“Whoever is not dead or enraptured this evening must have fought like a dishonourable dog!”

General of Cavalry Gebhard Lebrecht von Blücher

“The enemy army marched at me rapidly; his forces appeared to get larger and larger as they came forward, as if they had sprung from the ground.”

Marshal Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, Duke of Ragusa

While writing my recent article on the Artillerie de la Marine, I was suitably inspired to wargame the apocalyptic Battle of Möckern, in which the Artillerie de la Marine played a key role.  I seem to remember having played this one before, but it was a VERY long time ago, so another visit is long overdue, as is a proper scenario.

As usual, this scenario is written for Napoleon’s Battles rules, which is designed for ‘grand-tactical’ battles at roughly 1:100 figure-to-man ratio, where the smallest unit of manoeuvre is the brigade or large regiment.  A clarification of the game scales, orders of battle, etc, can be found below under ‘Orders of Battle’.

Note that this scenario is for the Battle of Möckern of 16th October 1813 which was the northern flank of the titanic Battle of Leipzig, the ‘Battle of Nations’ and not the earlier Battle of Möckern of 5th April 1813, which was fought at a completely different village coincidentally called Möckern, near the fortress of Magdeburg.

The History Bit

My surviving reader will be relieved to recall that I covered the 1813 Campaign of Germany leading up to the Battle of Leipzig at some length in my Battle of Liebertwolkwitz article, so I’ll only cover the immediate campaign of the last three or four days leading up to the battle.  Follow the link if you want to endure it, otherwise, rejoice at that news! 🙂

In the days immediately leading up to the Battle of Leipzig, there had been much disagreement between the headquarters of the Army of Silesia under the Prussian General of Cavalry Gebhard Lebrecht von Blücher and the Army of the North under the Crown Prince of Sweden (i.e. the former French Marshal Bernadotte) as to the progress of the campaign.  Both armies had crossed over the mighty River Elbe during the first week of October, but with Napoleon marching north to find them, they had subsequently marched west over the River Mulde to avoid him and buy time for Field Marshall Schwarzenberg’s Army of Bohemia to advance in Napoleon’s rear.  The Allied strategy, the so-called ‘Trachenberg Plan’ boiled down to one simple rule, “Retreat when Napoleon is present and attack when he is absent”.  This plan had served them very sell since the recommencement of hostilities in August, but cracks (largely fueled by the widely-differing war-aims of the various Allied nations) were emerging as to what to do next.

Blücher continued to march his army west over the River Saale, to establish himself at the old university city of Halle.  From there he could threaten both Napoleon’s current base of operations at Leipzig and his line of communication back to Erfurt and France, as well as the communications to the French-held fortress of Magdeburg and Marshal Davout’s small army on the Lower Elbe.  This also placed Blücher in a position where he could march south to link up with the left wing of the Army of Bohemia, which was then advancing north through Colditz and Altenberg.  With Bavaria having also now defected to the Allied cause, he could also cooperate with General Wrede’s Bavarian Corps in the west.  

The Crown Prince however, was terrified for the security of his lines of communication on the right bank of the Elbe and therefore kept his Army of the North close to the Elbe near Köthen and Bernburg, anticipating that he might have to re-cross to the right bank.  Napoleon had garrisons at the Elbe fortresses of Magdeburg, Wittenberg, Torgau and Dresden, so could cross the Elbe at any of these points, whereas Bernadotte was limited to a pontoon bridge at Aken, mid-way between Wittenberg and Magdeburg.  He was therefore very reluctant to march further west, as he deduced that this would allow Napoleon a free hand to rampage on the right bank of the Elbe. 

General Charles Stewart, the British Ambassador to Prussia, reported with considerable frustration that “The most discordant opinions” existed at the Crown Prince’s headquarters.  They were apparently convinced that Napoleon was already north of the Elbe with his Guard and four army corps and that he might variously march on Magdeburg, link with Marshal Davout at Hamburg, seize Berlin, relieve the besieged fortresses on the River Oder, foment revolution in Poland or even march on Stralsund in order to revenge himself upon Sweden!  In fact, only Reynier’s VII Corps was abroad on the right bank of the Elbe, but he did make a nuisance of himself in attacking the Crown Prince’s bridge at Aken, thus reinforcing the Crown Prince’s fears for his lines of communication.

Blücher’s headquarters meanwhile, was correctly convinced that Napoleon was at Bad-Düben on the River Mulde, mid-way between Wittenberg and Leipzig.  Intelligence had been received to this effect.  Marshal Augerau’s IX Corps had also been positively identified marching from Erfurt to reinforce Leipzig and an unidentified French army corps (actually Marshal Marmont’s VI Corps) had been detected marching from Bad-Düben via Delitzsch, south to Taucha, not north to the Elbe.  Marshal Murat meanwhile, was making a stand against the Army of Bohemia with several army corps at Liebertwolkwitz; if Napoleon were planning to give up Leipzig and cross the Elbe, Murat would surely have to follow, but this wasn’t happening.  French movements all pointed to Napoleon planning to concentrate his forces at Leipzig, not marching north over the Elbe.

Blücher was therefore angered by the Crown Prince’s timidity in chasing phantom armies north of the Elbe.  If the Crown Prince’s Army of the North were to cross back to the right bank, it would leave Blücher’s Army of Silesia firmly hoch scheisse-bach; Blücher would be completely isolated and would be forced to march south to link up with Schwarzenberg, thereby allowing Napoleon to re-open his lines of communication.  However, the crown Prince ignored Blücher’s concerns and instead doubled-down, claiming that the Tsar had ordered that the Army of Silesia was now subordinate to him and that Blücher should march to join him on the right bank of the Elbe!  The Crown Prince even tried to appropriate Blücher’s pontoon train, commanded by General von Rauch, in order to build an additional bridge at Aken to facilitate the movement of the two armies back to the right bank of the Elbe.  Seeking clarification of these orders, Rauch received a sarcastic note from Blücher, “The news that his majesty Tsar Alexander has placed me under the command of His Royal Highness [i.e. the Crown Prince of Sweden] is just as unknown to me as the news that I am marching to Aken.”

Blücher, having simply ignored the Crown Prince’s claims of authority over him,  followed this up with a message to His Royal Highness, stating that he would be conducting a reconnaissance toward toward Leipzig and Delitzsch to confirm the enemy’s position and that he would then send an adjutant to the Tsar’s headquarters, to await orders from His Majesty…  In late 18th/early 19th Century military-diplomatic-speak, this basically translates as “Who the f@&£ do you think you are?!”

On the night of 13th/14th October, multiple reconnaissance reports confirmed that Napoleon was indeed at Bad-Düben and was marching his army south toward Leipzig.  Marmont’s VI Corps, which was now establishing a line north of Leipzig, from Breitenfeld to Lindethal and Wahren and centred on Möckern, was the screening-force.  Far from having a master-plan to rampage across the Elbe, Napoleon had in fact been grappling with sparse and often contradictory reconnaissance reports at Bad-Düben.  In the end, the increasing threat to Leipzig had forced his hand.

Napoleon meanwhile wrote to Marmont, suggesting that “it would be appropriate for you to move some earth.  Make some abatis and place some pallisades where they could be useful.  I send you an account of the battle of Gustavus Adolphus, which concerns the positions that you now occupy.”  This of course, referred to the Battle of Breitenfeld of 1631 when Napoleon’s hero, the Swedish warrior-king Gustavus-Adolphus defeated the Imperial army of the Count of Tilly.  Napoleon was clearly worried about that sector, writing “None of our patrols have encountered anything.  Has the enemy taken a defensive position to receive battle or has he retired, seeing that we are able to crush him?  We will know the answer to this question in a few hours.”  Marmont however, faithfully followed the Emperor’s instructions, building a number of earthworks to cover the Halle road and filling the Tannenwald with abatis.

However, even with the addition of Dąbrowski’s 27th (Duchy of Warsaw) Division and Arrighi de Casanova’s III Cavalry Corps, Marmont worried that he did not have sufficient troops for the task given him; particularly if both enemy armies attacked him at once.  To that end, he requested and was promised the support of Souham’s III Corps if this were to happen.

With Blücher and Schwarzenberg now aware and confident of Napoleon’s intention to concentrate at Leipzig, Schwarzenberg announced his intention as “the destruction of the enemy army at Leipzig.”  Invigorated by these words, Blücher prepared the Army of Silesia for the attack and encouraged the Crown Prince to do likewise.

On 14th October, Blücher’s Army of Silesia rested at Halle in preparation for the coming attack on Leipzig, while the unconvinced Crown Prince continued his preparations to cross back over the Elbe.  However, later that day, the Crown Prince (probably realising, or more likely being informed by the Tsar that he was simply wrong regarding Napoleon’s dispositions) suddenly announced that he was cancelling his planned crossing of the Elbe and would instead now march south to Halle, to join the attack on Leipzig! 

This news was not as welcome as you might expect and probably angered Blücher even more than the earlier plan to cross the Elbe, as this would now place the Army of the North in rear of the Army of Silesia!  So instead of attacking Leipzig alongside the Army of Silesia, the Army of the North would be forming a second line while the Army of Silesia did the actual fighting!  Additionally, Blücher was concerned that there might still be unlocated French corps lurking at Bad-Düben, which would threaten his left flank as he attached Leipzig.  He therefore requested that the Crown Prince reconsider these plans and instead attack toward Dessau and Bad-Düben, thereby covering the flank and removing the threat, but these requests fell on deaf ears.

South of Leipzig on 14th October, General Wittgenstein’s Advance Guard of the Army of Bohemia engaged Marshal Murat’s Southern Wing of the Grande Armée at the Battle of Liebertwolkwitz.  Entering Leipzig on the same day to cheers of “Vive l’Empereur!”, Napoleon agreed with Marshal Murat that Schwarzenberg’s Army of Bohemia was the more immediate threat and would therefore be the Grande Armée‘s priority target. 

By 15th October, Napoleon was facing Schwarzenberg in the south (on the earlier battlefield of Liebertwolkwitz) with Victor’s II Corps, Lauriston’s V Corps, Poniatowski’s VIII Corps, Augerau’s IX Corps, MacDonald’s XI Corps, Latour-Maubourg’s I Cavalry Corps, Sebastiani’s II Cavalry Corps, Sokolnicki’s IV Cavalry Corps, Pajol’s V Cavalry Corps, Oudinot’s I Young Guard Corps, Mortier’s II Young Guard Corps, Nansouty’s Guard Cavalry Corps and d’Erlon’s Imperial Guard Corps.

Napoleon planned to draw the Army of Bohemia into an attack against his prepared position before turning the tables and counter-attacking with Marshal Macdonald’s left wing.  Once the Allies responded by sneding reserves to deal with MacDonald, Marshal Ney would then come south with the ‘Regular Reserve’ (Souham’s III Corps, Bertrand’s IV Corps and Marmont’s VI Corps) to smash the centre of the Army of Bohemia, closely followed by the ‘Grand Reserve’ (the Imperial Guard).  VI Corps would move first, covered by III Corps, who would then follow on with IV Corps.  Arrighi would continue to watch the northern and western approaches to Leipzig with his III Cavalry Corps and the Leipzig Observation Corps and would eventually be reinforced by Reynier’s VII Corps, which had at least crossed over to the left bank of the Elbe and was making its way south to rejoin the army.  However, this plan all hinged upon Ney’s northern wing not being attacked by Blücher before they could move south to join Napoleon in defeating Schwarzenberg.

Napoleon later claimed to have received no reports of Blücher’s Army of Silesia or the Crown Prince of Sweden’s Army of the North making any offensive moves, so managed to convince himself that the northern sector was safe enough for now.  He believed that both Blücher and the Crown Prince of Sweden were at Merseburg on the Saale and were making no offensive moves.  However, while the Crown Prince was in fact much further north and no immediate threat, Blücher had already crossed the Saale, was marching on Leipzig and at this moment was camped only eight miles from the city! 

Marmont, while he had failed to adequately scout the area, had on the 15th sent the Emperor the deposition of two engineer officers who had escaped captivity at Halle and who had provided a detailed report on Blücher’s dispositions and plans.  Marmont even performed a personal recce and could see the enemy’s campfires very clearly for himself.  However, Napoleon was now fixed in his beliefs and refused to accept any reports that contradicted them, criticising Marmont and telling him that he faced ‘only cavalry’.

By 0700hrs on 16th October, Blücher had concentrated the Army of Silesia at Günthersdorf.  Langeron’s Russian Wing now set off on a parallel road, aiming to outflank the identified defensive line at Lindenthal and strike at Möckern down the Landsberg road from the north, via Breitenfeld, Klein-Wiederitzsch and Gross-Wiederitzsch.  The column was led by Rudsevich’s Advance Guard Corps, followed by Kapsevich’s X Corps, Olsuviev’s IX Corps and Saint-Priest’s VIII Corps.  Langeron also had the secondary task of protecting Blücher’s left flank against any nasty surprises from Bad-Düben. 

The rest of the Army of Silesia would advance a few miles before assembling at Schkeuditz.  Yorck’s Prussian I Corps would then lead the assault on Möckern, while Osten-Sacken’s Russian XI Corps would remain in reserve at Schkeuditz until Emanuel’s IV Cavalry Corps had scouted the roads to Bad-Düben.  Having issued his orders, Blücher rode off to join Langeron’s wing; his worries for the left flank and what might be lurking at Bad-Düben were such that he felt that he needed to be personally in command, should anything unexpected develop on the left.  However, he and his chief-of-staff Gneisenau were in very good spirits at the prospect of engaging the Ogre in battle at last.

Overtures continued to be made to the Crown Prince, urging him to march forces toward Delitsch in support of Blücher’s left wing.  General Stewart in particular flattered the Crown Prince’s vanity but then also wrote bluntly, “The English nation is watching.  It is my duty to speak frankly.  England will never believe that you are indifferent, as long as the enemy is beaten, whether you take part or not.  I beg you, if you remain in second line, to send Captain Bogue with his Rocket Brigade, to operate with General Blücher’s cavalry.”  Partly through Stewart’s efforts, the Crown Prince did eventually agree to send forces toward Delitzsch, albeit very slowly; Winzingerode’s Russian Corps would march first, followed a day later by Bülow’s Prussian III Corps and then a day later still by Stedingk’s Swedish Corps.

In the meantime, Marmont was preparing, in accordance with his orders, to abandon his line and march to join the battle that Napoleon was already fighting at Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz (later known as the Battle of Wachau, to distinguish it from the earlier Battle of Liebertwolkwitz fought on the same ground).  However, Souham’s III Corps was meant to have established a new line through which VI Corps could pass.  At 0900hrs, Marshal Ney arrived at Eutritzsch to supervise this move, but there was still no sign of III Corps, which was meant to marched there from Taucha during the early hours of the morning!  

In frustration, Ney sent new orders to Bertrand at Leipzig, ordering him to carry out the mission previously allotted to Souham.  However, at 1000hrs and with Marmont reporting enemy forces appearing to his front, this order was cancelled and Bertrand was redirected to Liebertwolkwitz while Marmont determined the size of the approaching enemy force. 

Only half an hour later, Bertrand’s orders were cancelled again as increasingly panicked messages began arriving at Ney’s headquarters from Arrighi, requesting that forces be sent over the rivers to defend the Lindenau bridgehead from an enemy corps (Gyulai’s Austrian III Corps) that had just appeared in that sector.  Bertrand’s IV Corps was the only available formation, so Ney decided to send them.  Ney then advised Napoleon of his actions, assuring him that he would be sending VI Corps to Liebertwolkwitz just as soon as Souham’s III Corps arrived.

Marmont at this time, was watching enemy forces build up on the Halle and Landsberg roads.  III Corps had still not arrived, but he could not delay his march to Liebertwolkwitz any longer and wrote to the Emperor, assuring him that VI Corps was on the way.  By 1100hrs, his columns were formed up, were pulling out of their positions and were starting their march back to Leipzig.  However, despite Napoleon’s reassurances that he ‘only faced cavalry’, at least eight battalions of infantry had now been spotted on the two roads.

At 1230hrs and with only part of VI Corps having begun to march, the Württemberg cavalryman, Generalmajor Graf von Normann reported that the enemy force was actually superior in strength to VI Corps and was already engaged with the rearguard.  Marmont now had a dilemma; to continue the march meant having to pass through a series of defiles over multiple rivers and through Leipzig.  To be attacked by a superior force while attempting such a manoeuvre could only end in disaster.  His only option therefore, was to turn and face the enemy and beat them off, hopefully with the assistance of III Corps, thus winning time to successfully disengage. 

To that end, Marmont now received another guarantee from Ney that III Corps would be at his disposal; Ricard’s 8th Division was already at Eutrizsch and Brayer’s 11th Division was not far behind, though Delmas’ 9th Division, accompanying the III Corps train and artillery park, was still some three or four hours distant.  However, only half an hour after sending this guarantee to Marmont, Ney was forced by the developing situation to send III Corps south to Napoleon.  There would be no support for Marmont.

Large numbers of Allied troops were now appearing in the near-distance.  Rudsevich’s Russian advance guard was emerging from the north on the Landsberg road and the advance guard of Yorck’s I Prussian Corps was appearing from the north-west on the Halle road.  Marmont’s rearguard was seriously in danger of being crushed from both sides if it attempted to remain in the pre-prepared Lindenthal line.  After a token resistance and screened by a magnificent fighting withdrawal conducted by Normann’s Württemberg cavalry and horse artillery and Coëhorn’s French infantry, VI Corps fell back to a new line, anchoring their left flank on Lagrange’s 21st Division and the village of Möckern.  Dąbrowski’s 27th (Duchy of Warsaw) Division held Klein- and Gross-Wiederitzsch on the right flank, supported by Arrighi’s III Cavalry Corps.  Compans’ 20th Division and Friedrichs’ 22nd Division took post along a ridge in the centre, along with a considerable number of guns.

At 1400hrs, Yorck was finally in position to assault Möckern directly.  Major von Klüx’s detachment of Oberst von Katzler’s Advance Guard led the assault, preceded by a large swarm of light infantry in skirmish order.  On the left, General von Hünerbein’s 8th Brigade pushed up onto the high ground, accompanied by two batteries of 12-pounders from the corps reserve.  General von Horn’s 7th Brigade pushed out in echelon behind Hünerbein’s left flank, while Prinz Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz moved up to support the Advance Guard.  Oberst von Steinmetz’s 1st Brigade formed the corps reserve, along with General von Jürgass’s Reserve Cavalry Brigade.

Klüx’s detachment included a large number of rifle-armed Jäger from various units and was even supported by a small unit of Austrian Jäger, who had appeared on the opposite bank of the Elster.  Klüx’s men managed to fight their way into the village, but a determined counter-attack by the 2e Artillerie de la Marine (Buquet’s Brigade) soon sent them packing.

Major von Hiller was the next to assault the village.  Like Klüx, he had a mixed bag of battalions assigned to the Advance Guard from across I Corps and like Klüx, they quickly broke the crust of the defence and fought their way into the village.  However, again like Klüx, Hiller’s men were soon forced back out of the village by the 2e Artillerie de la Marine.  Hiller was quick to organise a second attack and again penetrated deep into the village, only to be kicked back out once again by the 2e de Marine, with some assistance from the 4e de Marine of Jamin’s Brigade.

Undeterred, Hiller organised a third attack, which again drove deep into the village, this time forcing Lagrange to commit the 37e Légère from Jamin’s brigade; the third and last of Lagrange’s regiments.  The Prussians were again ejected following bitter house-to-house fighting, but the rallied battalions of both Klüx and Hiller were soon charging into Möckern for the fourth time!

The battle had now become a contest of who had the largest amount of fresh meat to feed into the grinder and the fourth attack forced Lagrange to commit yet more of his dwindling supply of uncommitted battalions.  The counter-attack was successful and the Prussians were driven completely from the village.  This time the French pursued them out of the village, even capturing a howitzer from one of the supporting Prussian batteries.  However, the French had over-extended themselves and Hiller’s fifth attack repaid the complement; recapturing the howitzer and pursuing the French right through Möckern and out the other side!

The bloody, see-saw battle continued as French canister fire shredded the Prussian columns as they emerged from Möckern, preventing Hiller from pushing further forward.  There were also still considerable numbers of French troops within the village (primarily belonging to the 2e de Marine), still dug into houses and walled gardens, who were adding to Hiller’s misery.  With Hiller’s latest attack halted and in considerable disorder, Jamin now struck with his entire brigade; the 4e de Marine and 37e Légère, pushing Hiller back out of the village for the fifth time.

In the meantime, Langeron’s Russians had been deploying in the fields around Breitenfeld; the scene of Gustavus Adolphus’ victory in 1631.  Emanuel’s IV Cavalry Corps came first, followed by the rest of Rudsevich’s Advance Guard.  With Dąbrowski’s Polish infantry having already occupied Klein-Wiederitzsch and Gross-Wiederitzsch, Kapsevich’s X Corps was called forward to deal with these strongpoints and Olsuviev’s IX Corps moved up in reserve. 

Korff’s I Cavalry Corps meanwhile, galloped off to Podelwitz, to watch for the perceived threat coming from Bad-Düben.  Emanuel was also meant to have ridden off to the left flank to investigate the possibility of French forces emerging from Bad-Düben, but for some reason remained in position near Lindenthal, on Kapzevich’s right flank.  This failure on Emanuel’s part meant that Osten-Sacken was to remain out of the battle while he waited for news of the presence or otherwise of French forces in the east.  Noting that Emanuel had failed to conduct this vital reconnaissance, Osten-Sacken dispatched Vassilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps to carry it out.

Kapsevich’s X Corps struck Klein-Wiederitzsch at roughly the same time as Hiller’s first attack on Möckern.  The outnumbered and stubborn defenders of Żółtowski’s brigade (the Duchy of Warsaw’s 2nd & 4th Infantry Regiments) made the Russians pay for every inch and the battle swung back and forth several times.  However, the Poles were considerably outnumbered and the whole brigade eventually broke and fled toward Euteritzsch.

Emanuel, having remained in this sector of the battlefield, was now in the ideal position to pursue the routed Polish infantry.  Krukowiecki’s Polish cavalry brigade (the 2nd Uhlans and 4th Chasseurs à Cheval) and Fournier’s French 6th Light Cavalry Division were in the way, though Emanuel’s four dragoon regiments charged, utterly routing the Polish and French cavalry and capturing seven guns.

Nevertheless, the sacrifice of the Polish and French cavalry had allowed time for Żółtowski to rally his infantry.  Dąbrowski then led them forward in a determined counter-attack, which inflicted very heavy losses on Kapsevich and Rudsevich and succeeded in recapturing both Wiederitzsch villages.  The Russians, retreating in great disorder, were cut down in droves by the vengeful Polish artillery.

Repeating the pattern of the concurrent battle for Möckern, Dąbrowski’s Poles pushed on aggressively beyond the villages, only to be halted by the rallied Russian infantry and the massive Russian gun-line.  The Poles fell back to re-occupy the Wiederitzsch villages.

With the time now at around 1500hrs, Delmas’ 9th Division from III Corps appeared on the eastern flank of the battlefield, together with an unidentified cavalry detachment (probably Beurmann’s 25th Light Cavalry Brigade, or elements thereof).  Delmas had been tasked of covering the rear of III Corps, in particular the baggage train and artillery reserve, as it withdrew from Bad-Düben to Leipzig.  However, with the sounds of battle ahead, Delmas ordered his division to deploy off the road and onto the small range of hills between Seehausen and Podelwitz.  The arrival of Delmas was soon noticed by Korff’s cavalry, who quickly sent word back to Langeron’s headquarters. 

In a very short space of time, Olsuviev’s IX Corps had disengaged from the Breitenfeld sector and was marching toward Podelwitz.  Spotting a small copse of birch trees (the ‘Birkenholz’) on the Podelwitz-Wiedeitzsch road, Olsuviev ordered Udom’s 9th Division to occupy it, thereby blocking Delmas from intervening at the Wiederitzsch villages.  

Delmas now had a dilemma; to support Dąbrowski at the villages?  Or to continue to escort the III Corps train to Schönefeld in accordance with his orders?  The appearance of Olsuviev’s Russians immediately in front of him forced his hand and he ordered an attack on the Birkenholz.  The attack soon bogged down into a battle as bitter as any of those currently going on for the villages.  The battle quickly turned in favour of the Russians and in extremely bitter fighting, the Ryazan Regiment broke the 145e de Ligne, capturing their Eagle and one other flag!  Delmas was forced to fall back, pursued by Korff’s cavalry.

Back at Möckern, Katzler’s advance guard infantry (the detachments of Klüx and Hiller) were almost completely spent and with the village still in French hands, Yorck decided to disobey Blücher’s order to not commit any additional troops to the battle for Möckern until the Wiederitzsch villages were firmly in Langeron’s hands.  To that end, he ordered Prinz Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz’s 2nd Brigade to mount an attack on Möckern from the left, in concert with Hiller’s sixth frontal assault.

With this large injection of fresh troops, the Prussians again make good progress through the village and reach the Elster bridge in the centre of the village.  Part of Prinz Karl’s 2nd Brigade was directed against French artillery on the hill north of Möckern, while Katzler’s advance guard cavalry detachments pushed out to the left under heavy fire, accompanied by Yorck himself.  Steinmetz’s 1st Brigade was also brought forward in close support.  However, Hiller’s luck finally ran out as he was wounded during this assault.  He later wrote,

“Everyone was burning with desire to get close to the enemy, and on my shout that today must decide Germany’s fate, the battalions did not hesitate to again charge across the corpses of their brothers and engage the enemy with cries of hurrah.  Notwithstanding the courage and fury of the troops, which had increased to the extreme, it was still impossible to silence the fire of the enemy battalions posted in the houses.  Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the satisfaction of watching the courage and perseverance of the brave troops, especially the Landwehr battalions, turn back the enemy grenadiers and Guardsmen who had moved up as reinforcement.  As I saw them running away, I also saw the other brigades of the Army Corps advancing.  At that moment I was wounded.  I sank to the ground in unconsciousness with the blessed feeling that we would be victorious.”

This is one of a number of Prussian references to ‘Guards’ and ‘grenadiers’ fighting in Möckern.  As mentioned in my recent article about them, the smart blue Navy-issue greatcoats, brass buttons, red epaulettes and pompoms of the four regiments of the Artillerie de la Marine, allied to their fierce fighting spirit, gave the Prussians the distinct impression that they were fighting the Imperial Guard, specifically the Sailors (Marins) of the Guard. 

This myth persists in the work of later German artists such as Richard Knötel (below), which show the Sailors of the Guard being ridden down by the Brandenburg Hussars.

With the attack again stalled, but with Hiller’s detachment and elements of Prinz Karl’s 2nd Brigade still holding around half the village, Yorck brought up his two reserve 12-pounder batteries, massing a total of 88 guns at 1,100 yards from the French artillery, in an attempt to suppress the extremely effective French fire-support.  Despite Hiller himself being out of action, his detachment now made their seventh and final charge, again in concert with Prinz Karl’s 2nd Brigade.

Despite the concentration of Prussian artillery on the hills opposite, Marmont ordered his corps to perform a ‘left wheel’ to engage the left flank of Prinz Karl’s 2nd Brigade.  He also warned General Compans that with Lagrange’s 21st Division becoming depleted, his 20th Division might also be required to go into the village.

Marmont’s dynamic defence absolutely hammered Prinz Karl’s 2nd Brigade.  Having already been pounded by Foucher’s seemingly-indefatigable French artillery on their approach to the village, the Füsilier Battalion of the 1st East Prussian Regiment received a volley from ‘Guard Marines’ at point-blank range, followed by a charge that completely destroyed the battalion.  However, the 1st & 2nd Battalions of the 1st East Prussian Regiment were quick to exact revenge, pushing back the ‘Guard Marines’ and even closing to within musketry range of the French gun-line, driving back some gunners and capturing one of the batteries. 

Nevertheless, the East Prussians had suffered terrible casualties during the assault.  Prinz Karl himself first lost a horse and then, having found a remount, was seriously wounded, ending his part in the battle.  Oberst von Lobenthal, the Commanding Officer of the 1st East Prussian Regiment, took command of the 2nd Brigade.

 

Compans’ 20th Division was now thrown into the battle for Möckern.  The 20th and 25th Provisional Regiments of Joubert’s brigade launched a fierce charge, utterly routing the depleted 1st East Prussian Regiment.  Lobenthal also now fell wounded and was carried from the field.  Joubert’s two Provisional Regiments hotly pursued the broken Prussians and succeeded in driving off most of Yorck’s 88 guns.  However, the gunners of the Prussian 6pdr Foot Battery #1 and 12pdr Foot Battery #2, quite literally stuck to their guns and halted the presumptuous French attack.  A charge by the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Hussars then drove back the Provisional Regiments.  Marmont had this to say about the episode,

“I decided to engage the troops of the [20th] Division, who in echelon formed the centre, and directed these to assist those already engaged against the enemy, who was moving against out centre.  The battle assumed a new character, and in an instant our infantry masses found themselves less than thirty paces from the enemy.  No action was more intense.  The 20th and 25th Provisional Regiments, commanded by Colonels Maury and Drouot, covered themselves in glory in this situation.  they advanced against the enemy and forced him to yield but, overwhelmed by numbers, these regiments were forced to halt, yet they managed to hold their positions.  The 32nd Light [from Pelleport’s brigade] also worked wonders.”

It was somewhere in the midst of this engagement that a Prussian howitzer shell landed among some French artillery caissons, causing several (sources say three or four) to explode and instantly removing the ready ammunition from Marmont’s 12-pounder batteries at probably the most critical moment of the battle.  Another effect of the explosion was that Marmont was wounded, though only lightly (he would be wounded again later in the battle).

It’s difficult to establish the exact sequence of events on both flanks of the battle, but at some point, Kapsevich’s rallied X Corps threw Dąbrowski out of the Wiederitzsch villages for a second time.  However, the Poles again rallied and again threw the Russians out of the villages.  Seeing a wide gap between the Prussians and the Russians, Dąbrowski took it upon himself to drive into that gap with his 27th Division and the two French light cavalry divisions (Lorge’s 5th and Fournier’s 6th), in an attempt to split the Army of Silesia in two. 

However, this gap had already been noted by Langeron, who had already called Saint-Priest’s VIII Corps forward to plug the gap.  However, this manoeuvre would take some time to perform, so Blücher personally intervened, recalling Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps from the left flank where they had been scouting, to the Lindenthal sector of the battlefield.   

This timely deployment of reserves was instrumental in halting Dąbrowski, who was was blocked first by the timely intervention of Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps and then by the leading elements of Saint-Priests’s VIII Corps, which was just starting to arrive near Lindenthal.  Faced now by the entire weight of Langeron’s wing and with Delmas’ 9th Division having withdrawn from the battle, Dąbrowski could not hope to hold out at the Wiederitzsch villages and was forced to fall back for the last time to Eutritzsch.

Beyond issuing the initial orders to Yorck, Langeron and Osten-Sacken, Blücher had thus far, had little direct input into the course of the battle.  He’d spent much of the day with Langeron’s headquarters and was preoccupied with the eastern flank, being still convinced that Napoleon’s main army was still somewhere between Leipzig and Bad-Düben.  In fact, the last French units in that area had been Reynier’s VII Corps and Delmas 9th Division, escorting the III Corps train as it withdrew toward Leipzig.

 

Before re-deploying to the centre of the battle, Vassilchikov had detached four cossack regiments to keep scouting in the direction of Bad-Düben and finally at 1700hrs, Blücher received word from these cossacks that they had entered Bad-Düben to find no sign of the enemy, apart from a hastily-abandoned battery of French guns (that they lacked the horse teams to carry off).  This welcome news finally prompted Blücher to order Osten-Sacken’s XI Corps to march immediately to the sound of the guns.  However, this order was not received until 1800hrs and darkness had descended long before they arrived.

On the other side of the lines, Ney’s earlier promises to Marmont of support from Souham’s III Corps had failed to materialise (Delmas’ accidental arrival doesn’t count!).  In fact, Souham had marched south hours earlier and thanks to the state of the roads, didn’t even arrive to support Napoleon in time.  The net result was that aside from Delmas’ 9th Division’s short-lived intervention described above, III Corps did not fight anywhere on 16th October.  Ironically, there is a strong likelihood that the arrival of III Corps at either battlefield may well have turned the tide in France’s favour.  There are strong parallels here to the vacillation of d’Erlon’s I Corps between the Battles of Quatre-Bras and Ligny in 1815.

As the battle for the Wiederitzsch villages was ending, the battle for Möckern also approached its final act.  With the failure of 2nd Brigade’s intervention, Steinmetz’s 1st Brigade, Yorck’s final infantry reserve, was ordered to assault the village.  This would be accompanied by a large supporting attack from the left; Horn’s 7th Brigade and Hünerbein’s 8th Brigade had only been lightly engaged on Yorck’s left throughout the day, though had been under constant long-range artillery fire the whole time, as had Jürgass’ Reserve Cavalry Brigade and the various other Prussian cavalry detachments to their rear.

With the approach of this massive new attack at around 1700hrs and with the Wiederitzsch villages having fallen, the French fell back to a more defensible position along a ridge extending roughly eastward from Möckern toward Euteritzsch.  The enormous volume of French artillery fire slowed the Prussian advance to a crawl and Steinmetz’s first line ground to a halt.  However, the second line, consisting of his elite grenadier battalions, pushed into and through the milling mass of Silesian Landwehr and pressed home the attack.  Casualties among the attackers were horrific and when Steinmetz fell wounded, the attack again stuttered to a halt.  Undaunted, one Oberst von Losthin took command of 1st Brigade and got them moving forward once again.

It was at this point that a controversial, possibly even fictitious event allegedly took place, upon which Marmont squarely placed the blame for his defeat, alongside the failure of Ney to support him.  In his memoir, written decades later, Marmont claimed that he now ordered the ordinarily-outstanding Württemberg cavalry general Graf von Normann to charge the disordered Prussian battalions.  Marmont claimed that Normann refused this order and when finally persuaded to charge, instead accidentally charged the 1er de Marine! 

The historian John H Gill strongly refutes this version of events in Broken Eagles, as it’s not described by any other witnesses and Marmont certainly didn’t mention it in reports to the Emperor only days, weeks and months after the event, when describing the course of the battle.  It seems likely that this was a later invention, perhaps prompted with hindsight by Normann’s later defection to the Allied cause?  Normann himself commented that his regiments had been forced to batter their way through crowds of French fugitives, so it might be that he was first delayed by these fugitives and the description of his men ‘riding down the 1er de Marine’ might therefore, simply have been Marmont’s impression from having seen them from afar, trying to get through the crowds.

In any case, as Yorck’s last fresh battalions (the 1st East Prussian Grenadier Battalion and the 5th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment) attempted to renew the assault, they soon faltered, suffering heavy casualties from French firepower, including every single senior officer.

With the Prussian infantry having failed to break Marmont, Yorck now had only one option available to him.  Near to his command-post was Major von Sohr’s detachment (the 1st, 2nd and Volunteer Jäger Squadrons) of the Brandenburg Hussars.  Yorck shouted at him to charge and then rode back to deliver the same order personally to the Brandenburg Uhlans, the 5th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry and then the rest of Katzler’s advance guard cavalry, the brigade cavalry detachments and finally the Corps Reserve Cavalry Brigade of General von Jürgass.

Seeing this great mass of cavalry start to move forward, the rallied remnants of the 1st & 2nd Brigades also started to move forward and on the left, the 7th and 8th Brigades surged forward once again.  The entire Prussian I Corps was now moving forward in one great general attack!

 

Smoke from the burning village served to completely obscure the view of this great movement of troops and Sohr’s detachment of the Brandenburg Hussars completely surprised and crushed two battalions of the 3e Artillerie de la Marine and captured seven guns.  Normann’s much-maligned Württemberg cavalrymen were quick to counter-charge “with great determination”, driving into the flank of the Brandenburg Hussars and saving the remnants of the broken battalions.  However, they were in turn, struck in the flank by the Brandenburg Uhlans and the 5th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry.  Normann managed to salvage the situation briefly with his second regiment, but Yorck had already personally ordered the 2nd Leib-Hussars to charge the Württembergers and then went and ordered Henckel von Donnersmark to do the same with his two regiments (the 1st West Prussian Dragoons and the Lithuanian Dragoons).  Yorck personally accompanied the Lithuanian Dragoons and Normann’s Württembergers were swept from the field by this great mass of Prussian horsemen.  Jürgass, with the 1st West Prussian Dragoons, pursued the Württembergers all the way to Gohlis, capturing four guns along the way.

Lorge’s French 5th Light Cavalry Division now counter-charged the Prussian cavalry, but in turn was countered by the 1st Neumärk and 10th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry.  Marmont’s centre (Compans’ 20th Division) was now in complete collapse and at last, his left wing (Lagrange’s 21st Division) was forced to fall back from Möckern for the final time.

The Prussian 7th and 8th Brigades now descended upon Marmont’s right wing (Friedrichs’ 22nd Division).  Coming under intense fire from the ever-present and indefatigable French artillery, the first line slowed almost to a halt.  However, the second line pushed on through and even succeeded in driving back the French gunners.  However, the left flank of Yorck’s Prussians were finally coming up against the right flank of Langeron’s Russians and there were a few incidents of fratricide as Prussian infantry were engaged by Russian artillery, while Russian gunners were in turn engaged by Prussian infantry.

Nevertheless, the Leib-Regiment in particular, pushed on and charged a French battalion in concert with the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Hussars charging from the flank.  The charge was a complete success, completely breaking the battalion and capturing 400 prisoners, a howitzer and an unidentified flag (probably a battalion Fannion).

The Brandenburg and 12th Reserve Infantry Regiments now took the lead in the advance and again suffered heavy losses from French fire.  Once again, the casualty-rate among the senior leadership was simply appalling, yet the attack was pressed home by junior officers and NCOs and a French square was broken. 

With the irrevocable loss of Möckern, Marmont was forced to accept the inevitability of his defeat.  All that remained now was to save as much of his corps as possible.  However, the Prussian cavalry rampage was far from over.  The Brandenburg Hussars and Brandenburg Uhlans now captured 28 guns and five caissons between them, while the 2nd Leib-Hussars took another seven guns and 400 prisoners and the East Prussian National Cavalry claimed four guns.

Major Stössel of the 2nd Leib-Hussars led his regiment on to break another square, but was repulsed by French cavalry.  However, Prussian blood was up and the hussars quickly rallied before charging again and routing the French cavalry.

Although the Brandenburg Hussars later had all the glory, the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Hussars perhaps had the greatest success of the day.  They weren’t actually a Prussian regiment, but were in fact a volunteer regiment raised by the tiny Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on the crest of the wave of German nationalism and brought to war by Prinz Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the commander of the Prussian 2nd Brigade.  They had already distinguished themselves with a very timely charge earlier in the battle, but now fell upon the rear of the 1st Battalion of the 1er Artillerie de la Marine, just as Horn’s 7th Brigade charged them from the front.  The French battalion was completely smashed, with over 700 being taken prisoner and the hussars taking the Eagle of the 1er Artillerie de la Marine as their trophy, along with another flag.

Friedrichs’ 22nd Division in the meantime, had successfully disengaged from the Prussian assault and had retreated to Eutrizsch.  Thinking them defeated and driven off, Hünerbein wheeled his 8th Brigade to the right, in order to cut off the retreat of other French units from Möckern.  However, in doing so, his units became entangled with those of Horn’s 7th Brigade and he exposed his left flank to Friedrichs, who he’d assumed was no longer a threat.  This was a fatal assumption, as Friedrichs (apparently joined by some surviving battalions of the Artillerie de la Marine from the other divisions) now rallied, turned about and struck back at Hünerbein!  The 8th Brigade was soon broken and streaming back the way it had come.  This was to be the last defiant act of the day by Marmont’s VI Corps.

Henckel von Donnersmark, having already pursued the French as far as Gohlis, was returning to friendly lines with the Lithuanian Dragoons and the 10th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry, when he realised that Friedrichs’ French division (Coëhorn’s and Choisy’s brigades) had got in behind them and was now drawn up in two large brigade-squares.  Immediately ordering the charge, the 10th Silesians went in first and perhaps because they came from an unexpected direction, broke the first square!  The Lithuanian Dragoons then charged into the second square, as recounted by Henckel von Donnersmark;

“The square was broken on the first attempt.  We had driven deep into the enemy’s ranks when the Marine Guard opposed us.  All who had already received pardon immediately seized discarded weapons, and now danger was before us and behind us and a dreadful carnage was the result.  On our right wing, other cavalry joined us; Colonel Welzein came to our support with a detachment of Silesian Landwehr.  Now our Lithuanians abandoned all caution, because the enemy shot and stabbed like mad everything around them.  But the Guard succumbed.  The scene was gruesome.  We penetrated deeper and deeper into the mass that by this time had become very confused; those who did not fall to the weapons were trampled under the horses’ hooves; heaps of twenty to thirty of these unfortunates lay jumbled together; through this some found protection from the fury of our people; and certainly nothing of this column (1,200 strong) would have escaped had not an unexpected heated artillery fire from our left side disturbed us from completing our work.”

Friedrichs’ division was destroyed, with Friedrichs himself being seriously wounded.  At last however, the survivors of Marmont’s broken corps managed to reach safety on the south bank of the River Parthe.  The day had been a disaster for Marmont and for Napoleon’s Grande Armée as a whole and although they didn’t know it yet, the Battle of Leipzig was already lost.  As discussed above, the injection of just one additional army corps in either the southern or northern sectors of the Battle of Leipzig on 16th October may well have assured victory on that front, thus allowing Napoleon to then bring his full weight to bear against each surviving Allied army in turn.  However, Souham’s III Corps spent the day marching and counter-marching, while Bertrand’s IV Corps became embroiled in a fight for the line of communication at Lindenau and Marmont’s VI Corps became embroiled in this fairly pointless battle at Möckern.

Yorck’s Prussian I Corps lost 7,681 men, the overwhelming majority of whom were infantry, whose bodies now choked the streets, gardens and back-alleys of Möckern village.  172 officers had been killed or wounded, including two brigade commanders (Prinz Karl and Steinmetz, both of whom would later recover from their wounds and return to duty), four ‘sub-brigade’ commanders, 3 regimental commanders and no fewer than 12 battalion commanders!  They had however, taken around 2,000 prisoners, 41 guns, 2 flags, the Eagle of the 1er Artillerie de la Marine and enough artillery caissons to completely replenish the ammunition expended during the battle.

Langeron estimated Russian losses at around 1,500 and have captured ‘a few hundred’ prisoners, ‘numerous’ wagons, 13 guns, 1 flag and the Eagle of the 145e de Ligne.  Rather strangely, he didn’t mention the capture of the Eagle in his after-action report, so perhaps the Eagle was carried back to Blücher’s headquarters and he was unaware of it?  The loss of the 145e de Ligne’s Eagle is well-documented.

Marmont claimed to have lost 6-7,000 men and 27 guns, but this is undoubtedly a gross under-estimate and probably doesn’t include the casualty lists for Delmas, Dąbrowski and Arrighi.  Générals de Division Compans and Friedrichs were both wounded during the battle (Friedrichs would die two days later), as was Marmont himself, along with many Générals de Brigade.  Général de Division Lagrange and Général de Brigade Coëhorn were singled out for praise, while Marshal Ney and Generalmajor Normann were squarely blamed for the defeat (although not until many years later).

Marmont’s VI Corps wasn’t completely destroyed and would fight again (this time against the Army of the North) on the 18th and as discussed in my previous article, it would escape from Leipzig and would be one of the few army corps to maintain its identity, containing largely the same sub-units and senior commanders right until the end of the war in 1814.

Scenario Outline

The scenario will last for 15 turns, starting with the Allied 1200hrs turn and ending at nightfall with the French 1900hrs turn.  See below for the detailed schedule of reinforcements.

As usual, either side can win an outright victory by pushing the enemy army permanently beyond their Army Morale limit.  Note however, that the the Army Morale limit of both armies will increase as reinforcements arrive (see the scenario schedule below).

The Allies suffer a 5 Morale Point penalty if they do not place sufficient troops on the eastern flank.  This will be eased by 1 Morale Point for every non-routed Allied cavalry brigade (including cossacks) or two non-routed infantry brigades that are placed within Map-Box X during each turn’s Victory Determination Phase.  This rule will cease to apply at the start of the Allied 1700hrs Turn.

The French suffer a 5 Morale Point penalty if they completely lose control of both built-up sectors of Möckern.  Control is determined by being the last side to occupy the built-up sector with UNDISORDERED infantry (NB infantry will immediately become Disordered as they occupy a built-up sector following a victory in combat.  There is therefore a brief opportunity for the defender to counter-attack before they establish themselves in the village and before the Morale Point penalty kicks in).

The scenario uses a 8′ x 6′ table.  The map-scale is normally 1km per foot, though I must confess that I have compressed the map very slightly (only by around 5%), in order to fit on the key features.

Orders of Battle

Napoleon’s Battles is a ‘grand tactical’ set, where each unit represents a brigade or large regiment and the man-to-figure ratio is roughly 1:100 (to be exact, it’s 1:120 for infantry and 1:80 for cavalry).  It would however, be relatively easy to convert to similarly-scaled systems such as Age of Eagles or Général d’Armée.

The ‘hieroglyphs’ on the orders of battle show the strength of a unit in figures, their nationality, the troop type and the point at which the unit will ‘disperse’ (i.e. become combat-ineffective).  For example, the code ’16 FrLN [10D]’ means a 16-figure unit of French Line Infantry, which will likely disperse when it reaches a strength of 10 figures.  The stats for French Line Infantry can then be found on the Unit Information Card at the bottom of this article.  I’m sure you can work out the rest.

Generals have a rating (e.g. General von Jürgass with ‘3″G(7)+1 [2F]’) which shows their command-span expressed in inches, a quality-rating (Poor, Average, Good or Excellent), an initiative rating between 4 and 8 (10 for C-in-Cs) and a combat modifier ranging from -1 to +3, which is added if they are attached to the unit in combat (a ‘D’ indicates that the modifier is only applied in defence).  Some also have a number with ‘F’, which is the formation’s fatigue rating if applicable (only corps headquarters and independent divisions have a Fatigue rating).  The C-in-C also usually has a number with ‘M’; this is the army’s morale rating.

Note that where a brigade is very large and/or comprising different troop-types, I will usually split it into two or more regimental sub-units.  E.g. ‘Karpov’s Brigade #1’ and ‘Karpov’s Brigade #2’.  The upper-limit of unit size in Napoleon’s Battles is 28 figures for infantry and 20 figures for cavalry.  Some units can have modifiers based on their internal composition (e.g. a line infantry unit containing a large contingent of light infantry that’s too small to split off as its own unit may have an additional +1 shooting modifier).

As for artillery; Napoleon’s Battles normally only includes horse batteries, heavy foot batteries and other specialist artillery such as all-howitzer batteries. However, I usually reflect this added combat-power by adding a base of 4x infantry infantry to units which include a light foot battery.  In this battle, every French and Polish brigade included a 6pdr foot battery, so has had a base added.  The Allies were slightly less well-served; the Prussians had one 6pdr foot battery per brigade (i.e. division) and the Russians had a few 6pdr light foot batteries in their corps artillery reserves.

The Allied Army of Silesia

General der Kavallerie von Blücher

20”E(10)+3
[5 Free Rolls]

Prussian I Korps – Generallieutenant von Yorck         10”E(7)+2D [7F]

Advance Guard – Oberst von Katzler                                                            3”A(4)+1
Hiller’s Detachment (elements of various units)                                            20 PrLN [8D]
Klüx’s Detachment (elements various units)                                                   16 PrLT [8D] (+1)
Katzler’s Detachment (elements of five regiments)                                        16 PrLC [8D]
6pdr Horse Battery #2                                                                                          Pr6#

1st Brigade – Oberst von Steinmetz                                                                4”A(7)+0
Grenadier Brigade (1st East Prussian & Silesian Grenadier Battalions)    16 PrGN [6D]
Losthin’s Brigade (5th & 13th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiments)     16 PrSLW [10D]

2nd Brigade – Generalmajor Prinz Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz         3”A(5)+0
Lobenthal’s Brigade (1st & 2nd E. Prussian IRs & 6th Silesian Landwehr) 20 PrLN [10D]
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 2nd Leib & Brandenburg Hussars                              12 PrLC [6D]

7th Brigade – Generalmajor von Horn                                                            4”A(6)+1D
Zepelin’s Brigade (Leib Infantry Regiment & Thüringian Battalion)           16 PrLN [8D]
Welzien’s Brigade (4th & 15th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiments)     20 PrSLW [12D]

8th Brigade – Generalmajor von Hünerbein                                                  4”A(5)+0
Borcke’s Brigade (Brandenburg Infantry Regiment)                                       12 PrLN [6D]
Götze’s Brigade (12th Reserve Infantry Regiment)                                          12 PrLN [6D]

I Korps Reserve Cavalry Brigade – Generalmajor von Jürgass            4”G(7)+1
Henckel’s Brigade (1st West Prussian & Lithuanian Dragoons)                     8 PrLC [4D]
Bieberstein’s Brigade (3rd, 5th & 10th Silesian & 1st Neumärk Ldw Cav)   12 PrLWC [7D]
6pdr Horse Battery #1                                                                                             Pr6#
6pdr Horse Battery #3                                                                                             Pr6#

I Korps Reserve Artillery Brigade – Oberstleutnant Schmidt
12pdr Foot Battery #1                                                                                              Pr12#
12pdr Foot Battery #2                                                                                              Pr12#
6pdr Horse Battery #12                                                                                           Pr6#
Ad Hoc Howitzer Battery                                                                                        PrHFA

Elements, Russian XI Corps (Osten-Sacken)

III Cavalry Corps – Generallieutenant Vasilchikov                                   5”G(4)+0 [3F]
Uschakov’s Brigade (Smolensk & Courland Dragoons)                                 8 RsLC [4D]
Yurkowski’s Brigade (White Russia & Akhtyrsk Hussars)                            16 RsLC [8D]
Vasilchikov’s Brigade (Marioupol & Alexandria Hussars)                            16 RsLC [8D]
Karpov II’s Cossack Brigade (-)                                                                           20 RsCLC [14D]
Horse Battery #18                                                                                                   2x Rs6#

Russian Army Wing – General of Infantry Count Langeron         9”G(6)+1

Advance Guard Corps – Generallieutenant Rudsevich      5”A(5)+0 [3F]

I Cavalry Corps – Generallieutenant Korff                                                  6”G(5)+1
De Witt’s Brigade (Kargopol, Kiev & Kinburn Dragoons)                            16 RsLC [8D]
Obolensky’s Brigade (Lithuania, Dorpat, Arasmass & Siversk CàC)          12 RsLC [6D]
Karpov VIII’s Cossack Brigade                                                                           20 RsCLC [14D]

IV Cavalry Corps – Generalmajor Emanuel (from VIII Corps)              5”P(4)+1
Borozdin II’s Brigade (Mitau & New Russia Dragoons)                                8 RsLC [4D]
Emanuel’s Brigade (Kharkov and Moscow Dragoons)                                  8 RsLC [4D]
Kaisarov’s Cossack Brigade                                                                                 8 RsCLC [6D]

15th Division – Generalmajor Kornilov (from IX Corps)                        3”A(5)+0
Anensur’s Brigade (Kourin & Kolyvan Regiments)                                      12 RsLN [6D] (+1)
Tern’s Brigade (Koslov & Vitebsk Regiments)                                               12 RsLN [6D] (+1)
Tichanowski I’s Brigade (12th & 22nd Jäger Regiments) (very weak; incorporated above)

Advance Guard Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #15 (from IX Corps)                                                              2x Rs12#
Horse Battery #8                                                                                                  2x Rs6#

Russian VIII Corps – Generallieutenant Count Saint-Priest         8”A(5)+1 [4F]

11th Division – Generalmajor Prince Gourialov                                         3”A(5)+0
Turgenev’s Brigade (Ekaterinburg & Rilsk Regiments)                               16 RsLN [8D] (+1)
Karpenko’s Brigade (Jeletz & Polotsk Regiments)                                        16 RsLN [8D] (+1)
Bistrom II’s Brigade (1st & 33rd Jäger Regiments) (very weak; incorporated above)

17th Division – Generalmajor Pillar                                                              3”A(6)+0
Kern’s Brigade (Riazan & Bielosersk Regiments)                                          12 RsLN [6D]
Tscheriov’s Brigade (Wilmanstrand & Brest Regiments)                             12 RsLN [6D]
Charitanov’s Brigade (3rd & 48th Jäger Regiments)                                     16 RsJG [8D]

VIII Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #32                                                                                             2x Rs12#

IV Cavalry Corps – Generalmajor Emanuel
(detached to Advance Guard Corps)

Russian IX Corps – Generallieutenant Olsuviev         7”G(6)+1 [1F]

9th Division – Generalmajor Udom II (from IX Corps)                            3”A(5)+0
Poltaratzsky’s Brigade (Nacheburg & Apcheron Regiments)                      16 RsLN [8D] (+1)
Juskov II’s Brigade (Riajsk & Iakutsk Regiments)                                        12 RsLN [6D] (+1)
Grimbladt’s Brigade (10th & 38th Jäger Regiments) (very weak; incorporated above)

15th Division – Generalmajor Kornilov
(detached to Advance Guard Corps)

IX Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #15 (detached to Advance Guard Corps)

Russian X Corps – Generallieutenant Kapsevich         7”A(4)+0 [2F]

8th Division – Generalmajor Count Ourousov                                          4”A(4)+0
Schenschin’s Brigade (Arkhangel & Schusselburg Regiments)                 16 RsLN [8D]
Rehren’s Brigade (Old Ingremannland and 7th & 38th Jäger Regts)      16 RsJG [8D]

22nd Division – Generalmajor Tourchaninov                                          3”A(6)+1
Schapski’s Brigade (Viatka, Staropol & Olonetz Regiments)                    16 RsLN [8D]
Durnov’s Brigade (29th & 45th Jäger Regiments)                                      16 RsJG [8D]

X Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #2 (half-battery)                                                                   Rs12#
Position Battery #18                                                                                           2x Rs12#
Position Battery #34                                                                                           2x Rs12#
Position Battery #39                                                                                           2x Rs12#
Don Cossack Horse Battery #2 (half-battery)                                               Rs6#

Allied Order of Battle Notes

1.  Klüx’s Detachment of Katzler’s Advance Guard consisted of the 4th Company of the Garde-Jäger Bn, 2 companies of the East Prussian Jäger Battalion, the Füsilier Battalion of the 2nd East Prussian Regiment, the Leib-Grenadier Battalion and the 4th Battalion and three Volunteer Jäger companies of the 15th Silesian Landwehr Regiment.  This is a tricky unit to classify, but I’ve decided to go with Prussian Light Infantry, which gives them a base +1 in shooting, but don’t engage in combat quite as well as Line Infantry.  I’ve also given them an additional +1 shooting modifier due to the large Füsilier and Jäger contingent and their label is marked with (+1) as a reminder (this means that they shoot with a +2).  I also considered designating them as Jäger, but they’re pretty poor at close assault.  I must confess however, that I’ve taken the Leib-Grenadier Battalion away, in order to bring Steinmetz’s depleted grenadier brigade up to strength.

2.  Hiller’s Detachment of Katlzer’s Advance Guard consisted of the West Prussian Grenadier Battalion, 1st Battalion of the Brandenburg Regiment, 2nd Battalion of the 12th Reserve Regiment, 3rd Battalion of the 13th Silesian Landwehr Regiment and 2nd Battalion of the 14th Silesian Landwehr Regiment.  As both these detachments were an odd mix of elite, line and militia troops, I’ve averaged them out as ‘Line’ class.

3.  Katzler himself directly commanded the cavalry element of his Advance Guard.  This comprised 2 squadrons of the 2nd Leib-Hussars, 3 squadrons of the Brandenburg Hussars, 4 squadrons of the Brandenburg Uhlans, 4 squadrons of the East Prussian National Cavalry Regiment and 4 squadrons of the 5th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment.  There were other detachments of regular hussars and Landwehr light cavalry spread out in penny-packets in every brigade, but for game purposes I’ve massed all the hussars in Mecklenburg-Strelitz’s 2nd Brigade and all the Landwehr Cavalry in Jürgass’ Reserve Cavalry Brigade (in any case, they all joined in with the massed cavalry attacks at the end of the battle, so it does actually make sense to group them).

4.  Anticipating the assault on Möckern village, the Prussians created an ad hoc howitzer battery by stripping the howitzers out of their foot batteries.  The chance for Prussian 12pdr foot batteries to cause fires is therefore reduced to a roll of 1, as for horse batteries.

5.  Yorck’s Prussian I Korps and Osten-Sacken’s Russian XI Corps reported directly to Blücher.  All other Russian corps reported to Langeron, who acted as a Positional Wing Commander under Blücher’s command.  Note that Langeron’s command is often referred to as a ‘corps’ and the Army of Silesia is often referred to as consisting of ‘three corps’ (Yorck’s, Osten-Sacken’s and Langeron’s).  However, rather than being a ‘corps’ in the modern sense of an ‘army corps’, this merely reflects the 18th Century terminology used by Blücher, where any large, independently-manoeuvring body of troops was described as a ‘corps’, regardless of size.

6.  Osten-Sacken’s Russian XI Corps for the most part, remained in reserve and well to the rear until Blücher was certain that there was no threat to his left flank.  This didn’t happen until 1700hrs and the corps therefore didn’t start moving until 1800hrs and didn’t arrive until darkness had fallen.  The bulk of XI Corps is not therefore included in this scenario.  However, Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps, which formed Osten-Sacken’s cavalry reserve, did ride off to scout Langeron’s left flank and was committed by Blücher during the latter stages of the battle (once he’d worked out where the French actually were).  Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps therefore operates under Blücher’s direct command and does not report to Langeron.

7.  Four of Karpov II’s Cossack regiments (Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps) were sent off on a scouting mission toward Bad-Düben and have therefore been deleted from Karpov’s strength.

8.  Poltaratsky’s & Juskov II’s Brigades of 9th Division, Turkenov’s & Karpenko’s Brigades of 11th Division and Anensur’s and Tern’s Brigades of 15th Division gain a +1 shooting modifier due to the divisional Jäger brigade being incorporated with the line infantry brigades.  Their label is marked with (+1) as a reminder.

9.  Emanuel’s IV Cavalry Corps and Kornilov’s’s 15th Division have been detached from their original formations and assigned to Rudsevich’s Advance Guard Corps.  Kornilov’s 15th Division and Position Battery #15 may revert back to Olsuviev’s IX Corps at any time, but may not be commanded again by Rudsevich from this point forth.  Confusingly, Nafziger’s order of battle shows Udom’s 9th Division as the division assigned to Rudsevich, but both Nafziger’s and Leggiere’s accounts are very clear that it was Kornilov’s 15th Division that was given this role.

10.  The Russian Cavalry Corps had by this stage of the war been reduced to the size of large divisions.  They did have subordinate divisions on paper, but these frequently had no general officer assigned to command them and instead, they had brigades reporting directly to the Corps HQ.  In Napoleon’s Battles these formations are treated much the same as divisions, but have a slightly increased (+2″) command-span and their commander suffers an Initiative penalty (where applicable) for taking on a higher command role.  E.g. Korff’s I Cavalry Corps officially included the 1st Chasseur à Cheval Division and elements of the 2nd Chasseur à Cheval Division and 4th Dragoon Division, while Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps included the 2nd Dragoon Division, 2nd Hussar Division and elements of the 4th Dragoon Division.  However, there was no divisional command-structure in place at this time.

11.  The optional ‘Blücher Rule’ (Chapter 14.4.6 of the Napoleon’s Battles 4th Edition rulebook) may not be used in this scenario.  Blücher spent most of the battle preoccupied with the perceived threat to his left flank and left the tactical control of the battle to Yorck and Langeron.

The Reinforced French VI Corps

Maréchal Marmont, Duc de Raguse

12”G(10)+1
[4 Free Rolls]

VI Corps (Marmont)      [6F]

20th Division – Général de Division Compans                                      3”G(6)+1
Pelleport’s Brigade (1er Artillerie de la Marine & 32e Légère)              20 FrMLN [10D] (+1)
Joubert’s Brigade #1 (3e Artillerie de la Marine)                                     16 FrMLN [8D]
Joubert’s Brigade #2 (20e & 25e Provisoire)                                             16 FrLN [10D]

21st Division – Général de Division Lagrange                                        3”G(7)+1
Jamin’s Brigade #1 (37ème Légère)                                                             16 FrVLT [8D]
Jamin’s Brigade #2 (4e Artillerie de la Marine)                                        16 FrMLN [8D]
Buquet’s Brigade (2e Artillerie de la Marine)                                            24 FrMLN [10D]

22nd Division – Général de Division Friedrichs                                   3”A(5)+0
Coëhorn’s Brigade (11e & 12e Prov., 23e Légère and 15e de Ligne)       28 FrLN [17D]
Choisy’s Brigade (16e Provisoire and 70e & 121e de Ligne)                    20 FrLN [12D]

25th Light Cavalry Brigade – Generalmajor Normann                    3”G(6)+1
Normann’s Brigade (2nd & 4th Württemberg  Chevaulégers)               12 WtLC [6D]
Württemberg Horse Battery ‘Fleischmann’                                                Wt6#

VI Corps Artillery Reserve – Général de Division Foucher              3″A(4)+0
26/5e Artillerie à Pied                                                                                      Fr12#
7/9e Artillerie à Pied                                                                                        Fr12#
1/1er Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                   Fr6#
3/4e Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                    Fr6#

27th (Polish) Division – Général de Division Dąbrowski                   4”E(7)+1
Żółtowski’s Brigade (2nd & 4th Infantry Regiments)                                24 PdLN [12D]
Krukowiecki’s Brigde (2nd Uhlans & 4th Chasseurs à Cheval)               12 PdLC [6D]
1st Polish Horse Battery                                                                                   Pd6#

Elements, III Corps (Souham)      [2F]

9th Division – Général de Division Delmas                                             3”A(6)+1
Esteve’s Brigade (2e Provisoire & 136e de Ligne)                                      20 FrLN [12D]
2nd Brigade (138e & 145e de Ligne)                                                             24 FrLN [14D]
8/4e Artillerie à Pied                                                                                        Fr12#

23rd Light Cavalry Brigade – Général de Brigade Beurmann         3”E(7)+1
10e Hussards & Baden Light Dragoons                                                        12 BdLC [6D]

III Cavalry Corps – Général de Division Arrighi de Casanova    8”G(6)+1 [3F]

4th Heavy Cavalry Division – Général de Division Defrance          4”G(6)+1
Aximatowski’s Brigade (4e, 5e, 12e & 14e Dragons)                                  8 FrLC [5D]
Quinette’s Brigade (16e, 17e, 21e, 26e & 27e Dragons and 13e Cuir.)    8 FrLC [5D]
7/4e Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                    Fr6#

5th Light Cavalry Division – Général de Division Lorge                   3”G(6)+1
Shea’s 12th Light Cavalry Brigade (5e, 10e & 13e Chasseurs)                 12 FrLC [7D]
Merlin’s 13th Light Cavalry Brigade (15e, 21e & 22e Chasseurs)            8 FrLC [5D]
1/5e Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                     Fr6#

6th Light Cavalry Division – Général de Division Fournier             3”A(5)+0
Mouriez’s 14th Light Cavalry Brigade (29e & 31e ChRs and 1er HR)    8 FrLC [5D]
Ameil’s 15th Light Cavalry Brigade (2e, 4e & 12e Hussards)                   8 FrLC [5D]
4/6e Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                    Fr6#

French Order of Battle Notes

1.  General Lagrange is woefully underrated in the official NB ratings at 3”A(5)+0, so I’ve beefed him up in most areas to 3”G(7)+1.

2.  Pelleport’s Brigade (1er Artillerie de la Marine) gains a +1 shooting bonus due to the incorporation of the 32e Légère. Their label is marked with (+1) as a reminder.

3.  Given the outstanding performance shown by the Provisional Regiments of Joubert’s, Coëhorn’s & Choisy’s Brigades, I’ve upgraded them to French Line Infantry (FrLN) class.

4.  General Foucher is the senior artillery general present on the northern front and may take command of any French, Polish of Württemberger artillery battery within his command-span.

5.  I’ve included Dąbrowski’s independent 27th (Polish) Division as part of the VI Corps total for Fatigue purposes.

6.  The strength of Żółtowski’s Polish infantry brigade varies from source to source.  Nafziger gives a different strength in the text (approximately 2,865 once cavalry are subtracted) to that given in the order of battle (1,395), while Leggiere lists two different strengths (2,065 or 1,565, once cavalry are subtracted).  I’ve therefore gone with a happy medium of 24 figures, once the divisional foot artillery are factored in.

7.  While there is no mention of Arrighi de Casanova’s participation in the battle, his entire III Cavalry Corps was here in support of Marmont and there is mention of his discussions with Ney about the movements of his corps immediately prior to the battle.  Prior to Leipzig the III Cavalry Corps had usually been split up, providing a cavalry division each to various army corps on the Northern front, while Arrighi himself had spent some time as governor of the Leipzig garrison.  Arrighi was clearly still responsible for command of the Leipzig garrison, has his concern about evemy movements at Lindenau prompted Ney to send Bertrand’s IV Corps across the Elster.  However, as his entire III Cavalry Corps was massed here, I’m inclined to include Arrighi in the order of battle.

8.  There is some disagreement as to the number of guns present with III Cavalry Corps.  Nafziger mentions six guns per division in the text, but then his order of battle shows a half-battery with each division, plus a composite battery (made up of three understrength batteries) as corps reserve.  I’ve decided to place a full horse battery with each division and ignore the corps reserve.

9.  Although their corps commander is not present, I’ve grouped the two III Corps formations (Delmas’ 9th Division and Beurmann’s 23rd Light Cavalry Brigade) as a single total for Fatigue purposes.

10.  The level of cavalry support to Delmas’ 9th Division is vague.  It may only have been a single regiment (parent formation not mentioned) on the extreme right flank of the battle.  I’ve assumed that this must have been from Beurmann’s 23rd Light Cavalry Brigade and was probably forming the rearguard for the III Corps Train, which had been escorted by Delmas’ 9th Division as it approached the battle.

11.  As with the cavalry, it’s not clear what artillery support Delmas had with him.  As he was escorting the III Corps Artillery Train, I’ve arbitrarily given him one of the corps reserve batteries.

Optional French Reinforcements (Ney & III Corps)

Marshal Ney was the commander of the Northern Wing at Leipzig, but his influence and presence was notably absent during this battle.  The other notably absent element of the French army was Souham’s III Corps, which was promised to Marmont by Ney, but which was then commandeered by Napoleon before being sent back to Ney once the Emperor realised how bad the situation was at Möckern, with the net result that aside from Delmas’ 9th Division, it didn’t fight anywhere on 16th October.

As a balancing option favouring the French, the main body of Souham’s III Corps (see below) may be brought on as a reinforcement formation.  In the Reinforcement Phase of the French turn immediately following the Allied capture of a built-up sector in Möckern, Klein-Wiederitzsch or Gross-Wiederitzsch, start rolling for III Corps to arrive as reinforcements using the Variable Reinforcement Procedure (1 on first turn, 1-3 on second turn, 1-6 on third turn and 1-8 in every turn thereafter).   III Corps will arrive in any formation, between Points H & I.

Delmas’ 9th Division and Beurmann’s 23rd Cavalry Brigade will arrive as per the main scenario.  Use the overall Fatigue rating for III Corps.

As an additional balancing factor, Marmont could be replaced as C-in-C with Ney, whose ratings are 12”E(10)+3 [5 Free Rolls].  Ney will arrive with Souham’s III Corps and Marmont will in the following turn, revert to being the commander of VI Corps with ratings of 10”G(7)+1, though can still act as a Positional Wing Commander, able to command all of his starting formations in the field (VI Corps, 27th Division and III Cavalry Corps), but not any elements of III Corps.

Here is the order of battle for Souham’s III Corps.  For clarity I’ve included the elements of III Corps (Delmas, Beurmann and the reserve battery) that are already listed above.

If III Corps is deployed, the French Army Morale Rating will increase to 16M.

III Corps – Général de Division Souham            8”G(6)+0 [4F]

8th Division – Général de Division Brayer                                              3”G(5)+0
Fournier’s Brigade (6e, 16e & 28e Légère and 40e de Ligne)                  24 FrLT [14D]
Bony’s Brigade (22e, 59e & 69e de Ligne)                                                   20 FrLN [12D]

9th Division – Général de Division Delmas                                             3”A(6)+1
Esteve’s Brigade (2e Provisoire & 136e de Ligne)                                       20 FrLN [12D]
2nd Brigade (138e & 145e de Ligne)                                                              24 FrLN [14D]

11th Division – Général de Division Ricard                                              3”G(7)+1
Charrière’s Brigade (9e Légère and 50e & 65e de Ligne)                           24 FrLN [14D]
Vergez de Bareaux’s Brigade (142e de 144e de Ligne)                                20 FrLN [12D]

23rd Light Cavalry Brigade – Général de Brigade Beurmann           3”E(7)+1
10e Hussards & Baden Light Dragoons                                                          12 BdLC [6D]

III Corps Artillery Reserve
8/4e Artillerie à Pied                                                                                          Fr12#
21/7e Artillerie à Pied                                                                                         Fr12#
5/7e Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                       Fr6#

Initial Deployment

See the map below for formation deployment areas.

Marmont starts with his entire VI Corps on table, plus Arrighi‘s III Cavalry Corps and Dąbrowski’s 27th Division.  The French Army Morale Rating at the start of the game is 11M.

Blücher is not yet on table.  Yorck is on table with Katzler’s Advance Guard, Hünerbein’s 8th Brigade and Schmidt’s Artillery Reserve.  Langeron and Rudsevich are on table, along with Emanuel’s IV Cavalry Corps and Horse Battery #8.  The Allied Army Morale Rating at the start of the game is 8M (this Morale Rating includes the units arriving as reinforcements on Turn 1).

The cavalry of the French III Cavalry Corps may start the game with React markers placed.  Normann’s Württemberg cavalry brigade is busy marching, so may not have React markers placed before the start of the game.

Game & Reinforcement Schedule

All units arrive deployed in any formation.  See the map below for reinforcement arrival points.

Turn 1 – 1200:  Game starts with the Allied turn.  Horn’s 7th Brigade arrives between Points A & B.
The remainder of Rudsevich’s Advance Guard Corps arrives between Points C & D.
The Allied Army Morale Rating remains at 8M.

Turn 2 – 1230:  Prinz Karl von Mecklenburg-Strelitz’s 2nd Brigade arrives between Points A & B.
Kapsevich’s X Corps arrives between Points C & D.
The Allied Army Morale Rating increases to 12M.

Turn 3 – 1300:  Steinmetz’s 1st Brigade arrives between Points A & B.
The Allied Army Morale Rating increases to 14M.

Turn 4 – 1330: Blücher and the remainder of Olsuviev’s IX Corps arrive between Points C & D.
Jürgass’ Reserve Cavalry Brigade arrives between Points A & B.
The Allied Army Morale Rating increases to 16M.

Turn 6 – 1430:  Vasilchikov’s III Cavalry Corps arrives between Points E & F.
The Allied Army Morale Rating increases to 18M.

Turn 7 – 1500:  Delmas’ 9th Division and Beurmann’s 23rd Light Cavalry Brigade arrive between Points G & H.
The French Army Morale Rating increases to 13M.

Turn 9 – 1600:  Saint-Priest’s VIII Corps arrives between Points C & D.
The Allied Army Morale Rating increases to 21M.

Turn 11 – 1700: The Allies are no longer required to station troops in Box X.

Turn 15 – 1900:  Scenario ends at the end of this turn (nightfall).

Miscellaneous Rules and Terrain Effects

1.  The River Elster is unfordable, though there are bridges at Wahren and Möckern.

2.  The Rietschke Stream is very marshy, though is passable to cavalry and infantry as 1 inch of Rough Terrain.  It is impassable to artillery.  Any unit crossing it will automatically become disordered.  A unit defending the bank will gain a +1 defensive modifier.  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.

3.  Möckern Village has a cover modifier of -2 and a defensive modifier of +3 (it contained a number of very defensible, walled manor-houses) and was surrounded by walled gardens.

4.  All Other Villages have a cover modifier of -2 and a defensive modifier of +2.  Some villages have more than one Built-Up Sector (defined by the brown rectangles) and each Sector my accommodate an infantry brigade.  Villages with roads running through them may potentially accommodate more than one unit, but only if the additional units are passing through in Column or March Column formation.

5.  Hill Slopes provide a +1 defensive modifier to the defender.

6.  Woods for the most part provide a -1 cover modifier, but no positive combat modifier, just the usual negative combat modifiers, depending on troop type (suffered by both combatants, provided the defender is within the wood).  The exception to this rule is the Tannenwald, which according to Marmont had been “filled with abatis” and “turned into a fortress”.  French defenders may therefore gain a +1 defensive combat modifier when fighting in the Tannenwald.  Woods are classed as Rough Terrain for movement for all troop types.  The Birkholz, Tannenwald and the two small copses near Breitenfeld are not particularly dense and do not therefore disorder troops passing through them.  However, the woods along the Elster are marshy, are impassable to artillery and are disordering to other troop types.  Firing through woods is limited to 2 inches range.

7.  Earthworks had been dug by the French to cover the northwestern approaches to Leipzig from Halle.  These earthworks are open-backed and are each large enough to hold a full battery or up to three infantry stands.  The earthworks provide a -2 cover modifier and a +2 combat modifier.  Each emplaced battery may pivot by up to 45 degrees and remain in cover.  For infantry, treat the earthwork as an all-round defence for firing (though no negative firing modifier), though there will clearly be no cover or combat modifier if fired upon or charged from the open rear of the earthwork.

8.  Roads are only really important to units travelling on them in March Column formation, who do not then need to worry about the normal command & control rules.  So if you’re short of model roads, prioritise the roads leading from reinforcement entry-points.  River-crossings should also be marked as a matter of priority, even if you don’t have sufficient roads.

Unit Information Card

French Unit Labels

Allied Unit Labels

Umpire’s Eyes Only!

Don’t read any further if you plan to play the scenario with an umpire!

Here are some ‘fun’ rules to inject into the game to reflect a few of the historical events.  The French player should be made aware in advance of the Ambush! rule, but I would otherwise keep these secret from both players until the first time they are applied.

Ambush!  The French historically managed to use a riverside embankment to enfilade the first Prussian assault against Möckern.  Therefore, when the Allies make their first charge against the northern sector of Möckern on the western side of the main road, the French defenders will receive a +2 shooting bonus.  If the French defenders are Disordered, they will obviously not be able to shoot, but will instead remove their Disorder immediately before combat.  This ruse de guerre will only happen once!

Friendly Fire!  Yorck’s Prussians were repeatedly engaged by Russian artillery as they advanced past Möckern.  Therefore, if a Russian battery rolls an unmodified 1 when firing, it will engage the nearest visible Prussian unit within a 45-degree arc to either flank (both sides roll dice again – the French player rolls for the Russian artillery and the Allied player rolls for the Prussian target unit.  Wheel the Russian battery if necessary and apply an additional -2 modifier if it was forced to wheel.  Ignore this rule if there are any intervening French or Russian units between the battery and the Prussians.

Treason!  If you want to go with Marmont’s version of events, whenever Normann’s Württemberg cavalry attempt to charge, roll against Normann’s initiative rating (i.e. 6 or less).  If he fails the roll his brigade will not make any move and any ‘React’ marker on Normann’s brigade will be removed.

That’s it for now!  I think I’ll do some unit profiles next, including these fellas…

In the last thrilling instalment, I covered the events that immediately followed the apocalyptic Battle of Wagram, which led to the first day of the Battle of Znaïm on 10th July 1809.  I then presented a Napoleon’s Battles scenario for the first day’s fighting, where the French General Marmont, thinking that he was pursuing the rearguard of the Austrian IV Corps, suddenly found himself deep in the rear of Archduke Charles’ entire army, biting off far more than he could chew!

Assuming that, as in history, Marmont survives the first day, here’s a scenario for the second, concluding day of the battle:  Archduke Charles has now drawn his entire army behind River Thaya and Marshal Masséna’s IV Corps has closed up on the retreating Austrians.  Napoleon himself has arrived to take control of Marmont’s wing, bringing with him the balance of his Imperial Guard cavalry and horse artillery and the Reserve Cavalry Corps.  However, given the difficult terrain, the French badly need more infantry support, but Masséna’s divisions are strung out on the march, while Oudinot’s II Corps, Davout’s III Corps and the Imperial Guard infantry are still quite some considerable distance away.

This can be played as a stand-alone scenario using the orders of battle and unit labels supplied below, which take account of the historical casualties from the first day.  Alternatively, this scenario can be played as the second game of a multi-day battle and I include rules for the overnight reorganisation (however, you’ll then need to make your own unit labels to account for those units that suffered casualties during the first day).

In a future article I’ll present a fictitious third day scenario, where peace does not suddenly break out and where Napoleon has brought the full weight of his army to bear on Archduke Charles’ Austrian defenders.

Historical Background

In Part 1 I covered the retreat and pursuit from Wagram, up until the start of the Battle of Znaïm on 10th July.  As the article was starting to get quite long at that point, I decided to cover the historical events of both days of the battle here.  This therefore, continues directly on from the last article.

The First Day of Battle (10th July 1809)

With noon having already passed, Marmont was finally ready to attack.  He advanced on Steyrer’s grenadier brigade with the best part of two divisions; on the right, Delzon’s Brigade of Clauzel’s Division, led by swarms of skirmishers from the 8e Légère and on the left by Minucci’s 2nd Bavarian Division, preceded by the 6th Light Infantry Battalion and the schützen detachments of the division’s four line infantry regiments.

Despite being massively outnumbered and out-gunned, Steyrer’s grenadiers held out for a remarkably long time before finally forced to grudgingly give ground as Clauzel took Zuckerhandl and Montbrun drove back Schneller’s uhlans.  Nevertheless, Steyrer’s men maintained their order as they fell back to Klein-Tesswitz, even repelling a charge by Seydewitz’s Bavarian cavalry.

An attempt by Rothkirch’s Austrian dragoon brigade to intervene was decisively repulsed by Montbrun’s troopers.  Montbrun’s defeat of the Austrian cavalry had the potential to cause havoc among the great column of wagons along the Iglau Highway, though the six Austrian reserve cuirassier regiments moved to block the French cavalry’s rampage and Montbrun was forced to fall back.

Having forced Steyrer’s grenadiers back off the heights, Marmont was finally able to take in the view beyond the crest, into the bowl of the Thaya valley…  And what he saw utterly shocked him.  The entire length of the valley before him was filled with men and wagons slowly marching north through Znaïm.  The presence of bearskin-clad grenadiers and cuirassiers therefore suddenly made sense; this was not merely the rearguard of Rosenberg’s IV Corps.  This was the flank-guard for the entire main Austrian army!

As rich as a prize as this was, he estimated that there were now around 40,000 Austrian troops massed in the Thaya valley; a number that more than doubled his own!  Furthermore, there appeared to be an endless stream of Austrian troops approaching from the south, so the Austrian numbers would only increase.  He now thoroughly regretted refusing Davout’s offer of assistance of the previous day.

There was clearly now no possibility of attacking to take Znaïm and cutting Austrian forces off south of the Thaya.  Marmont therefore resigned himself to taking a defensive stance, hoping that the Emperor could quickly bring sufficient forces to bear.  However, in order to stand a better chance of defending this position, he would first need to mount limited attacks in order to secure defensible ‘bastions’ along his line and to that end he ordered GM Minucci to take his Bavarians forward and capture the village of Klein-Tesswitz and the vinyard-covered hill to its north.  Possession of these points would control the main crossing-point over the Leska stream (which for much of its length ran along a deep ravine) and would also dominate the Pumlitz Ford over the River Thaya.

As Steyrer’s grenadiers withdrew, the French and Bavarians were quick to unlimber a powerful artillery force on the heights they had just vacated.  As the guns opened fire to bombard the retreating Austrians, GM Beckers led his brigade rapidly forward, taking advantage of the Austrian disorder to quickly occupy part of the village.  However, the disciplined grenadiers soon turned the tables and ejected the Bavarians from their toehold.  Nevertheless, the full weight of the Bavarian 6th Infantry Regiment had now arrived and the village was soon captured, with one Bavarian battalion pushing up onto the heights beyond.

Prochaszka however, had now brought forward his two reserve grenadier brigades to support Steyrer and the Bavarians were once again forced to withdraw.  This was the start of what was to be a bitter and bloody see-saw battle for possession of the village that would continue throughout the day, with the village changing hands up to six times and resulting in the highest losses of the campaign for the Bavarian contingent!

Becker now committed the 7th Infantry Regiment and these were further supported by the Voltigeur companies of the 81e de Ligne from Bertrand’s brigade of Claparède’s Division.  This Franco-Bavarian force successfully managed to capture the village once again.  However, Bellegarde’s Austrian I Corps had now arrived.  Bellegarde was ordered to cross over the Thaya via the Pumlitz Ford and to take up position between Znaïm and Brenditz.  Clary’s Division managed to cross over without incident before the Bavarians had taken possession of Klein-Tesswitz and then managed to pass over the Leska and march north-westward in compliance with its orders, followed by one of Henneberg’s regiments.  However, as Henneberg’s Division attempted the same manoeuvre, the Bavarians managed to capture the village, thus sucking Henneberg into the battle.

Personally leading an immediate counter-attack, Henneberg managed to eject the Bavarians from the village yet again, thus enabling the rest of I Corps to pass by unmolested.  Mission complete, Henneberg withdrew from the village, handing control back to the grenadiers, just as yet another Bavarian attack arrived.

The battle for Klein-Tesswitz and the hill continued to see-saw back and forth until such time that Marmont, seeing the situation becoming absolutely desperate for the Bavarian infantry, rode over to GM Preysing, whose Bavarian cavalry were sheltering among some cherry orchards.  To launch a cavalry charge across two streams, into the heart of the Austrian grenadiers was a suicide mission and Marmont felt that he could not in good conscience order such a thing.  However, having informed Preysing of the desperate situation, Preysing ordered his squadrons forward.

This was most definitely not cavalry country and perhaps for this reason, the Austrian grenadiers were completely surprised when the Bavarian troopers burst upon them from the northern side of the village!  Most of the grenadier battalions managed to close ranks and form ‘battalion-masse’ to defend themselves against the onslaught, but six grenadier companies were not so quick and were soon broken and fleeing to the rear, forcing the dismayed Prochaszka to ride forward and personally rally them.

Preysing and his troopers now found themselves in the middle of very angry Austrians and started to suffer significant casualties from Austrian artillery deployed in and around the earthworks, as well as skirmishers sniping from the vineyards.  Some of Nostitz’s Insurrection Hussar squadrons were also now crossing over the Oblass bridge in an attempt to counter the Bavarian horse.  Duty done and having provided the infantry with valuable breathing-space, Presying and his men quickly withdrew they way they had come.

Preysing’s charge, along with the injection of Bertrand’s fresh French infantry brigade into the battle (79e & 81e de Ligne), finally secured Klein-Tesswitz and as the French infantry took over responsibility for the village during the evening, the bloodied Bavarians were finally withdrawn to the heights.

The arrival of Hohenzollern’s Austrian II Corps at Pumlitz failed to change this situation.  II Corps had originally been ordered to recapture Laa, or at the very least cross over the Thaya between Znaïm and Laa to threaten Marmont’s advance on Znaïm.  However, Hohenzollern, wracked by caution, had completely failed to complete either objective and instead arrived sheepishly at Pumlitz in Bellegarde’s wake.  Marmont’s troops were now firmly in possession of Klein-Tesswitz and completely dominated the exit from the Pumlitz Ford, so aside from a desultory exchange of fire with the Franco-Bavarian artillery deployed on the heights, Hohenzollern was able to achieve nothing.

In the meantime, colossal numbers of Austrian troops were arriving at Znaïm.  Kolowrat-Krakowsky’s III Corps arrived at around the same time as Henneberg’s attack.  However, with the area already congested with Austrian formations, III Corps were ordered to march directly to Brenditz, where they deployed to the north of the village, in support of the Cavalry Reserve, which spent the entire day engaged in an indecisive horse-artillery duel with Montbrun.

Bellegarde’s I Corps would spend the rest of the day engaged in half-hearted skirmishing near the villages of Zuckerhandl and Kukrowitz, which had already been secured by Clauzel’s French infantry.  Bellegarde was briefly ordered to seize Zuckerhandl, but Archduke Charles cancelled that order almost as soon as I Corps began to move and so the skirmishing continued until nightfall.

Klenau’s VI Corps had been continually in action as the army rearguard since Wagram, until finally being relieved by V Corps during the night of the 9th/10th.  At long last, they arrived at Znaïm during the mid-afternoon and eventually came to a well-deserved halt to the north of the city, where they became the army reserve.  After a brief rest during the late afternoon and evening of the 10th, they would march off again at midnight, to establish a new defensive position further north on the road to Iglau.

As night fell and the fighting petered out, Hohenzollern’s II Corps, Nostitz’s Cavalry Division and Scovaud’s Grenadier Brigade were also on the move, crossing over the Thaya at Oblass to take position near Brenditz.  Nostitz would at last rejoin the Cavalry Reserve (now commanded by Schwarzenberg following Liechtenstein’s departure to seek negotiations with Napoleon) and Scovaud would rejoin Prochaszka’s battered Grenadier Division, which was once again the army’s infantry reserve.

The last Austrian formation to arrive at Znaïm that night was Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps, which had spent the day engaged in a series of sharp rearguard actions with Masséna’s advance guard at Schöngrabern and Guntersdorf.  The gathering night finally enabled V Corps to disengage successfully and at last they crossed the Thaya at Oblass during the early hours of the 11th, with orders to defend the southern approach to the city.

Napoleon Reacts (late 10th to early 11th July 1809)

As reports began pouring in from Marmont during the afternoon of 10th July, Napoleon quickly realised that his earlier assumptions about the probable Austrian main line of retreat via Brünn were wrong and that Archduke Charles’ main army was on the western route, retreating via Znaïm.  He now had a golden opportunity to destroy the enemy, but only if they could be trapped at the Znaïm defile and sufficient forces brought to bear.  This last part was going to be the most difficult, as the bulk of available infantry formations; the Imperial Guard, Oudinot’s II Corps and Davout’s III Corps, were all at least two hard marches distant from Znaïm.

Napoleon immediately saddled up and set off to Laa, closely followed by the entirety of Walther’s Guard Cavalry Division and the four batteries of Guard Horse Artillery.  The reserve Cuirassier Divisions of Nansouty and Arrighi de Casanova were also ordered to march at best speed to Laa.  The cavalry would be able to assemble there during the night and then would be able to intervene in the battle on the 11th, but the infantry were unlikely to be able to intervene until the 12th.  In the west meanwhile, Masséna would be able to bring most of his corps to Znaïm by mid-day on the 11th, though his rearguard divisions, spread over 50km from Stockerau to Schöngrabern, would probably take two days to catch up.

The Second Day of Battle (11th July 1809)

The hot, dry weather of the previous week had broken during the night and both armies woke to miserable weather and soft ground, which only served to tire the already-exhausted troops on both sides.  The departure of the Austrian VI Corps and much of the Austrian baggage during the night led Marmont to report that ‘the enemy is in full retreat’.  However, this assessment proved optimistic, as Charles still had five army corps arrayed against him.

Masséna’s French IV Corps broke camp at 0400hrs, but Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps was already long-gone and was already in fresh defensive positions north of the Thaya long before the main body of Masséna’s advance guard appeared before Oblass at around 1000hrs.

Masséna’s arrival at Oblass roughly coincided with Napoleon’s arrival at Marmont’s headquarters and after a relatively quiet morning, the battle suddenly resumed.  As Piré’s light cavalry marched toward the Pumlitz Ford, Legrand’s division advanced directly on the bridge at Oblass.  The French and Badener artillery provided close and effective support, quickly driving back Grenzer skirmishers and a detachment that had been attempting to barricade the bridge.

Spearheaded by the Baden Jäger Battalion ‘Lingg’, Legrand’s infantry quickly captured the Oblass bridge and the Badeners also discovered a fordable crossing-point nearby.  Legrand’s infantry quickly swarmed across, followed closely by the 11th Cuirassiers from Guiton’s brigade of Saint-Sulpice’s 2nd Cuirassier Division, who had used the ford discovered by the Badeners.  Piré’s light cavalry meanwhile, made contact with Marmont’s troops at Klein-Tesswitz.

Masséna, observing the developing battle from his very conspicuous white phaeton (wounds suffered at Aspern-Essling meant that he could not yet ride a horse), ordered Legrand to commit fully to the attack.  However, Carra Saint-Cyr’s division had not yet appeared, so there was no immediate reserve available apart from Saint-Sulpice’s cuirassiers, who would be of little use in such close terrain.

Nevertheless, Legrand made good headway against Klebelsberg’s division of Reuss’ V Corps, aided by the effective artillery support.  In particular, a battery of Baden gunners had marched around the bend of the Thaya to position themselves on high ground west of Klosterbruck, from where they could enfilade Reuss’ line.  Reuss’ problems were compounded by the appearance of Bavarian skirmishers emerging from Klein-Tesswitz on his left flank.

Over in Marmont’s sector, the Emperor coolly rode the lines, pausing to praise the gunners and direct the fire of individual guns, casually disregarding the considerable amount of incoming Austrian fire.  This performance served to calm the nerves of Marmont’s troops, who had now been in action for 24 hours and who knew that they were heavily outnumbered.  To that end, Napoleon could not fail to realise that while Archduke Charles’ ponderous baggage train (which after 24 hours, was still plodding north from Znaïm) was more vulnerable than it had ever been, he still did not have sufficient combat-power with which to punch through on his right, particularly given that this was where Archduke Charles had placed the bulk of his troops (II, III & Reserve Corps).

Napoleon desperately needed Davout’s III Corps to arrive soon, not to mention Oudinot’s II Corps and the Guard, but this was highly unlikely to happen before nightfall.  Napoleon had huge numbers of élite cavalry in place, but they would be able to achieve little without infantry support.  His best strategy would therefore be for Masséna and Marmont to press hard against the Austrian I and V Corps to the south and east of Znaïm, forcing Archduke Charles to keep sufficient forces in place to prevent a collapse.  With significant Austrian forces thus pinned, Napoleon would then bring his entire weight to bear on the 12th.

With the bulk of his considerable train now well on the way to Iglau, Archduke Charles had absolutely no intention of remaining at Znaïm.  To that end and as mentioned above, he had already sent VI Corps north and was preparing to withdraw the Grenadiers, III, II and I Corps that evening, covered by the V and Cavalry Reserve Corps, who would then withdraw once again under cover of darkness.  In reality, his manpower numbers actually doubled those that Napoleon had thus far managed to bring to bear, but the Austrians were convinced that Davout’s III Corps had already joined Napoleon and that Prince Eugène’s Army of Italy was also en route, so Archduke Charles massively overestimated the French strength and remained on the defensive.  In addition to the military plans, Charles also hoped that Prince Liechtenstein’s negotiations could bring a swift end to this terrible and pointless war.

The situation on Marmont’s wing therefore remained largely unchanged throughout the day.  As the skirmishers engaged each other among the vineyards, the heavy 12-pounders of both sides hammered away at each other  across the valley of the Kukrowitzbach to little effect.  The French infantry made a couple of demonstrative attacks on the heights beyond the stream, but with orders to not over-commit themselves, neither attack made much headway, though they did suck in Bellegarde’s reserve brigades, which was in line with Napoleon’s plan to pin enemy forces in place.  Montbrun’s cavalry similarly made a demonstrative advance, but Schwarzenberg’s Austrian horse weren’t inclined to get stuck in and so the huge cavalry reserves of both sides glowered at each other across the fields between Kukrowitz and Windau.

The situation was somewhat different on Masséna’s front as Legrand’s outnumbered division made remarkable headway against Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps.  With all his reserve brigades fully committed, Reuss was forced to appeal to Archduke Charles for help.  However, Archduke Charles was now fixed in a defensive mindset and instead of launching a devastating counter-attack against Legrand’s pitifully weak command, he committed only two of Prochaskza’s four grenadier brigades (Scovaud’s and Melgum’s) and then only to bolster Reuss’ defence.

The lead grenadier brigade (Melgum’s) arrived at the southern (‘Vienna’) gate of Znaïm at around 1400hrs, by which time Legrand’s leading battalions had almost reached the city walls.  Although he had orders merely to establish a defensive line, Melgum judged that the enemy had already advanced beyond the line he had been ordered to defend and therefore ordered his grenadiers to mount an immediate counter-attack.

It was at this point that nature played a hand…

A deluge the likes of which few had ever seen before, suddenly descended from the clouds, utterly soaking every man and every cartridge.  Infantry fire stopped almost immediately and artillery fire slowed.  Visibility was also reduced by a considerable degree, directly resulting in the mid-identification of targets and ‘friendly fire’ by those batteries still able to fire.  Astonishingly, entire units, particularly those who had broken down into skirmish order, lost cohesion as men sought cover from the downpour!

It was into this utter confusion that the closely-formed Austrian grenadiers now poured.  Starting at the walk, then at the double and then at an all-out run, the grenadiers swept down the highway toward the bridge, scattering the French and Badener infantry, whose discipline and cohesion had now completely collapsed!

As confused and panicked reports came back from the far bank of the Thaya, Masséna immediately ordered the freshly-arrived division of Carra Saint-Cyr to advance over the bridge and restore the situation.  The commander of the lead brigade, GB Destabenrath was unhappy at being thrown into this situation, but nevertheless his brigade led the way across the bridge.  However, as they tried to negotiate the traffic-jam of panicked fugitives beyond, the Austrian grenadiers struck, throwing this counter-attack into utter confusion.  Destabenrath himself was captured, having suffered five sword-cuts.  Also captured were Masséna’s senior engineer, GB Lazowski and Masséna’s chief-of-staff, GB Fririon.  Fririon however, managed to escape his Hungarian captors in the confusion by leaping over the parapet and into the river!

As the rest of Reuss’ V Corps came down the hill to join the grenadiers’ attack, the situation at the bridge became simply a confused mass of brawling men.  Unable to use their firearms in the driving rain, they were reduced to attacking each other with bayonets, swords and clubbed muskets in a mud-soaked scene of mediaeval brutality.

With Legrand’s division almost completely broken and with Carra Saint-Cyr’s division blocked, Masséna called up his only remaining reserve; Saint-Sulpice’s 2nd Cuirassier Division.  This was far from an ideal situation for cavalry, but there was no other choice and Masséna dispatched his aide-de-camp, the 17 year-old Markgraf Wilhelm von Baden to deliver the order.

Further drama then occurred while Masséna was leading the cuirassiers forward in his phaeton; his driver was knocked (unhurt) from the carriage by a cannonball that had struck his seat and the panicked horses threatened to carry the Marshal into captivity!  Despite the pain of his wounds, Masséna somehow managed to regain control of the panicked horses and then continued calmly issuing orders from his carriage as if nothing had happened.

Leading the counter-attack was Colonel l’Héritier’s 10e Cuirassiers.  As mentioned earlier, the 11e Cuirassiers of the same brigade (GB Guiton’s) were already across the river, but for some reason didn’t counter-charge the Austrian attack.  Perhaps the ground was too soft following the rain, or they couldn’t see the events at the bridge, or perhaps they had bigger fish to fry?  Whatever the reason, the 11e Cuirassiers, having crossed the river early in the battle are then curiously absent from subsequent events.

Despite the deeply unfavourable tactical situation, the charge of l’Héritier’s 10e Cuirassiers was simply devastating.  Given the confusion at the north end of the bridge, the Austrian grenadiers were completely surprised and were utterly smashed by the sudden mounted onslaught.  The leading Austrian grenadier battalion (Leiningen’s) was completely broken, with many being killed or taken prisoner.

The cuirassiers rode on into the mass of Austrians beyond who, only moments earlier had been enthusiastically exploiting the grenadiers’ success.  Accompanying the cuirassiers were GB Guiton, the young Markgraf Wilhelm and GB Fririon who, soaked from his swim, had borrowed a horse and now joined the charge.  Many of the scattered French and Baden infantry on the north bank now reformed and rejoined the attack as the rest of Saint-Sulpice’s division (presumably the 11e Cuirassiers and GB Fiteau’s brigade) also joined the charge.

As Reuss’ V Corps collapsed, the cuirassiers rode on toward Znaïm!  As they approached the city’s Vienna Gate, the only formed Austrian units standing in their way were the 5th Battalion of the Vienna Volunteers and a company of grenadiers.  However, the cuirassiers were blown by their epic ride through Reuss’ corps and now were delayed by a by a barrier in the form of a spiral-striped customs-pole barring the way to the gate.

Unable to fire due to wet powder, the 5th Vienna Volunteers advanced on the cuirassiers straight down the road in battalion-masse formation and with fixed bayonets.  The exhausted and disordered cuirassiers were able to make little impact on this fresh enemy and so were forced to fall back the way they had come.  Encouraged by this gallant battalion, broken elements of Reuss’ V Corps began to rally and fall in on either side.

While the astonishing French counter-attack had stalled, it had now won time for Legrand’s 1st Division and Carra Saint-Cyr’s 2nd Division to rally, redress their ranks and prepare for the next assault.  Only the two Hessian brigades (GM Nagel’s and GM Schinner’s) remained in tactical reserve on the south bank of the Thaya, though Molitor’s 3rd Division was marching hard through Holabrunn and Schöngrabern to reach the battle before nightfall.

After a brief pause, the battle on Masséna’s front soon intensified once again as units received supplies of dry ammunition.  The French and Baden infantry pushed forward once again, advancing right up to the Vienna Gate.  Sensing that Reuss was almost broken, at around 1700hrs Masséna ordered the reserve Hessian brigades to cross the river and deliver the killing-blow.

Led by the Leibgarde Regiment of Nagel’s brigade, the Hessians crossed the Thaya at Pumlitz and rapidly advanced on the vineyard-covered hills beyond.  The rifle-armed Hessian schützen companies fanned out in front and quickly pushed back the Austrian skirmishers.  However, before the attack could go in, the shout went up to cease fire!  It was now sometime around 1900-1930hrs.

The announcement of a ceasefire in the middle of a battle is possibly a unique event from this era (I certainly can’t think of another one).  Consequently, a degree of disbelief from both sides meant that the fighting continued for some time and several ADCs were wounded by fire while standing out in the open, trying to stop the fighting.  The firing didn’t completely stop until Napoleon himself rode out between the lines.

As mentioned earlier, Prince Liechtenstein had ridden out on 10th July to find Napoleon in order to negotiate an end to the war.  However, having ridden out through Masséna’s lines, he then had to make a very long ride to find the Emperor, who by then was on his way to Laa.  In the event it wasn’t actually Liechtenstein who conducted the negotiations.

During the cavalry stand-off on the northern flank of the battle during 11th July, GD Montbrun had been able to make contact with the Austrians and had successfully passed on Napoleon’s invitation for an emissary to pass through the lines to conduct negotiations for a ceasefire.  Archduke Charles agreed and sent his chief-of-staff, GM Wimpffen.  Liechtenstein didn’t actually reach Napoleon’s headquarters until sometime around midnight on 11th/12th July, by which time the ceasefire was already several hours old.

As mentioned above, Archduke Charles desperately wanted an end to this war and could see little chance of a victory.  However, he remained convinced that Napoleon had brought his full army to bear against him, which was far from the truth.  In fact, Charles’ army at Znaïm actually outnumbered Napoleon’s available forces by a ratio of around 2:1.  Napoleon’s chief-of-staff, Marshal Berthier certainly helped to maintain that illusion when he met Wimpffen, successfully bluffing that Marshal Davout’s III Corps was waiting to launch an attack.  The deployment of mounted camp servants, cantinières and grooms as a reserve line behind Walther’s Guard Cavalry Division also gave a rather false impression of numbers!

For his part, Napoleon hoped for a favourable negotiated peace, but at the very least, negotiations might help in pinning Archduke Charles in place while his infantry reserves closed in to deliver the coup de grace on the 12th!  In the event, the killer-blow was not necessary and the initial ceasefire was soon transformed into a formal armistice and then peace.

Although angry at Marmont for leaving his line of communication at Laa completely undefended (a fact that might have spelled disaster, had Hohenzollern complied with his orders to capture Laa on the 10th), Napoleon recognised that Marmont’s actions had led directly to this victory and to an acceptable end to the war.  In a moment of generosity, Napoleon raised Marmont to the Marshalate, becoming the third new Marshal (after MacDonald and Oudinot) to be created in the wake of Wagram.

Scenario Outline

This scenario may be played as a stand-alone game, or as a continuation of the first day’s fighting.  If playing as a stand-alone scenario, use the supplied labels (below), which incorporate the historical losses suffered during the first day’s fighting.  If playing as a multi-day battle, follow the Multi-Day Battle procedure (below).  However, you’ll then have to make your own labels to conform to the new unit-strengths, etc.

The scenario will last for 20 turns, starting with the French 1000hrs turn and ending with the historical armistice at the end of the Austrian 1930hrs turn.  See below for the detailed schedule of reinforcements.

As usual, either side can win an outright victory by pushing the enemy army permanently beyond their morale limit.  Note however, that the French morale limit will increase as reinforcements arrive (see the scenario schedule below), so they must be pushed beyond their maximum limit of 20M.

If desired, the exact timing of the armistice may be varied in much the same manner as the Napoleon’s Battles Variable Arrival Time rule for reinforcements and is diced for as a ‘sudden end’ at the end of the Austrian turn.  This means that the armistice might be declared early, or it might not be declared until after night halts combat.  Either player may use Re-Roll Markers in the usual manner, in an attempt to either delay or impose the armistice.

If outright victory or an armistice is not reached, the battle will end with nightfall, at the end of the Austrian 2100hrs turn (Turn 23).  At this point it can be assumed that an agreement could not be reached.  However, if they have survived this far, the Austrians will have gained time for their huge baggage and artillery train to reach safety and for the VI Corps to have established another rearguard position on the road to Iglau.  Alternatively, the Austrians may decide to make a last stand and battle may therefore be continued for a hypothetical third day, in an attempt to finally defeat Napoleon’s pursuit.  This will be covered in the next article.

As before, the scenario uses a 10′ x 6′ table, though if true to scale, it should be approximately 15% larger, as the battle was fought over a VERY wide area.  However, I don’t know many wargamers with arms like Twizzle, who can reach the middle of an 7-foot table!  However, despite compressing the map-scale, there is still plenty of space in which to deploy the number of troops in the order of battle.

Orders of Battle

If you’re not familiar with Napoleon’s Battles rules, have a look at Part 1, where I explain the figure-ratios and ‘hieroglyphics’ used in the orders of battle.

The French Army of Germany
The Emperor Napoleon

28”E(10)+3D
[13M at start of Day 2, increasing as reinforcements arrive to 20M]
[9 Free Rolls]

Imperial Headquarters Escort
10e, 22e & 26e Chasseurs à Cheval                                                                          12 FrLC [5D]

Elements, Imperial Guard (Commanded personally by The Emperor)

3rd (Guard Cavalry) Division – Général de Division Walther                   4”G(7)+1 [3F]
Guyot’s Brigade (Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde)                                              12 FrGHC [4D]
Thiry’s Brigade (Chasseurs à Cheval & Mamelouks de la Garde)                      12 FrGLC [4D]
Krasinski’s Brigade (Chevaulégers-Polonais de la Garde)                                  12 FrGLC [4D]
Letort’s Brigade (Dragons de l’Impératrice)                                                          12 FrGHC [4D]
Savary’s Brigade (Gendarmes d’Élite) – strength incorporated into other Guard units.

XI Corps (Army of Dalmatia) – Général de Division Marmont           10”G(7)+1 [5F]

1st Division – Général de Division Claparède                                                     3”G(7)+1
Plauzonne’s Brigade (5e de Ligne)                                                                            12 FrLN [5D]
Bertrand’s Brigade (79e & 81e de Ligne)                                                                 16 FrLN [6D]

2nd Division – Général de Division Clauzel                                                        4”G(7)+1
Delzon’s Brigade (8e Légère & 23e de Ligne)                                                         24 FrLT [7D]
Bachelu’s Brigade (11e de Ligne)                                                                               16 FrLN [6D]

XI Corps Artillery Reserve
Artillerie à Pied (12pdr)                                                                                              Fr12#
Artillerie à Pied (12pdr)                                                                                              Fr12#
Artillerie à Cheval (6pdr)                                                                                            Fr6#

2nd Bavarian Division – Generalmajor Minucci                                             3”G(7)+1
Minucci’s Brigade (3rd & 13th Infantry Regts & 6th Light Infantry Bn)          24 BvLN [12D]
Becker’s Brigade (6th & 7th Infantry Regiments)                                                  16 BvLN [8D]
Preysing’s Brigade (2nd & 3rd Chevauléger Regiments)                                      8 BvLC [3D]
Light (Mounted) Battery ‘Caspers’ (6pdr)                                                               Bv6#
Heavy Foot Battery ‘Dobl’ (12pdr)                                                                            Bv12#

Light Cavalry Division Montbrun – Général de Division Montbrun       4”E(8)+2
Jacquinot’s Brigade (1er & 2e Chasseurs and 7e Hussars)                                  16 FrLC [6D]
Pajol’s Brigade (11e & 12e Chasseurs à Cheval and 5e Hussards)                      16 FrLC [6D]
Gauthrin’s Brigade (7e & 20e Chasseurs à Cheval and 9e Hussards)               16 FrLC [6D]
6/2e Artillerie à Cheval (4pdr)                                                                                  Fr4#

IV Corps – Maréchal Masséna (confined to carriage)                           12”E(8)+2D [6F]

1st Division – Général de Division Legrand                                                       4”E(7)+1
Friedrichs’ Brigade (26e Légère & 18e de Ligne)                                                  24 FrLT [10D]
Neuenstein’s Baden Brigade (1st & 2nd Infantry Regts & Jäger Bn ‘Lingg’)  24 BdLN [10D]
Baden Horse Battery (6pdr)                                                                                      Bd6#
4/2e Artillerie à Cheval (6pdr)                                                                                  Fr6#

Light Cavalry Division Piré – Général de Brigade Piré                                3”A(5)+0
Piré’s Brigade (16e ChR & 8e HR) & remnants Bruyère’s Bde (13e ChR)       12 FrLC [5D]
Formerly Marulaz’s Brigade (3e, 13e, 19e & 23e Chasseurs)                              12 FrLC [5D]

French Reinforcements:

Guard Artillery Reserve – Général de Division Lauriston                           4”G(7)+1
1er Volante-Artillerie de la Garde (6pdr)                                                                FrG6#
2e Volante-Artillerie de la Garde (6pdr)                                                                 FrG6#
3e Volante-Artillerie de la Garde (6pdr)                                                                 FrG6#
4e Volante-Artillerie de la Garde (6pdr)                                                                 FrG6#

IV Corps (Masséna)

2nd Division – Général de Division Carra St Cyr                                              3”G(6)+1D
Destabenrath’s Brigade (24e Légère, 4e de Ligne & 46e de Ligne)                   24 FrLN [10D]
Schinner’s Hesse-Darmstädt Brigade (Leib-Garde Regiment)                          12 HsGD [4D]
Nagel’s Hesse-Darmstädt Brigade (Leib Regiment)                                             12 HsLN [5D]
2/2e Artillerie à Cheval (6pdr)                                                                                  Fr6#

3rd Division – Général de Division Molitor                                                        5”E(7)+1
Leguay’s Brigade (2e & 16e de Ligne)                                                                      16 FrLN [6D]
Viviès’ Brigade (37e & 67e de Ligne)                                                                        16 FrLN [6D]

IV Corps Artillery Reserve
Artillerie à Pied (12pdr)                                                                                               Fr12#
Artillerie à Pied (12pdr)                                                                                               Fr12#

2nd Heavy Cavalry Division – Général de Division St Sulpice                    3”A(6)+1
Fiteau’s Brigade (1er & 5e Cuirassiers)                                                                     12 FrHC [4D]
Guiton’s Brigade (10e & 11e Cuirassiers)                                                                  12 FrHC [4D]
3/5e Artillerie à Cheval (8pdr)                                                                                    Fr8#

Reserve Cavalry Corps – Maréchal Bessières (wounded and absent) [4F]

1st Heavy Cavalry Division – Général de Division Nansouty                       3”G(7)+1
Defrance’s Brigade (1er & 2e Carabiniers)                                                               12 FrHC [4D]
Doumerc’s Brigade (2e & 9e Cuirassiers)                                                                 12 FrHC [4D]
St Germain’s Brigade (3e & 12e Cuirassiers)                                                            8 FrHC [2D]
4/6e Artillerie à Cheval (8pdr)                                                                                    Fr8#

3rd Heavy Cavalry Division – Général de Division Arrighi de Casanova   3”G(7)+1
Reynaud’s Brigade (4e & 6e Cuirassiers)                                                                  12 FrHC [4D]
Bordessoulle’s Brigade (7e & 8e Cuirassiers)                                                           12 FrHC [4D]
3/6e Artillerie à Cheval (4pdr)                                                                                    Fr4#

French Order of Battle Notes

1.  Casualties for the historical first day of the battle have been removed from Bertrand’s French brigade and Minucci’s and Becker’s Bavarian brigades and this is reflected in the Day 2 unit labels.  If you’re playing this as part of the full multi-day scenario, you will have to apply the first day’s casualties (see procedure below) and create your own labels.

2.  Lauriston may command any artillery units in the army in addition to those under his direct command.  General Walther, commanding the Guard Cavalry Division, may also command any Guard Horse Artillery batteries within his command-span.

3.  Masséna was still suffering from the effects of wounds suffered at Aspern-Essling and was unable to mount or ride a horse.  He therefore went to war at Wagram and Znaïm mounted in a very distinctive white phaeton (a light, open carriage), pulled by white horses.  Masséna’s phaeton moves as a wagon unit with an 18” movement range.  He runs the risk of being killed, wounded or captured on a roll of 1-4 instead of the usual 1-3.

4.  Napoleon’s effects on the army are that he increases the Dispersal rating of all units by one grade and increases the Fatigue rating of all formations by one.  However, losing Napoleon is an automatic defeat for the French.  The Army Morale Rating starts at 13M and rises as reinforcements arrive to 20M by the end of the day.

5.  I’m not sure if the Headquarters Escort Cavalry Brigade was still assigned to Napoleon at this stage of the campaign, but it was certainly present at Wagram.  It may therefore be left out of the scenario if desired.  If you do decide to include it, the brigade is always activated, but must always manoeuvre with the intent of directly attaching itself to Napoleon’s Headquarters, thereby acting as a close escort.  Napoleon will retain his command radius even when the escort brigade is directly attached.  If Napoleon wants to remain attached to his escort, he must allow them to manoeuvre as a normal cavalry brigade.  If the escort brigade becomes unattached (e.g. due to Napoleon moving too fast or due to an uncontrolled pursuit), the brigade must at all times attempt to re-attach to Napoleon at the best possible speed.  The escort brigade may not voluntarily make charge or pursuit moves.

6.  Generalleutnant von Wrede, commander of the 2nd Bavarian Division, was recovering from wounds suffered at Wagram and was temporarily replaced by Generalmajor Minucci.

7.  Marshal Bessières was still recovering from wounds suffered at Wagram and was not therefore present at Znaïm.  There does not seem to have been an overall cavalry commander appointed to replace him at Znaïm, so the 1st & 3rd Heavy Cavalry Divisions are commanded directly by the Emperor (though there is a joint Fatigue Rating for these divisions).  Saint-Sulpice’s 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division however, had been directly attached to Masséna’s IV Corps since Wagram and any casualties from this division count against the IV Corps Fatigue Rating.

8.  Following the death of GD Lasalle at Wagram on 6th July, GB Marulaz had taken command of his independent light cavalry division, only to be seriously wounded later that same day (this was his 19th wound and it ended his military career).  Command then passed to GB Bruyère.  However, on 10th July Bruyère was severely wounded while fighting against the Austrian V Corps rearguard at Schöngrabern, so command of the division passed to GB Piré before they arrived at Znaïm on 11th July.  Some sources show the division as commanded by Bruyère (or even Lasalle!) at Znaïm, but this was most definitely not the case.

9.  Minucci’s Bavarian Brigade (XI Corps), Neuenstein’s Baden Brigade (IV Corps), Destabenrath’s Brigade (IV Corps) and both Hesse-Darmstädt Brigades (IV Corps) will each gain an additional +1 Fire Modifier thanks to their organic light infantry units.  These unit labels are marked with a [+1].  I’ve classed Delzon’s Brigade (XI Corps) and Friedrichs’ Brigade (IV Corps) as wholly light infantry, as the Légère units present represented the majority of those brigades.

10.  Molitor’s 3rd Division of IV Corps arrived very late in the day, did not participate in the battle and may therefore be left out of the scenario.  However, this formation might become engaged if the game is extended beyond the historical armistice time.  In either case, the presence of this division increases the Army Morale Rating.

The Imperial & Royal Austrian Main Army
Feldmarschall Erzherzog Karl

20”E(10)+2 [20M]
[9 Free Rolls]

Reserve Corps – Feldmarschalleutnant Schwarzenberg                        6”A(6)+0 [7F]

Grenadier Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Prochaszka                  3”A(6)+1
Scovaud’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                                     12 AsGN [5D]
Hammer’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                                    16 AsGN [6D]
Melgum’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                                     20 AsGN [8D]
Steyrer’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                                       20 AsGN [8D]

Cavalry Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Hessen-Homburg          3”A(5)+0
Roussel d’Hurbal’s Brigade (KRs 2 ‘EH Franz’ & 3 ‘EH Albert’)                        8 AsHC [3D]
Lederer’s Brigade (KRs 4 ‘EH Ferdinand’ & 8 ‘Hohenzollern’)                          8 AsHC [3D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

Cavalry Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Schwarzenberg               4”A(8)+0
Kroyher’s Brigade (KRs 1 ‘Kaiser’ & 6 ‘Liechtenstein’)                                         12 AsHC [4D]
Theimern’s Brigade (CR 6 ‘Rosenberg’ & DR 3 ‘Knesevich’)                               20 AsLC [8D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

Cavalry Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Nostitz                                 4”E(7)+2
Rothkirch’s Brigade (DRs 1 ‘Erzherzog Johann’ & 6 ‘Riesch’)                            12 AsHC [5D]
Kerekes’ Brigade (Neutra & Primatial Insurrection HRs)                                   16 AsILC [10D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

I Corps – General der Kavallerie Bellegarde                                                  7”A(6)+0 [3F]

Division of Generalmajor Henneberg                                                          4”G(6)+1
Henneberg’s Brigade #1 (IR 17 ‘Reuss-Plauen’ & 2nd Jäger Bn)                       20 AsLN [10D]
Henneberg’s Brigade #2 (IR 36 ‘Kolowrat’)                                                           16 AsLN [8D]
Fabré’s Brigade (IRs 11 ‘Erzherzog Rainer’ & 47 ‘Vogelsang’)                            28 AsLN [14D]

Division of Generalmajor Clary                                                                       3”A(5)+0
Clary’s Brigade (IRs 10 ‘Anton Mittrowsky’ & 42 ‘Erbach’)                                24 AsLN [12D]
Schäffer’s Brigade (IR 35 ‘Argentau’)                                                                      12 AsLN [6D]
Stutterheim’s Brigade (CR 5 ‘Klenau’)                                                                    12 AsLC [6D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

I Corps Artillery
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                                As12#
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                                As12#

II Corps – Feldmarschalleutnant Hohenzollern-Hechingen                   7”G(6)+1D [3F]

Division of Generalmajor Buresch                                                                 3”A(4)+0
Quallenberg’s Brigade (IRs 25 ‘Zedtwitz’ & 54 ‘Froon’)                                       28 AsLN [11D]
Buresch’s Brigade (IRs 15 ‘Zach’ & 57 ‘Joseph Colloredo’)                                  28 AsLN [11D]

Division of Generalmajor Wied-Runkel                                                      4”G(5)+0
Wied-Runkel’s Brigade (IRs 18 ‘d’Aspré’ & 28 ‘Frelich’)                                     24 AsLN [12D]
Alstern’s Brigade (IR 21 ‘Rohan’)                                                                             16 AsLN [8D]
GIR 13 ‘Wallach-Illyrian’ and 2nd & 4th Erzherzog Karl Legion                       12 AsGRZ [7D]
CR 4 ‘Vincent’ (too weak to show – incorporated into I Corps strength)

II Corps Artillery
6pdr Cavalry Battery (most of the artillery is with IV Corps and not present) As6#

III Corps – Generalfeldzeugmeister Kolowrat-Krakowsky                      8”A(6)+1D [4F]

Division of Generalmajor Schneller                                                              4”A(6)+0
Schuttermeier’s Brigade (UR 2 ‘Schwarzenberg’)                                                 8 AsLC [4D]
Wratislaw’s Brigade (Bohemian Landwehr & Lobkowitz Jäger)                       20 AsFKI [12D]
Giffling’s Brigade #1 (IR 7 ‘Karl Schröder’)                                                            20 AsLN [10D]
Giffling’s Brigade #2 (IR 56 ‘Wenzel Colloredo’)                                                  20 AsLN [10D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

Division of Feldmarschalleutnant St Julien                                              3”P(4)+0
Chiesa’s Brigade #1 (IRs 1 ‘Kaiser’ & 23 ‘Würzburg’)                                           24 AsLN [12D]
Lilienberg’s Brigade (IR 12 ‘Manfredini’)                                                               20 AsLN [8D]
Bieber’s Brigade (IRs 20 ‘Kaunitz’ & 38 ‘Württemberg’)                                    28 AsLN [11D]

III Corps Artillery
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                                As12#
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                                As12#

V Corps – Feldmarschalleutnant Reuss-Plauen                                           8”A(6)+1 [3F]

Division of Generalmajor Klebelsberg                                                         3”A(5)+0
Klebelsberg’s Brigade (UR 3 ‘Erzherzog Karl’ & HR 6 ‘Blankenstein’)             16 AsLC [8D]
Pflüger’s Brigade #1 (GIR 8 ‘Gradiskaner’, 3rd Jäger & 5th Vienna Vols)    20 AsGRZ [12D]
Pflüger’s Brigade #2 (IR 29 ‘Lindenau’)                                                                 20 AsLN [10D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

Division of Generalmajor Neustädter                                                          3”A(4)+1
Neustädter’s Brigade #1 (IR 9 ‘Czartoryski’)                                                         16 AsLN [8D]
Neustädter’s Brigade #2 (IR 55 ‘Reuss-Greitz’)                                                    24 AsLN [12D]

Austrian Order of Battle Notes

1.  Casualties have been removed from Steyrer’s and Hammer’s Grenadier Brigades to reflect their historical losses from the first day of the battle and this is reflected in the Day 2 unit labels.  If you’re playing this as part of the full multi-day scenario, you will have to apply the first day’s casualties and create your own labels (see below).

2.  The Austrian army starts Day 2 with a morale rating of 20M.  Klenau’s VI Corps had been sent away during the night, to cover the withdrawal of the colossal wagon train and to establish a new defensive fall-back position on the Iglau highway.  However, by way of compensation, Archduke Charles had been reinforced by Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps, which had spent the previous day fighting a rearguard action against Masséna, so the army’s strength and Morale Rating remains unchanged from the end of Day 1.

3.  An array of Austrian FMLs had been felled during the Battle of Wagram, so a lot of divisions are here temporarily commanded by GMs.

4.  Due to the somewhat confused nature of the retreat, many Austrian units had spent Day 1 detached from their parent formations, often being attached to other formations.  A small ad hoc flank-guard command had also been created under Schneller.  However, with the concentration of the army at Znaïm, these organisational anomalies were largely resolved during the night and Schneller returned to command his own division.

5.  At around 1400hrs on Day 1, Prince Liechtenstein departed on a mission to seek out Napoleon and seek terms for peace.  Liechtenstein therefore placed Schwarzenberg in command of the ‘Cavalry Reserve Corps’ during his absence.  In game terms, Schwarzenberg is therefore classed as a Temporary Corps Commander, with generalship ratings of 6”A(6)+0.  I don’t know who commanded Schwarzenberg’s division during this period, so just continue to use Schwarzenberg’s own divisional generalship ratings, representing his 2ic.  It’s not clear if Prochaszka’s Grenadier Division (often referred to as the ‘Reserve Grenadier Corps’, distinct from the ‘Cavalry Reserve Corps’) also came under Schwarzenberg’s command, but I have assumed so.

6.  I’ve incorporated the strength of Chevauléger Regiment 4 ‘Vincent’ from II Corps into Stutterheim’s Brigade of I Corps, as the Vincent Chevaulégers are too weak to represent as a unit in their own right.

7.  Most of II Corps’ artillery had retreated from Wagram with Rosenberg’s IV Corps, leaving II Corps with only three unspecified batteries.  In game terms I’ve therefore only included a single 6pdr cavalry battery.

8.  I’ve no idea if the Austrian divisions were numbered at this time.  They had been numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc within each corps at the start of the campaign, but there had been many reorganisations and commander-reshuffles since then and every source I’ve read just identifies them by name.  In order to simplify unit labelling, I’ve arbitrarily numbered each division within each corps on the game labels below.

9.  Henneberg’s #1 Brigade (I Corps) and Pflüger’s #1 Brigade (V Corps) each include a regular Jäger Battalion and will therefore gain an additional +1 Fire Modifier.  Their labels are marked with (+1).

10.  I’ve classed Wratislaw’s Brigade of Schneller’s Division (III Corps) as Freikorps infantry rather than Landwehr, due to the large contingent of volunteers present.

11.  I often use my own unofficial ‘Archduke Charles Rule’ (very similar to the official Napoleon’s Battles ‘Blücher Rule’) whenever Archduke Charles is present during 1809 battles.  I haven’t actually posted it here in any scenarios yet, but it will appear when I get around to posting my Aspern-Essling scenario.  However, the ‘Archduke Charles Rule’ may not be used in this scenario.

Initial Deployment

Napoleon starts the game within Marmont‘s deployment area, along with his Headquarters Escort, the entire XI Corps, Montbrun’s Light Cavalry Division, Minucci’s 2nd Bavarian Division and Walther’s Guard Cavalry Division.  Reinforcements for Napoleon’s wing will arrive at Point C.

Masséna starts the game deployed south of the River Thaya within the marked IV Corps deployment area, along with Legrand’s 1st Division and Piré’s Light Cavalry Division.  Reinforcements for Masséna’s wing will arrive at Point A or Point B.

Archduke Charles starts the game at his headquarters in Brenditz.

Schwarzenberg’s Reserve Corps, Bellegarde’s I Corps, Hohenzollern-Hechingen’s II Corps, Kolowrat-Krakowsy’s III Corps and Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps are all deployed on-table, within their own designated deployment areas.

Lilienberg’s Brigade from St Julien’s Division of Hohenzollern’s II Corps must start the game stationed in Pöltenberg, to the west of Znaïm, due to Archduke Charles’ fear of the French attempting to cross the river there, despite there being no obvious fords.  This brigade may be moved elsewhere once the game has begun.

Klenau‘s VI Corps has been withdrawn during the night, in order to establish a fall-back defensive position on the Iglau/Prague Road.  There will be no Austrian reinforcements during Day 2.

All units may begin the game deployed in any formation.

Reinforcement & Event Schedule Day 2 (11th July)

Turn 1 – 1000:  Lauriston’s Guard Horse Artillery arrives at Point C.
Saint-Sulpice’s 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division arrives at Point A.
[French Army Morale increases to 15M]

Turn 2 – 1030:  Nansouty’s 1st Heavy Cavalry Division arrives at Point C.
[French Army Morale increases to 16M]

Turn 3 – 1100:  Arrighi’s 3rd Heavy Cavalry Division arrives at Point C.
IV Corps Artillery Reserve arrives at Point A.
[French Army Morale increases to 17M]

Turn 7 – 1300:  Carra St-Cyr’s Division arrives at Point A.
[French Army Morale increases to 19M]

Turn 9 – 1400:  “Is it me, or does it look a bit black over Wilhelm’s mutti’s?”  [Roll in the Weather Step of each turn, starting with the French turn.  On a roll of 1, a colossal thunder-storm breaks over the battlefield (the effects of which are detailed below).]

Turn 10 – 1430:  “It’s raining, men!  Hide your powder!”  [Roll in the Weather Step of each turn.  If it hasn’t done so already, on a roll of 1-3, a colossal thunder-storm breaks over the battlefield (the effects of which are detailed below).]

Turn 10 – 1500:  “Donner und Blitzen!”  [Roll in the Weather Step of each turn.  If it hasn’t done so already, on a roll of 1-6, a colossal thunder-storm breaks over the battlefield (the effects of which are detailed below).]

Turn 11 – 1530:  “Thunderbolt & Lighting, Very Very Frightening!”  [Roll in the Weather Step of each turn.  If it hasn’t done so already, on a roll of 1-8, a colossal thunder-storm breaks over the battlefield (the effects of which are detailed below).]

Turn 12 – 1600:  “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!”  [If it hasn’t done so already, a colossal thunder-storm now breaks over the battlefield during the French turn (the effects of which are detailed below).]

Turn 17 – 1800:  Molitor’s Division arrives at Point A (optional).
[French Army Morale increases to 20M]

Turn 18 – 1830:  [Peace breaks out on a roll of 1 at the end of the Austrian turn if using Variable Peace option]

Turn 19 – 1900:  [Peace breaks out on a roll of 1-3 at the end of the Austrian turn if using Variable Peace option]

Turn 20 – 1930:  Scenario historically ends at the end of this turn, with an agreed armistice [Or on a roll of 1-6 at the end of the Austrian turn if using Variable Peace option].

Turn 21 – 2000:  [Peace breaks out on a roll of 1-8 at the end of the Austrian turn if using Variable Peace option]

Turn 22 – 2030:  [Peace breaks out on a roll of 1-8 at the end of the Austrian turn if using Variable Peace option]

Turn 23 – 2100:  Scenario definitely ends at the end of the Austrian turn (nightfall).

All units arrive in March Column formation.

Miscellaneous Rules and Terrain Effects

1.  The Thaya River is unfordable, except via the bridge at Oblass and the fords at Pumlitz and Mühlfraun.  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.  Note that Masséna’s scouts very quickly discovered an additional fording-point ‘suitable for infantry and cavalry’ at Oblass on the 10th, so this may also be used by French and allied forces only on the second day of the battle (shown as the brown crossing-point on the Day 2 map).  This ford may not be used by artillery.

2.  The Leska Stream between Points Y & Z sits within a deep, steep-sided ravine.  Between these points it is only fordable to infantry and cavalry (not artillery) as 2 inches of Rough Terrain and additionally, all units will immediately become Disordered.  A unit defending the bank will gain a +1 defensive modifier (in addition to the attacker getting the -3 penalty for being Disordered).  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.

3.  All Other Streams (including the Leska below Point Z) are passable to all troop types as 1 inch of Rough Terrain and are not disordering.  A unit defending the bank will gain a +1 defensive modifier.  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.

4.  The Pond at Kukrowitz is impassable to all troop-types.

5.  All Villages have a cover modifier of -2 and a defensive modifier of +2.  Some villages have more than one Built-Up Sector (defined by the brown rectangles) and each Sector my accommodate an infantry brigade.  Villages with roads running through them may potentially accommodate more than one unit, but only if the additional units are passing through in Column or March Column formation.

6.  The City of Znaïm is mostly surrounded by high Mediaeval walls (defined by the thick black line) which may only be accessed through one of the four gates marked in red and only by troops in Column or March Column formation.  Attacking units may only assault a gate in Column formation.  Units defending a gate gain a +4 defensive modifier against units attempting to attack into the city from outside the gate.  The city is divided up into six adjacent Built-Up Sectors, each with a cover modifier of -2 and a defensive modifier of +3 (if attacked from an adjacent sector and not through a gate).  The three adjacent Built-Up Sectors along the river bank are outside the city walls and are classed as a village.  Note that attacking the River Gate of Znaïm is virtual suicide, being up a steep, narrow and enfiladed approach.  The defender will gain +1 for the slope, plus the +4 for defending the gate!

7.  Hill Slopes provide a +1 defensive modifier to the defender.  I appreciate that this map has very complicated topography and will undoubtedly need some simplifying for game purposes (unless you have a sand-table, Geo-Hex or some other flashy terrain system).  I’ll have a stab at a simplified map and will include it in a future update, but for now we’ll have to make do with the ‘proper’ map.

8.  Woods provide a -1 cover modifier, but no positive combat modifier, just the usual negative combat modifiers, depending on troop type (suffered by both combatants, provided the defender is within the wood).  Cavalry do not use the ‘Versus Other’ combat modifier usually used against infantry and artillery not protected by squares.  Woods are classed as Rough Terrain for movement for all troop types, though are not particularly dense and do not therefore disorder troops passing through them.  Firing through woods is limited to 2 inches range.

9.  Vineyards are defined by the brown areas shown on the map.  These provide no cover modifier and no positive combat modifier.  Both sides suffer the negative combat modifiers normally used for woods.  Cavalry do not use the ‘Versus Other’ combat modifier usually used against infantry and artillery not protected by squares.  Vineyards are classed as Rough Terrain for all troop types, but do not block line of sight.  I should say that the position of vineyards is not exact and their layout is based on a couple of pretty vague maps, so feel free to vary them.  Essentially the lower half of the map (along the Thaya valley) was very thickly covered in vineyards, while the upper half was considered better ‘cavalry country’.

10.  Earthworks had been dug by the Austrians (probably in 1805) to cover the southern approaches to Znaïm from the Vienna highway.  These were three small positions for ‘a few guns’ and for game purposes I have reduced this to two positions, one on the low ground and one on the high ground, each big enough to hold a full battery.  The earthworks provide the battery with a -2 cover modifier and a +2 combat modifier.  Each emplaced battery may pivot by up to 45 degrees and remain in cover.  The earthworks are not sufficient to accommodate an infantry brigade.

11.  Roads are coloured either grey for the main paved highways or brown for the local roads and tracks.  There is no real difference in game terms, though if your terrain collection only includes a limited number of road-pieces, do the grey highways as a matter of priority, along with any roads passing through woods or vineyards, as well as river-crossings.

12.  The Great Storm!  The sudden, colossal storm had a huge impact on the battle, immediately dampening powder.  Infantry fire stopped completely, while artillery fired at a much-reduced rate.  In game terms, the storm will affect each side for three turns, starting with the side that rolled for it.  As with all die-rolls in Napoleon’s Battles, Free Roll Markers may be deployed by either player in an attempt to increase or decrease the chances of the storm happening.  When the storm breaks, the following effects will be applied during the affected turns:

12.1.  Infantry fire will stop completely.

12.2.  Artillery will suffer an additional -1 firing penalty.

12.3.  Infantry will suffer an additional -1 combat modifier when fighting in Line, Square, Divisional Square or Brigade Skirmish formation, or when defending buildings or fortifications.

12.4.  All fires will be extinguished once both players have played their first turn under storm conditions.

Playing as Part of a Multi-Day Battle

As mentioned above, you can either fight each day of the battle as a stand-alone scenario or you can play it as a multi-day ‘mini-campaign’.  If you plan to do the latter, make sure that you make a careful note of which units Surrendered, which units were Dispersed, which units ran off table (and a note of their strength when they did so), units’ final strengths, which generals were killed, wounded or captured and which batteries were eliminated, damaged or abandoned their guns (and mark where the guns were abandoned).  This of course, does require a fair bit of admin, but it does produce a rather more satisfying game.

At the start of the second day of battle, follow this slightly modified version of the procedure for multi-day battles as per Chapter 14.4 (p. 100) of Napoleon’s Battles 4th Edition:

Breaking Contact

The Austrian VI Corps will conduct a night-march and establish a new defensive position further north, to cover the line of retreat.

The Austrian V Corps, having conducted a rearguard action against Masséna during the 10th, will join the main army at Znaïm during the night.  Note that V Corps and VI Corps each have five formed units, so the loss of VI Corps and the addition of V Corps makes no difference to the Army Morale rating.

All Austrian units remaining south of the River Thaya will withdraw to the north bank during the night.  All Austrian units will then pull back at least 9 inches from the nearest French unit and at least 9 inches from the River Thaya downstream of Klosterbruck.  Villages and fortifications may remain occupied if they were occupied at the end of Day 1 and if they are no closer than 6 inches from the nearest French unit.  This should determine a new front-line for the Austrian Army – either agree the new front line like gentlemen, get an umpire or independent third party to adjudicate, or dice for it (the French will win a draw).

Once the Austrian Army has established its new front line, the French player establishes a new front line for Marmont’s wing; draw a line connecting the forward French units, though that line may not be drawn within 6 inches of the new Austrian front line.

Any guns abandoned behind the new enemy front-line are permanently removed from play, having been captured and hauled away.  Any guns abandoned behind the new friendly front line are automatically recovered to re-equip batteries of the appropriate type and nationality that had lost their guns.  Any guns abandoned in ‘no-man’s land’ are left in situ and may be recovered during the following day’s battle.

All markers except casualty markers (e.g. Free Roll, Disorder, Rout, React) are now removed and all units are automatically rallied.

All fires are automatically extinguished.

Replacing Losses

Any units that Surrendered during Day 1 due to Isolation (see Napoleon’s Battles 4th Edition Chapter 7.5 (p. 66)) are permanently removed from the order of battle.  Formation Fatigue ratings and Army Morale ratings must be adjusted accordingly.

Any units that ran off table (either through rout, uncontrolled pursuit or to avoid being isolated) are now returned to play at the strength they were when they exited the table.

Any dispersed units are returned to play at their original dispersal level (e.g. a unit that started at 16 figures and dispersed when it reached its dispersal level of 8 will now be returned to the table as an 8-figure unit).

For a bit of extra fun, surrendered units and captured generals may be exchanged overnight.  There are no hard rules for this; I leave it up to the players to make their own negotiations.

Generals are automatically replaced with the worst possible generalship ratings in their class (i.e. 3″P(4)-1 for divisional commanders and 5″P(4)-1 for Corps Commanders).  I toyed with allowing the promotion of brigadiers and using their ‘book’ stats, but I think that using the standard Replacement ratings reflects the short-term loss of morale and leadership that might be experienced with the loss of a senior leader.  Feel free to stick a load of generalship ratings on chits and pull them randomly out of a hat if you prefer.

Once the above steps have been followed, roll 1D10 for every casualty figure suffered in a unit during the previous day’s fighting (e.g. if a 16 figure unit lost 8 figures, roll 8x D10 for that unit).  A casualty will return to the unit if the number rolled is LESS THAN the unit’s Response number.  The Response number is modified by the divisional commander’s Generalship rating (P-1, A=0, G+1, E+2).  Any unit that Dispersed during Day 1 suffers a -2 Response modifier and the Austrians suffer a further -1 modifier due to their general state of exhaustion and demoralisation.

Weak units of the same type and nationality may be combined, provided that units do not exceed a strength of 28 figures for infantry or 20 figures for cavalry.  Only whole units may be combined; they may not be split up, with the parts being allocated to different units.  Any ‘excess strength’ left over when combining units will be removed from play and may not be allocated to other units.

When combining units, this must first be done within the same brigade where a particularly large brigade had been divided into two units (e.g. Henneberg’s #1 & Henneberg’s #2).  If this is not possible, work your way up the chain of command (i.e. in the same division and then in the same corps) to find a unit of the same type with which to combine.  A unit may not therefore be arbitrarily combined with a unit in a different corps if there are suitable candidates within the parent brigade, division or corps.

Once this is done, you’ll need to re-calculate each unit’s Dispersal level for Day 2 based on their new strength and Dispersal number and make up new unit-labels or mark the orders of battle accordingly.

If the number of formed units within a formation has changed due to surrender or amalgamation, you’ll also need to re-calculate the formation Fatigue rating and Army Morale rating.

Artillery are handled in a slightly different manner: Each Damaged battery will automatically be recovered to full strength and each Eliminated battery will be returned to play, having recovered one hit (i.e. becoming Damaged).  Surrendered batteries are permanently lost.  Two Damaged batteries of the same type, shot-weight and nationality may then be combined to form one full strength battery (as with formed units, they must first be combined with batteries from the same organisation before working up the chain of command to find a suitable candidate).

Batteries without guns may then be re-equipped from battlefield recoveries of the appropriate shot-weight and nationality, as mentioned above.  Batteries without guns may remain in play, provided that guns might feasibly become available for recovery as the game progresses.

The Austrians may automatically re-equip the guns of up to one 12pdr Position Battery and two 6pdr Cavalry Batteries from their massive army artillery park.

Note that ‘nationality’ means exactly that and applies to allies as well as enemies; e.g. a Bavarian brigade may not be combined with a French brigade and a Baden battery may not equip itself with recovered French guns.

Reorganisation and Redeployment

Once the new front-lines have been established and reorganisation completed, the Austrian Army now has the freedom to completely re-deploy anywhere behind their new front line (or they can simply use the historical corps deployment areas).  However, note that Archduke Charles’ headquarters will remain at Brenditz and he must start Day 2 within that village.

Once the Austrian army is deployed, the French player deploys Marmont’s wing within its new front line.  Napoleon is also placed within this area.  Walther’s Guard Cavalry Division has only just arrived at the start of the second day’s fighting, so is placed within its marked historical deployment zone on the road from Laa.

Masséna and his two leading divisions (Legrand and Piré) are deployed anywhere within their marked deployment zone.

Both sides are exhausted, so no digging in is permitted.  However, the pre-existing fortifications on the southern approaches to Znaïm may be occupied if they fall within an army’s front-line.

All units may deploy in any formation.

Unit Information Card

French Unit Labels

Austrian Unit Labels

As mentioned, I will return to Znaïm with a third scenario covering Napoleon’s planned attack of 12th July 1809.  I’ve also got some more Napoleonic troops to profile (French Guard Éclaireurs, Italian Royal Guard cavalry, various Austrians and more Württembergers) and a game report from my recent refight of Waterloo on Richard Young’s wonderful wargames table (below).

This month I finally got around to reading John H Gill’s superb book The Battle of Znaïm: Napoleon, The Habsburgs and the End of the War of 1809 and thought that it would make a brilliant subject for a scenario or set of linked scenarios, including the potential for a fair amount of ‘what-if’.

If you have even the remotest passing interest in the 1809 Campaign and this book is not already in your collection, make sure you add it now!  However, please note that this book is not to be confused with Volume III of the same author’s excellent Thunder on the Danube trilogy, which also has Znaïm in the title…  It took me several years to realise it wasn’t the same book (having written Thunder on the Danube, Gill realised that the Battle of Znaïm deserved its own book and that he already had a wealth of information on the battle with which to write one).

It’s certainly not a battle I’ve wargamed before, largely due to there not previously having been a great deal of easily-accessible information about the battle and it’s often been simply dismissed from the various histories as an irrelevance, in much the same manner as all the little skirmishes and sieges after Waterloo (e.g. Scott Bowden’s Armies on the Danube 1809 only mentions Znaïm in a single sentence).  The truth of the matter is that despite his defeat at Wagram, Archduke Charles still had most of his army left in the field and without Austrian political shenanigans in the background, the war might not have ended so quickly or as favourably for France.

This therefore, is the first of three scenarios for Napoleon’s Battles, covering the Battle of Znaïm, each of which can be played as stand-alone scenarios or as a linked two-day or three-day mini-campaign:

The Day One Scenario covers the initial encounter on 10th July 1809, between General Marmont’s French Army of Dalmatia (a grand title for what was simply a small corps of two French infantry divisions, reinforced by a large Bavarian division and a large light cavalry division) and what he assumes to be the rearguard of the defeated Austrian army.

The Day Two Scenario will cover the second day of the battle on 11th July 1809, when Napoleon arrived with reinforcements to take command of the situation, while Masséna’s pursuing force finally caught up with Archduke Charles.

The Day Three Scenario will look at what might have happened, had both sides not agree to end hostilities on 11th July.  By 12th July Napoleon had considerably reinforced the forces in contact with Archduke Charles’ rearguard and finally had the opportunity to utterly destroy the major part of the Austrian army.

The Aftermath of Wagram, 6th to 10th July 1809

The cataclysmic Battle of Wagram of 5th & 6th July 1809 had been the largest battle in European history, with a little over 300,000 men locked in combat.  It had been a victory for Napoleon, finally correcting his earlier defeat at Aspern-Essling, but at a terrible cost for both sides.  38,870 Austrians had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner in those two terrible days, as had 35,050 French and their allies.  As the defeated Austrian army staggered away from the field, men continued to die from heat and thirst, following two days of combat on that waterless plain.

Archduke Charles was extremely bitter about his defeat, chiefly blaming Rosenberg the commander of the IV Corps.  Rosenberg had held the left flank, but had been turned by Marshal Davout’s infantry and General Grouchy’s cavalry, thus forcing the Austrian Main Army (Hauptarmee) to retreat away from the possible salvation of Archduke John’s Army of Inner Austria (Armee von Innerösterreich), which had been approaching from the east.

In the event, by the time it reached Wagram, Archduke John’s army only amounted to 15,000 men, or around half of what both Archduke Charles and Napoleon were expecting, so would have had little impact on the battle.  Archduke John’s approach late on 6th July caused some brief panic to the French, but with Archduke Charles’ army already retreating, John’s army fell back to a defensible position on the River March.

Emperor Franz meanwhile, already despondent about the progress of the war, had begun making subtle overtures for peace even before the Battle of Wagram.  Feldmarschalleutnant (FML) Weisswenwolff had arrived on 4th July at Napoleon’s headquarters in Vienna, ostensibly to discuss further exchanges of prisoners (Weisswenwolff himself had been exchanged only the week before), but with a secret secondary mission from Emperor Franz of investigating the possibility that Napoleon might be open to discussions for peace.  This mission would bear fruit a few days later.

Archduke Charles meanwhile, had retreated north-westward along the north bank of the Danube toward Stockerau, where the road divided and turned north toward Znaïm, Iglau and Prague.  As dawn broke on 7th July, the colossal Austrian baggage-train plodded slowly along the road, making for Znaïm.  The Austrian I, III, V and Reserve Corps were formed up in a strong defensive position covering the road on the forested Kreuzenstein Heights.  Klenau’s VI Corps meanwhile, had been left behind, forming a rearguard at the walled town of Korneuburg.  Rosenberg’s IV Corps had retreated north-eastward to the forested hills of the Hochleithen, guarding the main road to the Moravian fortresses of Brünn and Olmütz.  Between these two Austrian formations, Hohenzollern’s II Corps had made good progress, retreating northward by minor roads in the direction of Znaïm, through the wooded hills to Grossrussbach.

Napoleon’s exhausted army for the most part spent 7th July resting and reorganising, though Masséna’s IV Corps, with Saint-Sulpice’s 2nd Cuirassier Division and Bruyère’s Light Cavalry Division under command, was actively maintaining contact with the Austrian rearguard.  Marshal Davout’s III Corps meanwhile, with Montbrun’s Light Cavalry Division and Grouchy’s and Pully’s Dragoon Divisions under command, was maintaining contact with Rosenberg’s IV Corps.

Napoleon himself went from unit to unit, reorganising, encouraging and even pausing to elevate Generals MacDonald and Oudinot to the Marshalate.  He is often criticised for not aggressively pursuing Archduke Charles at this point, but the truth of the matter is that his army was utterly exhausted and he had no idea as to which of the two main retreating Austrian columns was actually the main army.  He was therefore happy to pursue both columns with corps-sized forces, while resting his reserves as he tried to determine the enemy’s exact dispositions.

However, Archduke John’s assumed 30,000 men (actually 15,000 men) were a threat that could not be ignored and to that end he ordered Prince Eugène’s Army of Italy (with Pully’s Dragoon Division) to hold off Archduke John and any other marauding Hungarian Insurrection forces, while Vandamme (in Vienna), Reynier (on Löbau Island) and Baraguèy d’Hilliers (in Pressburg) were to do likewise on the southern bank of the Danube.  In the meantime, Marshal Bernadotte’s IX (Saxon) Corps was disbanded and Bernadotte himself was dismissed from the Army of Germany.

Legrand’s Division of Masséna’s IV Corps pushed hard on the 7th, with the Baden contingent in particular, managing to outflank the Austrian rearguard position at Korneuburg and capturing the open rear gate, thus enabling the entire town and its garrison to be quickly captured.  However, Klenau’s full VI Corps was formed up on the hills beyond and Legrand simply didn’t have the strength to take them on.

Montbrun and Grouchy meanwhile, continued to harry Rosenberg’s retreating IV Corps, though were prevented from outflanking the Austrians thanks to the tireless FML Radetzsky’s flank-guard.  Rosenberg was retreating in accordance with verbal orders received; namely that the army would be retreating to Znaïm and that Rosenberg’s IV Corps would be protecting the left (eastern) flank.  To that end, Rosenberg intended to turn his corps off the highway to Brünn and Olmütz and instead directed his column to Laa on the River Thaya, which guarded the eastern approach to Znaïm.

However, while this made perfect sense to Rosenberg (and to most other people, to be fair), it was completely at odds with Archduke Charles’ operational concept.  Charles wanted Rosenberg to guard the roads to Brünn and Olmütz and then garrison those fortresses, maintaining them as a link between the Main Army now marching toward Prague, and Archduke Ferdinand’s VII Corps operating in Poland, as well as to Hungary.  He also had concerns that the Russians (ostensibly Napoleon’s allies) might drive through Moravia via those fortresses to link up with the French.  However, Charles had never actually told Rosenberg any of this…

Rosenberg’s move to Laa now threatened Archduke Charles’ strategy and Charles, already blaming Rosenberg for the defeat at Wagram, was utterly furious when he received word from Rosenberg of his intentions!

Napoleon meanwhile, was still in the dark as to whether Archduke Charles’ main army was the western group retreating toward Stockerau, or the eastern group retreating toward Brünn.  Napoleon judged that the eastern group was the most likely, as the occupation of Brünn and Olmütz would give Archruke Charles a central position, mid-way between Bohemia and Hungary and able to draw resources from both provinces and able to retreat to either.

However, he had also realised the importance of Znaïm as a likely way-point on the western group’s line of retreat and to that end ordered General Marmont and his grandly-titled ‘Army of Dalmatia’ (in reality the weak XI Corps with just two small infantry divisions and no integral heavy artillery or cavalry) to take command of Wrede’s 2nd Bavarian Division (now commanded by Minucci while Wrede recovered from wounds suffered at Wagram), Montbrun’s very strong Light Cavalry Division and two batteries of heavy artillery from the reserve.  With this force he was to advance on Nikolsburg and from there to Laa and Znaïm, conducting reconnaissance and taking prisoners in order to determine the exact disposition of Archduke Charles’ main army and hopefully interdicting the retreat of if not the main body, at least a considerable portion of the Austrian army at Znaïm.

In retrospect therefore, Rosenberg’s strategy was arguably the correct one; the road from Laa to Znaïm, if left unguarded, represented a very real threat to Archduke Charles’ line of retreat.  However, stern orders would soon be flying from Archduke Charles’ headquarters to Rosenberg, castigating him for assuming the importance of Laa and for leaving the Brünn highway open to the enemy and demanding that he rectify this situation!

Archduke Charles’ Main Army withdrew again during the night of 7th/8th July, retreating through Stockerau and up the Znaïm highway to another strong defensive position along wooded hills extending roughly eastward from Göllersdorf (now roughly 50km or halfway from Wagram to Znaïm).  Charles was now set upon establishing a final defensive position south of Znaïm at Jetzelsdorf and offering battle there.

Masséna was quick to follow up during the following morning and Stockerau was quickly abandoned to the French.  The direction of the Austrian retreat was now clear – north to Znaïm, instead of west along the Danube, though Masséna was ordered to send strong patrols west, in order to prevent any surprises from that direction.  However, Masséna had only two infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions immediately available to him, so had nowhere near enough troops available to him to take on the Austrian main position alone and was limited to harrying Klenau’s rearguard.

To that end, Masséna and Klenau fought another sharp action north of Stockerau toward evening, though casualties on both sides were light and Klenau withdrew once again during the night.  Both sides were now utterly exhausted and parched by the heat and lack of water.  Many troops had also not eaten since before Wagram.  To that end, both sides lost enormous numbers of men and horses from heat exhaustion, thirst and fatigue.  Even the normally inexhaustible Napoleon had to take to his bed through ‘fever of fatigue’.  However, the Austrians were most definitely getting the worst of it, as the French and their German allies had the morale advantage and any Austrian stragglers soon fell into enemy hands, whereas French stragglers were often able to recover and rejoin their units later.

There was however, one side-effect of the general thirst suffered by the troops of both sides; they were now marching into rich wine country and every farm and town, while often devoid of water, was frequently filled with full wine-casks that would quickly be broken open by thirst-crazed mobs.  Wholesale drunkenness now added to the discipline and attrition problems for both sides.

Hohenzollern’s II Corps meanwhile, proceeded toward Znaïm by the back-roads, almost completely unmolested by French patrols.  It was at this time that orders arrived from Archduke Charles, who had now realised the potential importance of Laa to the security of his line of retreat via Znaïm and his planned battle at Jetzelsdorf.  With Rosenberg having now been ordered to ignore Laa, Charles ordered Hohenzollern to post a detachment in Laa to protect the road to Znaïm.  However, perhaps not realising the importance of this mission, Hohenzollern decided to send his weakest infantry brigade, that of Generalmajor Alstern.

On the evening of 8th July, the bulk of Rosenberg’s IV Corps was already in position at Laa and deploying to defend the river-crossings while Radetzsky held off Montbrun’s cavalry near Staatz.  However, Rosenberg now received the set of angry missives from Archduke Charles, condemning him for failing in his duty to protect the road to Brünn!  Dumbfounded by this bollocking for disobeying orders that he had never received, Rosenberg nevertheless assured Archduke Charles that although he had never received any such orders, he would immediately take steps to rectify the situation and that once he had crossed over the Thaya at Laa, he would turn right and follow the north bank of the Thaya to Muschau, where he would hopefully arrive in time to once again block the road to Brünn.  This would however, leave a yawning gap of some 40km between Rosenberg and Archduke Charles.  In the middle of it was a road leading straight to Znaïm, which would only be defended by Alstern’s tiny command.

Grouchy’s Dragoon Division meanwhile, was pushing on up the Brünn road through Wilfersdorf without serious opposition (just a couple of squadrons of cavalry), followed by the leading elements of Davout’s III Corps and Arrighi’s Cuirassier Division.  Still uncertain as to the exact Austrian disposition, Napoleon, with the Imperial Guard, Oudinot’s II Corps and Nansouty’s Cuirassier Division, moved to a central position at Wolkersdorf on the Brünn road.  However, this reserve was now increasingly far from the action and would be slow to respond (roughly two days’ march) once Archduke Charles’ main army was finally located.

On 9th July, Rosenberg began his movement over the Thaya, turning right at Laa to follow the river to Muschau.  Radetzsky’s rearguard was now heavily engaged against Marmont, who quickly identified from prisoners that he was fighting the rearguard of Rosenberg’s IV Corps.  Marmont politely refused an offer of assistance from Davout, but the offer was possibly academic, as discipline had broken down in Davout’s III Corps, following the discovery of a massive wine-store and a consequent outbreak of widespread drunkenness and disorder!

Alstern’s brigade now arrived at Laa and managed to get over the Thaya just ahead of Montbrun’s cavalry, pulling up the bridge planking as they did so.  However, instead of staying to defend the vital river-crossing, Alstern took one look at the size of Marmont’s force and immediately ordered a rapid retreat toward Znaïm!  Quickly repairing the Laa bridges and confidently assuming that Alstern’s column was Rosenberg’s rearguard, Marmont soon set off toward Znaïm, though like Davout his corps also now descended into drunken debauchery as huge stores of wine were discovered by the thirsty troops.  Rosenberg meanwhile, quietly slipped away unmolested to his new position at Muschau, which he managed to reach ahead of Grouchy.

There was now almost nothing (apart from Alstern’s tiny command and large-scale alcohol-abuse) standing between Marmont, Znaïm and the trapping of Archduke Charles’ main army.  However, nobody on either side (except possibly Alstern) yet realised this…

In the west, Masséna spent 9th July once again clashing with Klenau’s rearguard.  However, unlike the previous light skirmishes, Klenau’s men fought hard in a series of dogged rearguard actions, culminating in bitter street-fighting within the town of Hollabrunn.  This continued until nightfall, leaving the town in flames and hundreds dead, wounded and captured.  Attempts by Bruyère’s cavalry to bypass the town were hindered by the expansive vineyards thereabouts and Legrand’s exhausted Franco-Badener spearhead division was forced to wait for the rest of Masséna’s IV Corps to arrive.

However, Masséna’s available infantry strength was markedly reduced by the need to leave Molitor’s and Boudet’s Divisions behind to guard the critical road junction at Stockerau.  The infantry strength of the Austrian rearguard therefore constantly outnumbered Masséna’s immediately-available infantry strength at the tip of the advance.  Klenau’s infantry, having performed magnificent work as the rearguard for the past few days, finally withdrew under cover of darkness, passing through Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps, who would now take over the role of rearguard and who had already established a new rearguard position a short distance to the north at Schöngrabern.

In the midst of this bloodshed, Emperor Franz and his brother Archduke Charles had agreed that peace was the best course of action.  Archduke Charles in particular, despite his role as Generalissimus, had disagreed with the war from the outset.  This was bolstered by the return of FML Weissenwolff from Napoleon’s headquarters, with news that Napoleon was open to a negotiated peace.  To that end, on 9th July an Austrian envoy managed to get through to Masséna’s headquarters, to advise the Marshal that Prince Liechtenstein had been appointed to negotiate with the Emperor Napoleon and that he would be passing through the lines on the 10th.

However, despite these moves toward a negotiated peace, it was looking increasingly likely that a battle was about to take place.  Archduke Charles was shocked to receive reports late on the 9th that French cavalry were on the road from Laa to Znaïm, but not as shocked as his brother the Emperor, whose court was now at Znaïm and had gone into abject panic at rumours that the French had come to capture Emperor Franz!

Perhaps persuaded by the proximity of French troops, or perhaps once again being influenced by the more warlike members of his court, Emperor Franz now took the strange decision to leave Archduke Charles’ army and make his way via Bohemia and Moravia, to Hungary and continue the war from there.  This was a very curious move to make when negotiations were imminent and his proximity to them might prove critical.  However, Franz’s mind was set and he was clearly very bitter toward his brother at the course of the war.  In a very cold letter written to Charles that night, he effectively sacked him as Generallissimus of Austria’s armies, leaving him responsible ‘only to the army under your command’.

However, Charles had more pressing concerns and ordered Prince Liechtenstein’s Reserve Corps to march immediately for the city and to secure it and the eastern approaches, while ensuring that the gigantic artillery train passed through safely and was put on the road to Iglau and Prague.  Generalmajor Schneller of Kolowrat-Krakowsky’s III Corps was ordered to take a regiment of Uhlans, to get a grip of Alstern and to investigate the situation on the road to Laa.  Hohenzollern’s II Corps was ordered to march to Laa to ‘dislodge the enemy’.  If this were to prove impossible, Hohenzollern was to cross the Thaya upstream and defend the approaches to Znaïm.

Finally receiving a message from Alstern at 0330hrs on the 10th, advising him of the critical situation between Laa and Znaïm, Charles realise that his early plan to make at a stand at Jetzelsdorf was now impossible and that his stand would have to be made at Znaïm.  Bellegarde’s I Corps was now ordered to march to Klein-Tesswitz and block the eastern approach to the city, while Kolowrat-Krakowsky’s III Corps and Klenau’s VI Corps were ordered to march to Znaïm and secure the line of retreat toward Iglau.  Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps was ordered to ‘spare no sacrifice’ in order to win time for the army, especially the huge train, to retreat safely through Znaïm.

At around 0600hrs on the 10th, Schneller arrived at Znaïm with the ‘Schwarzenberg’ Uhlans and met with Alstern and the Colonel of the ‘Hohenzollern’ Cuirassiers, who had been attached to Alstern’s expedition.  All initially seemed calm aside from the main Vienna-Iglau highway being absolutely rammed with retreating wagons, but contact-reports soon began coming in from Alstern’s skirmishers and the cuirassier picquets deployed east of Klein-Tesswitz, as they encountered the first of Montbrun’s cavalry patrols.

Thankfully, Archduke Charles, along with Liechtenstein’s Reserve Corps, was not far behind and as the Cavalry Reserve marched through to deploy in the more open country to the north of Znaïm, Prochaszka’s Grenadier Reserve deployed among the vineyards, in an arc around the eastern side of the city; Steyrer’s grenadier brigade moved to Klein-Tesswitz, where Schneller deployed him on the high ground to the eastern approaches to the village (while sending Alstern back to defend the artillery park at Znaïm).  Scovaud’s grenadier brigade was deployed south of the Thaya with Nostitz’s Reserve Light Cavalry Division, to watch for any move along the south bank of the river from the south-east.  The two remaining grenadier brigades were deployed in reserve to the east of Znaïm.  Schneller’s thin cavalry screen meanwhile was reinforced with the addition of Rothkirch’s cavalry brigade from Nostitz’s division.

Marmont’s men in the meantime had shaken off their hangovers and were on the march from Laa.  Screened by Montbrun’s troopers, Clauzel’s French infantry division arrived first and formed up on what would be the corps’ right flank, north of the Znaïm-Brünn highway.  Then came Claparède’s division, who formed up on the left and immediately engaged in a little light skirmishing with Austrian scouts across the Thaya.  Then came Minucci’s 2nd Bavarian Division, who were slotted into the centre.  Montbrun’s cavalry mostly deployed on the right, fending off Schneller’s and Rothkirch’s cavalry.

In front of Marmont were the fur-capped grenadiers of Steyrer’s brigade.  Although thinking it unusual that reserve grenadiers would be deployed in such a position, Marmont dismissively described them as ‘just a small rearguard’ and confidently stated that they would soon ‘hand those south of of the Thaya to Marshal Masséna’.  From his position he could not yet see the colossal column of baggage slowly making its way north and nor could he see the five enemy army corps advancing toward him!

Supported by artillery and preceded by swarms of skirmishers, the French and Bavarian infantry began their advance.  Steyrer’s grenadiers were hopelessly outnumbered, in a precarious position and could not possibly hope to hold back Marmont’s corps for long, though the tables would soon be turned…

At this point in the proceedings I would normally describe the historical course of the battle.  However, on this occasion I’ll leave it for Part 2, which will cover the scenario for the second day of the battle (11th July).

Part 2 will be playable as a stand-alone scenario in its own right, but I’ll also include the necessary rules to enable it to be combined with this scenario and played as a multi-day battle.

Scenario Outline

The scenario will last for 16 turns, starting with the French 1300hrs turn and ending at nightfall with the Austrian 2030hrs turn.  See below for the detailed schedule of reinforcements.

As usual, either side can win an outright victory by pushing the enemy army permanently beyond their morale limit.  Note however, that the Austrian morale limit will increase as reinforcements arrive (see the scenario schedule below), so they must be pushed beyond their maximum limit of 20M.

If neither side gains an outright victory, the battle will proceed to Day 2 (see the next article).

The scenario uses a 10′ x 6′ table, though I must confess that it should be approximately 15% larger, as the battle was fought over a VERY wide area.  However, I don’t know many wargamers with arms like Twizzle, who can reach the middle of an 7-foot table!  However, despite compressing the map-scale, there is still plenty of space in which to deploy the number of troops in the order of battle.

Orders of Battle

For the uninitiated, Napoleon’s Battles is a ‘grand tactical’ set, where each unit represents a brigade or large regiment and the man-to-figure ratio is roughly 1:100 (to be exact, it’s 1:120 for infantry and 1:80 for cavalry).  It would however, be relatively easy to convert to similarly-scaled systems such as Age of Eagles or Général d’Armée.

The ‘hieroglyphs’ on the orders of battle show the strength of a unit in figures, their nationality, the troop type and the point at which the unit will ‘disperse’ (i.e. become combat-ineffective).  For example, the code ’16 FrLN [6D]’ means a 16-figure unit of French Line Infantry, which will likely disperse when it reaches a strength of 6 figures.  The stats for French Line Infantry can then be found on the Unit Information Card at the bottom of this article.  I’m sure you can work out the rest.

Generals have a rating (e.g. General Roguet with ‘4″G(7)+1 [2F]’) which shows their command-span expressed in inches, a quality-rating (Poor, Average, Good or Excellent), an initiative rating between 4 and 8 (10 for C-in-Cs), a combat modifier (ranging from -1 to +3) which is added if they are attached to the unit in combat (a ‘D’ indicates that the modifier is only applied in defence) and the formation’s fatigue rating.  The C-in-C also usually has a number with ‘M’; this is the army’s morale rating.

Note that where a brigade is very large and/or comprising different troop-types, I will usually split it into two or more regimental sub-units.  E.g. ‘Henneberg’s Brigade #1’ and ‘Henneberg’s Brigade #2’.  The upper-limit of unit size in Napoleon’s Battles is 28 figures for infantry and 20 figures for cavalry.

The French Army of Dalmatia
Général de Division Marmont

12”G(10)+1 [8M]
[5 Free Rolls]

XI Corps (Army of Dalmatia) – Général de Division Marmont [5F]

1st Division – Général de Division Claparède                                       3”G(7)+1
Plauzonne’s Brigade (5e de Ligne)                                                              12 FrLN [5D]
Bertrand’s Brigade (79e & 81e de Ligne)                                                   20 FrLN [8D]

2nd Division – Général de Division Clauzel                                          4”G(7)+1
Delzon’s Brigade (8e Légère & 23e de Ligne)                                            24 FrLT [10D]
Bachelu’s Brigade (11e de Ligne)                                                                  16 FrLN [6D]

XI Corps Artillery Reserve
Artillerie à Pied                                                                                                 Fr12#
Artillerie à Pied                                                                                                 Fr12#
Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                             Fr6#

2nd Bavarian Division – Generalmajor Minucci                                3”G(7)+1
Minucci’s Brigade (3rd & 13th Infantry Regiments & 6th LI Bn)          28 BvLN [14D]
Becker’s Brigade (6th & 7th Infantry Regiments)                                     20 BvLN [10D]
Preysing’s Brigade (2nd & 3rd Chevauléger Regiments)                         8 BvLC [3D]
Light (Mounted) Battery ‘Caspers’                                                               Bv6#
Heavy Foot Battery ‘Dobl’                                                                              Bv12#

Light Cavalry Division Montbrun – Général de Division Montbrun 4”E(8)+2
Jacquinot’s Brigade (1er & 2e Chasseurs and 7e Hussars)                      16 FrLC [6D]
Pajol’s Brigade (11e & 12e Chasseurs à Cheval and 5e Hussards)          16 FrLC [6D]
Gauthrin’s Brigade (7e & 20e Chasseurs à Cheval and 9e Hussards)   16 FrLC [6D]
6/2e Artillerie à Cheval                                                                                   Fr4#

French Order of Battle Notes

1.  On Day 1 (10th July), Marmont acts as the Army Commander with the generalship ratings shown.  On Day 2 (11th July), Napoleon takes command of the situation and Marmont reverts to being a corps commander.  See the Day 2 scenario.

2.  Napoleon’s effects on the army in Napoleon’s Battles are that he increases the Dispersal rating of all units by one grade and increases the Fatigue rating of all formations by one.  I’ve arbitrarily applied these bonuses to Marmont’s XI Corps for Day 1, as his force is confident and buoyed up by the victory at Wagram.

3.  Generalleutnant von Wrede, commander of the 2nd Bavarian Division, was recovering from wounds suffered at Wagram and was temporarily replaced by Generalmajor Minucci.

4.  Minucci’s Bavarian Brigade (XI Corps), will gain an additional +1 Fire Modifier thanks to their organic light infantry battalion.  I’ve classed Delzon’s Brigade (XI Corps) as wholly light infantry, as the 8e Légère represented the majority of the brigade.

The Imperial & Royal Austrian Main Army
Feldmarschall Erzherzog Karl

20”E(10)+2
[8M at start of Day 1, increasing as reinforcements arrive to 20M]
[6 Free Rolls]

Elements, II Corps (Hohenzollern-Hechingen)

Elements, Division of Generalmajor Wied-Runkel (under command of GM Schneller)
Alstern’s Brigade (Infantry Regiment 21 ‘Rohan’)                                    16 AsLN [8D]

Elements, III Corps (Kolowrat-Krakowsky)

Elements, Division of Generalmajor Schneller                            4”A(6)+0
Schuttermeier’s Brigade (Uhlan Regiment 2 ‘Schwarzenberg’)              8 AsLC [4D]

Reserve Corps – General der Kavallerie Liechtenstein        8”G(7)+1D [7F]

Grenadier Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Prochaszka       3”A(6)+1
Scovaud’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                          12 AsGN [5D]
Hammer’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                         20 AsGN [8D]
Melgum’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                           20 AsGN [8D]
Steyrer’s Grenadier Brigade                                                                             28 AsGN [11D]

Cavalry Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Hessen-Homburg  3”A(5)+0
Roussel d’Hurbal’s Brigade (KRs 2 ‘EH Franz’ & 3 ‘EH Albert’)              8 AsHC [3D]
Lederer’s Brigade (KRs 4 ‘EH Ferdinand’ & 8 ‘Hohenzollern’)                8 AsHC [3D]
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                   As6#
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                   As6#

Cavalry Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Schwarzenberg    4”A(8)+0
Kroyher’s Brigade (KRs 1 ‘Kaiser’ & 6 ‘Liechtenstein’)                              12 AsHC [4D]
Theimern’s Brigade (CR 6 ‘Rosenberg’ & DR 3 ‘Knesevich’)                    20 AsLC [10D]
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                   As6#
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                   As6#

Cavalry Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Nostitz                      4”E(7)+2
Rothkirch’s Brigade (DRs 1 ‘Erzherzog Johann’ & 6 ‘Riesch’)                 12 AsHC [5D]
Kerekes’ Brigade (Neutra & Primatial Insurrection HRs)                        16 AsILC [10D]
Cavalry Battery As6#

Austrian Reinforcements on 10th July

I Corps – General der Kavallerie Bellegarde                               7”A(6)+0 [3F]

Division of Generalmajor Henneberg                                                4”G(6)+1
Henneberg’s Brigade #1 (IR 17 ‘Reuss-Plauen’ & 2nd Jäger)                   20 AsLN [10D]
Henneberg’s Brigade #2 (IR 36 ‘Kolowrat’)                                                 16 AsLN [8D]
Elements, Fabré’s Brigade (IR 11 ‘Erzherzog Rainer’)                                16 AsLN [8D]

Division of Generalmajor Clary                                                             3”A(5)+0
Clary’s Brigade (IRs 10 ‘Anton Mittrowsky’ & 42 ‘Erbach’)                      24 AsLN [12D]
Stutterheim’s Brigade (CR 5 ‘Klenau’)                                                           12 AsLC [6D]
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                   As6#

I Corps Artillery
Position Battery                                                                                                  As12#
Position Battery                                                                                                  As12#

II Corps – Feldmarschalleutnant Hohenzollern-Hechingen      7”G(6)+1D [3F]

Division of Generalmajor Buresch                                                       3”A(4)+0
Quallenberg’s Brigade (IRs 25 ‘Zedtwitz’ & 54 ‘Froon’)                             28 AsLN [14D]
Buresch’s Brigade (IRs 15 ‘Zach’ & 57 ‘Joseph Colloredo’)                        28 AsLN [14D]
Schäffer’s Brigade (IR 35 ‘Argentau & 47 ‘Vogelsang’) (From I Corps)  24 AsLN [12D]

Division of Generalmajor Wied-Runkel                                            4”G(5)+0
Wied-Runkel’s Brigade (IRs 18 ‘d’Aspré’ & 28 ‘Frelich’)                          24 AsLN [12D]
GIR 13 ‘Wallach-Illyrian’ and 2nd & 4th Erzherzog Karl Legion            12 AsGRZ [7D]
Chevauléger Regiment 4 ‘Vincent’ (too weak to show – incorporated into I Corps strength)

II Corps Artillery
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                   As6#

III Corps – Generalfeldzeugmeister Kolowrat-Krakowsky      8”A(6)+1D [4F]

Elements, Division Schneller – Generalmajor Wratislaw                 3”A(5)+0
Wratislaw’s Brigade (Bohemian Landwehr & Lobkowitz Jäger)              20 AsFKI [12D]
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                    As6#

Division of Feldmarschalleutnant St Julien                                      3”P(4)+0
Chiesa’s Brigade (IRs 1 ‘Kaiser’ & 23 ‘Würzburg’)                                        24 AsLN [12D]
Lilienberg’s Brigade (IR 12 ‘Manfredini’)                                                       20 AsLN [10D]
Bieber’s Brigade (IRs 20 ‘Kaunitz’ & 38 ‘Württemberg’)                            28 AsLN [14D]

III Corps Artillery
Position Battery                                                                                                    As12#
Position Battery                                                                                                    As12#

VI Corps – Feldmarschalleutnant Klenau (Optional)      7”G(6)+1 [3F]

Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Hohenfeld                                  4”G(8)+1D
Hoffmeister’s Brigade (Hungarian IRs 39 ‘Duka’ & 60 ‘Gyulai’)               20 AsLN [10D]
Adler’s Brigade (IRs 14 ‘Klebek’ & 59 ‘Jordis’ and 3rd EH Karl Legion)  24 AsLN [12D]

Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Kottulinsky                                4”A(5)+1
Splenyi’s Brigade (Hungarian IRs 31 ‘Benjowsky’ & 51 ‘Splenyi’ and 3rd & 4th Vienna Volunteers) 20 AsLN [10D]

Division of Feldmarschalleutnant Vincent                                         4”A(5)+0
Vécsey’s Brigade (GIR 7 ‘Broder’ and 1st & 2nd Vienna Volunteers)        12 AsGRZ [7D]
Mariassy’s Brigade (HRs 7 ‘Liechtenstein’ & 8 ‘Kienmayer’)                      12 AsLC [6D]
Cavalry Battery                                                                                                      As6#

Austrian Order of Battle Notes

1.  The Austrian army starts Day 1 with a morale rating of 8M.  This increases to 20M as reinforcements arrive, as shown on the Game Schedule.  This of course, might be disrupted by formations arriving out of sequence if you’re using the Variable Arrival Times Rule (in which case, you’ll have to work out the current morale rating as you go along).

2.  An array of Austrian FMLs had been felled during the Battle of Wagram, so a lot of divisions are here temporarily commanded by GMs.

3.  Prior to the battle, Schneller was ordered by Archduke Charles to conduct a personal reconnaissance to the east of Znaïm with the 2nd Uhlans.  This means that he is detached from the main body of his division during Day 1 of the battle and is therefore treated as a very small independent division.  During the initial stages of the battle, Alstern’s Infantry Brigade, Steyrer’s Grenadier Brigade and Rothkirch’s Cavalry Brigade also came temporarily under his command and in game terms he may therefore take command of these units during Day 1 only.  Any losses are counted against their parent formation Fatigue Ratings.

4.  Alstern’s Brigade of Wied-Runkel’s Division (of II Corps) had originally been ordered to guard the road from Laa to Znaïm, but had fallen back in the face of Marmont’s advance before establishing a defensive position at the village of Klein-Tesswitz.  However, at the start of the game, Alstern has just been relieved by Steyrer and has been ordered by Schneller to fall back to a reserve position in the northern suburb of Znaïm.  This brigade may be commanded by Schneller during the first day of the battle.

5.  Steyrer’s Brigade of Prochaszka’s Grenadier Division was ordered to relieve Alstern’s Brigade at Klein-Tesswitz and there came under the command of Schneller, who had been ordered to take command of several disparate units in that area during the first day of the battle.

6.  Rothkirch’s Brigade of Nostitz’s Cavalry Division, positioned north of the River Thaya, started the battle separated from Nostitz’s main body, which was south of the river.  This brigade may be commanded by Schneller during the first day of the battle.

7.  Theimern’s Brigade of Schwarzenberg’s Cavalry Division was placed under Nostitz’s command south of the River Thaya during the first day of the battle.  Nostitz may therefore command this brigade during Day 1.

8.  While Schneller was off gallivanting, Giffling’s infantry brigade (IR 7 ‘Karl Schröder & IR 56 ‘Wenzel Colloredo’) from the same division was also detached, forming part of the rearguard.  This left only Wratislaw’s Brigade of Bohemian Landwehr & Volunteer Jäger present with the main body of III Corps.  I’ve classed this brigade as an independent formation commanded by Wratislaw.  I’ve classed them as Freikorps infantry rather than Landwehr, due to the large contingent of volunteers present.

9.  At around 1400hrs on Day 1, Archduke Charles sent Prince Liechtenstein to seek out Napoleon and seek terms for peace.  Liechtenstein therefore placed Schwarzenberg in command of the ‘Cavalry Reserve Corps’ during his absence.  From the Austrian Command Phase of Turn 4 therefore, Liechtenstein will be removed from play and will be immediately replaced in the same location by Schwarzenberg, who will be classed as a Temporary Corps Commander, with generalship ratings of 6”A(6)+0.  I don’t know who commanded Schwarzenberg’s division during this period, so just continue to use Schwarzenberg’s own divisional generalship ratings, representing his 2ic.  It’s not clear if Prochaszka’s Grenadier Division (often referred to as the ‘Reserve Grenadier Corps’, distinct from the ‘Cavalry Reserve Corps’) also came under Schwarzenberg’s command, but I have assumed so.

10.  Schäffer’s Brigade (IR 35 ‘Argentau’) and elements of Fabré’s Brigade (IR 47 ‘Vogelsang’) had become separated from I Corps during the retreat from Wagram and had been collected by II Corps during the march to Znaïm.  I’ve therefore shown them on Day 1 with Buresch’s Division of II Corps, as a single 24-figure unit under Schäffer.  This unit will be removed at the end of Day 1 and reunited with I Corps for the start of Day 2.  Any casualties suffered during Day 1 will need to be evenly shared between the two units when they are added to I Corps.

11.  I’ve incorporated the strength of Chevauléger Regiment 4 ‘Vincent’ from II Corps into Stutterheim’s Brigade of I Corps, as the Vincent Chevaulégers are too weak to represent as a unit in their own right.

12.  Most of II Corps’ artillery had retreated from Wagram with Rosenberg’s IV Corps, leaving II Corps with only three unspecified batteries.  In game terms I’ve therefore only included a single 6pdr cavalry battery.

13.  Klenau’s VI Corps arrived late in the day, was immediately placed in reserve and played no part in the day’s fighting.  It may therefore be considered to be an optional formation and may be left out of the scenario (though still add the formation’s strength to the Army Morale level).  Kolowrat-Krakowsky’s III Corps also played little part in the battle, but was at least used to threaten Marmont’s right flank, so may as well be left in.

13.  Reuss-Plauen’s V Corps was fighting a rearguard action against Masséna at Schöngrabern during Day 1.  His corps arrived during the night and participated in the second day of fighting at Znaïm.

14.  I’ve no idea if the Austrian divisions were numbered at this time.  They had been numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc within each corps at the start of the campaign, but there had been many reorganisations and commander-reshuffles since then and every source I’ve read just identifies them by name.  In order to simplify unit labelling, I’ve arbitrarily numbered each division within each corps on the game labels below.

15.  Henneberg’s #1 Brigade (I Corps) includes a regular Jäger Battalion and will therefore gain an additional +1 Fire Modifier.

16.  I often use my own unofficial ‘Archduke Charles Rule’ (very similar to the official Napoleon’s Battles ‘Blücher Rule’) whenever Archduke Charles is present during 1809 battles.  I haven’t actually posted it here in any scenarios yet, but it will appear when I get around to posting my Aspern-Essling scenario.  However, the ‘Archduke Charles Rule’ may not be used in this scenario.

Initial Deployment

Marmont starts the game with all of the reinforced XI Corps, except for the Artillery Reserve, which will arrive as reinforcements.

Archduke Charles starts the game with Liechtenstein, the Reserve Corps, Schneller’s detachment and Alstern’s Brigade.

As this was an encounter battle where neither side had any detailed knowledge of the enemy’s strength or dispositions, both sides deploy their units as per the map, though the French may rearrange the exact deployment of brigades within their divisional areas.

Marmont may be positioned anywhere at the start, but Archduke Charles and Liechtenstein must start the game at the newly-established Army Headquarters in the village of Brenditz (near the top of the map).

Infantry and cavalry units may be deployed in any formation.

All artillery starts the game limbered.

Austrian cavalry units may have React Markers at the start.

Game & Reinforcement Schedule Day 1 (10th July)

Turn 1 – 1300:  Game starts with French turn.  French XI Corps Artillery Reserve arrives at Point C.  Bellegarde with Clary’s Division (I Corps), arrives at Point B.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 10M]

Turn 2 – 1330:  Henneberg’s Division (I Corps) & I Corps Reserve Artillery arrives at Point B.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 11M]

Turn 3 – 1400:  Kolowrat-Krakowsky with Wratislaw’s Brigade (III Corps) arrives at Point A.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 12M]

Turn 4 – 1430:  Liechtenstein is replaced by Schwarzenberg as commander of the Reserve Corps.  St Julien’s Division (III Corps) & III Corps Reserve Artillery arrives at Point A.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 14M]

Turn 7 – 1600:  Hohenlohe with Wied-Runkel’s Division (II Corps) arrives at Point B.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 15M]

Turn 8 – 1630:  Klenau with Vincent’s Division (VI Corps) arrives at Point A.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 16M]

Turn 9 – 1700:  Buresch’s Division (II Corps) & II Corps Reserve Artillery arrives at Point B.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 18M]

Turn 10 – 1730:  Hohenfeld’s Division (VI Corps) arrives at Point A.  [Austrian Army Morale increases to 20M]

Turn 11 – 1800:  Kottulinsky’s Division (VI Corps) arrives at Point A.  [Austrian Army Morale remains at 20M]

Turn 16 – 2030:  Scenario ends at the end of this turn (nightfall).

All units arrive in March Column formation.

Miscellaneous Rules and Terrain Effects

1.  The Thaya River is unfordable, except via the bridge at Oblass and the fords at Pumlitz and Mühlfraun.  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.

2.  The Leska Stream between Points Y & Z sits within a deep, steep-sided ravine.  Between these points it is only fordable to infantry and cavalry (not artillery) as 2 inches of Rough Terrain and additionally, all units will immediately become Disordered.  A unit defending the bank will gain a +1 defensive modifier (in addition to the attacker getting the -3 penalty for being Disordered).  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.

3.  All Other Streams (including the Leska below Point Z) are passable to all troop types as 1 inch of Rough Terrain and are not disordering.  A unit defending the bank will gain a +1 defensive modifier.  All bridges and fords may be crossed by all troop-types at the normal Column or March Column rate.

4.  The Pond at Kukrowitz is impassable to all troop-types.

5.  All Villages have a cover modifier of -2 and a defensive modifier of +2.  Some villages have more than one Built-Up Sector (defined by the brown rectangles) and each Sector my accommodate an infantry brigade.  Villages with roads running through them may potentially accommodate more than one unit, but only if the additional units are passing through in Column or March Column formation.

6.  The City of Znaïm is mostly surrounded by high Mediaeval walls (defined by the thick black line) which may only be accessed through one of the four gates marked in red and only by troops in Column or March Column formation.  Attacking units may only assault a gate in Column formation.  Units defending a gate gain a +4 defensive modifier against units attempting to attack into the city from outside the gate.  The city is divided up into six adjacent Built-Up Sectors, each with a cover modifier of -2 and a defensive modifier of +3 (if attacked from an adjacent sector and not through a gate).  The three adjacent Built-Up Sectors along the river bank are outside the city walls and are classed as a village.  Note that attacking the River Gate of Znaïm is virtual suicide, being up a steep, narrow and enfiladed approach.  The defender will gain +1 for the slope, plus the +4 for defending the gate!

7.  Hill Slopes provide a +1 defensive modifier to the defender.  I appreciate that this map has very complicated topography and will undoubtedly need some simplifying for game purposes (unless you have a sand-table, Geo-Hex or some other flashy terrain system).  I’ll have a stab at a simplified map and will include it in a future update, but for now we’ll have to make do with the ‘proper’ map.

8.  Woods provide a -1 cover modifier, but no positive combat modifier, just the usual negative combat modifiers, depending on troop type (suffered by both combatants, provided the defender is within the wood).  Woods are classed as Rough Terrain for movement for all troop types, though are not particularly dense and do not therefore disorder troops passing through them.  Firing through woods is limited to 2 inches range.

9.  Vineyards are defined by the brown areas shown on the map.  These provide no cover modifier and no positive combat modifier.  Both sides suffer the negative combat modifiers normally used for woods.  Vineyards are classed as Rough Terrain for all troop types, but do not block line of sight.  I should say that the position of vineyards is not exact and their layout is based on a couple of pretty vague maps, so feel free to vary them.  Essentially the lower half of the map (along the Thaya valley) was very thickly covered in vineyards, while the upper half was considered better ‘cavalry country’.

10.  Earthworks had been dug by the Austrians (probably in 1805) to cover the southern approaches to Znaïm from the Vienna highway.  These were three small positions for ‘a few guns’ and for game purposes I have reduced this to two positions, one on the low ground and one on the high ground, each big enough to hold a full battery.  The earthworks provide the battery with a -2 cover modifier and a +2 combat modifier.  Each emplaced battery may pivot by up to 45 degrees and remain in cover.  The earthworks are not sufficient to accommodate an infantry brigade.

11.  Roads are coloured either grey for the main paved highways or brown for the local roads and tracks.  There is no real difference in game terms, though if your terrain collection only includes a limited number of road-pieces, do the grey highways as a matter of priority, along with any roads passing through woods or vineyards, as well as river-crossings.

12.  The Vienna Highway leading from Point A to Oblass, Znaïm and Iglau was absolutely rammed with retreating Austrian traffic.  Only those formations arriving at Point A (III Corps and VI Corps) may therefore use the Oblass Bridge.  Formations arriving at Point B (I Corps and II Corps) may only use the Pumling Ford.  However, Nostitz’s Cavalry Division and Scovaud’s Grenadier Brigade (who start the scenario positioned south of the Thaya) may use either crossing.

Scenario Balancing Options

At first glance, this scenario seems very heavily stacked against Marmont.  However, note that the Austrians, while there are a lot of them, are committed to the battle piecemeal and with very limited avenues of approach, so I’d perhaps play this through at least once before making any major changes.

However, I would seriously consider leaving Klenau’s VI Corps out of the scenario, as they simply marched past Znaïm and didn’t get involved in the battle.

Another option might be to force Kolowrat-Krakowsky’s III Corps to remain in March Column formation and on the main highway until they reach Point Y, which is where they historically deployed off the road and advanced to threaten Marmont’s right flank.  This move could of course be cancelled if they came under attack.

One more option might be to ban the Austrians from using the ford at Mühlfraun as a sneaky way to outflank the French.  Although Hohenzollern did have orders to explore options to cross the Thaya in that area, the Austrians were very worried about Marshal Davout approaching from that direction, so were reluctant to place themselves in a position where they would then be outflanked in turn.

Unit Information Card

French Unit Labels

Austrian Unit Labels

Part 2 to follow soon!  In the meantime I’ve been indulging in a little sci-fi action with the superb Core Space game-system.  I’ve had a couple of solo games and a game with an actual human and it’s an absolutely brilliant game! 🙂  It also includes a lot of really nice scenery and there are lots of expansion options… I must be strong…

The continuing ramblings of the Butterfly Wargamer…

My surviving reader might remember back to the alcohol-fueled Lockdown Days of 2000, when I was last burning through Wellingtonics like a man possessed.  Back then I was looking forward to the wargames I was going to have when the various UK Lockdowns (and a slack handful added by the Cardiff Parish Council to keep us out of the pubs and make Wales feel extra miserable for tradition’s sake) finally ended.  At the time I blitzed my way through the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw, I finally finished a pile of units that had been languishing in the Russian Wing of the Lead Dungeon for twenty years and I expanded my Austrian army fivefold.

My plan at the time was to play the 1809 Battle of Aspern-Essling and the 1813 Battle of Liebertwolkwitz.  However, as you may have noticed, I haven’t yet done either game (though in my defence, Liebertwolkwitz was actually our very first game (about 35 years ago) using the Napoleon’s Battles system and my dearly-departed hordes of Minfigs, Heritage, TTG, Chariot and Battle Honours figures).

Nevertheless, these games are most definitely afoot!  I have now almost completed the order of battle for Aspern-Essling and I’ve already got everything we need for Liebertwolkwitz, so I’m hoping that we can play both this year if I can find a spare weekend for each game (these will definitely be two-day affairs!).

In the meantime, I may as well post the scenarios, starting with this’un.  This is the massive cavalry-battle of Liebertwolkwitz, which was fought on 14th October 1813, two days before the start of the ‘Battle of Nations’, the titanic Battle of Leipzig (16th to 19th October 1813).  Part of the Battle of Leipzig was then fought over the exact-same ground.

I’d like to apologise for this being a bit of a long’un… Well, I’d like to, but I won’t… 😉

The Autumn Campaign of 1813

Despite Napoleon’s catastrophic defeat in Russia, in the Spring of 1813 he nevertheless managed to pull off arguably one of the greatest organisational feats of the entire era; the recreation of the Grande Armée from practically nothing.  This brand-new army, woefully inexperienced and cripplingly short of horseflesh, then somehow managed to defeat the combined armies of Russia and the resurgent Prussia during the Spring Campaign of 1813, at the battles of Lützen and Bautzen.  However, despite these victories, Napoleon proved unable to land the knockout blow and was forced in June to agree to an armistice.

The war stopped for a couple of months as both sides paused to build up their forces and re-draw their plans.  The embryonic new Prussian Army was massively expanded with the addition of the Landwehr militia, but most significantly, the Allied cause was boosted in August by the addition of Austria to the 6th Coalition, along with her massive army.

Still welcome, but somewhat less significantly, was the addition of a Swedish Corps and the creation of a multi-national corps in Northern Germany, consisting of British regulars, the newly-reformed Hanoverian, Mecklenburg and Hanseatic Armies, Prussian and German Freikorps, Russian Cossacks and Swedish units.

The Allies were now split into three main parts; the Army of the North under Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden (i.e. the former French Marshal Bernadotte), the Army of Silesia under the Prussian Field Marshal Blücher and the Army of Bohemia under the Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg.  The three monarchs (of Russia, Prussia and Austria) would accompany the Army of Bohemia, which was by far the largest of the three armies.

Each Allied army had a large Russian contingent and at least one Prussian army corps (the Army of the North had two Prussian army corps and the Army of Bohemia had the Prussian Royal Guard Division attached to the Russian Imperial Guard).  The Swedish Corps was assigned to the Army of the North, while the Austrian Army formed a very large part of the Army of Bohemia.  In addition to the three main armies were General Wallmoden’s multi-national corps in North Germany and the all-Russian Polish Reserve Army under General Benningsen, which was conducting siege and lines-of-communication duties in the rear, but which would also eventually join operations in Germany.

Riven by disagreement over their overall war-aims, the Allies nevertheless managed to thrash out a strategy, based on the (accurate) assumption that Napoleon would attack them first.  The ‘Trachenberg-Reichenbach Plan’ had six key points:

1. Any fortresses occupied by the enemy are not to be besieged, but merely observed.
2. The main effort is to be directed against the enemy’s flanks and lines of operation.
3. To cut the enemy’s lines of communication, forcing him to detach troops to clear them or move his main forces against them.
4. To accept battle only against part of the enemy’s forces and only if that part is outnumbered, but to avoid battle against his combined forces, especially if these are directed against the Allies’ weak points.
5. In the event of the enemy moving in force against one of the Allied armies, this army is to retire while the others will advance with vigour.
6. The point of union of the Allied armies is to be the enemy’s headquarters.

This essentially boiled down to one simple concept: “Fight where Napoleon is absent.  Retreat where he is present.”

Napoleon for his part planned to use his advantage of interior lines in Saxony to strike at one of the Allied armies at a time, while holding off the others with smaller forces.  Marshal Davout’s XIII Corps would continue to hold Hamburg and the line of the Lower Elbe in the north (in concert with the tiny Danish Army in Schleswig-Holstein), while Marshal Oudinot’s Army of Berlin (IV, VII & XII Corps & III Reserve Cavalry Corps) would advance from Saxony to take Berlin, thereby causing political trouble for the Prussians, to draw the army of the North upon himself and to draw Prussian forces away from the other Allied armies (Napoleon seems to have forgotten that threatening Berlin only three months earlier to draw the Prussians away from the Russians didn’t work prior to the Battle of Bautzen).

Marshal Ney’s Army of the Bober (III, V, VI & XI Corps & II Reserve Cavalry Corps) meanwhile, would hold the line of that river against the Army of Silesia, while General Poniatowski’s Poles (VIII Corps and IV Reserve Cavalry Corps) and Marshal Victor’s II Corps would screen the passes of the Bohemian Mountains for any sign of an advance by Schwarzenberg.  Marshal Augerau’s still-forming IX Corps would cover the lines of communication to Bavaria.  Marshal Saint-Cyr’s XIV Corps would hold the base of operations at Dresden, where Napoleon was positioned with his operational reserve (The Imperial Guard, I Corps and I & V Reserve Cavalry Corps).

(If you’re counting, the X Corps slot was taken by General Rapp’s garrison of Danzig, who had been besieged since the Spring)

With the armistice coming to its pre-arranged end on 13th August, Napoleon’s offensive first struck eastward from his base of operations at Dresden, aiming to join Ney’s Army of the Bober and knock out Blücher’s Army of Silesia, which faulty intelligence had led Napoleon to believe was the largest of the three main Allied armies (while Napoleon had massively built up his cavalry arm during the armistice, it was still significantly inferior in terms of numbers and quality and with bands of Cossacks seemingly everywhere, the Allies had a considerable reconnaissance advantage).  Realising that he was facing the Emperor and in accordance with the agreed Allied plan, Blücher withdrew his army, leaving Napoleon punching into thin air.

The Battle of Grossbeeren, 23rd August

With Napoleon known to be in front of Blücher, the Allies were quick to take advantage; Bernadotte’s Army of the North moved to engage Oudinot’s Army of Berlin, while the Army of Bohemia crossed over the Bohemian Mountains and descended upon Dresden.  The first major clash of the campaign took place on 23rd August, at the town of Grossbeeren near Berlin, where Marshal Oudinot’s 70,000 men found themselves facing the Crown Prince of Sweden’s 93,000.  Oudinot was decisively defeated and was forced to retreat back to the Elbe.

Napoleon meanwhile, alerted to the threat to his base at Dresden, immediately marched back to the city with his reserves, arriving there on 25th August.  Marshal Ney was also ordered to Dresden with orders to leave Marshal MacDonald in command of the Army of the Bober.  However, thanks to his imprecise orders, Ney also ordered his own III Corps (the strongest formation, now commanded by General Souham) to also march to Dresden, leaving MacDonald’s army dangerously weakened.

The Battle of Dresden, 26th-27th August

Moving characteristically slowly thanks to multi-national ‘Command by Committee’, Schwarzenberg’s Army of Bohemia finally assaulted the city on 26th August and made significant gains during the first day of fighting, but was unable to break the resistance shown by the defenders.  Shouts of “Vive l’Empéreur!” coming from the defenders made the Allies suspicious, but they were certain that Napoleon was miles away, in front of Blücher.  After much discussion, they finally agreed to continue their assault and by 5pm they were at the very walls of Dresden.

Then it all started to unravel for the Allies… Napoleon now unleashed the 70,000 men of his reserve and the Allies were immediately thrown back, with fighting continuing until midnight and the Allies being pushed almost back to their start-line in many areas.  During the night, each flank of Napoleon’s army was massively reinforced under the cover of darkness and heavy rain.

At dawn on the 27th, the French left wing, led by Marshal Ney and spearheaded by the Young Guard, launched a counter-attack which quickly drove back Wittgenstein’s Russians, but eventually got bogged down in the heavy mud.  Marshal St-Cyr’s centre also made gains against Kleist’s Prussians and rebuffed a counter-attack, while Marshal Murat’s right wing also began to gain ground against the Austrians.  The Russians planned a counter-attack against Ney’s left wing, but this also quickly bogged down in the mud.

Then in the afternoon, Marshal Victor’s French II Corps finally broke through the Austrians and this advantage was soon exploited by Murat with the massed reserve cavalry.  The Austrian wing, partly penned against the flooded River Weisseritz, was completely smashed, with three whole divisions surrendering outright to the French.  This disaster was compounded by the news that Vandamme’s French I Corps had arrived at Pirna, thereby cutting the Allies’ line of communication to Prague via the valley of the Elbe.

The Battle of the Katzbach, 26th August

In the meantime, the wily Blücher, realising that the pressure in front of him had eased considerably, decided to go onto the offensive.  His four corps; the Russian corps of Sacken, St Priest and Langeron and Yorck’s Prussian I Corps totalled around 96,000 men, which was roughly on a par with MacDonald’s total of around 91,000.  However, the withdrawal of Souham’s III Corps had just taken 28,000 from the French total!

The resultant Battle of the Katzbach was a confused encounter-battle in appalling weather, marked by heavy rain, thick mud, flooded rivers and broken bridges which trapped thousands of French troops, forcing them to surrender.  Both sides fought each other to exhaustion, but even the late return of Souham’s III Corps couldn’t save the day for the Army of the Bober.

A further victory by Langeron’s Corps at Löwenberg on 29th August netted thousands more prisoners.  The Army of the Bober was completely routed, having lost in excess of 30,000 men and 100 guns.  However, Blücher’s victory was not without considerable cost; the Army of Silesia had lost 22,000 men, though their victory had won them a considerable morale-advantage over the French.

Worse was to come for Napoleon.  Having pursued the defeated Army of Bohemia as far as Pirna, he now received news of Oudinot’s defeat at Grossbeeren and MacDonald’s defeat on the Katzbach.  As Vandamme’s I Corps had not been engaged, he was tasked with continuing the pursuit of the defeated Allied army into Bohemia, while Napoleon regrouped back at Dresden and marched north, intending to resume the advance on Berlin and to crush the Crown Prince of Sweden’s Army of the North.

The Battle of Kulm, 29th-30th August

However, on 29th August, a Russian force of around 10,000 men under Ostermann-Tolstoy mounted a successful rearguard action, checking Vandamme’s pursuit at the village of Priesten.  Although Vandamme outnumbered the Russians by more than 3:1, the action was fought in a narrow valley, bordered by mountains and thick forests, so the French were unable to outflank the enemy rearguard or bring their greater numbers to bear.  Thus rebuffed, Vandamme fell back to the village of Kulm to reconsider his options.  On the 30th, Vandamme resumed the attack on the Russians, who had now been reinforced by further Russian and Austrian units under Barclay de Tolly and Colloredo-Mansfeld respectively, bringing the odds to roughly 3:2 (34,000 French versus 20,000 Allies).

However, Vandamme had lost track of one enemy formation during the pursuit; Kleist’s Prussian II Corps.  Kleist became aware that he had been passed by the French pursuit and now, at some considerable risk to his own corps, marched to attack Vandamme’s rear.  A sudden cannonade to the north alerted Vandamme to the terrible situation he now found himself trapped in!  This situation then became worse as the Russians and Austrians mounted their own frontal attack.  The Battle of Kulm was a complete disaster for the French.  Estimates of losses vary wildly from 13,000 to 25,000, but the outcome was that I Corps was completely destroyed, with Vandamme himself being captured and every gun being lost.  The defeats at Grossbeeren and the Katzbach had been mere setbacks for Napoleon, but the removal of an entire corps from the order of battle had now undone everything that he had achieved at Dresden.

Already on his way to take command of the Army of Berlin, Napoleon realised that he now had to turn his attention back to the south and east, so ordered Ney to take over command from Oudinot and resume the offensive in the north.  Blücher in the meantime was advancing, so Napoleon once again marched to face him.  However, just as before, Blücher withdrew when he realised that he was facing Napoleon.  Finally appreciating the Allied strategy, Napoleon decided not to pursue Blücher and sure enough, soon received word that Schwarzenberg was again threatening Dresden, forcing him once again to rush his reserves to that point.  This time however, the cautious Allies managed to avoid a battle against the Emperor.

The Battle of Dennewitz, 6th September

This however, was not the case in the north, where the Allies were very much seeking another battle.  Marshal Ney, determined to avoid what he perceived to be Oudinot’s mistake of advancing in multiple columns, decided to advance on Berlin in a single column.  However, on 6th September this column was checked outside the town of Juterbogk, where Tauentzein’s Prussian IV Corps (a weak formation consisting almost entirely of Landwehr units) successfully halted the advance of Bertrand’s French IV Corps (although nominally French, it was actually a mix of French, Italian and Württemberg troops, as well as some attached Polish cavalry).

Both sides had reinforcements marching to the scene, but Bülow’s powerful Prussian III Corps were first to arrive, relieving Tauentzein’s battered command and driving back Bertrand.  However, Morand’s excellent French 12th Division eventually checked the Prussians, who were then driven back by the Saxons of Reynier’s freshly-arrived VII Corps.

Bülow, now supported by Swedish cavalry and horse artillery and assured by the Crown Prince’s promises of support from Winzingerode’s Russian Corps and Stedingk’s Swedish Corps, now threw all of his reserves into a fresh attack and drove back Reynier’s Saxons.  However, the arrival of arrival of Oudinot’s XII Corps with yet more fresh French, Polish and Bavarian divisions turned the tide of battle yet again!

The Prussians, now fully-engaged against three French army corps and a reserve cavalry corps, were now close to breaking.  However, their salvation came in the form of Marshal Ney himself, who ordered Oudinot to move his corps to support Bertrand’s struggling right flank, thereby relieving pressure on Bülow’s centre, just as it was about to collapse.

At last, Winzingerode’s Russians arrived and the great weight of Russian artillery soon completed the defeat of Bertrand on the French right.  As more Russian and Swedish troops began to pour onto the field, Ney’s army collapsed.

With the score now at 4-1 to the Allies, Ney retreated all the way back to the Elbe, having lost over 20,000 men and 50 guns.  Perhaps most importantly, the various contingents of the Confederation of the Rhine had suffered terribly during the battle and their confidence (both from the point of view of their monarchs and the ordinary soldier) in Napoleon and his cause were irretrievably broken.  The Württembergers, who had long been among the best allied troops, had been utterly shattered, with only a tiny remnant remaining under their colours.  The Saxons, already very reluctant allies, had also suffered very badly during the battle.  The Bavarians, although only lightly engaged during the battle, would soon be ordered by their King to march back to Bavaria and would take no further part in the campaign…  Well, not on Napoleon’s side, anyway…

[If you’re interested, I have a scenario for the Battle of Dennewitz here.]

Following the Battle of Dennewitz, Napoleon’s Grande Armée remained at bay, temporarily safe behind the considerable military obstacles of the River Elbe to the east and north, and the Bohemian Mountains to the south.  These natural obstacles acted as a defensive wall around Napoleon’s army which would prove difficult to penetrate, particularly as Napoleon held all of the fortified crossings on the Elbe; namely Dresden, Torgau, Meissen, Wittenberg, Magdeburg and Hamburg.  However, Napoleon’s ability to conduct reconnaissance beyond these barriers was virtually nil, so he had little idea of where the enemy might be massing for an attack.

Napoleon’s army in Saxony was also now running critically short of supplies and while he could retreat to shorten his supply lines, this would mean abandoning the Confederation of the Rhine, which was politically unacceptable.  He therefore had to make his stand in Saxony if he wanted to keep the Confederation intact.  Of course, the Allies were also seriously suffering from supply issues, but hungry men are more likely to keep fighting when they are winning.  And the Allies were most definitely winning.

The Battle of Wartenburg, 3rd October

After several weeks, the stalemate was finally broken when Blücher, spotting an opportunity and using his own initiative, launched a highly risky assault-crossing of the Elbe.  Early in the foggy morning of 3rd October, Yorck’s Prussian I Corps threw two pontoon bridges across the Elbe at the village of Elster and then, in the face of stiff resistance from French skirmishers, his infantry fought their way through the bogs and woods to reach the town of Wartenburg and the open ground beyond.  However, Bertrand’s IV Corps was waiting to receive them.

As the fog lifted, the Prussians could see that the French had turned Wartenburg into a fortress.  The Prince of Mecklenburg’s advance guard was already suffering heavy casualties from fire coming from the town and it was therefore judged that a frontal assault through the streams, bogs and ox-bow lakes surrounding it would be impossible.

The village of Bleddin, about 3km to the south and on the right flank of the French line, offered a more practicable alternative; it had also been garrisoned and fortified by Bertrand, but the approach along the bank of the Elbe was far more accessible.  The village was held by Franquemont’s Württembergers who, while excellent troops, were now sorely depleted in number and demoralised, following their rough handling at Dennewitz.

As Steinmetz brought his brigade up to screen the movement, Mecklenburg took his brigade to the left with Horn’s brigade in support.  In bitter fighting, the Prussians eventually ejected the Württembergers from the village, allowing Horn’s brigade to wheel right and engage Fontanelli’s Italians.  Horn’s assault went in with maximum aggression, with the 2nd Battalion of the Leibregiment alone breaking four battalions at bayonet-point!  As the Prussians broke through into the south side of Wartenburg, Bertrand knew that his position was untenable and conceding defeat, ordered his corps to retreat.

With their hard-won victory at Wartenburg, Blücher’s Army of Silesia now had a firm bridgehead and poured over onto the east bank of the Elbe.  The Crown Prince’s Army of the North followed suit further downstream only a day later.

With both the Army of Silesia and the Army of the North now across the Elbe and the army of Bohemia threatening to emerge once again from the mountains to the south, Napoleon now had a difficult choice to make as to which enemy army to face first.  With the enemy now firmly across the Elbe, Dresden was no longer the critical hub of manoeuvre it once was and Napoleon’s main depot was now placed further back at Leipzig.  With the Crown Prince of Sweden and Blücher now only a few days’ march from Leipzig, they were clearly the greater threat.  Added to which, Blücher would struggle to withdraw his entire army across the Elbe, so would struggle to avoid battle as he had done twice before in this campaign.  Blücher would therefore be Napoleon’s next target.

As Napoleon marched on Blücher, the wily old general avoided being forced into a battle at Düben and crossed over the River Mulde, thereby moving closer to the Crown Prince’s position.  Favouring an aggressive strike against Napoleon’s lines of communication, Blücher proposed a joint move over the River Saale, cutting Leipzig off from the west and to that end captured the Saale crossing-point of Halle.  However, the Crown Prince disagreed, opting instead to stay close to his line of retreat back over the Elbe.  By this time, Napoleon’s army was dangerously close and both Allied armies would soon be forced to fight a battle of Napoleon’s choosing.

However, with Marshal Saint-Cyr having abandoned Dresden and with the news being received that Bavaria had switched sides, the Army of Bohemia passed through the Bohemian Mountains and steadily began advancing on Napoleon’s base at Leipzig.  Marshal Ney was ordered to secure Leipzig, while Marshal Joachim Murat, the King of Naples, now outnumbered roughly 4:1, conducted a rearguard against Schwarzenberg as he withdrew toward Leipzig.

With Schwarzenberg advancing on Leipzig, Blücher having taken Halle and with the Bavarians threatening his lines of communication, Napoleon now had no choice but to concentrate his forces at Leipzig, massively shorten his interior lines and fight all three enemy armies there (hopefully one at a time).  The stage was set for what was to be the greatest battle in history.  However, as the armies marched inexorably toward that single point, there was to be one more battle before the Big One…

The Cavalry Battle of Liebertwolkwitz, 14th October 1813

Murat’s rearguard consisted of Marshal Victor’s II Corps (3 divisions), Lauriston’s V Corps (3 divisions and a cavalry brigade), Prince Poniatowski’s VIII (Polish) Corps (1 division and a weak cavalry brigade), Marshal Augerau’s IX Corps (two weak and inexperienced divisions), Kellermann’s IV (Polish) Reserve Cavalry Corps (2 divisions, minus one brigade), Pajol’s V Reserve Cavalry Corps (4 divisions) and a division of Young Guard.  All corps except Augerau’s and Pajol’s were very well served with artillery, for a combined total of 156 guns, including four heavy batteries of 12-pounders and eight horse batteries.  This force totalled around 49,000 men.

With Napoleon initially hoping to deal first with Blücher’s Army of Silesia, but now agreeing to join Murat against Schwarzenberg’s Army of Bohemia, he ordered Murat to make a stand south of Leipzig, along the line Mark-Kleeberg – Wachau – Liebertwolkwitz, with the intention of holding off the Army of Bohemia until he could bring his reserves to bear.  Under no circumstances was he to become over-engaged in heavy combat.

The landscape over which Murat made his stand is gently rolling, with wide, flat-topped hills that made ideal artillery platforms.  The largest feature is a hill known as the ‘Galgenberg’ (Gallows Hill), which stands between Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz.  On this hill, Murat placed the majority of Victor’s and Lauriston’s artillery, flanked by Lauriston’s infantry.  Hidden to the rear of the hill he placed Pajol’s cavalry in an enormous column.  Victor’s infantry held Wachau, while Poniatowski held Mark-Kleeberg, with Kellermann’s cavalry in support.  One of Lauriston’s divisions was placed at a right-angle with a large battery to cover the left flank, with their flank in turn protected by the Young Guard division at Holzhausen.  Augerau’s infantry were kept back in reserve, covering the line of withdrawal.

On the opposite side, the advance guard of the Army of Bohemia was commanded by the German-born Russian General of Cavalry Peter Wittgenstein, the ‘Saviour of St Petersburg’.  Wittgenstein had replaced Kutuzov as commander of the Russian army during the previous April and had therefore been the commanding general of the allied Russian and Prussian Armies during the Spring Campaign.  However, following his defeats at Lützen and Bautzen he had stepped down to a more junior role.  Wittgenstein was now tasked with pushing back Murat’s rearguards, reconnoitering Napoleon’s likely chosen battlefield around Leipzig and countering enemy reconnaissance.

At the point of Wittgenstein’s advance were Pahlen’s Russian Cavalry Corps (actually a strong division of four brigades), Prince Gorchakov’s Russian I Corps (2 divisions), Duke Eugène of Württemberg’s Russian II Corps (2 divisions), Röder’s Prussian Reserve Cavalry Brigade (a divisional-sized formation of Kleist’s Prussian II Corps) and Duka’s Russian 3rd Cuirassier Division.  These forces were placed under the command of Prince Gorchakov.  Marching on a parallel route to the east was Klenau’s Austrian IV Corps (actually referred to in 1813 as an ‘Armee-Abteilung’), consisting of 3 divisions with organic light cavalry and an attached heavy cavalry brigade).

In reserve and under Wittgenstein’s direct control were the balance of Kleist’s Prussian II Corps and Raevsky’s Russian III (Grenadier) Corps.  Wittgenstein’s entire advance guard totalled around 70,000 men and roughly 300 guns; a considerable number for a mere reconnaissance force!

Convinced that the French were in full retreat, Wittgenstein pushed his forces hard, urging them that the enemy was retiring.  However, Klenau’s Austrians were exhausted from their previous exertions and were late departing their bivouacs.  Nevertheless, Pahlen’s cossacks, uhlans and hussars pressed forward, eventually making contact with enemy cavalry vedettes near Wachau.

It rapidly became apparent to Pahlen from the large mass of guns on the Galgenberg and the enemy troops seen massed between Mark-Kleeberg and Wachau, that the enemy was going to make a stand.  However, with Wittgenstein’s forces now strung out on the march with orders to push forward, there was now no chance of properly preparing an attack; they would now just have to do the best with what they had as it arrived on the battlefield.  As the Russian and Prussian cavalry continued to push forward, Helfreich’s Russian 14th Division (from Gorchakov’s I Corps) took control of the vital river-crossing at Cröbern, which had earlier been seized by two Prussian battalions.  In the meantime, Duke Eugène of Württemberg’s Russian II Corps deployed to the south of Gülden-Gossa.

As the Russian Soumy Hussars approached Wachau they were forced to fall back by a sudden cannonade from the Galgenberg.  Murat then launched his attack, sending l’Héritier’s 5th Heavy Cavalry Division and Subervie’s 9th Light Cavalry Division down the hill in a great column.

While this may seem to be a curious tactical formation, the poor level of training of the French cavalry likely led Murat to feel that committing them as a column, one regiment behind another, would be easier to control than deploying them on a broader frontage.  In any case, the first French cavalry regiment was thrown back by the Soumy Hussars, though the Russians were then themselves thrown back by the second French regiment.  A charge by the Prussian Neumärk Dragoons then threw back the next challenger, before they themselves were forced back.

 

By now the Soumy Hussars had rallied and more Prussian cavalry had arrived.  While the head of the French column was disordered by their last combat, they were hit frontally by the East Prussian Cuirassiers and in the flank by the Silesian Uhlans.  This counter-attack threw the French cavalry all the way back to the gun-line on the Galgenberg, but the Prussians were then countered by Murat’s reserves; Berckheim’s 1st Light Cavalry Division and Milhaud’s 6th Heavy Cavalry Division.

With some clashes also occurring between the Grodno Hussars, Illowaisky’s Cossacks and Kellermann’s Polish cavalry, the cavalry battle now settled down to sporadic skirmishing as both sides caught their breath.  It was now around mid-day and Klenau’s Austrian IV Corps, spearheaded by Mohr’s 1st Division, was now starting deploy at Gross-Possna, to the east of Liebertwolkwitz.  Klenau’s task was to capture Liebertwolkwitz, thus making French possession of the Galgenberg untenable.  A mixed detachment of light troops, cavalry, infantry and cavalry-guns under Generalmajor Baumgarten had also been sent on a flanking march via the Kromberg hill, toward Holzhausen, thereby hoping to outflank the French position.

While Baumgarten’s flank-march failed to make any headway toward Holzhausen, due to the presence of Maison’s 16th Division, a large battery and the unidentified Young Guard division, Mohr’s infantry, spearheaded by the ‘Archduke Charles’ Regiment, managed to break into the town.  After two hours of bitter fighting and reinforcement by the ‘Lindenau’ Regiment, the Austrians managed to secure Liebertwolkwitz, but Lauriston’s infantry prevented any further advance beyond the town.

Murat now launched another massive charge down the hill, but was again countered by the Allied cavalry, who had now been reinforced by the rest of Röder’s Prussian Reserve Cavalry Brigade (minus Mutius’ Silesian Landwehr Cavalry, who had been detached to support the Grodno Hussars and Cossacks on the left flank) and two more Russian regiments; the Olviopol Hussars and Tchuguiev Uhlans.  Once again, flank-attacks by the Prussian cavalry broke the attack, with Murat almost being taken prisoner.  Again, the Allied cavalry swarmed up the hill in pursuit and this time managed to sabre a few French gunners, before once again being driven back by Murat’s reserves.  The Silesian Cuirassiers in particular, found themselves completely surrounded and had to hack their way out, suffering heavy casualties in the process.

With the time now at around 1430hrs, Murat, having now completely forgotten his orders about ‘not getting fully engaged’, now threw his last fresh reserves into a third and final attack.  With the Allied cavalry now having been reinforced by Duka’s freshly-arrived Russian 3rd Cuirassier Division and Desfours’ Austrian brigade (the ‘Kaiser’ Cuirassiers and ‘O’Reilly’ Chevaulégers), this last attack fared no better than the last two.  The French cavalry were now utterly routed and Murat was almost captured for a second time.  The Allied cavalry pursued the broken French horse right over the Galgenberg, where the French gunners had now wisely withdrawn their guns to safety, though the large numbers of French infantry in the area would not allow them to take permanent possession of the Galgenberg.

As the exhausted Allied cavalry withdrew to their own lines, low-level infantry fighting and artillery fire continued around Liebertwolkwitz.  However, Wittgenstein didn’t consider the situation there to be critical enough to commit any of his reserves from Kleist’s Prussian II Corps and Raevsky’s Russian III (Grenadier) Corps.  Then at around 1600hrs, Lauriston’s French V Corps, spearheaded by Maison’s 16th Division, launched a counter-attack which threw the Austrians completely out of the town, with many being trapped and slaughtered in the church.

With Liebertwolkwitz recaptured, the French now reoccupied the Galgenberg and both sides were now back where they had started the day, albeit battered, bloodied and exhausted.  This was a battle in which both sides had been drawn into a full-scale battle that neither wanted and it ended rather indecisively as that rarest of things; an actual draw.  It could be argued that Murat had stopped the Allied advance, had held his ground and had frustrated the Allied objective of conducting reconnaissance ‘beyond the hill’, so had achieved a ‘tactical victory’.  However, Murat had disobeyed his orders to avoid a full-scale engagement and his cavalry formations in particular, could scarce afford the butcher’s bill.  The stage was now set for the resumption of full-scale hostilities on 16th October and the start of the Battle of Leipzig (this sector of the larger battle would be known as the Battle of Wachau, which will soon be posted here as another scenario).

Scenario Outline

The scenario will last for 20 turns, starting with the Allied 1000hrs turn and ending with the French 1930hrs turn.  See below for the detailed schedule of reinforcements.

The Allies will win a tactical victory if they can capture the town of Liebertwolkwitz and clear all undisordered enemy units from the Galgenberg by nightfall, thus enabling them to complete their reconnaissance-in-force and observe the landscape beyond.  The French can win a tactical victory merely by frustrating the Allied objective.

As usual, either side can win an outright victory by pushing the enemy army permanently beyond their morale limit.  Note however, that the Allied morale limit will increase as reinforcements arrive (see the scenario schedule below), so they must be pushed beyond their maximum limit of 29M.

Orders of Battle

For the uninitiated, Napoleon’s Battles is a ‘grand tactical’ set, where each unit represents a brigade or large regiment and the man-to-figure ratio is roughly 1:100 (to be exact, it’s 1:120 for infantry and 1:80 for cavalry).  It would however, be relatively easy to convert to similarly-scaled systems such as Age of Eagles or Général d’Armée.

The ‘hieroglyphs’ on the orders of battle show the strength of a unit in figures, their nationality, the troop type and the point at which the unit will ‘disperse’ (i.e. become combat-ineffective).  For example, the code ’16 PrLN [6D]’ means a 16-figure unit of Prussian Line Infantry, which will likely disperse when it reaches a strength of 6 figures.  The stats for Prussian Line Infantry can then be found on the Unit Information Card at the bottom of this article.  I’m sure you can work out the rest.

Generals have a rating (e.g. General Roguet with ‘4″G(7)+1 [2F]’) which shows their command-span expressed in inches, a quality-rating (Poor, Average, Good or Excellent), an initiative rating between 4 and 8 (10 for C-in-Cs), a combat modifier (ranging from -1 to +3) which is added if they are attached to the unit in combat (a ‘D’ indicates that the modifier is only applied in defence) and the formation’s fatigue rating.  The C-in-C also usually has a number with ‘M’; this is the army’s morale rating.

The Southern Wing of the French Grande Armée

Maréchal Murat, King of Naples                                               20”E(10)+2 [22M]
(6 Free Rolls)

Elements, II Young Guard Corps

4th Young Guard Division – Général de Division Roguet                         4”G(7)+1 [2F]
Flamand’s Brigade (Flanqueur-Grenadiers & Chasseurs & 7th Tirailleurs) 24 FrYGD [12D]
Marquet’s Brigade (8th, 9th & 10th Tirailleurs)                                                 24 FrYGD [12D]

II Corps – Maréchal Victor                                                             8”G(5)+1 [3F]

4th Division – Général de Division Dubreton                                                  4”E(7)+1
Ferrière’s Brigade (24e Légère & 19e de Ligne)                                                   20 FrLT [12D]
Brun’s Brigade (37e & 56e de Ligne)                                                                      24 FrLN [14D]

5th Division – Général de Division Dufour                                                       3”P(5)+0
D’Etsko’s Brigade (26e Légère & 93e de Ligne)                                                   16 FrLT [10D]
2nd Brigade (46e & 72e de Ligne)                                                                           16 FrLN [10D]

6th Division – Général de Division Vial                                                              3”A(6)+0
Valory’s Brigade (11e Légère & 4e de Ligne)                                                          20 FrLT [12D]
Bronikowski’s Brigade (2e & 18e de Ligne)                                                            28 FrLN [17D]

II Corps Artillery Reserve
10/6th Foot Artillery Company                                                                                 Fr12#
2/9th Foot Artillery Company                                                                                   Fr12#
1/2nd Horse Artillery Company                                                                                Fr6#

V Corps – Général de Division Lauriston                                        9”G(5)+1 [4F]

10th Division – Général de Division Albert                                                        4”G(7)+1
Bachelet’s Brigade (4e Demi-Brigade Provisoire & 139e de Ligne)                   12 FrLN [7D]
Bertrand’s Brigade (140e & 141e de Ligne)                                                             16 FrLN [10D]

16th Division – Général de Division Maison                                                      4”G(7)+1D
Montenelle’s Brigade (152e & 153e de Ligne)                                                        20 FrLN [12D]
Montesquieu’s Brigade (154e de Ligne)                                                                  20 FrLN [12D]

19th Division – Général de Division Rochambeau                                            4”A(6)+1
Lafitte’s Brigade (135e & 149e de Ligne)                                                                 16 FrLN [10D]
Harlet’s Brigade (150e & 155e de Ligne)                                                                  16 FrLN [10D]

6th Light Cavalry Brigade – Général de Brigade Dermoncourt                  3”A(6)+0
Dermoncourt’s Brigade (2e, 3e & 6e Chasseurs à Cheval)                                  12 FrLC [7D]

V Corps Artillery Reserve
16/1st Foot Artillery Company                                                                                  Fr12#
17/1st Foot Artillery Company                                                                                  Fr12#
2/5th Horse Artillery Company                                                                                Fr6#
7/6th Horse Artillery Company                                                                                Fr6#

VIII (Polish) Corps – Général de Division Prince Poniatowski 10”G(6)+1D [2F]

26th (Polish) Division – Général de Division Kaminiecki                            3”G(5)+1
Sierawski’s Brigade (1st, 16th & Vistula Legion Infantry)                                   16 PdLN [8D]
Malachowski’s Brigade (8th & 15th Infantry)                                                        16 PdLN [8D]
Grabowski’s Brigade (from 27th (Polish) Division) (12th & 14th Infantry)    16 PdLN [8D]

27th (Polish) Light Cavalry Brigade – Général de Brigade Umiński       4”G(6)+1
Uminski’s Brigade (Krakusi & 14th Light Cavalry (ex-14th Cuirassiers))       8 PdLC [4D]

VIII Corps Artillery Reserve
6th Polish Foot Battery                                                                                               Pd12#

Elements, IX Corps

52nd Division – Général de Division Sémélé                                                    3”A(5)+0 [1F]
Bagneris’ Brigade (37e Demi-Brigade Provisoire & 2/39e de Ligne)               16 FrPLN [10D]
Godard’s Brigade (6/121e, 6/122e & 2/86e de Ligne)                                         16 FrPLN [10D]

IV Reserve Cavalry Corps – Général de Division Kellermann  8”E(7)+2 [2F]

7th (Polish) Light Cavalry Division – Général de Division Sokolnicki 4”G(7)+1
Tolinski’s Brigade (1st Chasseurs à Cheval & 3rd Uhlans)                                12 PdLC [6D]
Krukostowiecki’s Brigade (absent – detached to Dabrowski’s 27th Division)
2nd Polish Horse Battery                                                                                         Pd6#

8th (Polish) Light Cavalry Division – Général de Division Sułkowski 3”G(5)+0
Kamizierz’s Brigade (6th & 8th Uhlans)                                                               12 PdLC [6D]
Weissenhof’s Brigade (1st Uhlans & 13th Hussars)                                            12 PdLC [6D]
1st Polish Horse Battery                                                                                            Pd6#

IV Reserve Cavalry Corps Artillery Reserve
4/2nd Horse Artillery Company                                                                             Fr6#
2/6th Horse Artillery Company                                                                              Fr6#

V Reserve Cavalry Corps – Général de Division Pajol            7”G(6)+1 [4F]

1st Light Cavalry Division – Général de Division Berckheim (attached)    4”A(5)+0
Montmarie’s Brigade (12e Chasseurs and 1er & 3e Chevaulégers-Lanciers)     8 FrLC [5D]
Picquet’s Brigade (5e & 8e Chevaulégers-Lanciers and 1st Italian Chasseurs) 8 ItLC [4D]

9th Light Cavalry Division – Général de Brigade Subervie                      3”G(5)+1
Klicki’s Brigade (3e Hussards and 27e Chasseurs à Cheval)                           12 FrLC [7D]
Vial’s Brugade (14e & 26e Chasseurs à Cheval)                                                  12 FrLC [7D]

5th Heavy Cavalry Division – Général de Division l’Héritier                  4”G(6)+1
Quinnet’s Brigade (2e, 6e & 11e Dragons)                                                           12 FrVLC [6D]
Collard’s Brigade (13e & 15e Dragons)                                                                 16 FrVLC [8D]

6th Heavy Cavalry Division – Général de Division Milhaud                   4”G(7)+1
Lamotte’s Brigade (18e, 19e & 20e Dragons)                                                     12 FrVLC [6D]
Montelegier’s Brigade (22e & 25e Dragons)                                                       12 FrVLC [6D]

V Reserve Cavalry Corps Artillery Reserve
5/3rd Horse Artillery Company                                                                            Fr6#

French Order of Battle Notes

1.  Murat’s orders were to defend and resist enemy attempts at reconnaissance and under no circumstances was he to mount a large-scale attack.  Murat is therefore required to maintain garrisons in the villages of Mark-Kleeberg, Wachau, Liebertwolkwitz, Holzhausen and Zuckelhausen (detailed below).  This will therefore tie down a considerable portion of Murat’s infantry and should discourage offensive action.

2.  Poniatowski may act as a wing commander, commanding Kellermann’s IV Reserve Cavalry Corps, in addition to his own VIII Corps.

3.  Poniatowski’s VIII Corps is responsible for holding the river crossing at Mark-Kleeberg and must therefore maintain a garrison of at least one complete infantry brigade in the village at all times.

4.  The town of Wachau must be garrisoned at all times by at least one complete infantry brigade from Victor’s II Corps.

5.  The town of Liebertwolkwitz must be garrisoned at all times by at least one complete infantry brigade from Lauriston’s V Corps.

6.  It is not actually known which Young Guard division was involved in the battle, though looking at the Young Guard’s known dispositions on 16th October, it would almost certainly have been a division from Marshal Mortier’s II Young Guard Corps.  I’ve therefore arbitrarily included Roguet’s 4th Young Guard Division.  The Young Guard must garrison Holzhausen with at least one complete brigade at all times.

7.  Rochambeau’s 19th Division and Dermoncourt’s 6th Light Cavalry Brigade (of Lauriston’s V Corps) are not mentioned in the accounts.  However, I’m fairly sure that it must have been Rochambeau’s division who had fortified and who were defending Liebertwolkwitz itself, as the other two infantry divisions are shown deployed on each flank of the town.  They were certainly the town’s garrison during the battle of 16th October.  Dermoncourt doesn’t seem to have been involved in the cavalry battle, so I have arbitrarily placed him on the left flank of V Corps, supporting the battery placed there.

8.  The village of Zuckelhausen must be garrisoned at all times by one complete brigade from Sémélé’s 52nd Division of Marshal Augerau’s IX Corps.  The rest of IX Corps was positioned slightly further back, garrisoning villages (Probstheida and Stotteritz) that covered the line of retreat back to Leipzig.  IX Corps was comprised entirely of inexperienced provisional demi-brigades (i.e. battalions of replacements that had not yet reached their parent units) and played no part in the day’s action, but was in close proximity, hence the inclusion of 52nd Division here.  If desired, this formation can be removed from the scenario.  NB The nearby presence of Augerau’s IX Corps covering the line of retreat increases the French army morale level as if they were on table.

9.  Picquet’s Brigade of Berckheim’s 1st Light Cavalry Division had four squadrons of Italian Chasseurs à Cheval and four squadrons of French Chevauléger-Lanciers.  I’ve classed them as Italian, which in Napoleon’s Battles terms, gives them a slightly improved dispersal level (C instead of D), though a slightly worse response number (5 instead of 6).  Feel free to class them as French if you prefer.

10.  The Duchy of Warsaw 14th Cuirassiers had been reformed in 1813 as the 14th Light Cavalry.  They retained their old uniforms and distinctive helmets, but lost their shock cavalry role, their cuirasses and heavy horses.  They were brigaded with the Krakus Regiment under Uminski’s command and the brigade is therefore classed here as light cavalry (LC).

10.  Victor’s II Corps Artillery Reserve was historically deployed on the Galgenberg, in front of Lauriston’s V Corps and Pajol’s V Reserve Cavalry Corps.  The French player may alternatively choose to redeploy all or part of Victor’s Artillery Reserve to the II Corps deployment area.

11.  In Napoleon’s Battles, dragoons would normally be classed as light cavalry (with a few exceptions, such as British dragoons).  However I’ve given the French dragoons here a little boost, classing them as Veteran Light Cavalry (VLC), so they use their 1812 stats and have a little more combat and staying power.  All the regiments listed here had transferred from Spain, so had escaped the Russian disaster.  Although the Peninsular War was no picnic for the French cavalry, they therefore retained a reasonably large core of veterans.  Feel free to class them as normal French Light Cavalry (LC) if you disagree.

12.  One of Nafziger’s orders of battle mentions that Kellermann functioned as a cavalry wing-commander role, commanding both the IV and V Reserve Cavalry Corps, leaving Sokolnicki as the commander of IV Reserve Cavalry Corps.  However, Nafziger then contradicts himself elsewhere, stating that this organisational change didn’t happen until after Liebertwolkwitz.  As Kellermann doesn’t seem to have been at all involved in directing V Reserve Cavalry Corps on 14th October, I would suggest that the second statement is far more likely and that Kellermann should only therefore, command his own corps during this scenario.

The Vanguard of the Allied Army of Bohemia

General of Cavalry Wittgenstein                                                        17”G(10)+1D
(5 Free Rolls)

Vanguard Corps – Generallieutenant Count Pahlen III                                 5”G(7)+1 [2F]
Rüdiger’s Hussar Brigade (Grodno & Soumy)                                                     12 RsLC [6D]
Schwanow’s Hussar Brigade (Olviopol)                                                                12 RsLC [6D]
Lissanevich’s Brigade (Tschugujew Uhlans & Lubny Hussars)                        12 RsLC [6D]
Illowaiski XII’s Cossack Brigade                                                                             16 RsCLC [11D]
Russian Horse Battery #7                                                                                         2x Rs6#
East Prussian Kürassiers (from Röder)                                                               12 PrHC [4D]
Prussian Lt Cav (Neumärk Dragoons & Silesian Uhlans) (from Röder)     12 PrLC [6D]
Prussian 6pdr Horse Battery #10 (from Röder)                                                Pr6#

Russian I Corps – Generallieutenant Prince Gorchakov          7”E(6)+1 [4F]

Russian 5th Division – Generalmajor Mezentov                                           3”P(4)+0
Lukov’s Brigade (Sievesk & Kalouga)                                                                    12 RsLN [6D]
Wlastow’s Brigade (Perm, Mohilev & Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna) 12 RsLN [6D]
Roth’s Brigade (23rd & 24th Jäger)                                                                       12 RsJG [6D]

Russian 14th Division – Generalmajor Helfreich                                         3”G(6)+0
Ljallin’s Brigade (Tenguinsk & Estonia)                                                               12 RsLN [6D]
Wuetsow’s Brigade (25th & 26th Jäger)                                                               12 RsJG [6D]

I Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #3                                                                                                    2x Rs12#

Russian 3rd Cuirassier Division (attached) – Generallieutenant Duka 4”G(7)+1
Gudowich’s Cuirassier Brigade (Military Order & Little Russia)                    12 RsHC [6D]
Levaschoff’s Cuirassier Brigade (Novgorod & Starodoub)                                12 RsHC [6D]

Russian II Corps – Duke Eugène of Württemberg                       8”G(7)+1 [3F]

Russian 3rd Division – Generalmajor Schachovskoi                                   3”A(5)+0
Schalfinski’s Brigade (Mourman & Revel)                                                           12 RsLN [6D]
2nd Brigade (Tchernigov & Selguinsk)                                                                 12 RsLN [6D]
3rd Brigade (20th & 21st Jäger)                                                                             12 RsJG [6D]

Russian 4th Division – Generalmajor Puschnitski                                       3”A(4)+0
Reibnitz’s Brigade (Krementchug & Minsk)                                                        12 RsLN [6D]
Feodoroff’s Brigade (Tobolsk & Volhynie)                                                           12 RsLN [6D]
Walkow’s Brigade (4th & 34th Jäger)                                                                   12 RsJG [6D]

II Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #5                                                                                                   2x Rs12#
Position Battery #13                                                                                                 2x Rs12#
Horse Battery #?A                                                                                                     2x Rs6#
Horse Battery #?B                                                                                                     2x Rs6#

Austrian IV. Armee-Abteilung – General der Kavallerie Klenau 7”G(6)+1 [7F]

Baumgarten’s Detachment – Generalmajor Baumgarten                       3”P(4)+0
12th ‘Palatinal’ Hussars                                                                                          8 AsLC [4D]
Elements, 13th Wallach-Illyrian Grenz Infantry Regiment                            12 AsGRZ [7D]
49th ‘Kerpen’ Infantry Regiment (from Best’s Brigade, 3rd Div)               16 AsLN [10D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                               As6#

Austrian 1st Division – Feldmarshalleutnant Mohr                                   4”A(6)+0
Elements, 13th Wallach-Illyrian Grenz Infantry Regiment                             12 AsGRZ [7D]
2nd ‘Hohenzollern’ Chevaulégers                                                                          8 AsLC [4D]
3rd ‘Erzherzog Ferdinand’ Hussars                                                                       8 AsLC [4D]
3rd ‘Erzherzog Karl’ Infantry Regiment (from Best’s Brigade, 3rd Div)    16 AsLN [10D]
29th ‘Lindenau’ Infantry Regiment (from Splenyi’s Brigade, 2nd Div)      24 AsLN [14D]
6pdr Cavalry Battery                                                                                                As6#

Austrian 2nd Division – Feldmarshalleutnant Fürst Hohenlohe-Bartenstein 3”G(6)+0
57th ‘J. Colloredo’ Infantry Regiment (Schaeffer’s Brigade)                           16 AsLN [10D]
15th ‘Zach’ Infantry Regiment (Schaeffer’s Brigade)                                         24 AsLN [14D]
29th ‘Lindenau’ Infantry Regiment (Splenyi’s Brigade) (with Mohr)            24 AsLN [14D]
40th ‘Württemberg’ Infantry Regiment (Splenyi’s Brigade)                            24 AsLN [14D]

Austrian 3rd Division – Feldmarshalleutnant Mayer                                 3”A(5)+0
12th ‘Alois Liechtenstein’ Infantry Regiment (Abele’s Brigade)                      24 AsLN [14D]
22nd ‘Koburg’ Infantry Regiment (Abele’s Brigade)                                          24 AsLN [14D]
3rd ‘Erzherzog Karl’ Infantry Regiment (Best’s Brigade) (with Mohr)           16 AsLN [10D]
49th ‘Kerpen’ Infantry Regiment (Best’s Brigade) (with Baumgarten)          16 AsLN [10D]
Desfour’s Brigade (attached) (‘Kaiser’ KR & ‘O’Reilly’ CR)                               12 AsHC [4D]

IV. Armee-Abteilung Artillery Reserve
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                               As12#
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                               As12#

Prussian II. Armeekorps – Generallieutenant von Kleist      9”G(7)+1 [7F]

Prussian 9th Brigade – Generalmajor von Klüx                                            3”A(5)+0
6th (1st West Prussian) Infantry Regiment                                                          16 PrLN [8D]
6th Reserve Infantry Regiment                                                                               16 PrLN [8D]
7th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment                                                            16 PrSLW [10D]

Prussian 10th Brigade – Generalmajor von Pirch I                                      4”G(7)+1
7th (2nd West Prussian) & 7th Reserve Infantry Regiments                            20 PrLN [10D]
9th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment                                                            16 PrSLW [10D]

Prussian 11th Brigade – Generalmajor von Ziethen                                     4”G(8)+1
10th (1st Silesian) & 10th Reserve Infantry Regiments                                     20 PrLN [10D]
8th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment                                                           16 PrSLW [10D]

Prussian 12th Brigade – Generalmajor Prinz August von Preussen         3”G(5)+1
11th (2nd Silesian) Infantry Regiment                                                                   16 PrLN [8D]
11th Reserve Infantry Regiment                                                                              16 PrLN [8D]
10th Silesian Landwehr Infantry Regiment                                                          16 PrSLW [10D]

Prussian Reserve Cavalry Brigade – Generalmajor von Röder              4”G(6)+2
Wrangel’s Brigade (1st (Silesian) & 3rd (Brandenburg) Kürassiers)              16 PrHC [5D]
2nd (East Prussian) Kürassiers (with Pahlen)                                                    12 PrHC [4D]
6th (Neumärk) Dragoons & 2nd (Silesian) Uhlans (with Pahlen)                  12 PrLC [6D]
Mutius’ Brigade (1st, 7th & 8th Silesian Landwehr Cavalry)                           12 PrLWC [7D]
6pdr Horse Battery #7                                                                                              Pr6#
6pdr Horse Battery #8                                                                                              Pr6#
6pdr Horse Battery #10 (with Pahlen)                                                                  Pr6#

Prussian II. Korps Reserve Artillery Brigade
12pdr Foot Battery #3                                                                                               Pr12#
12pdr Foot Battery #6                                                                                               Pr12#
7pdr Howitzer Battery #1                                                                                         PrHFA
6pdr Horse Battery #9                                                                                              Pr6#

Optional Forces:

Russian III (Grenadier) Corps – Generallieutenant Raevsky  9”E(7)+2 [4F]

Russian 1st Grenadier Division – Generalmajor Pissarev                        3”G(6)+1
Kniaschnin’s Grenadier Brigade (Ekaterinoslav & Arakcheyev)                      12 RsGN [5D]
Ocht’s Grenadier Brigade (St Petersburg & Tauride)                                         12 RsGN [5D]
Yemelianov’s Brigade (Pernau & Kexholm)                                                         12 RsGN [5D]

Russian 2nd Grenadier Division – Generalmajor Tchoglokov               3”A(4)+0
Levin’s Grenadier Brigade (Kiev & Moscow)                                                       12 RsGN [5D]
Damas’ Grenadier Brigade (Astrakhan & Fangoria)                                           12 RsGN [5D]
3rd Brigade (Siberia & Little Russia)                                                                     12 RsGN [5D]

III Corps Artillery Reserve
Position Battery #30                                                                                                  2x Rs12#
Position Battery #33                                                                                                   2x Rs12#

Allied Order of Battle Notes

1.  The units shown in italics are units attached from other divisions, which for clarity are then listed again in their parent division.  Don’t count them twice!

2.  Gorchakov, commander of the Russian I Corps, may also act as a wing commander, controlling Pahlen’s Vanguard Corps, Württemberg’s Russian II Corps, Röder’s Prussian Reserve Cavalry Brigade and Duka’s Russian 3rd Cuirassier Division, in addition to his own corps.

3.  Pahlen’s Vanguard ‘Corps’ is really a very large division, with brigades reporting directly to his headquarters.  For that reason, his corps functions as a division, but he gets an improved command-span compared to a usual divisional commander.

4.  Elements of Röder’s Prussian Reserve Cavalry Brigade start the scenario under the command of the Russian General Pahlen III’s Vanguard Corps and are marked as such above.  They may be commanded by Pahlen as if they were part of his formation, but they belong to Röder and count against the Prussian II. Korps fatigue strength.

5.  The Austrian order of battle on the day is very confused, with units and brigades being split up and attached to the advance guard elements under Mohr and Baumgarten.  Baumgarten was normally part of Mohr’s command, but was detached on a separate flanking mission and completely failed to make any headway against the French left flank around Holzhausen.

6.  The 29th ‘Lindenau’ Infantry Regiment of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein’s Austrian 2nd Division is attached to Mohr’s Austrian 1st Division.  This unit may be commanded by either general.

7.  The 3rd ‘Erzherzog Karl’ Infantry Regiment of Mayer’s Austrian 3rd Division is attached to Mohr’s Austrian 1st Division.  This unit may be commanded by either general.

8.  The 49th ‘Kerpen’ Infantry Regiment of Mayer’s Austrian 3rd Division is attached to Generalmajor Baumgarten’s Detachment.  This unit may be commanded by either general.

9.  Desfour’s Austrian cavalry brigade consisted of the ‘Kaiser’ Kürassiers and the ‘O’Reilly’ Chevaulégers. Although only half cuirassiers, I’m happy to class the brigade as Heavy Cavalry (HC), as the ‘O’Reilly’ Chevaulégers were an excellent regiment and the entire brigade was rested and retained as a reserve.

10.  The Prussian II. Korps, with the exception of Röder’s Reserve Cavalry Brigade, was largely unengaged. It is described as being in position near Cröbern at 1730hrs, having marched via Gulden-Gössa.  It could potentially be left out of the scenario, though it will act discouragement to an over-aggressive French player.

11.  The Russian III (Grenadier) Corps was completely unengaged during the battle and probably didn’t even arrive in the area defined by the map.  I’ve put some arbitrary arrival times in the scenario reinforcement schedule, but this is not based on any historical evidence.  In any case, they’ll probably arrive too late to do anything meaningful.  This formation may therefore be left out of the scenario, perhaps unless the French have managed to mount a successful counter-attack that threatens Gulden-Gössa.

12.  Army Morale is initially [17M].  This increases as reinforcements arrive (see scenario reinforcement schedule) until it reaches its maximum level of [29M].

13.  The two horse batteries with Württemberg’s Russian II Corps Artillery Reserve are not identified.  I’ve therefore designated them as A and B.

Deployment

Units may either be deployed in their historical locations as per the map in the battle account above, or they may be deployed freely by either player, within the ‘formation boxes’ shown on the map below.  I suggest that each player take it in turns to deploy a division.

Units may start the game deployed in any tactical formation.

The French player may start the game with Cavalry React markers on any or all of his cavalry units.

 

Game Schedule

The Allies have the initiative and move first.

Allied commanders and units on table at the start (higher commanders are in italics):

Wittgenstein, Pahlen III (reinforced by Prussian units listed), Württemberg, Helfreich, Röder, Klenau, Mohr (reinforced by units listed) & Baumgarten (minus the infantry elements).

Turn  Time     Arriving Allied Reinforcements                                      Allied Morale

1           1000hrs  Gorchakov & Mezentov’s Russian 5th Division at Point F                [17M]
Baumgarten’s infantry detachments at Point I

2           1030hrs

3           1100hrs   Russian I Corps Artillery Reserve at Point F                                        [18M]
Mayer with Desfour’s Austrian Kürassier Brigade at Point G

4           1130hrs   Austrian Artillery Reserve at Point G

5           1200hrs   Duka’s Russian 3rd Cuirassier Division at Point A or B                     [19M]

6           1230hrs   Remainder of Mayer’s Austrian 3rd Division at Point G or H           [20M]

7           1300hrs

8           1330hrs   Kleist & Klüx’s Prussian 9th Brigade at Point C, D or E                      [21M]

9           1400hrs   Hohenlohe-Bartenstein’s Austrian 2nd Division at Point G or H     [24M]

10         1430hrs   Prinz August’s Prussian 12th Brigade at Point C, D or E                     [26M]

11         1500hrs   Prussian Artillery Reserve at Point C, D or E

12         1530hrs   Pirch I’s Prussian 10th Brigade at Point C, D or E                                [28M]

13         1600hrs   Ziethen’s Prussian 11th Brigade at Point C, D or E                               [29M]

14         1630hrs   Raevsky & Pissarev’s Russian 1st Grenadier Division at Point C, D, E or F
Russian III (Grenadier Corps) Artillery Reserve at Point C, D, E or F

15         1700hrs   Tchoglokov’s Russian 2nd Grenadier Division at Point C, D, E or F

16         1730hrs

17         1800hrs

18         1830hrs

19          1900hrs

20         1930hrs   End Game

All reinforcements arrive in March Column formation at one of the lettered arrival points shown on the map below.

Where there is a variable arrival point, the entire reinforcing division must arrive on the road at the same point and may not be split between several arrival points.

 

Terrain Notes

The scenario is played on an 8′ x 6′ table.  The map is divided into 12″ squares.

Woods – These simply count as rough terrain to all troop-types and do not cause disorder. There is a -1 cover modifier* and the usual combat modifiers for woods apply.

Hills – These give the defender a +1 combat modifier.

Streams – These are passable to all troop-types, counting as 1” of rough terrain. Any unit defending a stream-bank gains a +1 combat modifier.

River – This is impassable to all troop types. The only crossing-point is the bridge at Cröbern, which may only be passed by units in Column, Limbered or March Column formation.

Liebertwolkwitz – This town consists of three built-up sectors, all of which have been fortified.  The defender gains a -2 cover modifier and a +3 combat modifier.

Auenhain Farm – This consists of a single built-up sector, comprising a solidly-built walled farm complex that is most suitable for defence.  The defender gains a -2 cover modifier and a +3 combat modifier.

All Other Settlements – These give the defender a -2 cover modifier and a +2 combat modifier.

* Note that Napoleon’s Battles for some reason only includes a universal -2 cover modifier for all cover types from woods to redoubts, which has always seemed somewhat bizarre to me.  I therefore apply the ‘Old Standard’ of -1 for light cover and -2 for hard cover.

French Unit Labels

Allied Unit Labels

Right, that’s enough for now!  It’s occurred to me that we’re already well into February and I haven’t yet had a wargame this year, so I need to go and put that right…