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This week we played a new game - 1/1200 Greek row galleys. We played a small game with two Corinthian squadrons against a Veteran Rhodian squadron with an advanced group of threee pentekonters.
Each squadron had 5 quadriremes and a single 16-bank ship. The Rhodians attmepted to double envelope with their superior quality but the Corinthians countered with their superior numbers. In the end the little pentekonters, in the lead, were either captured or destroyed and three Rhodian quads also sunk and afourth captured. The Corinthian Gorgon flagship and one quad were also sunk. A resounding victory for the Corinthians and a lot of fun!
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We played a pleasant Napoleonic game with early period order of battle and organization. The historical battle of Malsch (or Ettlingen) was faught between elements of the French and Austrian armies near the Rhine. Historically it was a draw.
Our game also ended in a draw with, as expected, the stronger right flanks of each army managing to best the weaker left flanks, but only after an intense struggle. The game, like the historical battle, divulged into two separate battles within cannon range of each other. The little Alb River (in some of the photos) being the de facto dividing line. The French attacked through the Black Forest on the east side of the board. The broken terrain made maneuver difficult and artillery largely ineffective. Eventually it was the more numerous French who prevailed by weight of bayonets. On the western side, on the banks of the Rhine, it was a very different battle with the open plain providing plenty of room for cavalry to maneuver. It also provided a perfect laboratory to show the unwieldy command structure that prevailed early in the period. Neither Desaix or Charles could keep their units in hand. Here it was the preponderance of Austrian horsemen who swung the battle in favor of the "White Menace". Out on the Florida panhandle in the broiling hot summer of 1863 B. G. Palmer thought he would teach the uppity Yanks a lesson. General Abner Doubleday had gone foraging with two small divisions from the Federal enclave at Pensacola. Palmer, with three brigades, advanced.
The game was designed as a demonstration with open terrain and a variety of troop classes and leaders. The Yankees had two more regiments but had poorer leaders. The Yankees had superior weaponry, their entire command carrying Springfield rifled muskets while the Confederates had a mix of Enfields, Austrian conversions, and smoothbore model 1842s. The artillery was even, with both commands having six sections. While the Yanks had 3 rifled sections to only one for the Confederates and the rebs had one section of old 6-pounders, due to the close nature of the fight the differences were negligible. We started with both sides deployed in a double line, advancing. Battle was joined on turn two at a range under 12 inches (300 yards). Marmaduke, on the Confederate left pressed forward, as his brigade contained two regiments armed with smoothbores. An ill-advised charge on the left resulted in the destruction of the 9th Kentucky. The Federals then moved to the attack and, despite significant casualties, caused both Confederate batteries to decamp and pushed the entire flank back. The story was quite different on the Confederate right. There the 6th Kentucky charged with devastating effect. First scattering the 7th Indiana, then slamming into the 24th Michigan forcing them to retire and finally discomfiting the 80th New York. The supporting G, 4th US Artillery was also destroyed by a combination of factors – skirmishers from the 13th Tennessee caused the loss of one gun, a second exploded on its own, and the third section was captured by the charging 8th Georgia. The game was a draw with both left flanks collapsed. Both sides lost 13 stands of infantry. The Yanks lost 3 sections of artillery to two for the Rebs. In the photos one can see: (Photo 1) the technique of smothering a battery with skirmishers. (Photo 2) Closing with smoothbores. (Photo 5) the ill-advised charge by the 9th Kentucky – note only two stands survived to make contact! (Photo 6) a well-coordinated attack. (Photo 7) the result of a lucky, devastating attack – notice the Federal stands of all three regiments are facing some forward and some to the rear demonstrating they are in distress. Game was played using Mr. Lincoln’s War rules and 15mm miniatures. Somewhere in Germany, summer 1813
Feldmarschall Yorck, with Generalleutnant von Bulow’s corps attached, attacked the French corps of Souham and Bertrand. The two small armies deployed as mirror-images of each other. Yorck set his heavy cavalry division, under Generalmajor Starkenfels, on his far left, his own corps, von Bulow’s infantry and, on his far right, von Bulow’s landwehr cavalry brigade. Souham deployed opposite Yorck, with his attached cuirassier division opposite Starkenfels, and Bertrand opposed von Bulow, his own Lancier brigade opposite the landwehr cavalry. Both sides advanced with the practiced eye of experienced command, cavalry in line with the foot, guns a few paces behind. Urged onward by their corps commanders, “Vorwarts!”, the Prussians surged to the attack. Initially things went well. The Prussian hussars pushed back their French counterparts; the Prussian dragoons engaged in a swirling melee with the 1st Cuirassier brigade. All was going well on the Prussian far left. Just up slope the 11th Reserve pounced on the III Corps artillery, capturing 12 guns and driving a wedge into the 13th Division. On the far right, the 1st East Prussian regiment drove the edge French infantry back and the Landwehr cavalry initially pressed back the Lanciers. Neither Souham nor Bertrand were too alarmed. In serried ranks, bayonets glinting in the late morning sun, the French counterattacked. Results were decidedly mixed. Souham’s 12th and 13th divisions were ripped by Prussian musketry and grape. 13th Division recoiled in front of the 11th Reserve and 2nd West Prussian. 12th Division had more success against Leib and 14th Silesian Landwehr but only just. The Cuirassier were more successful, driving back the Prussian dragoons. Bertrand’s legions did better. The Lancier panicked the Landwehr cavalry, sweeping them from the field and pivoting to threaten von Bulow’s flank. The 1st East Prussians, so promising at the start, were driven back. Generalmajor Hunerbein’s division was in peril on the right! Desperately he formed square to protect against the lancers and braced for 8th Division’s attacks. Von Bulow rode up and pressed the attack on the heights, leading Generalmajor Horn’s division forward. Hunerbein hung on with great sacrifice, but Bertrand was forced to withdraw the cavalry and 8th Division as the 9th and 10th Divisions on the plateau faltered. Yorck was doing even greater damage. Hammer blows by the 11th Reserve, 14th Silesian Landwehr, Leib, and 2nd West Prussian forced 3 French brigades to retreat. Major General Pecheux formed a last line with his own 1st and 2nd brigades of the 14th Division, allowing Souham’s shattered regiments to recover and withdraw from the heights. However, Doumerc’s cuirassier and hussars had also provided space for the French withdrawal. Having routed the dragoons, the French now routed the Prussian hussars and forced back the last Prussian cavalry on the left – the cuirassier brigade. The superiority of the sabre arm forced Yorck to be cautious in his pursuit. Souham had been badly battered, losing 2800 men out of slightly more than 15,000 brought to the battle, and 12 of his 20 cannon. Bertrand had fared better, with casualties of 1400 and 5 guns lost. Yorck had suffered only 800 casualties, but over half were horsemen; while von Bulow had 1400 losses with 12 guns captured by the rampaging French on the far right. Hunerbein’s division had been shaken and would need many days to recover its elan. Game was played using 15mm figures and Napoleonic Fury rules. The Long Island Irregulars meet every 2 or 3 weeks and play a variety of historical games. See older blog posts for other examples. Last night we tried two versions of Hopton Heath, an early battle between small units - a mixed force of Parliamentarians under Sir William Brereton and a Royalist force of horse and light guns under the Earl of Northampton.
First we played with historical forces. Northampton attempted a simultaneous assault up the hill with half his horse and against the Roundhead horse on the south flank with the other half. He concentrated his dragoons on his right flank where the heath ended in a forest. Brereton's horse employed Dutch (caracole) tactics and were soundly beaten. However, the foot stood firm on the hilltop, defeating the horse (as was fairly historically accurate). The artillery played an insignifanct role. Next we traded out four stands of Northampton's horse for four stands of foot and tried again. This brought a more near-run game. The horse repeated the first game with the more poorly trained caracole troops being eventually overrun by their more aggressive cavalier counterparts. However, shotte combat proved decisive in disordering the attacking foor formation and actually causing one battalion to fall back. For a second time the Parliamentarian foot held the hill, though this time, much worn by their exertions. 6mm figures using King Charles' Lament rules. The War of the Austrian Succession rages in Europe. The Dutch have been sucked into the side of the English, bringing them into direct conflict with the French. The latter see an opportunity – the vast spice island holdings of the Dutch are relatively weakly defended.
Two pairs of battleships are dispatched – Amiral Marquis du Roed with the new 74-gun Neptune and the old 50-gun Alcyon from Toulon and Amiral le Duc de Vale with the 78-gun Terrible and the anachronistic 46-gun two-decker Gloire from Rochefort. They are given orders to cooperate but also promised large compensation if they are the first to occupy the port of Jakarta. The two pairs rendezvoused at Matatana, Madagascar and took on water and fresh provisions. While they lay to, however, the small brig Timor observed their arrival and races toward the Dutch colonies. Having no small vessels, the French had no way to intercept Timor and continued provisioning. The Dutch assembled what ships they could at Surabaya and sailed to meet the French. The resulting fleet was a motley assortment of older ships and captains who had grown fat and complacent on the Indies station. Senior Captain van Ochs was elected to lead a three-ship group of his own 62-gun Rotterdam, the 56-gun Damiaten and the 58-gun Utrecht. Senior Captain van Kuper had his own 72-gun Haarlem as well as the Wageningen, a 36-gun frigate cum Indiaman, and the little 14-gun Timor. Neither van Ochs nor van Kuper would accede to the other being in overall command, much like the differences between Amirals du Roed and de Vale. As a result, neither force had a unified command and none of the individual captains knew any of the seniors very well. The stage was set for one of the most disorganized battle between two flotillas of battleships in the entire war. Under a fair sky and a stiff southerly breeze, the two fleets approached each other off the coast of Java. The French held the weather gauge, Amiral du Roed in the lead. Captain van Ochs led the Dutch line. Both sides commenced cannonading at a range just under 300 yards. The fire being ineffwctual the French wore together. Alcyon raked little Timor, causing her main t’gallant to foul her port side. Unfortunately, as the wear continued, the maneuver put Gloire, Terrible, and Alcyon in a row where the broadsides of the latter two were masked. Neptune slowed and turned tightly to pass behind the other three ships. Meanwhile, having been passed by the French, Captain van Ochs ordered a tack together. Captain van Kuper ordered his ships to maintain course, mostly in an attempt to clear Timor whose battle with the wearing French was the epitome of uneven. Haarlem slammed into Utrecht and the two ships became tightly fouled by their respective bowsprits. Damiatan, having completed her tack with sternboard, was just slow enough for Wageningen to slide past. The Indiaman then engaged Terrible at 100 yards as the latter surged ahead of Gloire. Amiral du Vale, now on a course to clear the western tip of Java and with only Wageningen in position to offer resistance, made signal to disengage. Alcyon, on the other hand, now turned close-hauled to come up on the north side of the Dutch while Neptune engaged from the south. Neptune came up on the still fouled Haarlem and Utrecht, exchanging fire with Damiatan as night came on. Damiatan and Haarlem suffered significant damage, with several hits between wind and water. The former also lost her mizzen topmast. Little Timor was also badly torn about but was saved from complete destruction by her low profile, many shots having simply whooshed over her hull instead of splintering her. Gloire, being engaged by the heaviest Dutch ships and being the smallest of the French, suffered the most damage on the aggressor’s side with minor damage to the other three ships. Poor adherence to the Fighting Instructions ensured an uncoordinated and often ineffectual engagement. Gunnery was poor until the ships closed, with the French wearing maneuver, to under musket shot. In the end du Vale had insufficient strength to take the forts as Jakarta and was forced to abandon his attack when the Dutch fleet limped around the horn. Du Roed, forced to leave the battered Dutch as his own two ships were simply not strong enough on their own, retreated to Pondichery and filed a formal protest of du Vale’s actions. This came to naught as yellow fever took the disgruntled admiral. Both Captain van Ochs and Captain van Kuper took new commissions as silk traders and gave up fighting, except against Chinese and Annamite pirates. None of them mounted 36-pounders! A little Napoleonic action. A French corps and the remnants of their Polish allies tried to surprise a Russo-Prussian army somewhere on the Frontiers of France. Unfortunately for the French, the Russians were awake, the picquets were active and the assault was checked.
Furious little game, fought to a stalemate, with about equal casualties on both sides. Great fun! Near Lake George - 8 September 1755
Sir William Johnson withdrew his motley force of militia back to his fortified camp on the banks of Lake George. Baron Dieskau had given his scouting party a thrashing in the early morning hours and his men were in no mood for a fight, especially the handful of Mohawks who were still in camp. Fortunately, their position was strong, with a cleared field of fire in front of hastily built fortifications of stones, earth, logs, and a few fences. He also had artillery. Granted only a 3-pounder, but the French lacked even that. The Baron was anxious to follow-up his advantage of the morning, but his force consisted of only 1/3 dependable regulars. The militia and Abenakis were, like Johnson’s troops, unwilling after having suffered severely in the ambush, especially amongst their leaders. Dieskau berated the militia and cajoled the natives. All agreed to accompany the regulars but only grudgingly. At the edge of the cleared space the Baron deployed his men. The Grenadiers La Reine and Captain Bouchard’s company (Languedoc) on the right of the track from Fort Edward. On the left were Captain LaMotte and Captain Barbourg’s companies of Languedoc. Behind, supposed to support the advance, were four companies of militia and three bands of Abenakis. Johnson had the cannon plus eight companies of militia and a small band of Mohawks. He had formed them in depth, three ranks behind the works. However, the Mohawks would spend the entire battle hunkered down in a small copse of trees near the lake’s bateaux landing. Father Champagne conducted a brief service and then Dieskau ordered his men forward. British fire ripped into the neatly dressed lines of the regulars as soon as they emerged from the woods. The natives and the Canadians could not be made to leave the relative safety of the trees, though they could be persuaded to take random shots at the British. The regulars paused halfway along to deliver measured volleys. In the exchange Johnson’s second in command, Colonel Lyman, was mortally wounded and Captain White of the Massachusetts militia wounded and carried from the field. However, the canister and musketry caused three of the four French companies to falter. Only LaMotte’s continued on, Father Champagne and Baron Dieskau encouraging them. Over the works went the 2nd company Languedoc, skewering the 1st Connecticut militia with their bayonets. Encouraged by seeing the white uniforms cresting the works a few of the Canadians and Abenakis moved forward. Johnson’s right now collapsed as Abenakis and Sgt Brissac’s Montreal company added their weight to LaMotte. The Mohawk’s led the run to canoe and bateaux. Johnson’s left, encouraged when Captain Corne was struck in the breast by a ball but then saved by his pocket testament, held a bit longer but, in the end, was also forced to relinquish the field. Laughing Wolf was killed by one of the last shots as the British retired and the lamentations for his loss carried well into the night. Captain Bouchard, whose company routed ignominiously, was later (that December) sent by Baron Dieskau to establish a camp on Hudson’s Lake. Dieskau’s total losses were 78 French regulars and 21 Abenakis. Crushed by defeat, Johnson left 113 casualties on the field and took 22 slightly wounded with him to the boats. The British also lost their cannon. A fictional battle based (loosely) on the Rossbach campaign. With (loosely) the same result. The battlefield was selected, a few small hills dotting a flat plain of neat fields. Only one copse of trees. On the edge of a rocky outcrop, was significant enough to impede movement. The Prussian army, sixteen 12-figure battalions, arrayed along one edge. Their serried ranks were broken only by four minor gaps for the battalion guns and a single 6-pounder battery. Opposite, the French deployed as well in a long double-line, with one “extra” battalion. Likewise, they had three battalion guns and a single six-pounder battery. Two battalions, the Garde Francaises, were big, 16 figures strong. Purposefully, resolutely, the four lines, two on either side, were marched forward. The Prussians, being better trained, advanced slightly further, managing to reach the only significant terrain feature before the French – the small rocky outcrop and its copse, theatrically dubbed the Bois de Belleau – on the Prussian right flank. Battle was joined, as these things are wont to do, by the artillery popping away before the muskets could be brought in range. Also, as usually happens, the infantry shrugged off the few hits and trudged closer, where the execution truly began. On the Prussian left, where the best of both armies faced each other, the French took the worst from the start. Poor morale throws sent the front line scurrying back and then the pressure of the well-drilled Prussian musketry laid heaps of tick marks on the casualty papers. The morale of the French second line held but the pressure was immense – with the Garde and Grenadiers taking an aggregate 27 hits! In the center, the French 6-pounder helped to keep things even for a while. But the Prince Henry fusiliers, aided by the untimely withdrawal of 1st Belzunce, managed to provide just enough weight to cause the collapse of the French Brigade de Rochefort. With the destruction of 1st Briqueville (9 hits out of 12) the brigade failed its morale and ended the game, after the 6th turn. The Prussian right was a scene not often played out on the table for the period. Formed troops – Regiment von Bevern and Regiment von Wied - edged their way through the Bois de Belleau! As they tramped through, they engaged Regiment La Roche. In the end the two on one was too much for the battalion of French, though their place was filled by the Royal Italians. Regiment von Markgraf Karl successfully held the far flank against a turning maneuver by the Battalions Bulkeley and Clare of the Royal Irish Brigade. The Irish fumbled about when, failing to maintain their fire discipline, although their battalion guns did fearful execution, having hand-pushed themselves to keep pace and blasting away at a bare 75 yards. With the center caved and the right (Garde Francais and Grenadiers) shattered, the French beat a retreat. French losses totaled 60; while the Prussians lost 43. Not as decisive as the historical battle of Rossbach but clearly a victory for the blue-coated figures representing Frederick the Great’s vaunted machine. Forward Somewhere on the Austrian-Russian border there are two small villages, Opol and Cheniye. The former has a spectacular onion-domes church while the latter has a cruder, board and thatch affair. Late in the campaign season of 1809, while Napoleon threatened Vienna and was on the verge of the great victory of Wagram, Russian Emperor Alexander hesitatingly decided to make an effort to the aid the Austrians. Napoleon, thinking Alexander much too vacillating, had only detached some German allies to cover the approached from Mother Russia. This Corps d’Observation was also hesitant to come to battle but, on the fateful 1st of July, the two reluctant forces collided with a violence that belied their rather tepid performance up until that time. Forces The Russian Relief was under the overall command of General Pyotr Bagratian. Under his immediate command were his own VI Corps and Lieutenant General Kapzevitch and his X Corps. Each corps had two divisions, and each division had two line brigades, a brigade of jagers, and a heavy battery of 12-pounders. In addition, Hetman Akim Karpov brought 8 sotnias of Cossacks; 3 from the Bug and 5 from the Don. Marshal Francois Lefebvre commanded the Corps d’Observation. This contained three divisions of Bavarians, a division of Wurttemburgers, and a mixed division of two light cavalry brigades, one from each German state. The Marshal kept two 12-pounder batteries and a pair of horse batteries in reserve. The two groups were evenly matched. Although the Russians had 48 guns to the Germans’ 32 and a couple hundred more infantry, the Germans had cavalry unafraid to mix it up in close combat and a higher percentage of veterans. Foils Bagratian had promised some of his generals that they could ride to Opol on the morning of the 1st to worship in the church whose dome they could see when they camped for the night. October 1 was a Sunday and they looked forward to services, and, perhaps, to the generosity of the congregation to fill their lunchtime tables with something a little above the normal campaign fare. However, when Major Generals Grekov, Vasiltschikov, and Doctorov rode into town they were appalled to see dust to the north, where no Russian troops should have been. Several ADCs rode out and returned to report the column on the road was Bavarian. With that, the generals gave up on both religious services and lunch and hurried back to the Russian camp to raise the alarm. Why were the Bavarians on the march? Prinz Ludwig’s division had spent a dry Saturday marching back and forth, chasing phantom Russian columns. Lefebvre had ordered the cavalry to conserve their mounts and therefore could only guess where Bagratian’s column, rumored to be nearby, actually was. The Prince had also seen the onion dome as his troops laid down that Saturday evening. He assumed, where there was a church there was sure to be water and had obtained permission to get his men a drink after breakfast. Falling To Lefebvre’s troops marched out smartly and soon Prinz Ludwig had Prinz Karl’s brigade in Opol with his other two brigades in support – holding the wood to the east and holding Graf Ypenburg in support. Major General von Seydenitz deployed on a low hill to the east of Ludwig. (203215) Simultaneously, General von Wrede had brough up his mixed division to the west, throwing Major General Maranitz’s brigade into Cheniye and extending the line to the west with the rest of Major General Preysing’s division, then General Neubronn’s division of Wurttemburgers on the extreme right of the German infantry line. (left photo) A wooded hill on the far west became the focus of both cavalry groups. Hetman Karpov though his troopers would be relatively safe and able to swoop over the battlefield from their perch at the opportune time, while Major General Deroi trotted out (his horses were fresh as they had not been used the day before in screening or scouting) seeking to vanquish a foe he thought to be Russian Uhlans. Bagratian advanced his infantry to match Lefebvre’s deployment, with the VI Corps on the west opposite Wrede and the X Corps opposite Prinz Ludwig and General von Seydenitz. (right photo) The Germans, at all points, won the march to the terrain points. Deroi reaching the hill first and ascending through a gap in the trees; Wrede reaching the road from Cheniye, and Ludwig and Seydenitz reaching Opol and the eastern hill, before any Russian was in artillery range. Far Flank Karpov had not anticipated the necessity to fight formed troops and, as such, the Don Cossacks were still in column of division when Deroi crested the hill with his brigade of Wurttemberg Chevauxleger leading and the Bavarians in support. In the heat of the moment the Wurttembergers charged headlong into the irregulars. However, unreadiness, conversely, can work to one’s advantage. Such was the case as the bewildered chevauxlegers scattered one group of lancers after another only to find more obstructing their way. Deroi called on his men to reform. Only then did he see the Bug Cossacks forming on his right. The Bavarian general urged his troops forward to meet the Russian irregulars at the southern foot of the hill. As irregulars are wont to do, the men from the Bug gave some ground but regrouped just outside the lunge of the saber-armed Germans. Deroi had deployed his horse battery on his left and they took some shots at Vasiltschikov’s men as they marched past but caused only minor irritation. Again, the Wurttembergers dashed at the Don Cossacks. Again, the men from the steppe recoiled and reformed like the waters of the Don in flood. Deroi, conscious of events on the infantry line, ordered Duke Louis to continue the effort to rout the elusive irregulars while he decamped with the Bavarians and horse guns to help the hard-pressed footmen (see below). Louis, outnumbered two to one, finally came to grips with his foe, embracing the Bug sotnias in a brief death duel with his own regiment. Many saddles were emptied, and the surviving Bug troopers “bugged” out, racing 800 meters to the rear before turning to face their tormentors. But Louis had recalled his regiment to face the Don sotnias, now reorganized and led personally by Karpov. For the fifth time that morning the Wurttembergers charged and met their opponents from the far grasslands. For the fourth time the Cossacks swirled away relatively unharmed. Louis regrouped only to receive a lathered messenger from Deroi – the battle was lost, time to pull out. Despite all the charging back and forth, total casualties for Karpov’s men were only 87. Louis’ brigade suffered even less - 11 men wounded, 2 killed, and 25 missing. Most of the latter showed up at camp, red-faced, the next evening. Footfalls Bagratian now used the stoicism of the Russian infantry to the fullest. Having been denied the terrain features by the more rapid marching of the Germans, Bagratian simply failed to send his corps orders to halt. His columns, dutifully, continued to march directly at the enemy. On the Russian left Kadyschev’s line brigade pitched into the Wurttemburg light brigade who gave way. Simultaneously, Glebov’s jagers charged Herzog Wilhelm’s regiment and forced it to retreat. Baron von Neubronn immediately galloped to rally the shocked infantry regiments while General Wrede called for reinforcements. Kadyschev now pitched into Prinz Paul’s regiment, but the Prinz’s men only bent. Glebov’s victorious jagers now rushed over the Wurttemburg reserve battery, scattering the gunners. Paul’s resistance and the disorganization inherent in capturing the battery allowed von Neubronn and Wrede the time they needed. The Bavarian light infantry rallied forward from their initial position behind Cheniye, forced Glebov to give ground. With the Bavarian Kronprinz regiment repositioning to support, the German right seemed to be stabilizing. However, to be sure, Wrede sent an aide galloping to see if Deroi could offer help; this was the recall of the Bavarian chevauxleger. Brigadier Glebov now led his reserve battalion forward. Their inexorable advance broke the resolve of the Bavarian light brigade and carried forward into Kronprinz, pushing the latter back. Kadyschev continued to press Prinz Paul. Coming up on the left, Panzerbiter’s brigade moved to counter Deroi’s arrival. The latter, responding to Wrede’s call, had deployed his horse artillery forward and the Bavarian chevauxleger, having squeezed through the gap in the trees, coming up. Panzerbiter charged the guns and overran them. Deroi called for his sabers to recover the guns. The Russians hastily formed square and repelled the cavalrymen, though they had to relinquish four of the six guns, which were hastily withdrawn. Neubronn and Wrede (and Deroi) had bent but they had not broken. However, their situation was precarious, their artillery lost, their troops shaken, and fresh Russian brigades near at hand. They were relieved when orders arrived from Lefebvre to fall back. They’d find water somewhere else. Fencing
Lieutenant General Kapzevitch was more cautious than his chief and, therefore the battle on the eastern half of the field was initiated by the Bavarians. General Seydenitz, being originally a cavalryman, was not one to sit on a height and endure bombardment. He launched his Provisional Brigade - made up of a garrison battalion, a depot battalion, and three Grenzer companies – and the Konig Regiment against the Russian right flank, Doctorov’s division. The Provisionals, having borne the brunt of camp jokes since joining the corps, had a lot to prove and they drove Voyeikov’s jagers back. Konig, however, faltered. Lyapunov’s brigade had their blood up and checked the Bavarian assault and then counterattacked, sending them flying. Lyapunov carried forward and pitched into the Regiment von Preysing. Kniazin’s brigade came up in support and Doctorov’s batteries shook Prinz Karl’s regiment with deadly fire, even as the Bavarians huddled in the cover of the buildings in Opol. Regiment von Preysing, after a desperate struggle with Lyapunov, fell back and rallied on the rise on the left of the German line. But Lefebvre had no more troops. With all the Wurttemburg guns captured or in flight, Bagratian redeployed a third battery in front of Opol, making 36 heavy guns against only 14 Bavarians. This weight of metal on his center, with casualties mounting and both flanks held by rattled regiments, Lefebvre gave the orders to withdraw. The Provisionals were recalled, but were unable to rejoin the line, having the brigades of Kniazin and Lyapunov interposed and had a long march to regain Lefebvre. Finale Bagratian let Lefebvre go. Deroi’s troopers threatened any impetuous motion of the infantry, and the well water was a strong draw to the parched throats of the infantry. Vasiltschikov lamented to his chief that a single regiment of regular cavalry would have granted them a crushing victory. Bagratian nodded, saying “If only does not win the battle. We have done enough.” In truth, the Russian infantry had done very well. At a cost of 956 casualties, they had captured 10 guns and inflicted 1813 casualties on the German infantry. Except for the Provisional Brigade, which drove Voyeikov’s brigade completely out of line, no German infantry formation was worthy of exceptional mention. Bagratian, in his report to Emperor Alexander, made no mention of Hetman Karpov’s performance except to say he was engaged on the left. He did, however, single out Brigadiers Lyapunov, Kadyschev, and Glebov for their gallantry and success. Only a few days later came the crushing defeat of the Austrians at Wagram and their collapse. With Napoleon’s victory, the Emperor recalled Bagratian. |
AuthorDiatribes are simply often humorous recountings of the games played by the Long Island Irregulars. We play with toy soldiers and are unabashedly happy to have never lost this part of our childhoods.. Archives
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