In the early April morning, the Emperor Napoleon I ordered forward his whole army: three army corps, one cavalry corps and the Imperial Guard to cross the stream and to drive back or destroy the enemy. No less eagerly, the Russians surged forward to meet them. The Prussians were very soon up, and not long after, the leading Austrian formations could be descried among the woods and hills to the south.
The following narrative closely matches the text and vice versa - at least as far as I could match the two.
Straight off the march, the Prussian corps mounted the Haliniez Heights, the two landwehr Divisions holding each end of the ridge, with the Corps artillery in battery between them. The wood in front of the position rather restricted the guns' arc of fire, but, together with bend in the stream, was more inconvenient to the French. The Vachva itself was no great obstacle - occasioning only a slight delay when crossing, but the angle opposite the Haliniez Wood the stream made to the southwest made its traverse awkward in the face of an enemy.
Even so, that did not stop the III Corps light horse and 25th infantry Division building up an assault upon the Brandenburger Landwehr holding the north end of the Heights.
Straight off the march, the Prussian corps mounted the Haliniez Heights, the two landwehr Divisions holding each end of the ridge, with the Corps artillery in battery between them. The wood in front of the position rather restricted the guns' arc of fire, but, together with bend in the stream, was more inconvenient to the French. The Vachva itself was no great obstacle - occasioning only a slight delay when crossing, but the angle opposite the Haliniez Wood the stream made to the southwest made its traverse awkward in the face of an enemy.
Even so, that did not stop the III Corps light horse and 25th infantry Division building up an assault upon the Brandenburger Landwehr holding the north end of the Heights.
To the Prussians' left, a Russian Division of Grenadiers formed line with a gun battery to face the French IX Corps, whilst a further Division made for the unoccupied Golynets village which was hoped would provide a useful bastion of defence, should it be required. Ahead of the grenadiers, the Division of dragoons charged the French skirmishers that had just crossed the stream, and flung the survivors into it and beyond.
The remaining four Russian infantry, and single cuirassier Divisions, and two artillery formations veered to bypass Golynets to the south. This rather tended to block out the Austrians' push onto the field. However, between the two woodland tracts, General Siegenthal's formation of landwehr, freiwilliger and freikorps had formed lines that threatened the flank of V Corps's advance. At once Prince Poniatowski ordered his light horse to eliminate the menace. We might have guessed how it would go: the Austrian second-raters stopped cold the light horse charge and send the whole formation scurrying to the rear.
To the left of V Corps, the Imperial Guard were also on the march, light horse, and the Young Guard, skirmishers deployed in grande bandee to the fore. Riding forward to try conclusions with the Guard lights, the Russian cuirassiers came under a destructive gunfire from the Guard artillery. By the time the clash came, the Russian heavy horse had been much weakened by the bombardment.
The Brandenburg Landwehr Division, meanwhile, had formed square betimes and seen off the attack by the III Corps light cavalry. But this placed them at hazard against the skirmishers and column of 25th Division crossing the stream and advancing up the slopes. The remainder of III Corps and IX Corps, under a telling fire from Russian and Prussian artillery - some 64 cannon) were still yet to cross the stream in force. The Russian dragoons had ridden off, minus a considerable number of troopers, and the grenadier column readied themselves for an attack of their own.
The whole French front to the right of the 80 guns of the Guard batteries were by now well across the stream and grinding forward: the Imperial Guard, V Corps and the III Cavalry Corps. Directly in front of a 32-piece battery, the Young Guard were taking a steady attrition of casualties, but carried on with resolution. The whole heaped up mass on this wing looked set to carry off the much thinner Russian force. But that was to reckon without the Austrians. Slowly their increasing presence was to be felt.
By the time the Guard light horse and Russian cuirassiers came together in the long anticipated clash, the latter had already taken heavy losses from incoming gunfire. The light horse had also taken slight losses from the musketry from Golynets, but remained in far better shape. At the first impact, the Russian formation shattered, its remnants fleeing to the rear, their fight finished for the day. The French had achieved some recompense for the discomfiture of the V Corps light horse earlier.
The news Napoleon was receiving was equally encouraging on his northern flank. Twenty-fifth Division had thrown the a Prussian Division right off the Haliniez Heights. But before that could be exploited, a body of heavy horse appeared over the crest to threaten the French column. In his left centre, 10th Division of III Corps and 26th Division of V Corps had crossed the stream and were advancing in skirmisher-covered columns towards an Allied line made up of Prussian artillery, Elbe Landwehr (in column) and Russian grenadiers (in successive lines).
To the right of the road, 12th Division, IX Corps, supported by the Guard artillery, attempted the storm of the Golynets village. The attempt was made under the cannon of a powerful Russian park. Despite the help from the Guard artillery, 12th Division failed to break into the place, and fell back in complete confusion back across the river and all the way back to Yamnitza, a good half a kilometre or half a verst from the stream.
The Russian cuirassiers having been roundly defeated, the Guard light horse found themselves facing a Divisional infantry square hard by the village. They also felt it incumbent upon themselves to leave the scene of their victory, and left the space in the line to the Middle Guard. These gentry were already across the stream and facing the village, the column seemingly preparing to storm the place. Marching close by the square were the Young Guard and the 16th Division of V Corps, with heavy supports of horse and foot, seemingly about to break through the whole Allied line.
In fact the two divisions were marching into a dangerous salient, and the 16th Divisional column was marching across the front of a Russian 32-piece battery (represented by 1 gun and 4 gunners and the trapezoidal stand). The supports on this flank had been delayed by the Austrians' intervention on the flank. The Dragoons thrown in to crush the Austrian landwehr fared no better than had the V Corps light horse, and an Austrian park was already in battery action against the French (Polish) 18th Infantry Division.
At about now, Dame Fortune was bestowing her smiles upon the Allies, as the French casualties were mounting faster than their own. Beaten down by musketry and gunfire, on both wings, the French were being beaten back across the stream. One Division (12th) having been routed from in front of Golynets, IX Corps other (26th) also fell back considerably depleted. The 10th Division of III Corps also fell back to conform. Meanwhile, 11th Division, fronting the awkward angle of the stream, and hesitating to join in the advance, continued to stay right where it stood.
The dangerous situation in which the Young Guard and 16th Division had found themselves persuaded their commanders to pull them back - back to their start lines west of the Vechva. Even the Middle Guard was drawn back from Golynets village. The only actions that remained were the face off between 17th Division and the leading Austrian Division of Bianchi. The Austrians getting the better of this encounter set their opponents back towards the stream.
(Aside: V Corps was actually an exclusively Polish formation. I don't have Polish figures. I am not very apologetically using French figures their stead.)
But the French had one success to cheer about: the final defeat of the Austrian landwehr. Seeing the defeat of two successive Divisions of cavalry - Polish lights and French Dragoons, Murat threw in the 3rd Cavalry Division's cuirassiers. No sooner ordered, than done; the cuirassiers quickly overran the Austrian semi-regulars...
... and then they found a Division of Austrian cuirassiers, coming the other way, and closing fast...
To be continued. Is this the closing phase of a battle that for the French no more than a tactical draw, not far removed from a defeat? Are the Allied about to go over to attack? The conclusion of this encounter, next time.
To be continued. Is this the closing phase of a battle that for the French no more than a tactical draw, not far removed from a defeat? Are the Allied about to go over to attack? The conclusion of this encounter, next time.
