A New Player Joins

One of my son's friends is joining the Slobobian Amy a a brigade commander: His initial briefing:


Per our conversation yesterday I thought I would bring you up to speed
in preparation for our online campaign.

First off the setting of this campaign takes place in 1868 between two
fictional states, Freedonia vs Upper Slobobia. These states are
generally in the area of the Ardennes,along the border of Germany,
Luxoumberg and Belgium.You are a member of the Upper Slobobian Army.

The Nature of European Combat in the late 1860s:
Much of the lessons learned during the American Civil War were
expressly ignored by the majority of European major military planners
and thinkers who could not look past the "Armed rabble" nature of the
war. For example cavalry still filled an essentially Napoleonic shock
charge battlefield role as cavalry leaders were against giving up the
romantic notion of the charge even though technology had already made
it somewhat feasible. The breach loading rifles known in Prussia as the
Needlegun and in France as the Chassepot have dramatically increased
the lethality of infantry and necessitate more open formations as
opposed to everyone banging away at each other in line. Likewise
Artillery is increasingly breachloading and rifled which increases
range and rate of fire.

Unfortunately Upper Slobobia represents the reactionary movement
against these new technological changes, being that they haven't
fought serious combat since the Napoleonic wars ended in 1815.
Politically they are  a duchal Monarchy and very much against the
upstart Freedonian's heretical attempts to move towards a French-style
democracy.

Anyway the Slobobian Army is still equipped with Rifled Muskets
similar to those used in the US Civil War. There is a strong belief in
the Slobobian Army that combat is resolved at the point of a bayonet.
The Freedonian Army is equipped with bolt action "needle guns".

 After he writes back to join...

Great,
I have attached your commander's original plan for the invasion of Freedonia and a map of your current overall situation. You are a General Geanakoplos, a brigade commander in Chekov's Corps of the Army of Upper Slobobia which is commanded by General Lorencz (that's Miles). You are part of the Northern Attack Group...Group A.

Your Brigade currently consists of:
1co 11th Artillery with 4 8lber rifled cannons (horse drawn) w 155 men.
3rd Royal Light infantry bn (battalion) with 755 men (they are light troops capable of skirmishing)
1bn IR(Infantry Regiment) 22 with 850 men
2bn IR22 with 908 men
1bn IR17 with 900 men
2bn IR17 with 889 men
1bn IR20 with 945 men (note: your best unit)
All your battalions have six equal sized companies.

It is 2300hours (11pm) on 3 June, 1868. The previous day a large battle was fought at Bretogne near the border. Your role in this fight was minimal given your position last in line towards the back of the column.  During the reorganizing that ensued on the 3rd, your Brigade now finds itself at the head of the column with Alfonso bloodied division now rested and reorganized, at the back. You are summoned by General Chekov who informs you that your brigade will be in the lead for tomorrow's march. He wants no surprises. Behind you in the order of march will be Solo's Brigade. The entire army follows. He expects you to be ready to move by 6am. You are to proceed at a normal marching pace.

Ahead of you will be a few squadrons of Slobobian cavalry scouting ahead. You know they are out there because you hear occasional shots as they skirmish with the ever present Freedonian cavalry pickets assigned to keep tabs on your army's progress.

You will need to decide the order of march for your brigade as they lead off in the morning. You can respond to me with a short narrative of the orders you give your subordinate commanders. Keep in mind that if you have to move out by 6am that it will take your brigade at least a half hour to form up into column not including eating breakfast and packing up.







Once you mull this over I will be looking for you to give me your suggested order of march since you are the lead element in the Army.  This mean bn (battalion X is in the lead followed by Bn Y etc, where is the artillery battery in this order and where are you. Also what will you tell the lead bn commander (cdr) to do if he makes contact. Your formation I expect will be in column so your brigade will be spread out along the road over a mile.

You are pretty much tasked with moving down a single road, several miles ahead of the other brigades. The only thing ahead of you will be cavalry..outside of your control but they will keep you informed of what they bump into. The Army commander has you out front and it will be your job to deal with small enemy detachments as pop up without involving the rest of the Army.

Good Luck!





His first orders...
"I would like to advance my troops at 5:00 am in a colomn with the 3rd Royal Light infrantry leading the way followed by the 2bn IR17, then the 1bn IR17, then the 1bn IR20, then my cannon and then in the rear hte 2bn IR22. The lead unit should engage in cmbat with any resistance met and should await further order as they fight the opposition"

4 June: Morning...The Battle of Amity

Initial deployments

Defensive preparations where barely underway when the Slobobians appeared along the main road in force. One unanticipated development was the concentration of all light forces into a  single ad hoc force which was dispatched to find away around the Freedonian right flank.  Wasserman's deployment included for the first time militia, which had been assembling at Amity over the past two days, and had been responsible for whatever defensive positions there were. As such they occupied the advance position and were first in actin when the Slobobians struck. Within a half hour the Militia battalions were routed. But hey had caused sufficient disorder within the Slobobian ranks that Pham passed through the next regiment to continue the attack.

View from behind the Freedonian position looking East

Townspeople alerted Wasserman as to the attempted flanking movement by the Slobobians. he saw with alarm that they would strike his artillery position and rushed the tired 7th Jaegers and his dragoons to bolster the right flank.

At this point the engagement became general with both sides artillery shelling portions of Amity as the fight developed back and forth. Soon much of the town was on fire.

The Successive blows against the Freedonian line each in turn sent them reeling rearwards. The many hedgerows and  built up terrain of the village did not work in the favor of the Freedonians, unable to make best use of their rapid fire needleguns against the swarms of Slobobian attackers. The superior numbers of the Slobobians insured that there was always a fresh battalion to throw into each attack, regardless of the casualties of its predecessor.

Desperate charge of the 2d Dragoons

Ultimately Wasserman was able to draw off his force, admittedly not in the best of order. A fresh Slobobian battalion set off in pursuit. A timely, if desperate, flank charge from the 2d Dragons, slammed into the lead attackers, and thus put an end to any immediate pursuit. However eth cost was high, nearly the entire regiment killed, wounded, captured.

In the end each side lost a further 25% of their force,(Freedonains 1400, Slobobians 2300)... losses the Freedonians could ill afford. However, Wassrman was now able to extract himself, with no enemy pursuit. The Slobobians were too disorganized to follow, and would wait at Amity the rest of the day, reorganizing and awaiting the rest of their column, on the way down form Bethany.

And thus came to a close the four days which would be known as the  Battle of the Frontiers...

4 June: 0400 Aftermath of Bethany

The enemy Brigade attempting to force the gully had pretty much wrecked themselves in the attempt. However with four brigades in this wing,General Mattieu sends Pham and Zervos's brigades to move by the route taken by IR13 and undertake immediate pursuit. Meanwhile the rest of the wing spent the evening getting across consolidating and reorganizing.

That night Brigade Wasserman moved 5 miles west to the small town of Amity. The commander expected that he would be able to make a clean getaway. Unfortunately the assembly of stragglers and the extraction of the wounded resulted in slow going.

It was with great surprise that by 0400 Gen Wasserman received a report from his reargard Dragoons of an enemy force of at least brigade strength being hot on his heels. The Slobobians had pursued through the night after them.

Wasserman realized that this wounded and supply columns would be overtaken unless he could deal a bloody nose to his pursuers. With little rest the Brigade turned and took up positions around Amity and by dawn were ready for another fight.

Rules to be used: Polemos: Commandant de Battaile

Per my Carnage & Glory campaign files these are the two combatant strenths and OBs before the battle starts:

Brigade Wasserman

    [ 412] General de Brigade Wasserman - Active C [450 paces]

[ 112] 7th Jaeger bn                     0/ 480      

[ 113] 1bn 4th Line                      0/ 500       

[ 114] 2bn 4th Line                      0/ 450       

[ 115] 1bn 9th Line                      0/ 810      

[ 116] 2bn 9th Line                      0/ 907       

[ 117] 1bn 22th Line                     0/ 706      

[ 120] 1-3 foot artillery                0/ 105 [ 4] 

[ 121] 2-3 foot artillery                0/  59 [ 3] 

[ 122] 1st Compagne Miilitia bn          0/ 550      

[ 123] LaSalle's Volunteer Grenzers      0/ 395       

Strengths:

losses/active

    0/  4798 Bayonets

    0/   164 Artillerists

    0/     7 Cannon

    0/  5002 Total of all arms

          15 Standards present

Brigade Hylton

    [ 416] General de Brigade Hylton - Active B [450 paces]

[ 118] 2 dragoons                        0/ 420      C+

[ 119] 11 Hussars                        0/ 495      C+

Strengths:

losses/active

    0/   915 Sabres

    0/   915 Total of all arms

           2 Standards present

    Brigade Pham

    [ 512] General de Brigade Pham - Active C [350 paces]

[ 516] 1bn IR21                          0/ 796      C-

[ 517] 2bn IR21                          0/ 810      C-

[ 518] 3bn IR21                          0/ 770      C-

[ 519] 1bn IR13                          0/ 825      C+

[ 520] 2bn IR13                          0/ 504      C+

[ 521] 3bn IR13                          0/ 761      C 

[ 522] 12th Light                        0/ 577      C 

[ 523] 13 Foot artillery                 0/ 181 [ 7] C+

    Brigade Zervos

    [ 514] General de Brigade Zervos - Active B [500 paces]

[ 526] 1bn IR19                          0/ 806      D+

[ 527] 2bn IR19                          0/ 776      C-

[ 528] 3bn IR19                          0/ 800      D+

[ 529] 1bn IR25                          0/ 795      D+

[ 530] 2bn IR25                          0/ 800      C-

[ 531] 3bn IR25                          0/ 766      C 

[ 532] 13th Light                        0/ 800      C 

Strengths:

losses/active

    0/ 10586 Bayonets

    0/   489 Sabres

    0/   524 Artillerists

    0/    21 Cannon

    0/ 11599 Total of all arms

          29 Standards present

Initial positions: Slobobian Briagedes Pursuing at top f fame. In Amity Freedonians deploying

3 June 1715: Crumbing Fortunes

D Company Pushes across the Swamp

2/IR 13 pushes across the swamp and surges along Atwater pushing 4th Company steadily backwards. Back at the Lourenco farm, Major Wiggins arrives to organize the final line f defense as the Slobobian Grenadiers also press ahead through the thick woods.

Dragoons arriving and dismounting  

In a bid to avert total defeat a squadron of dragoons launches a dismounted assault south into the woods to check the grenadiers advance.

Wiggins is wounded in the final fighting. The Slobobian assault finally peters out (for now) in the woods surrounding the farm, but the position is tenuous enough that, as word gets back to Brigade headquarters,  a general withdrawal is ordered. With dusk approaching, Wasserman abandons the Bethany position.

Final positions at the time Wasserman decides to withdraw the Brigade

3 June 1615: A few pics

Col von Tripp prepared C Company for the assault across the swamp. 

The Situation at 1615 as 2-IR13 presses the7th Jaegers on two fronts.

3 June 1600: Pushing up the Trail

View East: Terrain confronting IR13 as they move into the woods

Once The Grenadiers pursed the retreating Freedonians into the woods, Captain Xavier considered his own task complete. He returned control of the Jaegers back to their section leader and followed D company in its push south to roll up the Freedonian line. The Freedonians at the field were in retreat, streaming back up along the Atwater trail or into the woods. IR 13 pushed on heedless of danger in an attempt to rout the Freedonians but instead stumbled into a carefully laid trap. As they pushed their way into the woods they came across a broad swamp which could not be seen from outside the treeline. Across the swamp, atop a rocky ridge, the Freedonians had established a second line of troops, that now poured heavy fire onto the mired and surprised Slobobians. Xavier saw dozens shot down and realized there would be no pushing across this swamp. C company’s commander saw this too and pulled the troops back to whatever cover they could find and settled into another firefight while the rest of the battalion pushed up Atwater trail. If they were successful, this would force the Freedonians on the ridge above them to withdraw.

Ultimately the fighting between the grenadiers deep into the woods north of this position compelled the Freedonians into a  slow withdrawal up Atwater trail. IR13 had suffered many casualties but were driven on by the furious exhortations of Colonel von Tripp and a sense that the Freedonians were breaking. The enemy gave ground slowly withdrawing from tree to tree. The terrain served to entice every man to simply seek a good hiding place and wait out the battle. Officers and NCOs everywhere were shouting, kicking, beating men forward.

View Northeast from the trail at the swap 

Eventually they came to a chokepoint in the advance and the final piece of the Freedonian defense became clear. on both sides of the trail were swamps. To the right a broad swamp perhaps 80 meters wide, toe the left a deep pond and swamp. Both were serious impediments to the advance. on the other side the enemy was will ensconced beyond stone walls. the trail itself was strewn with dead and it was here that A and B Companies had reached the limit of their endurance. Von Tripp sensed he would get little else out of the two spent companies. Behind him along the trail C company, still relatively unscathed was formed up in column. they would have to  pass through and assume the attack.

3 June 1600: Tanglefoot

View East: Moreau's defensive position as seen from the advancing enemy

Wiggins struggled to establish control of the confusing fight around him. Visibility in the thick woods was less than 50 yards. The rattle of musketry, smoke filled woods, cries and shouts, all worked against him. Third Company’s survivors had to retreat past the first planned position along a ridge, down through a gully and back to the second fallback position to put enough distance between them and the oncoming Slobobians. This allowed them to get organized.

Wiggins thought the position sufficient for their stand. They were on a rocky hill which observed the swamp below them. He directed the men into position along a makeshift line. The last Freedonians to arrive were brought up by Moreau. The Lieutenant had his troops well in hand. Wiggins needed to get back to the main fight. He briefed Moreau on the position, where and when he would fall back, and oriented him as to the direction of the Lourenco Farm. He was confident Moreau understood and could handle the task. Firing picked up as the Slobobians tried to cross the swamp below him. Many were shot down and the enemy advance halted. Their line spread out and a general fireflight ensued.

View Southeast:The stone wall marks the final defensive position at Lourenco farm

This was a good time for Wiggins to make his way back to the battalion. He set off east through the woods. He surprised to see that the farm was less than 300 yards from Moreau. Arriving back at the farm he directed the reserve force into a strong position along a stonewall, then set off back down the Atwater trail to 4^th Company’s position. They were covering a choke point along the trail where it crossed a swamp. Beyond they could hear the firing drawing closer. A steady stream of wounded were making their way back down the trail. Wiggins questioned a few and ascertained that the Jaegers had been pushed from the field. The enemy was slowly fighting its way up the trail. Wiggins had suspected this would be their course of action. At least no surprises were in store. He pushed ahead to link up with 1^st and 2d Company.