Eckmuhl Campaign (5)

 Day 8:

Napoleon and Vandamme arrive at Freising just as 
Messena storms the town.

The day's delay imposed by Austrian light cavalry upon Vandamme's corps, and upon Napoleon himself bought little respite. The next day found a concentration of three French army corps around Freising. Leading the attack Massena's IV Corps stormed the town, crushed Prince Liechtenstein's garrison, and sent it reeling across the Isar. By the time Napoleon arrived, the town was already in French hands, and Massena was preparing to cross the bridge in pursuit.

Heavy losses to IV Corps and I Reserve, both, but the latter
forced to abandon the town

This defeat rather threw into disarray the Austrians around the Isar River. II Reserve Corps had just set out to march northward to help around the Teugen area. Night fell just as the head of Kienmayer's small column was clearing the Landshut bridge.

V Corps and II Reserve Corps will
have to hurry back...

In the area between Regensburg and Eckmuhl, the situation suddenly took on a more dire aspect for the Austrians. Following up their victories the day before, Gudin's half of III Corps was in full march for Regensburg, and Lefebvre's VII Corps caught up with Hohenzollern's IIIrd on the road south. The guns heard from the direction of Eckmuhl late the previous day had not after all indicated a full battle, but that Lannes had also run Rosenberg to earth near Eckmuhl.

Battles imminent along the Regensburg-Eckmuhl road

Confident of victory after the successful actions of the previous days, Lannes threw his troops into the attack. The campaign had so far tended rather to deplete the corps of both sides. Lannes's numerical superiority was only marginal, and he received an unexpectedly sharp rebuff.  He fell back discomfited to Langquaid.  

Lannes attempt to cut the road at Eckmuhl...

Rosenberg might have continued his retreat to Landshut, but being made aware of Lannes corps flanking the road, and the parlous situation developing east of Teugen and south of Regensburg, elected to remain where he was to ensure that the road was kept open. 

... but is sharply rebuffed.

This was, however, to overlook that St-Hilaire's command, though also badly depleted, was still a force in being, and also in a position to block the road somewhere north of Eckmuhl. It was still possible for I Corps to escape through Regensburg, and for III Corps to brush by St-Hilaire. Much depended upon how events developed the following day. Who would get in the first blows?

Austrian I and III Corps in trouble

Day 9:
The French did. Before Bellegarde and Hohenzollern could get their troops on the road, Gudin and Lefebvre were upon them with horse, foot and guns. Passing by Regensburg, Gudin attacked from the north. Marshal Lefebvre opened the ball from the Teugen road. St-Hilaire completed the investment, coming up from Geisling just in time to close the road south.

The Battle of the Danube!

The surprise complete, Lefebvre's Bavarians and Gudin's veterans crushed the Austrians jammed against the Danube riverbank. Only remnants remained to surrender to the French commanders. St Hilaire had only a walk-on part, but his appearance sealed a huge victory for the Grande Armee.

Totally defeated, Bellegarde and Hohenzollern
offer their swords

Further south, Marshal Lannes, his Corps replenished overnight by the return of stragglers and lightly wounded, once again attacked Rosenberg. Victory here would bring a fine conclusion to a successful campaign. It was not to be. Even facing two to one odds, Rosenberg emphatically repulsed a second attack. He could now resume unmolested his march south.

Marshal Lannes's second attempt to sever the road

Whether he might get by the river crossing at Landshut might well have been problematic. After taking Freising for the second time, Marshal Messena was in full march in pursuit of Liechtenstein's I Reserve Corps, whilst Napoleon directed Vandamme along the north bank of the Isar, reaching Moosburg at nightfall.  

Napoleon and three of his army corps, on both sides 
of the Isar, in full march to Landshut

It was plain that whatever moves Archduke Charles was contemplating, the day's disasters had rendered them nugatory. Hastily recalling V Corps from Pfaffenhofen and taking II Reserve Corps back across the bridge into Landshut, the Archduke brought off the remains of his army. Soon he would be in full retreat to Vienna.

Austrians will be lucky to escape at Landshut...

The operations around Regenburg and Landshut were a fine beginning to Napoleon's 1809 campaign. Two whole Austrian army corps, I and III, had been forced to surrender. True, at least two French Corps, III and Marshal Lannes's Provisional, were left but shadows of themselves, but at least two of the Archduke's surviving corps were in no better state.

Altogether, the Emperor Napoleon found the dictating of event to Le Bulletin a rather more than usually enjoyable task - hardly a chore at all, really.

Concluding comments:

To readers barracking for an Austrian victory - sorry to disappoint. After some fine successes in the middle of the campaign, the sudden turn into disaster was quite unexpected, although I think I was feeling some misgivings as the sun set upon Day 7. One sensed then that Napoleon's forces becoming in the ascendant, but Austria seemed yet to be in a position to hand out a few hard knocks. Indeed they were: Rosenberg redeemed his defeat at Langquaid by twice repelling Lannes's attacks near Eckmuhl.


Issues:
A number of issues emerged with this project, enough to resolve me to revisiting the thing some time.

(1) The first is the map. The hex-map I created and posted here (Eckmuhl Hex Map) I simply could not reproduce on the table, and was probably too detailed anyway. I had quickly to extemporise a practical map that seemed more or less recognisable. I have already begun a new hex map, orienting the thing such that the top of the map represents northwest, rather than north. That should broaden the space between the Danube and the Isar rivers, and create a bit more space for operations around Freising.  

The operations around Freising in this hastily extemporised incarnation really were hampered by the 'edge of the world' effect and too little room to move.

(2) I think I have the OOB's scale and movement rates about right, now, though one has to remind oneself that enemy forces in adjacent hexes does not imply a battle. One side or the other must attempt to move in to the other - costing 1 hex of movement - to bring on the battle. I forgot this when looking at the pic of Lannes and Rosenberg at the end of Day 7. In deferring the account of the Day 7 afternoon action to the posting for Day 8, I forgot that in fact Lannes had only just caught up with Rosenberg with his whole command. The battle could not begin until the 8th. I think my narrative skirts around and recovers from that slight mistake.

(3) Much to my surprise and gratification, this campaign once again showed the potential effectiveness of small, independent cavalry corps using this system. It's a chancy business, of course, the probability of a two-horse 'cavcorps' being swatted out of the campaign reasonably significant.

(4) Flags, etc. They are really there to help identify who's who - French or Austrian in the pictures. Having no Wurttembergers or Bavarians, their role was taken by the French. The actual command is in the form of a mounted general officer, and the troops are what they are. The fighting power of the guns are represented by the gun crews. If they are lost, the formation keeps its guns whilst half the lost gunners may be returned. If upon overnight renewal the formation still has no gunners, then its artillery is lost for good. That no formation actually did lose its artillery outright until the end of the campaign was probably due to my manner of reconciling - renewing - losses.

(5) My method of renewal of losses was fairly liberal, pretty much prioritising upon who needed what most. The overall losses for the day were totted up, and, for each arm, halved. I rounded odd halves up for infantry, and down for cavalry and gunners. Any formation commanders lost - the French III Corps was unlucky in that regard - counted towards losses, and were automatically replaced 'overnight'. Davout's early exit from the campaign lost the formation under his command his +2 combat modifier, reducing to the standard +1 for commanders when St-Hilaire took over. When the commander was lost, the formation had no commander for the rest of the 'day' (1 IGoUGo turn in this campaign). That does not stop it moving and fighting, but it does mean there is no +1 in combat for the commander in the meantime.

Later on, this method of returning losses kept St-Hilaire in action, even though at the end of the campaign it had been reduced to 1 infantry, 1 light cavalry and 1 gunner! 

Overall, the attritional effects weren't really noticeable until well into the campaign, yet decisive results were still obtainable.

(6) Built up areas.  I've been making several BUA 'footprints' to use when troops occupy or pass through the same. Much as I admire the '2.5D' towns and villages others have made, I have far too many of the 3D variety now to build a whole new collection. My 'footprints' are the compromise.