of the 8e Cuirassier
Kellermans' other regiment of heavy cavalry, the 8e Cuirassier charge the Kaiser Franz Regiment as they stumble back from the fierce fire of the 63e Ligne. Already retreating in some disorder the Austrian infantry flee in terror at the sudden onslaught of armoured horsemen. The Cuirassiers, their blood up, adjust their charge into the flank of the Wartensleben Regiment. preoccupied with the retiring horse artillery to their front the Austrians never see the Cuirassiers until they swarm out the smoke and smash into them. Melee is not the word to describe what happens next - massacre would be a fairer description as the French inflict 16 casualties on the Wartensleben Regiment without losing a single man! The few traumatised survivors promptly rout in terror and flee the field. The Cuirassiers, drunk on their own success (and maybe a few bottles of vin tres ordinaire) go into an uncontrolled charge at the next closest Austrian unit, which is (gulp!) the elite Austrian Kurassier.
The French Cuirassiers (mostly Airfix, some Esci) crash into the Wartensleben Regiment and slaughter them. The Austrain Kurassier (also Airfix with a different paintjob) await them top right. Meanwhile the 7e Dragoons (more Airfix Cuirassiers with a dodgy paintjob conversion) refuse to charge home against the resolute square of the Schroeder Regiment. Bottom left the 9e Ligne under Reille continue their movement across the rear of the artillery on the Kleinberg to shore up the left flank.
On the Kleinberg the Liccaner Grenzers decide that they wish to live to fight another day and fall back out of canister range. The French send a few parting shots their way but for once Napoleon's gunners miss, and the relieved Grenzers suffer no further casualties.
Meanwhile in Kleinstadt itself the Erzerhog Karl Regiment charge the 92e Ligne in their buildings in the southern part of the town. the streets of Kleinstadt are thick with gunsmoke, which serves as useful camouflage for the attackers in their dirty white uniforms, allowing them to close to bayonet range without suffering any casualties. The 92e Ligne may not be good shots, but they defend their positions with determination, inflicting 2 casualties on the Austrians for the loss of 1 of their own and driving the Erzerhog Karl Regiment back the way they had come.
The 92e Ligne defend Kleinstadt. French are Airfix figures, the Austrians a mixture of Italeri, HaT and Esci.
Turn 5:
The Austrians again win the initiative. Charles is worried about the state of his centre following the charge of the French Cuirassiers, and is relieved to see his 4 regiments of Grenadiers arrive on the battlefield. Their artillery is still en route, but these elite reinforcements are just what he needs to end French resistance. Frustratingly Charles fails his command roll and the Grenadiers remain stationary at the northern table edge. Scheisse!
Just some of the Austrian Grenadiers, clearly tired by their long march to join the battle (Actually Airfix AWI British Grenadiers with a couple of conversions for command figures. I have LOADS of these AWI Grenadiers, which aren't the most attractive figures ever produced, but can be painted to portray an approximation of troops from many different nations).
On the Austrian right flank Von Frolich reforms his Uhlans so they can exploit their victory over Pire. Von Nordmann orders the Wallachia Grenzers to charge the one of the French batteries on the Kleinberg. the French gunners obstinately stand their ground and fire canister into the Grenzers, inflicting 3 casualties and causing them to retreat. The Liccaner Grenzers reform their shattered ranks, still under fire from the French artillery and taking a further 2 casualties. The Austrians have so far been unable to take advantage of Pire's defeat to seize the Kleinberg and roll up the French line, but one successful charge on the French artillery would change all that. The 9e Ligne form square at the southern foot of the Kleinberg to protect the now-truncated French left.
In the centre the 8e Cuirassiers, all discipline gone continue their charge towards the Austrian Kurassiers who counter charge, leading to an almighty clash of large horse and armoured riders. The Austrians benefit from their elite rating and better discipline and push the French back, killing 2 of them for no loss. The Kurassiers follow up.
Meanwhile both the Kaiser Franz and Erzerhog Karl Regiments reform while the Austrian Chevaulegers right wheel, lining up for a charge on the stationary 7e Dragoons. As they do so, the French horse artillery unlimbers and Husson pulls the 63e Ligne back in preparation to moving to reinforce the Kleinberg area. in the area behind Kleinstadt, Jamin wheels the 93e Ligne left so that they can take the 63e position just east of the town. As all this is going on Charles seems to have forgotten his own artillery completely. The Austrian grand battery is masked by their own troops from shooting at the French, but remain uselessly where they are rather than seeking new positions where they could possibly influence matters.
West of Kleinstadt Bauduin counterattacks Von Hohenzollern. He orders the 1e Legere to charge the Benjowski Regiment and 2e Legere to charge the Bohemia Landwehr who are unable to counter-charge as Von Hohenzollern is too far away. the inexperienced conscripts blast a volley of musketry at the onrushing 2e Legere but their lack of training shows and they fire at such a long range that not a single Frenchman is hit. What they lack in marksmanship the Landwehr make up for in hand-to-hand aggression and in the melee push the 2e Legere back, both sides losing 2 figures. Bauduin is furious with his underperforming veterans. Quelle horreur!
The 1e Legere perform better, driving back the Benjowski Regiment and killing 2 of them whilst suffering 1 casualty of their own. The 1e Legere, content with driving the Austrians back and not wishing to become a target for the Austrian reserves hold their ground rather than pursuing.
Baudiun waves his sword at the victorious 1e Legere, ignoring the feeble performance of the 2e to their right.
Turn 6
The situation on the French left.
Meanwhile D'Aspre finally got his two regiments of Grenadiers to move and led them west to support Nordmann.
In the centre Charles is concerned at the increasingly battered state of Von Bellegarde's Division and tries to order Hessen Homburg to use his cavalry more aggressively in the centre. The Kurassiers had already demonstrated their abilities and the Chevaulegers were ready to charge but Hessen Homburg wouldn't give them the order. What had he seen that nobody else had? Whatever it was, it allowed Kellerman to wheel the 7e Dragoons to face the threat posed by the Austrian horsemen. It also meant that the French horse artillery were staring down their sights at the motionless Chevaulegers, and able to hit them in the flank. The 4 pounder guns were small, but the French gunners served them with commendable skill and 5 cavalrymen fell dead from their horses. This sudden carnage unnerved the Austrians and they faltered, leaving them unformed and vulnerable to attack.
The Schroeder Regiment remined in square, mindful of the chaos and carnage that had engulfed the rest of their division, and praying that the French cannon would ignore them. Aware of the threat of the Austrian cavalry both the 63e and 93e Ligne also (and very wisely as it would turn out) form square.
The Austrian Kurassiers continued to dominate the clash of heavy cavalry, again defeating their French counterparts and killing another 2 for the loss of 1 of their own. Again they push the French back, coming into contact with the square of the 63e Ligne. The horsemen kill 1 French infantry for no loss but fail to break the square and will have to retire next turn.
The Austrian Kurassiers push their French counterparts back and contact the square of the 63e Ligne. Kellerman can be seen alone almost directly in the line of fire of his own horse artillery as they fire on the Chevauleger. Fortunately command figures can't be hit in situations like this, (as Wellington himself said "Generals commanding armies have something else to do than to shoot at one another”) but the storm of shot and shell whistling past him must have been unnerving. Sacre Bleu!
In Kleinstadt the Erzerhog Karl Regiment reoccupied the northern half of the town. The 92e Ligne fire at them but the buildings provide good cover and they suffer no further losses.
On Austrian left a musketry duel ensues between the Benjowski Regiment and Bohemia Landwehr and the 1e and 2e Legere. Each regiment suffers 1 casualty during the fusillade.
Turn 7:
The Austrians once more win the initiative, and Charles orders D'Aspre to get his Grenadiers moving to dislodge the stubborn French defenders of the Kleinberg.
Closer to the action, Von Frolich had managed to manoeuvre his Uhlans into position to charge the French artillery which had caused Charles so many problems that day. The Uhlans were supremely confident after their decisive victory over Pire and galloped up the south western slopes of the Kleinberg screaming their battel cries, but Von Frolich had tragically miscalculated! The dashing horsemen were met with a volley from the face of the 9e Ligne square and devastating cannister from the one battery that could bring its guns to bear. The Uhlans lost 60% of their strength from this one turn of heavy and accurate fire and promptly routed away, through the Wallachia Grenzers and throwing them into confusion before dispersing from the table.
The death ride of the Uhlans. The Strelets Charge of the Light Brigade that these "Uhlans" came from includes some nicely done casualty figures who add a little to the atmosphere.
Kellerman sees the survivors of the Austrian Chevauleger reeling from the punishment they had just suffered at the hands of his horse artillery and orders the 7e Dragoons to charge them. As they crossed the face of the Schroeder Regiment square the Dragoons were peppered with musketry, but the shots went wild and not a man fell. The discombobulated Chevaulegers saw the brass helmets and grey swords coming out of the gunsmoke towards them and promptly decided that they would much prefer to live and fight (or preferably not) another day, retreating through the much-reduced ranks of the Kaiser Franz Regiment and throwing them into confusion. The Dragoons adjusted their charge towards the Kaiser Franz Regiment, who were already shaky and also retreated, in this case through Von Bellegarde's artillery, sowing further chaos and confusion. Continuing their wild ride, the Dragoons charged the cannon, but the Austrian gunners had kept their wits about them sufficiently to fire a blast cannister, felling 3 dragoons and causing the rest to lose their nerve. The Dragoons come to a halt in the centre of the Austrian army.
The 7e Dragoons redeem themselves for their earlier failings by driving off a fair chunk of the Austrian centre. Note a few casualty figures on the battlefield - worryingly for Charles they are all Austrian.
Charles and Von Bellegarde were aghast at the confusion were just minutes before had been an orderly advance seemingly on the brink of success. Hessen Homburg would have been aghast too, but he was too busy being in pain - the French horse artillery continued its deadly and accurate firing, this time targeting the Kurassier, killing a further three of them and wounding Hessen Homburg. The Kurassiers passed their morale check (just) but were now looking fragile. Watching from the French lines the 63e Ligne cheered and the 8e Cuirassiers reformed and recovered from their exertions.
On the Kleinberg Grenzer skirmishers snipe at the French gun crews but their shooting is inaccurate. The French battery that hadn't been involved in repelling the Uhlans showered the Grenzers with canister, killing one.
In Kleinstadt the battle had now settled down to an inconclusive musket duel. Neither side seemed willing to leave the cover of the buildings they occupied, and their volleys were wasted against the stout walls of the town.
East of Kleinstadt the 2e Legere continued their lacklustre performance as they and the Bohemia Landwehr fired ineffectually at each other. Bauduin will probably be appointing a new Colonel after the battle. The 1e Legere and the Benjowski Regiment had clearly done more musket drill however, and their volleys inflicted two casualties on each other. The veteran Legere simply closed ranks and began to reload, but the Benjowski Regiment had by now taken heavy casualties and whitecoated infantry started to leave the ranks and run away - a few at first, but then more and more as the panic spread until the entire regiment was gone. They dispersed from the table, leaving only their dead behind.
Disaster! The Benjowski Regiment rout off the battlefield. Prochaska's Grenadiers are in the background and now (with the dubious assistance of the Landwehr) form the Austrian right.
Charles gazed across the battlefield in dismay. His losses had been heavy and his frontline troops were now in no state to fight - Von Frolich's Uhlans had gone and Von Nordmann's Grenzers were on the verge of becoming combat ineffective. Von Bellegarde had lost one regiment entirely, had a second badly mauled and the third was stuck in square and likely to soon come under heavy artillery fire. Von Hohenzollern's Division was split in two, with one regiment bogged down in street fighting inside Kleinstadt and the other (the despised Landwehr) isolated on the extreme left flank. Hessen Homburg was wounded and his cavalry had been severely battered. His scouts reported that French reinforcements were approaching, thereby squashing any chance of even a pyrrhic victory.
Reluctantly Charles gave the order to withdraw. The unused Grenadiers covered the retreat of the rest of the army before retiring in an orderly fashion (naturally) themselves. Napoleon let them go - his own cavalry was either dispersed or in a fragile state due to the losses they had suffered, and he knew that he and II Corps had been lucky to escape so lightly from a superior force.
The final losses were:
Austrians - 61 casualties, 27 routed off table
French - 28 casualties + 11 routed off table
This was only the second battle I have fought during my wargaming renaissance, and I'm sure I got loads of things wrong. But I did have fun, and there was enough drama to keep it interesting (for me at least!) My future plan is to fight a larger battle next - probably a combined Austro-Prussian force against the might of the Grande Armee. I may make any AAR less detailed as this has been quite an effort to write, and possibly also to read. If this is so I humbly apologise, and will immediately sentence myself to 20 years hard labour.
Thanks for the report, Napoleon successful as ever, Paul
ReplyDeleteCheers Paul - he was lucky this time.
ReplyDelete