Way back in the Dark Ages, about 1980, my wargaming style moved from competition and club roll-up games to playing in a small group that played scenario based games with a strong feeling for history. We would meet on Friday nights at one member's home at 7:30 PM and play on until 1:00 or 2:00 AM. Each attendee brought along a bottle of wine and over a glass or two we would show off our latest purchases, tell stories of the week and play our game. Supper was served at 10:00. They were very civilised evenings.
In either 1981 or 1982 one of the group created a series of Napoleonic games set in Germany in 1813. It centred around a character called Étienne Legrand, an imaginary French divisional commander with a with a taste for plunder. Three other imaginary characters, a Russian (General Knockerov), an Austrian (General Schwartzenfartzen) a Prussian (General Schulze), and a host of non-player characters opposed him.
The first game was a small action with just a few dragoons and hussars looking for some 'collectables' that Legrand had plundered, but had been misplaced during the retreat. Subsequent games developed into larger and larger actions culminating in game representing a part of the Battle of Leipzig. It was a series of four of five linked games, often referred amongst the players to as the Legrand series, that I have long considered one of the most enjoyable sequences of games I have played in.
Members of the Legrand family have featured in a number of our games over the years: Étienne's grandson fought in one of our Franco-Prussian War games, while his great-great grandson led a company in a 1914 game.
I have decided to recreate the Napoleonic series as a solo campaign. The names have changed but the concept is the same.
So here goes...
Episode One: The Affair at Seusslitz
21 September 1813 - 09:00 Hours
From the crest of the hill a group of French officers surveyed the valley before them. In the centre of the group was Henri Bonhomme, 35 years of age and looking every bit a general de division in Napoleon's army.
A native of Bordeaux, Henri came from humble beginnings. At the age of 18 he was swept up in the Revolutionary fervour and joined the army as a soldat, rising quickly through the ranks. Commanding a battalion he went with Bonaparte to Egypt where he developed a passion for collecting antiquities. By 1812 he had fought in many of Napoleon's campaigns, earning promotions at Austerlitz, Wagram and Eylau, and went to Russia in command of an infantry division, fighting at the Battle of Smolensk. Placed in command of the city after it fell, he was spared most of the horrors of the Russian campaign. Instead he installed himself in superb villa and spent much of his time acquiring artwork from the abandoned churches and houses of the Russian aristocracy then shipping it home. He fought in the early battles of 1813 and during the withdrawal to Leipzig he heard tell of a fine collection of the Dutch masters at a Schloss near the village of Seusslitz, just five kilometres off this line of march.
Yesterday morning, 20 September, Bonhomme sent his faithful servant Baillard with a wagon and a company of infantry on a detour to Schloss Seusslitz to secure what he could. Late in the day he received a message from Baillard reporting that he had made it to the Schloss and he had secured some wonderful pieces, but advance elements of the Coalition forces had appeared he had been compelled to hold up in the Schloss and could he send some help please. Bonhomme could not leave Baillard, and more importantly the loot he had gathered, to the enemy. Although it meant turning back in the face of advancing Coalition forces, he halted the Division and at dawn on the 21st took one infantry brigade and a regiment of escorting chasseurs à cheval back toward Seusslitz. Shortly after 9:00 AM the head of the column arrived about a kilometre east of the Schloss.
From the hill Bonhomme had a clear view of the valley before him. It was a pretty valley through which a narrow stream flowed around the sleepy village of Seusslitz. A number of small fields ready for harvest stretched beyond a narrow wood of that separated the village from the Schloss.
The Schloss was attractive enough in the distance, a bold white building surrounded by lofty trees, its gilded domed spire glinting in the sun, but it was a Schloss in name only. It was really a large walled church with a residence in the grounds. Its walls were built more for decoration than defence.
Bonhomme watched as a platoon of chasseurs à cheval edged their way forward. When they signalled that the way was clear he would ride forward to extract Baillard and his cargo. As the troopers reached the point where the road curved around the wood he saw a puff of smoke and a second later heard the sharp crack of a rifle. The officers all looked around. Telescopes were quickly trained on the spot.
"Anyone see anything?" Bonhomme asked. No one answered. "I guess not," he thought. He continued to sweep the area with his eye to the telescope. Then, through the trees, he saw a movement, a flash of yellow. "A flag?" he thought. Then he saw it again, definitely a flag. An Austrian flag.
At that instant someone cried out "cavalry!" And then he saw them, maybe three squadrons...probably hussars - definitely Austrian - coming around the end of the wood. The chasseurs à cheval vedettes were coming back at speed.
Bonhomme turned to Colonel de Serville of the chasseurs, "get the rest of your troopers forward Colonel...but put them in two groups...make them think you have more than you really do". He looked to the infantry brigadier, "Zentz, bring your infantry up on the hill, just two battalions and the regimental guns. Leave the other three battalions where they are - let's not show them everything we have just yet!"
Zentz and de Serville acknowledged the order and moved away to their commands. Bonhomme returned his focus to the action in front of him. In a short time de Serville's chasseurs à cheval, operating in pairs of squadrons, deployed in the open fields. The Austrian troopers, he could see now that they were definitely hussars, halted in the face of the French troopers. While Zentz brought up his infantry Bonhomme observed more activity in the trees where he had seen the flag. What looked like a full battalion of infantry emerged from the tree line.
"Merde!", he thought. Brown coats and blue pants. Grenz troops, he had faced them before in 1809 and knew them to be tough fighters.
Half an hour passed quickly. More Austrian cavalry appeared, maybe another two squadrons. He watched the chasseurs à cheval and hussars jockeying for position. Zentz soon had his two battalions deployed across the crest with the four light pieces of the regimental artillery between them. The remaining three battalions stood in column of divisions out of sight behind the hill.
The Austrians showed no inclination to advance. Then off to the left there was a puff of smoke followed by a dull thud. A second later an artillery round shot whizzed by high and about 100 paces to his left. Looking through telescope he could see a gun past. "Damn..." he thought, "how did I not see that?"
The Austrian gun threw a few more rounds his way, but the gunners seemed to be having a problem finding the range and the shots were all too high and sailed harmlessly overhead. Soon an hour had passed and he saw de Seville riding back.
"There is not much there, sir," de Serville reported. "A few squadrons of hussars, an infantry battalion, a couple of guns and a few companies of jägers. When you get beyond the village it's all open fields. There are some jägers watching the castle, everything else you can see in front of you."
"A foraging party?" Bonhomme questioned.
"Maybe, but there are no signs of wagons. Probably just a scouting party"
"Can we drive them?" Bonhomme asked.
"Easily. We can pass behind the woods, cross the stream and then drop into a hollow, across the stream again and straight into the village. They won't see us approach."
Bonhomme thought for a moment then turned to Zentz, "push two battalions forward on the left Colonel. Make some noise and keep those people in front of you busy. The other three battalions will go with Colonel de Serville to the right across the stream and approach the village from the south. We will flank them and open the route to the Schloss. We need to do this quickly though, someone will have heard that gunfire and we could catch some unwanted attention"
In no time the troops were in motion.
Preceded by a wave of skirmishers Zentz sent two battalions forward to engage the Austrian infantry, while three squadrons of de Serville's chasseurs à cheval massed on their right flank, opposite the enemy hussars forming a liaison with the flanking column.
The remaining a squadron of chasseurs à cheval led the other three infantry battalions across the stream and into the hollow.
As the Austrian gun opened again Bonhomme's concern that they would draw attention increased. He rode off to join the flanking column. He had a plan.
*******
General Baron Albrecht Hockmeister commanded a mixed division in the Austrian advanced guard. Putting him in the advance was an odd decision because he had little military experience. Known as a ladies man he spent most of his formative years in the cafés, bars and less reputable institutions of Vienna and Venice. His father had died in 1806 when Albrecht was just 22 leaving a title, a vast estate and the inhabership of Regiment Hockmeister. When Austria joined the Sixth Coalition the Emperor had called on him to lead his regiment in the campaign in Germany. Despite his total lack of military experience his social standing demanded a significant command and he was given not only his own regiment, but a force of divisional strength that included a brigade of two line regiments, a brigade of two combined grenadier battalions, and a light brigade. In all he commanded eleven battalions, a hussar regiment and three batteries.
On the afternoon of 20 September, as he was sampling the delights of Helga, the barmaid in the village of Grossenhain, he received a note from Field Marshal Klum that a small French force was plundering the country home of a wealthy and influential Prussian merchant at Seusslitz and to get over their and sort it out. Seeing the matter as an unnecessary distraction to his afternoon's activities, Hockmeister ordered General Holzinger with the light brigade to Seusslitz, and returned his attention to the lovely Helga.
*******
A career soldier General Bernt Holzinger was glad to get away from Hockmeister. He considered the man to be a total idiot. He made good time in his march to Seusslitz arriving there just before 5:00 PM with his brigade that consisted of the Hesse-Nassau-Homberg Hussar Regiment, Grenzer Battalion Sankt-Georger, Jäger Battalion No 6 and a wurst battery. Just as they arrived a French infantry company escorting a heavily ladened wagon was making its way from the Schloss towards Seusslitz. When the French saw the hussars they beat a hasty retreat to the Schloss and barred the gates. Holzinger was no rush to resolve this problem and decided to deal with it in the morning. Two companies of jägers were sent to watch the Schloss and prevent the French escape while the rest of the brigade went into bivouac near the village for the night where a hearty meal of pork knuckle and saurkraut was found for the senior officers.
Early the next morning Holzinger rode around the Schloss to see if there were any specific weak points he could exploit, but there were none. He had the numbers and could probably storm the place with ease, but saw no point expending lives to protect some Prussian merchant's house and he didn't want to pound it with the artillery because he knew would lead to an ear bashing from Hockmeister about why he felt the need to damage the place, and he didn't think he could stomach that. He wrote a short note to the French officer commanding demanding he surrender, which was quickly rejected. Instead he thought he would bring his full force into view of the Schloss. Surely they would see the futility of their situation and surrender.
At that moment the report came back that enemy cavalry was sighted to the west. Holzinger rode back to the woods beyond the village to see the situation himself. As a precaution he called the troops to arms. From the edge of the woods he could see a thin cavalry skirmish line approaching, but why were French cavalry advancing here when everything else in the last week indicated a retreat to the west? Was this a change in the situation?
As the French troopers came within 50 paces of the trees a lone jäger on the edge of the wood fired on them and they halted their advance. When three squadrons of the hussars advanced in the open in full view the French began to fall back rapidly. Holzinger continued to look west. He saw a group of officers on the high ground and soon after saw more French cavalry approaching in two district groups. It was difficult to determine their strength, but he thought maybe eight squadrons - two regiments. Then on the hill he saw infantry and artillery forming. At once called the other three squadrons of hussars forward, ordered the Grenz battalion to show itself and the artillery to fire a few rounds. He needed to see what was happening and the gunfire would surely put nearby units on alert.
Within half an hour the situation began to develop. The French infantry began to push forward, maybe two full battalions with cavalry on the flank. A small battery was posted on the hill. Soon the pop of musketry could be heard along the line as the skirmishers exchanged shots.
Holzinger knew he could hold here. From what he saw the French were not in significantly greater numbers and he held a good position, but as a precaution he left one company of jägers to watch the Schloss, brought the other up as a reserve and sent a courier off to Hockmeister. Then suddenly things took a turn for the worse.
*******
Bonhomme halted his flanking column at the end of the hollow. He climbed the slope to upper edge of the hollow and confirmed that de Serville was correct. He was behind the Austrian position. All that stood in front of him were a few jägers, maybe a company or two. He made his arrangements quickly. The squadron of chasseurs and two companies of infantry were sent on to the Schloss. Two battalions were formed into line to the left while the remaining half battalion formed a reserve.
He led the infantry up of the hollow with the voltigeurs thrown forward. They quickly crossed the stream, making for the village in the rear of the Austrian position.
The Austrian hussars began to wheel to face the infantry that were perhaps two hundred paces away, their officers looking for the opportunity to charge. But when de Serville's chasseurs began to advance the hussars thought better of it and retreated behind the jägers while the French voltigeurs opened at long range with little effect.
The jägers, seriously outnumbered, fell back with the hussars. Bonhomme watched with interest as the action began to swell. To his left the two battalions had pulled in their voltigeurs and were exchanging crashing volleys with the Austrian Grenz troops.
The Austrian guns, masked by their own troops had ceased firing and were looking to turn towards Bonhomme's flanking battalions. Bonhomme turned to an aide, "ask Colonel de Serville if he can do anything about those guns." The captain nodded and rode off. Bonhomme looked to the right and saw the small force he had sent towards the Schloss was almost at the gates. What looked like a company of jägers was moving away from them. "Good," he thought, "we'll be out of here soon".
*******
Holzinger was alarmed at how quickly the situation had changed. Where things had looked so promising a few minutes earlier, they now looked decidedly grim. He had been flanked by a much larger force. The hussars had fallen back in disorder and the three companies of jägers, his only reserve were giving ground in the face of two or three French battalions. The guns had started to turn to face the threat to the left flank, but with the French cavalry lurking nearby they fell back through the village, followed by the hussars.
Now the Grenz battalion was under pressure and Holzinger ordered it back into the trees and called the remaining company of jägers back from the Schloss. The situation was serious.
He looked back in the direction of Grossenhain in the vain hope that someone had heard the gunfire. To his utter surprise there was something there. He drew out his telescope for a closer look. They were Austrian...maybe Hockmeister wasn't the bumbling idiot he presumed and was marching to the sound of the guns. But there only seemed to be one battalion and it was wearing grey coats...landwehr...why would he send a single landwehr battalion...he revised his view of Hockmeister.
Still, with this battalion, the jägers and the grenz he would have 3,000 men on hand could form a formidable line. With the guns and the cavalry in support it should be enough to hold either until reinforcements came up or nightfall, whichever comes first.
*******
Bonhomme viewed the arrival of the new Austrian infantry will caution. He called de Serville back and ordered Zentz to call back his infantry. He did not want to be responsible for starting something bigger here. Afterall he wasn't really supposed to be here. Swinging his telescope toward the Schloss saw to his relief a heavily laden wagon and a company of infantry exiting through the gate, preceded by a group of chasseurs.
It took almost a full half hour for Baillard and the wagon to reach him. By this time he had made preparations to depart. Zentz had gathered all of the voltigeur companies from the battalions and quickly formed them under the senior captain. This combined battalion formed a heavy skirmish line and was to join de Serville's Chasseurs à Cheval as the rearguard. About 1:30 PM Bonhomme set the main column back on the road to rejoin the rest of the division with the rearguard in position on the hill west of the village. De Serville held his position for an hour and then fell back. The Austrians showed no intention of following.
It had been an interesting day. The whole affair had cost two men killed and 21 wounded, one seriously, but Baillard and, more importantly, five beautiful works by the Dutch masters, a dozen other paintings and some wonderful oriental pottery, had been secured.
....TO BE CONTINUED...
