Solo Campaign - Week 31

Our artist's impression of Arnedillo

My compliments to Francis, who pointed out that the map for week 30 had the wrong counter for Clauzel - should have been I, not H as shown. Francis, you really should get out more and, no, there is no prize.

This week we have two fights coming up between the Spaniards and the French, both near Soria. I hope to get them fought out next week.

Week 31

Random Events and Strategic Notes

The severe rain has ceased – ground conditions have returned to normal, though river levels are unseasonably high, and fords are unpredictable.

Giron’s enlarged and well-equipped Spanish army at Calatayud is causing the French great concern. He has no siege train (though Aigburth is going to bring forward the Anglo-Portuguese one from Ciudad Rodrigo), and is thus unable to do much about the fortress towns which dominate the supply routes from France, but he has enough troops to mask Burgos and possibly Pamplona, which would be a serious problem for the French. He also has more than enough capability to sweep the second-line French troops out of Tudela.

King Joseph is desperately concerned about this, and wants something done about the Spaniards very quickly. King Joseph’s estimate of Giron’s strength is wildly high, confused by the large numbers of Aragonese irregulars who are currently attached (but are very unlikely to be allowed to leave Aragon).

Aigburth and the Spanish high command have agreed that Giron should avoid conflict with the main French field armies, but should move on Tudela, Lodosa and Vittoria – occupation of these three areas will stop French supplies to Marmont, Clauzel and Joudan, regardless of the status of the fortresses at San Sebastian, Pamplona and Burgos.

Apparently you can get a Jourdan shirt too - tacky...

Joseph is aware of the risk, and intends to destroy Giron in battle before these moves take place.

Madrid is now occupied by the troops of the Junta de Castilla, and battalions of milicias urbanas are to be raised from the populace.

Housekeeping

The 3D3 activation throws give the Allies 5 and the French 4. The Allies opt to move first.

Moves

Allies (5 allowed)

1 – Sp B (Giron, at Calatayud) splits off most of his irregulars (new force Sp I), who will remain in Navarra…

2 – … and marches his main army into Soria

3 – D (Framlingham, with the Allied siege train), marches from Ciudad Rodrigo to Salamanca

4 – Sp E (Mira, around Ocana) marches into Madrid with some 5000 irregulars

5 – Plans are put in motion to raise a number (possibly 4) battalions of militia in Madrid – timescale uncertain…

[Intelligence step -

• No new information.] 

French (4 allowed)

1 – K (Jourdan/Joseph, at Aranda) splits off the siege train and the baggage train (with the Madrid ‘loot’) as new force U…

2 – … this new force U marches to the fortress at Burgos…

3 – … while force K marches from Aranda into Soria with 11700 men to attack Giron

4 – R (Paquerette’s brigade of about 4500 Garde Nationale) marches from Tudela into Soria, to attack the irregulars under “El Banquero” (Sp G) and prevent their joining with Giron

[Intelligence step –

• No new information.]

Supplies and Demoralisation

All units are in supply, nobody is Demoralised.

Contacts

On Friday 21^st August, Paquerette’s untried reservists meet the irregulars of El Banquero near the convent of Nostra Senora de Penalba, at Arnedillo, on the River Cidacos, Not far from Calahorra. Paquerette has 5 battalions of reservist infantry plus a battery of foot artillery. El Banquero has about 3800 light infantry from the Junta de Vizcaya, no artillery and a tiny force of cavalry. The field is hilly but fairly open, and Paquerette is optimistic…

Vinuesa

The following day, Marshal Jourdan, with Darmagnac’s large division of the Armee du Centre plus the cavalry of the Armee du Nord, makes a determined assault on Giron’s main army at Vinuesa, west of Soria. Giron is estimated to have 11 line battalions, 9 of voluntarios, 5 regiments of cavalry and about 18 guns in 4 batteries. Jourdan has 16 battalions (Confederation and Italians) and 5 units of cavalry, but is relatively weak in artillery – he has one Italian foot battery and one French horse battery – 14 guns in total. The Spanish force was surprised by the speed with which the attack developed, so their defensive position is improvised (with a few dice throws in there).

The customary map and army returns will appear once the actions at Arnedillo and Vinuesa have been fought.

Solo Campaign - Weeks 29 & 30

Unhappy King Joseph

Week 29

Random Events and Strategic Notes

Some important developments are reshaping the French strategy in Spain.

It is clear that the Emperor’s campaign in Russia is not going to be anything like what was anticipated. The Russians’ refusal to stand for a major, decisive battle, and their total rejection of any kind of approach for negotiation indicate that the campaign will be long and difficult, with the French and their allies being drawn further and further into the heartland. The Minister of War in Paris (Clarke, Duc de Feltre) has confidentially informed King Joseph that he is not optimistic about matters in Russia, and foresees that, at the very least, more soldiers will be required there. Thus the French armies in Northern and Central Spain may become more valuable than Spain itself. This has deeply shocked Joseph, who has previously seriously compromised Clauzel by his insistence on protecting his capital at Madrid.

The fact that Clauzel’s army is now in too poor a shape to hold Salamanca means that he will have to withdraw to the area around Valladolid. His requests for wagons from Madrid to convey the sick and wounded from his hospitals in the convents of Alba de Tormes and Salamanca have produced nothing worthwhile – Joseph needs all the wagons he can find to strip everything that is precious or militarily useful out of Madrid, and retreat towards Aranda – he has identified Burgos as a possible new headquarters. Reports from Madrid through British spies indicate a lot of burning and looting there, which suggests that the French are not intending to return.

Marmont, nervous of being trapped between the armies of Graham (at Orense) and Aigburth (evidently advancing into Salamanca) intends to withdraw into Leon, thus the new French line will be Marmont on the right at Leon, Clauzel in the centre at Valladolid and Jourdan/Joseph on the left near Aranda, all north of the Duero.

Clauzel will be forced to abandon his hospitals.

King Joseph is reported to have made some comment to the recuperating General Guye to the effect that he sees no point in “sustaining this folly of his brother’s vanity”, though he may not, in fact, have said this.

The enlarged Spanish army of Giron does not have the necessary heavy artillery to attack Zaragoza, and thus they will work around it, threatening the rear of the new French position and their essential supply routes through Pamplona and Burgos.

Housekeeping

The 3D3 activation throws give the Allies 8 and the French 6. The Allies opt to move first.

Moves

Allies (8 allowed)

1 – Aigburth (Force A) and Picton (E) join to form new Force A at Ciudad Rodrigo, under Aigburth…

2 – … and march into Salamanca, threatening Clauzel’s army

3 – H (Long, with the “advance guard” which fought at Martin de Yeltes) will rest at Salamanca

4 – Sp B (Giron, with Espana’s Divn of 3^rd Army) joins with Sp C (Morillo’s Divn of the same army) to form new Sp B at Alcaniz, under Giron…

5 – … and this force marches west to Teruel…

6 – … joining with a large force of irregulars from the Junta of Aragon (I) to become a larger Sp B

7 – Anglo-Port Force B (Graham, at Orense) continues to scout into Zamora

 [Intelligence step -

• Much intercepted intelligence containing hints at change in French strategy, and it is clear that Clauzel is preparing to withdraw.]

French (6 allowed)

1 – I (Clauzel) marches from Salamanca to Valladolid, abandoning his hospitals

2 – H (Pinoteau, with remains of the force defeated at Martin de Yeltes) also attempts to march to Valladolid – since this force is Tired already, a test is required:

2D3 = 3 +1 (Pinoteau’s rating) -1 (tired troops) = 3   - the march is completed, but the force is now Tired and Demoralised, and each unit loses a further block/base to exhaustion and desertion – the cavalry in particular are virtually eliminated

3 – Forces I (Clauzel), H (what is left of Pinoteau) and D (Leberknoedel, with a brigade of Confederation troops) merge into new Force I, under Clauzel, at Valladolid

4 – N (Marmont) withdraws from Zamora to Leon

5 – K (Jourdan/Joseph) at Madrid attempt to keep order while preparing to evacuate Madrid

 [Intelligence step –

• No new information.]

Supplies and Demoralisation

All units are in supply. French Force H (Pinoteau) is demoralised by retreat march to Vallalolid, and loses one block/base per unit before merging with Clauzel.

3 new units of regular cavalry (2 light, 1 of cuirassiers) are now present with Giron’s Spanish 3^rd Army.

Contacts

Clauzel retires before the Allied advance into Salamanca.

Engineering at Ciudad Rodrigo

The civilian labourers and the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo are working on repairs to the defences of the town, and levelling the siegeworks. The workforce is equivalent to 5 battalions, so the work is represented by the rolling of 5D6 each week. Every 6 rolled adds 1 to the Fortress Value, which is currently 5 – the theoretical full value is 6, but progress has been so good that the governor, General Hidalgo, will aim to improve the defences wherever possible. This week, the dice come up 6 6 5 4 2, so the Fortress Value is increased to 7, at which point work ceases and the labourers are discharged.

Week 30

Random Events and Strategic Notes

The weather has deteriorated – heavy rainstorms have temporarily reduced all roads in the campaign area to a “winter” state.

Despite changed strategy, the French are still very concerned about the possibility of seaborne invasion of the ports along the North coast, and thus many good quality troops remain tied up in garrisons of Oviedo, Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastian.

Housekeeping

The 3D3 activation throws give the Allies 6 and the French 6. Since they had the initiative last week, the Allies again opt to move first.

Moves

Allies (6 allowed)

1 – Sp B (Giron) marches from Teruel to Calatayud

2 – A (Aigburth) absorbs H (Long) at Salamanca

3 – B (Graham) marches over the hills from Orense to Zamora – the timing is not ideal, since the weather has reduced the roads to a poor state, so a test is required:

2D3 = 5 +2 (Graham’s rating) -1 (brown road) -1 (poor weather) = 5   - the march is completed, without problems

4 – Sp F (Ximenez, with irregulars at Toledo) to scout toward Madrid, watching for evacuation of the city

5 – Sp E (Mira, with irregulars at Ocana) to do the same

 [Intelligence step -

• Much activity in Madrid, then Joseph’s forces and an enormous wagon train seen heading north
• Graham finds that Marmont has evacuated the Zamora region, and has destroyed river crossings and generally ruined the countryside and villages]

French (6 allowed)

1 – K (Joseph/Jourdan) march from Madrid to Aranda.

 [Intelligence step –

• No new information.]

Supplies and Demoralisation

All units are in supply, but the Spanish afrancesado units in Marmont’s army (Force N) are Demoralised by the retreat, and especially by the abandonment of Madrid, so must test for loss through desertion. Also, they will not receive any replacements this month.

The detailed losses for demoralisation for this Division (Casapalacio’s) are:

1/Gd Gren, Gd Volt, 1 Leger (Castille) & Royal Etranger – all -1 block. 1/Gd Fus, 2/Gd Fus, 1/2 Ligne (Toledo) – all -2 blocks. This represents a total loss to the division of about 2000 infantry.

Since 16^th August is the nearest weekend to the middle of the month, reinforcements, replacements and returns from hospital are diced for – since Clauzel’s force were forced to abandon their hospitals, they will receive no additional troops this month.

Detailed additions:

French – Chass des Mont, 5 Ch-Leg, 1 Ch-Leg Rugeois, 2/69, 3/2 Art a Chev, 15 Dgns – each +1 block. Total increase from these additions is approx. 400 infantry, 375 cavalry and 2 guns, which is far less than the desertions from Marmont’s Spanish division.

Anglo-Portuguese – 2/5^th, 2^nd Lt Bn KGL, Br Oels Jaegers, Troop ‘E’ RHA, 5^th Dgn Gds, 1^st Port Cav, 1^st Prov Lt Bn – each +1 block; Wallace’s Lt coys, 2/95^th 3^rd Dgns – each +2 blocks. Total increase is approx. 1600 infantry, 500 cavalry and 2 guns.

Spanish – No additions this month.

Contacts

None.

Solo Campaign – Let’s Get This Show Back on the Road

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 2^nd 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 (28^th Feb 1812) and Allariz (8^th May 1812 – Sir Thomas Graham was the commander on this occasion) and the Spanish-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo fell to the French on 23^rd 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 28^th 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 3^rd 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 18^th 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 2^nd August, updated for the action at Martin de Yeltes, is thus: 

Danube Trip - Well, We're Here #3

Inside the private chapel at the palace of Thurn und Taxis, Regensburg

Trouble at Regensburg (Ratisbon) - then and now

First thing to understand about the history of the City of Regensburg is that it is complicated. This is also the second and third things you need to understand.

In 1809, the city, though lying squarely within the Kingdom of Bavaria, was independent of it. Regensburg was an independent city, and please don’t ask me to explain whose it was. I think I knew at some point yesterday, but now I am not so sure. The Prince of Thurn und Taxis may well have had something to do with it, but much of its independence was based on the fact that it was the seat of the Permanent Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Confusingly, the suburb on the north side of the Danube, Stadt-am-Hof, at the north end of the vital bridge, was part of Bavaria.

These days the city includes this suburb, and they are both part of the region of Bavaria, within the federal state of Germany. No problem there, then, though there appears to have been a little trouble during the recent bicentennial, in 2009. As part of an extensive programme of events to commemorate the unpleasantness of April 1809, a noted local historian and re-enactor was to ride over the bridge, dressed as Napoleon.

All sorts of difficulties were raised to stop this happening. Some well-intentioned soul with pacifist leanings declared that warfare and (especially) Napoleon were not suitable subjects for commemoration, though the counterargument, that approximately 1/3 of the city was destroyed, would suggest that the event had at the very least been significant.

On health and safety grounds, the Napoleon impersonator was banned from crossing the bridge, in case he and his horse fell off into the river – this despite the fact that there are no recorded cases of horses falling off in the previous 850 years. The ban was overturned, but there was a small retaliation in that a strange inscription appeared on the old gate pillar in Stadt-am-Hof, which, translated, says something like

To commemorate the dreadful day in April 1809,

all due to Napoleon, which befell the people of Regensburg.

2009

This piece of official graffiti caused further anger, since

(1)   defacing an ancient piece of the city in this way is inappropriate, not to mention illegal

(2)   the destruction of the northern suburb where the inscription was placed was entirely caused by Austrian artillery prior to 18^th April, though the French did cause a lot of damage when they attacked the south side of Regensburg on 23^rd April.

(3)   The conflict in the area was initiated by invasion by the Austrian army, not by the French, who were fighting in support of their Bavarian allies.

(4)   Strangely, the local authorities refused to name either the author of the inscription, or the identity of the engraver, in case of reprisals. Hmmm.

We spent much of yesterday touring the city of Regensburg – and a very fine place it is, too – focusing on the key locations connected with the French storming of the place on 23^rd April. I was intrigued to note that the French attacked at a strong part of the walls, though a portion of the walls a short distance away had been demolished.

The celebrated tale of Marshal Lannes seizing the scaling ladder and having to be restrained by his aides (notably Marbot, who else?) would have been unnecessary if the attack had been made closer to the palace of Thurn and Taxis, where the walls had been removed as part of works to the gardens – the French should, in theory, just have walked in if they had attacked a little to the west. There were a good many Bavarians with the attacking troops, but it is likely that they came from other parts of the country – Regensburg was, in any case, not in Bavaria, and the main recruiting centres were Munich, Ingolstadt and Nuremberg.

As before, I’ll include some pictures to give an idea of areas we looked at.

Napoleon was decent enough to get wounded within a few metres of our hotel,
though halfway up a wall is an odd place for it to have happened

One of the few areas where the walls can still be seen - here you see the
medieval wall, with the ancient Roman wall behind it. This is in the area where
the French made their attack. The artillery made a hole in the town
which was rebuilt as a street - Maximilianstrasse

The day after the assault, Napoleon appeared on the balcony at the home of his
friend Karl Theodor von Dalberg, erstwhile Archbishop of Mainz and noted
mover and shaper in the Rheinbund. Ths was to show the townspeople that his wound was trifling

The stone bridge - a horse would probably be safe enough there

The gate pillars at Stadt am Hof, where the mysterious new inscription appeared

We are now in Vienna. If we get to the Heeresgeschichtemuseum I’ll try to put a post together. First priority is to get some homemade apfelstrudel.

I am pleasantly surprised to note that my hotel here in Vienna, when it was a private house, was the birthplace (in 1888) of Max Steiner, the composer, who is maybe best known for the scores to “Gone with the Wind” and “Casablanca”. As a sincere tribute from one Max to another, I have to say, “Play it again, Max!”.