Don't we all wish again and again to replay the great battles of history on our gaming tables? In our imagination, it doesn't matter which of the great battles we replay, whether Waterloo, Gettysburg or Isandlwana? The main thing is that we can lead huge numbers of miniatures into battle and change the course of history.
But there is a major problem. Most of the time we lack painted figures and the time to remedy this lack. Fortunately, WoFun has managed to solve this small problem for us. Here we can buy our regiments already painted and then lead them straight onto the battlefield. So, a lack of figures can only be caused by the restrictions imposed on our hobby budget by our better half.
But there is often a much bigger problem that we have to contend with when we want to replay one of the great battles of history. A lack of space. Every battle requires an appropriate space to recreate it, even on a small scale with our figures. And even if many battlefields in history were actually quite small for the troops involved, recreating them often requires more than the 1.20 x 1.80 meters available to us on standard gaming tables.
So, what can we do? We have many wonderful miniatures, but we can't bring them onto the battlefield.
If we look at most battles, several thousand soldiers are involved, but they usually don't all take part in the fighting at the same time. It can often even happen that entire units of troops are not involved in the actual battle, but only march from one end of the battlefield to the other, only to turn around at the destination and march back.
So why not simply break a large battle down into several smaller ones and play the individual phases one after the other? This way, you can solve three problems at once: you don't need too many troops, which pleases our better half, you need less space and you also need less time for a battle, which is an advantage that should not be underestimated in our hectic times. Who has a whole weekend to devote to their hobby?
Unfortunately, I don't. Life often gets in the way with its demands, such as shopping, repairs or social obligations. On the other hand, it's no problem to take an afternoon at the weekend or even an evening during the week for yourself and your hobby.
But how can that work?
Let's take the Battle of Preussisch Eylau from February 7th to 9th, 1807, for example. After the Prussian defeat at Jena and Auerstedt in the same year, the remnants of the Prussian army and the royal couple were fleeing to the east. However, the allied Russian troops of Tsar Alexander I were only just approaching. Napoleon's strategy was to lure the Russian relief army under the command of Levin August von Bennigsen, a native of Lower Saxony, far into Prussian territory, thus cutting off their supplies and then attacking from several sides. However, his order to Marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the later Crown Prince of Sweden, was intercepted by Cossacks, so that Bennigsen recognized the danger of being lured into a trap and began to retreat to the east. He was pursued by the French and fought several rearguard battles with the pursuing French. Benningsen realised that he would not be able to continue this strategy forever, as it was contrary to the orders of both Tsar Alexander and the Prussian king.
For this reason, on February 6, 1807, Benningsen and his army of 67,000 men took up a position on a ridge on the road from Preussisch Eylau (today: Bagrationowsk) to Königsberg, which he expanded into a veritable barrier with his 460 cannons. His plan was to provoke Napoleon into an attack that would offer the possibility of defeating or wiping out individual French units. This gave him the opportunity to win a victory despite the precarious state of his troops thanks to the good position. Even though his troops were forced to camp in the open air in the freezing temperatures.
On the afternoon of February 7, the French IV Corps under Marshal Soult approached Preussisch Eylau. A group of French supply wagons, unaware of the location of the French headquarters, entered the town of Eylau, and the soldiers began to unload their wagons, which were attacked by the Russian outposts in the town. The noise of battle prompted Marshal Soult's French units to advance from the other edge of the town, and fighting broke out in Eylau.
The Russian side assumed that the French wanted to occupy the town and sent in more troops to prevent this, and the skirmish turned into a battle.
Looking at this episode, it is possible to re-enact part of the battle with limited troops by conducting a classic encounter battle.
The French supply column, with its weak security forces, has advanced to the centre of the town. There it is attacked by the light Russian security forces, whereupon both sides send reinforcements to the town.
The Battle of Preussisch Eylau on February 7 1807, Artist Jean Antoine Simeon Fort.
Image source: link
For example, on the Russian side, Major General Barclay de Tolly's brigade, consisting of two musketeer and one jaeger regiment, could defend the city. And the French could attack with the 1st Division under General of Division Saint-Hilaire. If this action is too small for a battle, there is of course the possibility of extending the action to the cemetery hill to the south. The hill offered an excellent defensive position and, in our scenario, could be occupied by the brigades of Major General Somov (Tula Musketeer and Tengisk Musketeer) and Major General Arseniev II (Tobolsk Musketeer and Polotzk Musketeer), supported by two artillery batteries that are entrenched in the cemetery. They are therefore faced by the troops of the 2nd French Division under Division General Leval (24th
Light, 4th, 28th, 46th and 57th Line Infantry with two artillery batteries) and the 3rd French Division under Division General Legrand (26th Light, 18th and 75th Line Infantry as well as the Tirailleurs Corses and the Tirailleurs du Pô and two artillery batteries).
In reality, the day's fighting was extremely bloody for both sides, with both sides losing around 4,000 soldiers each in a very small area. And General de Tolly was also seriously wounded in an attack he led.
Although the Russian forces had succeeded in driving the French out of the village, General Benningsen ordered the village to be evacuated, although the reasons for this decision could never be clarified. This meant that a small number of the French and Napoleon himself were able to take up quarters in the town, while the remaining troops on both sides had to spend the night outdoors, protected from the heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures of the night only by their coats, and the Russian troops were absurdly forbidden to light fires. Many of the day's wounded froze to death on the battlefield.
The Russian forces, 67,000 men with around 460 cannons, had taken up positions in two lines between the two towns of Schloditten in the north and Serpallen in the south, over a width of almost 5 kilometres. In contrast, Napoleon's 45,000 men and his 137 cannons stood. This part of the battle is initially of no interest for our reenactment, as it consists of the Russian guns firing at the French positions in and around Eylau and the French at the Russians. What will be exciting for us, however, is Marshal Davout's advance from the south directly into the flank of the Russian defence line around Serpallen.
Map of the Battle of Eylau - Situation early 8 February 1807
Image source: link
And here too we can divide the action into two smaller episodes. Davos's troops on the march were attacked directly by the cavalry of the 5th Russian Division under Major General Prince Golitsyn (Riga Dragoons, Kazan Dragoons, Elisabethgrad Hussars, Lithuanian Hunters and Gordeev I Cossacks).
On the French side they were faced with Davout's 2nd Division under Divisional General Friant (33rd, 48th, 108th and 111th Line Infantry Regiments and one foot artillery battery) and the light cavalry of the corps under Brigadier General Vialannes (1st Chasseurs and 2nd Chasseurs).
If Davout's troops succeed in repelling the cavalry, he can advance directly into the flank of the Russian defenders in Serpallen in our scenario. If he does not succeed in pushing them back quickly, he will have to fight, as in reality, against the now swung front and entrenched troops of Major General Baggovut (Starooskol Musketeers, 4th Jaegers) and the artillery brigade under his command (consisting of a mounted and a foot artillery battery), which have taken up positions on the ridge.
In reality, Friant's troops suffered heavy losses (around 1500 men) in their attempt to drive the Russian troops out of Serpallen. Only the deployment of the 1st Division forced the Russian defenders to retreat to Klein-Sausgarten.
This is where the next chapter of the battle begins. Napoleon fears that the Russian forces could escape his grasp. For this reason, he ordered Marshal Augereau and his VII Corps to attack the left wing of the Russian line to support Davout. However, the 49-year-old marshal was not feeling well that day and had to be tied to his horse after being taken to the front in a sleigh.
To make matters worse, heavy snowfall began just as the attack began, obstructing visibility so much that the attack did not hit the left wing of the Russian line as planned. Instead, the units of the VII Corps lost their bearings and suddenly found themselves within firing range of the cannons of the Russian centre. Although some of his troops managed to break into the Russian lines, they were attacked from several sides and almost wiped out by a cavalry counterattack, so that the corps disappeared from the muster lists as an independent unit as a result of the attack. Augereau and his two division commanders were wounded in the attack.
For a small battle, the two divisions (First Division, General of Division Jacques Desjardin: 16th Light, 14th, 44th, 105th Line Infantry and Second Division, General of Division Heudelet: 7th light, 24th and 63rd Line Infantry) could be sent to attack the strong Russian centre.
The centre was formed by the 3rd Division under Lieutenant-General Baron von der Osten-Sacken. The first line was formed by the Artillery Brigade under Colonel von Bril with five artillery batteries (two heavy, two light and one mounted). Behind this line are the 3 infantry brigades (1st Infantry Brigade Major General Ushakov: Taurida Grenadiers, Lithuanian Musketeers; 2nd Infantry Brigade Major General Titov: Koporsk Musketeers, Muromsk Musketeers and the 5th Infantry Brigade Major General Prince Dolgorukov: Chernigov Musketeers, Dnepr Musketeers, 21st Jaegers). Behind this second line, the Russian cavalry of the 3rd Brigade under Major General Count von der Pahlen has taken up positions (Little Russian Cuirassiers, Kurland Dragoons, Ilowaiski №10 Cossacks, Papuzin Cossacks).
In our scenario, Augereau's approach is obscured by the heavy snowfall, the artillery can fire into the snowfall, but hitting them is difficult, only at close range does the visibility clear up, so that the approaching French find themselves facing the artillery batteries. The aim is to take out the artillery batteries and then retreat to your own lines as unscathed as possible. The Russian infantry and cavalry are only allowed to join the fight once a Russian artillery battery has been destroyed. The aim of the Russian side in this scenario is to destroy the attacking French corps, i.e. to take out more than half of the attacking units before they can retreat to their own lines.
Now we come to my favourite part of the battle, the attack by the French cavalry under Murat. You have to imagine this attack. 40 squadrons of cavalry, around 5,000 men, attack the enemy in one attack. And you also have to imagine the condition of the horses, malnourished and exhausted from the endless marches in the vastness of East Prussia in the low temperatures, and yet they attack.
But no, I've run out of space for today's article. I've already written too much again.
If you want me to break down the rest of the battle into its parts, you can write to Lucian by email or Vali via our Facebook group. So that I can also know whether you like my thoughts at all.
Until then, I hope you have a nice week.
Yours, Martin