dessau (october 12, 1813)
waiting for ney
INTRODUCTION
As the storm is hovering over Leipzig,
Napoleon has lost some precious days trying to catch the Army of
Silesia at Duben (See the
Duben Scenario) but
Blucher has eluded him and after crossing the Mulde river (a
tributary of the Elbe), has joined forces under the overall command
of Bernadotte. This last, forced by the fierce Prussian general, has
sent reluctantly his forces southwards heading to Leipzig, while
Napoleon, with inaccurate information, is advancing northwards, only
to find the weak Tauentzien's Landwehr Corps, covering the Mulde and
the Elbe rivers and protecting the road to Berlin.
Napoleon ordered Ney to take Dessau and its bridges over the Elbe.
The Delmas's 9th Division and the 23th Light Cavalry brigade (both
from the Souham's III Corps) were sent towards the town. The French
advance guard, light cavalry and some light infantry battalions,
found the Cossack screen and the Prussian infantry of the 4th
Brigade. After a hard fight, the French broke the weak Prussian
defensive line and Tauentzien's force retired northwards. Ney do not
followed him and returned in haste towards Leipzig, only to be
routed along the Grande Armee at Mockern and Leipzig.
This Lasalle Scenario is based on that combat.
Bibliography
- G. Clément."Campagne
de 1813". Paris 1904.
- G. Fabry
”Journal des operations du III & V Corps en 1813“. Paris, 1902
- F. Nafziger
“Napoleon at Leipzig: The Battle of Nations 1813”. The Emperor
Press, Chicago, 1996
-
Nafziger Orders of Battle Collection. Combined Arms Research
Library.
Maps GeoGREIF
http://greif.uni-greifswald.de/geogreif/geogreif-content/upload/mtbl/4139Dessau1906Kopie.jpg
TABLE-TOP ADAPTATION
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THE BATTLE IN PICTURES
Map of the area
General Leopold Wilhelm von Dobschütz
Game map
The
actual table-top battlefield
The initial deployement
Scenario pdf file for 'Dessau'
GO TO
THE BATTLE IN PICTURES
Summary of the oob
French units
C-i-C Souham French III Corps
9th Division Delmas
- Infantry: 10 battalions
- Artillery: 2 Foot batteries
23rd Light Cavalry Brigade Beurmann
- Cavalry: 2 regiments
- Infantry: 2 battalions
Reinforcements
8th Division Brayer
- Infantry: 3 battalionss
- Artillery: 1 Foot battery
15th Light Cavalry Brigade Mouriez
- Cavalry: 2 regiments
- Artillery: 1/2 Horse battery
Prussian Army (Army Moral 36,5;
Break point 12)
C-i-C Dobschutz 4th Brigade
Rearguard Muller
- Infantry: 3 battalions
- Cavalry: 1 Regiment, 2 Cossack regiments
- Artillery: 1/2 Horse battery
Main body Kohl
- Infantry: 5 battalions
Reserve Kroos
- Infantry: 3 battalions
- Artillery: 2 Foot batteries
- Baggage: 2 Train units
Cavalry: Schoon
- Cavalry: 2 regiments
Reinforcements
Detachment Merkel
- Infantry: 3 battalions
- Cavalry: 1 regiment
- Artillery: 1 Foot battery
Notes:
The basic duration of the game is 24 Turns (3 hours). Seven dice, or
six if near an Objective (see p. 67 of e-Lasalle) are used, instead
five, to test Army Moral. Bonus Turns are allowed rolling 2D6 (p. 66 of
e-Lasalle book). The French are attacking and are the first side.
OPTIONAL RULES
Deployment and Reinforcements
Prussian units
Muller’s rearguard is deployed in A2-B2; Kohl’s main body is at B4.
Schoon’s cavalry enters in column of march formation in Turn 2nd at
D3-D4 (60%-40%). Kroos’s Reserve enter in column of march formation in
turn 2nd (30%), 4th (60%) or 6th (100%), at D3-D4 (40%-60%). The
Merkel’s reinforcements may enter in D4.
French units Beurmann’s advance guard
is deployed in B1-C1. Each brigade of the 9th Division enter in turn 3rd
(30%), 5th (60%) or 7th (100%), at B1-D3 (80%-20%). The reinforcements
may enter in: 8th division: D3-D4 (60%/40%); 6th Light Cavalry division:
D3-D4 (40%-60%).
All reinforcements follow the Lasalle arrival rules (p. 91).
Optional rule: Irregular cavalry (Cossacks)
1) Irregular cavalry units may charge enemy units standing in
'limbered' or 'march column' formation in open terrain.
2) Irregular cavalry units must to pass a 'Discipline' test to initiate
the charge in open terrain.
3) If routed in 'decisive combat', the irregular cavalry unit is
immediately broken.
Optional rule: Capturing the baggage
- The wagon moves as if it were a foot artillery unit, always limbered.
- The wagon neither fires nor can charge the enemy. It has only one
formation: limber. It does not block line of sight or fire. It may not
be fired upon.
- Friendly units may move through it, as they move through a limbered
artillery unit.
- Any enemy unit - regular or irregular - may charge the wagon, as long
as that unit is eligible to charge (it is in a formation that permits it
to charge, it is facing the right way, etc.)
- In its reaction phase, the wagon may attempt a Fall Back, as if it
were a foot artillery limber. It succeeds on a roll of 4+, but if
attacked by enemy cavalry, it must re-roll a success, even if within 1BW
of friendly infantry.
- If it fails to fall back, then the wagon is automatically captured in
the ensuing combat. Combat must be “resolved” against it, as if against
any other unit, but the resolution consists simply of removing the
wagon, advancing the enemy unit(s) that captured it 2BW, and awarding
the captured Objective to the enemy.
- Any enemy unit that contacted the wagon suffers 1DISR, unless that
would break it. (The men are dispersed, plundering the loot.) The unit
must then take a discipline test. If it fails, it is marked in some way,
showing that it is disordered and still plundering.
- A unit that is still plundering is considered “Out of Command” for the
entirety of its side’s next turn.
Victory conditions
The Prussian aim is to retreat their artillery and baggage train
through A4 (Dessau) or B5 (Rosslau) before the end of the game without
breaking. The French aim is the opposite. The A4 and B5 road-ends are
Objectives for the game (See p. 67 and 91 of rule-book).
See a story version at the
Project Leipzig (1813)
blog
THE BATTLE IN PICTURES