As promised, and with due apologies for the
lengthy intermission, I am now working to get my solo Peninsular campaign going
again. I would claim force majeur if
I felt it would buy me any credibility, but the truth is I’ve been ambushed by
the dreaded Real Life again, and I’m not happy to do this half-cocked – if I’m
going to run a campaign (especially one which can be viewed by others) then I’d
rather take the extra time to do it as well as I can.
My last entry, I am a bit shocked to see,
was back in January, when the armies were updated to 2nd August
1812. For my own benefit as much as anything else, I’ll set out a very quick
summary of the state of play at that date.
The campaign began in January 1812 with
some passing connection with actual history, but very quickly (and
deliberately) drifted into a narrative of its own. After some early success,
Wellington suffered a couple of major defeats – most notably at Benavente (28th
Feb 1812) and Allariz (8th May 1812 – Sir Thomas Graham was the
commander on this occasion) and the Spanish-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo
fell to the French on 23rd May.
The French have hardly covered themselves
with glory – though their field army has performed well enough in the field, the
operations of the main commanders (Marshals Jourdan and Marmont, and General
Clauzel) have been compromised and fragmented by interference from Paris and by
King Joseph’s overriding fear for his capital at Madrid. They have found the
Spanish army rather more formidable than expected, and there has been a gradual
shift of their best troops to the regions around Valladolid, Zamora, Salamanca
and Madrid, the garrisons responsible for keeping the supply routes open in the
North East being gradually back-filled with Garde Nationale and other
second-line units.
Despite a couple of subsequent victories –
most notably near Almeida on 28th May – Wellington’s standing with
the British government had already fallen low enough for him to be relieved in
mid-June, a surprise choice for his replacement being General Banastre
Tarleton, the 55-year-old veteran of the American War of Independence, who is
now created Earl of Aigburth. Wellington returned to London, and there are
various theories that he might take a field command in Canada, or be seconded
to the Spanish army (unlikely).
The Spanish regular army has performed very
well, and has the great advantage that it may replace losses more easily than
the other armies. The irregulars and guerrilleros have had a couple of
surprising successes, but generally they have proved to be unsuited to
conventional battlefield actions. Following a rather daring manoeuvre,
transporting España’s Division in British ships from
Vigo, around the coast via Gibraltar to Tortosa, on the east coast, the
consolidated Spanish 3rd Army has been further reinforced by more
volunteer infantry plus some extra cavalry, and, under the command of Giron,
now offers a major threat to the French position in the vicinity of Zaragoza.
King Joseph is extremely worried about all of this…
Aigburth entered into
the campaign with a closely-fought but important victory over Clauzel at Carpio
de Azaba, on 18th June, and immediately afterwards attacked the
fortress at Ciudad Rodrigo – still damaged from the earlier French siege – and
took it by storm after a very brief investment.
Since then, a British
advanced guard under General Long have defeated a French force under Pinoteau
on the River Huebra at Martin de Yeltes, and Aigburth is now preparing to drive
Clauzel’s rather dispirited army out of the Salamanca area. Clauzel has
appealed for support from Madrid, but King Joseph does not seem to be able to
help.
If you wish to see any
of the previous posts, a search on Solo Campaign will find them.
Situation at 2nd
August, updated for the action at Martin de Yeltes, is thus:
We were waiting for the rentree!
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