It's Back to the Bavarians

This time there are two battalions of Bavarians to present: the III/5th...

...and III/7th.

But they look identical you say...well they are not...a few heads are turned in different directions and the officer in the II/5th wears a helmet and is holding a pistol whereas the officer of the III/7th is in the cap and carries a sword, the standard bearer is in the second rank in the 5th and in the front in the 7th...but yes apart from that they are very similar...and there are another four battalions to go that are also going to look similar.

The Royal Bavarian Army had a patchy history in 1870-71. They provided two infantry corps and two cavalry brigades to the German cause - perhaps 70,000 men, or one eighth of the armies that took the field in August of that year. Their organisational structure was pretty much the same as the Prussians in that each corps consisted of two divisions, each of two brigades each of six battalions, with a 'brigade' of artillery attached to each division and another formed the corps reserve. At lower levels the structure also matched that of the Prussians - in the field an infantry battalion had four companies,  a cavalry regiment had four squadrons and a battery six guns. There was a slight variation in the infantry company in that the Prussian standard was three platoons (zugs) one of which was designated the skirmish platoon, a Bavarian company had four platoons, one of which was a schutzen platoon.

At first the Bavarians were not the most enthusiastic allies, after all they had sided with Austrian in 1866 and fought against their new Prussian masters. Indeed the French were so convinced on the reluctance of the Bavarians and their fellow South German states (Wurttemberg and Baden) that one of their strategies was a sudden thrust into South Germany to rally them to the French cause. However, when the call for mobilisation went out all three South German states answered the call and were incorporated into the German Third Army under the Crown Prince of Prussia.

Bavarians troops were in the vanguard of III Army's advance when it commenced on 4 August. Early that morning von Bothmer's 4th Bavarian Infantry Division collided with a French Division at Wissembourg. They got themselves tangled up in the surrounding vineyards and fumbled the initial attack on the town. A further attempt was also repelled. Not until the Prussian V Corps entered the fray, blasting the place with 30 guns and driving a supporting regiment of Tirailleurs Algériens away from the railway station were the Bavarians able to take the place.

Two days later, at Worth, von Bothmer was again in action early, responding to the sound of gunfire and musketry to the south in the direction of V Corps. Bothmer ordered the leading elements of the Division into the Langensoultzbach Wood to strike the French at Froeschwiller. After a confused advance the leading four battalions reached the southern edge of the wood. There the woods gave way to a shallow valley extending 300 metres across to the northern edge of the Froeschwiller Wood. When the Bavarians attempted to cross the open ground they were met by a wall of Chassepôt fire from the wood opposite and enfilade fire from a field battery and a mitrailleuse battery on the crest above and scampered back to the safety of the wood.

Armed with the inferior Podwills rifle, the Bavarian line battalions struggled to compete in the face of the fire that drove out of the Froeschwiller Wood. In the smoke filled the forest these half-drunk South Germans - they had received no rations since the 4th, but were issued wine that morning - could make little sense of what was happening around them. Despite further reinforcements the Bavarians could make no headway and with no prospect of immediate support they had to hold on as best they could. Around 10:30 an order to withdraw, actually intended for V Corps, was received from Army Headquarters. The withdrawal was was conducted poorly by the Bavarians and many of them ran back in disorder, but despite the difficulty by 1130 the larger part of the Bavarian 4th Division had been successfully withdrawn out of range of the French.

No sooner had they returned to the left bank of the Soulzbach Stream than Hartmann, commanding II Bavarian Corps, received a message that V Corps was about to commence an attack on the heights in front of Worth and that the co-operation to the right by the Bavarians was expected. The 4th Division was ordered to re-cross the Soulzbach and advance again in to the Langensoultzbach Wood, but Bothmer’s Division was so severely disorganised that an immediate return to action was impossible. Nearly three hours would pass before these Bavarians would re-enter the action.

Not until 1300 did more Bavarians arrive on the field. These were from von der Tann's I Bavarian Corps. It was clear that von der Tann was no too appreciative of his new Prussian masters. He dragged his heels and the corps was deployed well to the rear. He ignored an order from the Crown Prince to attack. A second order was sent and similarly ignored as was a third. Not until an infuriated Crown Prince sent a forth messenger, a Bavarian officer attached to Army Headquarters, who was told, “Ride to your countrymen...and tell them the Crown Prince of Prussia orders them in the name of their King now at last to engage the enemy properly and drive them back; everywhere we see our troops advancing victoriously; they alone came to a stand still in the face of the foe!”. This time von der Tann complied and set Stephan’s 1st Division in motion towards Froeschwiller with the intention of turning the French left.

Stephan's attack was launched across the Soulzbach that had overflowed its banks after a heavy storm the night before. The French fire quickly drove them to ground in the open water meadows and the attack stalled. When two battalion of Zouaves drove down through the Langensoultzbach Wood, pushing the last elements of 4th Division before them, several French battalions from the Froeschwiller Wood stormed forward in support driving Stephan's battalions back across the stream. But the French attack was checked and they fell back. Stephan's units began to infiltrate the Langensoultzbach Wood in an attempt to flank the Froeschwiller Wood, but still they struggled to make headway.

Then, in a sort of “this is how you do it” moment, two battalions of Prussian infantry stormed across the stream and smashed in the apex of the French line in the Froeschwiller Wood. The French line began to collapse and the Bavarians were able to work their way through the Langensoultzbach Wood unopposed until they reached the far edge of the wood where their advance was fiercely resisted. However, the French position was compromised and they began to withdraw. With their front cleared von der Tann's Bavarians closed on Froeschwiller village and helped clear the last of the French from it. A small Bavarian force was involved in the pursuit before being recalled to camp.

The battle had cost the Bavarians 36 officers and 1,413 men, but more critically had shown flaws in the Bavarian leadership that would not be allowed to be repeated.

The next significant action for the Bavarians was on 30 August.  Von der Tann's 1st Bavarian Corps arrived in the heights southwest of Beaumont to find the French V Corps completely at rest in its cantonments. At that moment the Prussian VI Corps to the right opened an attack on the French. This time von der Tann did not hesitate and Schumacher's Second Division, supported by the cuirassier brigade, was ordered to attack. The Division drove forward and easily secured the road running west from Beaumont. But around 1430 a fresh French division appeared on Schumacher's left flank. Von der Tann brought Stephan's First Division up on Schumacher's left. The French fell back in disorder across the Meuse to Mouzon. Nightfall ended the action. The Germans had suffered 3,529 casualties (436 of whom were Bavarian), but had inflicted a loss of more than 7,500 men and 42 guns on the French. More critically the Germans had got between the French and Paris, effectively forcing them back on the fortress of Sedan and slamming the door shut.

Two days later, as a part of the Battle of Sedan von der Tann was ordered to take the town of Bazeilles that was held by General Élie de Vassoigne's Blue Division of Fusiliers Marin, formed from sailors and marines from the French fleet. The Bavarians were ambushed in the town resulting seven hours of vicious street fighting, during which French civilians actively fired on Bavarian troops. In retribution the Bavarian killed a number of civilians and torched the house from which shots were fired. The famous Alphonse de Neuville paining “The Last Cartridges” was inspired by an incident in this action. By day's end the whole village was in ruins. This bloody action cost the Bavarians 213 officers and 3,876 men as casualties and darkened their reputation in French eyes.

"The Last Cartridges"

The Bavarians went on to participate in the Siege of Paris. In October von der Tann was pulled away from the siege and sent with the I Bavarian Corps to the Loire where a significant French force was being raised with the purpose of raising the siege. Von der Tann took Orléans on 11 October, but having taken the place did nothing to pressure the French further. By early November the situation had changed dramatically and the French outnumbered him three to one. He abandoned Orléans and fell back on Coulmiers, a reasonable good position, and awaited attack.

The French attacked on 9 November. The first attack was launched at around 1:30 PM and managed to get close to the Bavarians who, despite their low ammunition, managed to beat them back with the support of close range artillery fire. A second attack was launched around 3:00, but the French commanders could not coordinate their attacks and the inexperienced French Garde Mobiles were driven off in disorder.

A third assault carried the village of Coulmiers, but the Bavarian line was not broken and von der Tann withdrew the Corps in good order around 4:00 unmolested by the French cavalry that had been positioned too far to the west to be effective. The Bavarians had held out all day with 20,000 men against 70,000 French suffering some 2,100 casualties and inflicting 1,500.

The Battle of Coulmiers, the only serious defeat suffered by the German forces in the war. It was also notable as the first time that the French artillery used impact fused shells and could complete on a more even footing with their German counterparts.

The Bavarian were involved in smaller roles in the rest of the Loire campaign.

The Adventures of Henri Bonhomme - Prequel 1

Henri Bonhomme was finding his posting rather tedious. Since landing in Egypt on 1 July 1798 he had seen little action. While Bonaparte had taken Alexandria his battalion has been assigned to guard the trains. Then as the main army marched across the desert on Cairo, gaining laurels at the Battle of the Pyramids, he had remained in garrison at Alexandria for nine months before being sent to the Nile in April 1799. 

Here the French established a garrison in an old Ottoman fort about two miles north-east of the port of Rashid, or Rosetta as the French called it. Renamed Fort Julien the fort was a terrible mosquito ridden place, but it was better than the squalor of Rosetta. There was no social life, but the redeeming feature was that since it had been set up as a supply base a good supply of wine could be found there. 

The constant threat of  raids by the mamluks and the fear that the Royal Navy could sail up the Nile meant that fort needed to be strengthened and better armed. Colonel d'Hartpoul had been assigned as the chief engineer charged with making the improvements and he seconded Bonhomme's Second battalion, 6lst Demi-brigade to assist. 

With the annual inundation well under way the country around Fort Julien was lush and the malmuks became bolder, raiding farms to deny the French access to grain. On 13 July a body of malmuks raided within a kilometre of the fort and were chased by a squadron of dragoons. However, the dragoons quickly found themselves outnumbered and fell back in haste to a small village near where Bonhomme's battalion was working.

The infantry quickly dropped their tools, grabbed their weapons and fell in. The chasseur company began sniping at the mamluks while the remainder of the battalion formed square. Bonhomme took position in the centre. 

The malmuks closed in at frightening speed, but Bonhomme ordered the battalion to hold fire. 

When they came within 60 metres he yelled, "leading face, front rank...FIRE!" The front rank of company that formed the lead face of the square fired and many of the horsemen fell, but still they came on. He ordered the second rank to fire. Still more mamluks fell but they still came on. At 30 metres he ordered the third rank to fire. 

Less than a third of the mamluks remained alive and their horses shied away from the wall of bayonets. Those riders drifted  past the sides of the square that now fired independently. Bonhomme thought that they looked fabulous, dressed in silk with gold and silver ornaments, and mounted on magnificent steeds. Some fired pistols, each man seemed to carry several, while others tried to strike with swords and lances. He saw one huge man dressed in yellow silk and an absurdly tall hat swing a vicious looking mace at the bayonets, but received a musket shot in the face for his effort. 

Another drew a blunderbuss that was slung across his back and fired it at blank range killing a young soldier in the third rank before a half dozen bayonets brought about his end.

Soon there were just a few dozen shocked riders left, milling around not knowing where to go. Bonhomme ordered the  dragoons to chase them off. Only a few riders managed to escape with their lives.

When it was over it was an awful sight. Dozens of men and horses lay dead or dying in front of the square. Little quarter was given. Many of the French helped themselves to the possessions of the dead - weapons, gold and silver trinkets, and the occasional purse of coins. Bonhomme secured a beautiful curved sword with deep engraving on the blade and a large jewel on the hilt. His time in Egypt had stirred an interest in collecting interesting, and sometimes valuable, items and this seemed to fit both criteria.

The loss to the infantry was slight, just two killed and three wounded and with the crisis passed the men returned to their work. With little interest in the task Bonhomme headed back towards his tent with his newly acquired sword to enjoy the bottle of Bordeaux he had won at cards the night before.  As he passed one group of men attempting to demolish an old wall saw a man fall and cry out. 

The man had stood on a loose stone that had given way and he fell into a cavity beneath. By the time Bonhomme reached the place the man had been extracted and although bruised was not seriously injured. He looked into the darkness of the cavity and it seemed to contain a number of items that might be worthwhile collecting. Unseen by others he secured what appeared to be several pieces of jewellery and a couple of small statues. He crammed them into his jacket as best he could and ordered the men to move some more stones so that he could have a better look. This could be one of those tombs of the ancients he had heard about.

As the men worked to open the cavity more Lieutenant Bouchard from the second company came by.

"That darker stone there, sir, the black one...is very different. It seems to have some fine writing on it," he said.

Bonhomme thought, "interfering little..." then said sarcastically, " it's probably just sign saying 'keep out' or something".

"I don't think so," Bouchard insisted, not picking the sarcasm. "It is very different to any other writing we have seen. I think I can see some Greek there."

Bonhomne was becoming irritated with Bouchard. One of the negatives of the Revolution and this "Enlightenment" nonsense is that anyone, like Bouchard, who could read could pick up some volumes in the libraries of former aristocracy, see some Greek characters and suddenly become an expert in all things Greek. Bonhomme was about to find an assignment for him when the lieutenant called out to Colonel d'Hartpoul who was nearby. D'Hartpoul came across at once and quickly agreed that this was different and sent for General Menou who was a short distance away on a tour of inspection of the construction.

"Damn it!" Bonhomme thought as he looked down into the hole and was sure he could see more items of interest in there.

About half an hour later Menou arrived accompanied by a savant, a technical expert from what Bonaparte called the Commission des Sciences et des Arts. The savant was immediately excited about the find, particularly the dark stone that Bouchard had identified. 

Menou ordered that the site was to be secured and he put the  pompous Bouchard in charge with orders to shoot anyone other than the savants who entered or tried to remove anything. Bonhomme pushed this collected pieces deeper into his pocket, looked into the hole again, then returned to his tent and that bottle of Bordeaux.

He took out the items he found at the fort. They were splendid. The statues were richly decorated in black, gold and reds. There were three pieces of jewellery, two that looked like bracelets and one a neck piece or possibly a head dress. All were gold inlaid with lapis of varying shades of blue. The gold work was fine and clearly very old. He wondered just how old.

For the next three days Bonhomme went down to the site of the 'dig' as the savants called it. He watched these dapper men poking around the hole, then examine and sketch numerous items before packing them carefully into crates. 

Finally they declared the find significant. The stone they said contained Greek text and hieroglyphs and might provide help in translating ancient Egyptian texts. An important cache of valuable ancient artefacts was also found in the hole and recovered, but it was clear that tomb robbers had been though recently as the dust had been disturbed and some items appeared to have been removed. Bouchard was hailed as the discoverer of this important discovery, rather than the poor bugger who had nearly broken his neck stumbling into the hole, and was ordered to escort the collection to Cairo. 

Bonhomme determined to keep his pieces. The statues were a nice addition to his growing collection and he was certain that his sister Marie-Claire would appreciate the jewellery pieces. His problem was how to get them home. Shipping in the Mediterranean was difficult thanks to the Royal Navy. The only communication with France was by the fast cutters that sailed close to the shore at night carrying dispatches. However, for an enterprising man like himself, armed with a few good bottles of wine, getting his parcel on board was not too difficult a task - even if the trip would take two or three weeks.

And so the first items of what promised to be an eclectic collection of artefacts found a new home near Bordeaux

The Savants

When he went to Egypt in 1798 Napoleon developed a fascination with Egyptology. That fascination was sparked and then nurtured by the inclusion in his expedition of a contingent of more than 160 savants or scholars.

Their original purpose was to investigate the practicality of creating a canal to Suez, but during their time in Cairo the savants established the Instiut d'Égypt to spread the Republic's  principle of Enlightenment, improving its agricultural processes and architecture and they studied in depth the fauna, flora and history of Egypt. 

This group of six Savants are joining my French in Egypt army and in the not too distant future will feature in an adventure with a character who has featured on these pages in the past.

A Return to the Bavarians

With the completion of the last batch of buildings I have returned to working on the Franco-Prussian War Bavarians. This next batch of six battalions will represent Major General Joseph Maximilian Maillinger's 8th Infantry Brigade.

Born in Passau in October 1820 Maillinger entered Bavarian service in 1841 and served variously in the quartermaster service, the general staff and in the War Ministry.  He transferred to the 7th Infantry Regiment in 1865 as lieutenant colonel, and led the regiment as colonel a year later in the war against Austria. In the restructure of 1868 was given the 8th Infantry Brigade which he led through the early stages of the war in 1870. In the later stages of the war he commanded 4th Bavarian Division. He served with the Army of Occupation, returning to Bavaria in 1873 to take over the command of II Bavarian Corps upon the death of General Hartmann. He was Minister of War in the mid-1870s and took the inhabership the 9th Infantry (Wrede) Regiment. He served in the Reichsrat in 1888, retired from the army in 1893 and died at Bad Aibling in October 1901.

8th Bavarian Infantry Brigade consisted of:

• 3rd Battalion, 1st (King's) Infantry Regiment
• 3rd Battalion, 5th (Grand Duke of Hesse) Infantry Regiment
• 1st Battalion, 7th (Hohenhausen)  Infantry Regiment
• 3rd Battalion, 11th (von der Tann) Infantry Regiment
• 3rd Battalion, 14th (Hartmann) Infantry Regiment
• 5th Jäger Battalion

Presented here is III/1st Regiment.

You would think that with a  name like "King's Own" this regiment would have a long and distinguished history, after all the Royal Bavarian army has history that extends back to the 1680s, yet its establishment only dates back to 1814, when the army was restructured at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The grenadier companies were stripped from the line regiments to form the Lieb Regiment. The tallest men were retained for that regiment and the remainder formed the King's Own Regiment. 

The regiment went to France in 1815 as part of the Army of Occupation. When Ludwig I came to the throne in 1825 he slashed military spending and the third battalion was disbanded, but reinstated in 1835. During the disturbances of 1848 the regiment was assigned to protect the royal residences. It was engaged in the 1866 war in the west German campaign. In 1870 it fought at Wissembourg, Worth, Beaumont, Sedan, the Siege of Paris and in the Loire Valley. It was engaged in the Great War and was disbanded in 1918.

Given their "King's Own" title I have assumed that they would be more likely to have a bit more pride in their dress, so I have done them all wearing the Raupenhelm whereas the rest of this brigade will be wearing a mix of headgear.

• 
  

  
  

  
  

 

More Buildings

I have added the buildings previewed last week on my BUILDINGS FOR  SALE page.

Please note that NZ Post have suspended all parcel services to the USA until issues around the collection of newly imposed tariffs are resolved.  

This is a more diverse selection than the last batch with a mix of 28mm and 15mm scales. They have taken much longer to complete than I thought thanks to some garden cleaning up (not ours), our short trip to the south and a back issue that made sitting in one position for a length difficult.

When I begin work on a building project I usually start from a photograph of drawing of some structure that has caught my attention. Once I start to put together the underlying form I can see the model as though it is a finished product. Sometimes I make changes midway through the sculpting process, but almost always, when about half way through the build, I develop a thought that the design is not working. However, I persist and it always comes out as I expected at the start. The 15mm Mediterranean style villa included here is a prime example of the process.

The inspiration came from a contemporary photograph of houses near the Italian town of Magenta after the battle fought there in 1859. The model was then made incorporating features from some other drawings and some photos I had taken in Italy in the mid 1980s. I made it in 1999 for inclusion in the Military Miniatures range that I had sculpted over the previous 13 years and was to be the 139th model in the 15mm range. But I left Military Miniatures (or Battlefront as it had just been renamed) in October of that year and the master was never delivered. It has sat in a shelf in my study ever since. On numerous occasions I have thought "I really should paint it up..." and now I have, and it looks exactly as it appeared in my mind's eye when I started the sculpt 26 years ago.

For those interested the Yarkshire Gamer podcast that featured my gaming experience has been released here:

 https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-78-mark-strachan-new-zealand-1866/

An End of Winter Break

As we ready ourselves to launch into spring south of the equator, we headed away on Tuesday into the wintery south for a few days with a stay in Wanaka and another epicurean adventure.

Our arrival was a little gloomy as approached Queenstown airport through the Kawerau Gorge.

The gloominess turned to rain by the time we reached our lunch destination at Cromwell, but when we arrived at our Wanaka hotel an hour or two later and 50 kilometres to the north west it was fine and sunny. We sat briefly on the patio in front of our room enjoying the brilliant sunshine and the view across the parklike grounds down to the lake.

Dinner in town that evening was enjoyed with a stunning backdrop of the sun setting across the lake and beyond the mountains.

Wednesday dawned cold (just a fraction above freezing), but gloriously sunny and still. 

After a morning walk along the shoreline (the lake level is lower than I have seen it before) to the accompaniment of the Bellbird' song, we headed across the Crown Range to Queenstown before making for Arrowtown for lunch.

Returning to the hotel in the early afternoon, we walked into town for drinks and dinner. The day was still sunny, but the wind had swung to the north east and had really picked up and whipped up the white caps on the lake. It was cold! 

By the time we finished dinner and walked back the wind was howling through the poplars that line the lake shore. We were glad to be back in the warmth of our room.

Thursday dawned fine, but that vicious north westerly wind persisted. Rain was falling at the head of the lake, but only a few drops fell as we walked into town for coffee.

After lunch we went looking at real estate in the area. An early dinner in a gathering evening gloom followed.

On Friday, our departure day, the wind was gone, but rain had settled in and there was thunder rumbling through the mountains. It was a good day to be leaving. I expected some snow flurries at the top of the Crown Range, but the temperature didn't drop low enough.

In no time we were in the lounge at the airport awaiting our flight. By the early afternoon we will be home again.