Franco-Prussian War French Imperial Guard - The Guard Command

To command my Imperial Guard I have completed the French Imperial Guard Command and ADCs set.

This set comprises of three senior generals, Marshals Bazaine and Leboeuf, General Bourbaki (who commanded the Guard in 1870), a mounted and two dismounted ADCs.

The senior generals (l to r) Leboeuf, Bazaine and Bourbaki

The ADCs (below to show the detail on the back of the jackets)

The 'raw' figures have been grouped and based as follows:

Bazaine and Leboeuf have been based as single figures so that they can be used as brigadiers - a bit of a demotion I know from Marshal of France to General de Brigade (given that Bazaine was condemned to death - later commuted to 20 years imprisonment - for his part in the disaster of 1870, a demotion would probably have been a blessing), but hopefully the demotion will be temporary until I sort out another group of ADCs.

The two dismounted ADCs will make a nice pair to command the Guard Artillery (when it comes).

Finally Bourbaki and the mounted ADC make a nice pairing for the overall Guard command.

Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki was an officer of some experience. Of Greek ancestry he was born at Pau in 1816.  He graduated from  Saint-Cyr in 1834 and his first posting was as a second lieutenant with the 59th Infantry Regiment in Africa where he took part in the first expedition to Constantine. Transfers and promotions saw him move between the Zouave regiment, the 24th Infantry Regiment and back to the Zouaves in 1842 as captain. Appointed head of the Arab Bureau in 1844 and then ADC to King Louis-Philippe. In 1846 he commanded the Constantine Tirailleur battalion and in 1850 was named lieutenant colonel of the Zouave regiment, becoming its colonel in 1851. 

In the Crimean War, he fought at the Battle of the Alma in command of the brigade that captured the Telegraph Hill. He served with distinction at the Battle of Inkermann, and was subsequently wounded during the final assault on Sevastopol in September 1855.

Made general de division in 1857 he led a division in the Italian campaign, fighting at Magenta and Solferino.  Returning to France, he commanded at Besançon, Grenoble, and Metz, before becoming the ADC to the Emperor. In 1870 he was given command of the Imperial Guard that he led at Rezonville, St. Privat, and Metz.

As the siege of Metz was starting an odd situation occurred for Bourbaki. A French businessman with no political background or connections, appeared at Metz stating that either Bourbaki or Marshal Canrobert must go to Hastings to sign a peace treaty on the authority of the Empress, even though the Empress had no such authority. Bourbaki at once went to England, with the approval (and possibly connivance)  of the Prussians, only to find it was a trick. He returned to France, but was refused re-entrance into Metz.

Under the Republican Government he was given command of the Army of the East he ran a disastrous campaign after which he attempted, and failed, to commit suicide before retreating across the Swiss border at Pontarlier, where the Army was interred. After the war he was given command of the 6th Corps, and then the 14th Corps until 1879. He died in Bayonne in 1897.

Franco-Prussian War French Imperial Guard - The End is in Sight

This is the penultimate battalion of the Guard Voltigeurs, the First Battalion, Second Regiment.

The final grenadier battalion is done now, just waiting to be based, and the final voltigeur battalion is assembled and ready to go under the brush over the weekend.

Franco-Prussian War French Imperial Guard - The Guard Zouave Regiment Completed

Over the weekend I completed the Second Battalion, Zouave Regiment de la Garde.

This completes the regiment and only three battalions remain in my planned Guard force - two of Voltigeurs and one of Grenadiers.

Next on in the queue is one of those  battalions of Voltigeurs.

Froeschwiller 1870

Yesterday’s regular Sunday wargame was a refight of the Battle of Froeschwiller (or Wörth) fought on 6 August 1870, more correctly the latter stages of the battle.

As background, two days earlier the German Third Army had attacked Douay’s isolated division at Wissembourg, killing Douay and forcing the remnants of the division to fall back to the west on Froeschwiller, where Marshal MacMahon concentrated the rest of 1st Corps.

The German cavalry failed to pursue and lost contact with the French, who they believed had retreated to the south. As a result the army was repositioned to face south and battle was expected on 7 August. However, during afternoon and evening of the 5th an increase in French activity on the Froeschwiller ridge drew the attention of the Prussian V Corps that held the right of the line. Activity on the picket line overnight prompted two early morning reconnaissances across the Sauerbach stream that flowed across the base of the Froeschwiller ridge. Both those reconnaissances were repulsed by superior forces and with instructions not to bring on a general engagement the Prussians withdrew.

But the stir that those reconnaissances caused had two significant consequences. First, MacMahon call his troops to arms  which made three French divisions, well supported by guns, visible on the ridge. Second, II Bavarian Corps that orders to support V Corps heard the commotion and engaged the French left, only to be roughly handled and pushed back out of the action. And here things began to snowball. The V Corps, feeling obliged to help the Bavarians brought up its artillery - all 14 batteries - on the parallel heights east of the Sauerbach and an artillery duel began. The French guns were easily driven off and sniffing victory Kirchbach, the V Corps commander, committed his rightmost division across the Sauerbach without any real support.

The German infantry were quickly contained and pinned in the town of Wörth and in the ditches, with their backs to the flooded Sauerbach and only saved from destruction by their artillery. Kirchbach appealed to the Bavarians for help, but they were too disorganised after their failed attack. Thankfully XI Corps marched to the guns and appeared opposite the French right, but their initial attack was also stopped on the eastern bank of the Sauerbach as Kirchbach's had been.

On the Froechwiller ridge MacMahon had three divisions of his corps in the front line with Douay's battered division (now led by Pellé) in reserve. He also held in reserve a division of  7th Corps that had only just arrived on the evening of the 5th and was without its divisional artillery. He also had the Corps' cavalry division, eight batteries of the corps artillery reserve, and a division of reserve cavalry. Additionally he hoped that one, maybe two, divisions from 5th Corps would arrive during the day. The morning passed with success for the French with all German attacks repulsed or contained. 

Early in the afternoon things changed. XI Corps extended further to the left and rolled up the French right. Lartigue's Division collapsed and was driven off in disorder.  The Germans moved to a general attack with four corps against MacMahon's remaining and now battered four divisions. It is here, about 2:30 in the afternoon of 6 August 1870, that the game starts.

The battlefield represents the area of the ridge between Elsasshausen and Froeschwiller where it descends towards the water meadows along the banks of the Sauerbach. The terrain is largely open, devoid of hedges and walls with a few small orchards near the towns. 

The game begins with Raoult's division in position along the ridge. Most of its units have taken some losses, but it is pretty much intact. One brigade of  Ducrot's division is to Raoult's left rear while the other brigade is engaged off table to the left. Conseil-Dumesnil's 7th Corps Division is to Raoult's right rear while Pellé's division, Bonnemain's cuirassier division and the artillery reserve are off table to the rear. With this force (in all 42 infantry battalions,  4 cavalry regiments, 12 field and 3 mitrailleuse batreries) the French must defend the ridge against the Germans.

By this stage the Germans too have suffered loses and of the eight divisions of Third Army nearby only three are fully organised and available to attack, with ample artillery. To represent the fire support that the Germans were able to provide from across the Sauerbach they can fire from off table as far a 1000mm on table, but at a slightly reduced rate of fire to on table units. In all the Germans have 38 battalions and 22 batteries and must drive the French from the ridge. Although they are weaker in battalion numbers their battalions are larger than the French battalions and two French divisions are already carrying losses.

Just after kick-off...

The Bavarians move forward

The French left moved to counter the Bavarian advance

At the opposite end of the field the XI Corps move on Elsasshausen

The Bavarians in perfect order...

...with the V Corps on their left.

Pellé's division has filled the gap between Raoult and Conseil-Dumesnil, and faces off against V Corps

The French Reserve artillery, all eight batteries appear, top centre on the table edge.

V Corps's advance is stalling...

Here come the cuirassiers...two brigades...four regiments...

The first regiment slams into the flank of a Bavarian battalion...and breaks it.

The second regiment charged another battalion that quickly formed square (yes there are instances of both French and Prussian units forming square in 1870)...and against the odds broke the square...!

They then broke through onto another battalion...

And broke it too!

The left hand Bavarian brigade was in a grim position and the other brigade, on their right, was under severe pressure  as Durcrot's Brigade pressed forward.

To the left of the German line V and XI Corps struggled to make headway

I originally set end time at 3:00 PM, but the game was at such a dramatic moment I let it run another half hour.

In the end the French held their position. Marshal MacMahon was very pleased...

Bavarian Staff

So Sunday’s scheduled game is a Franco-Prussian contest involving Prussian and Bavarian forces combining against the French. While there are two brigadiers for the two brigades of Bavarians, no senior commanders were available. Thankfully they arrived at the front on Monday.

Now, appropriately attired and mounted, they are ready to take the field. The three generals, Von der Tann, Von Hartmann  and Von Stephan, are supported by a small staff. Usually personality figures have only a passing resemblance to the character they represent, but I reckon these do a better than average job...with Hartmann on the left, Stephan in the centre and Von der Tann on the right.

Also in this set are three staff officers. What is in the message that is being passed?

Here they are in the configurations that will be used on the gaming table.

I have discussed Hartmann's biography in a previous post (LINK), but the other two had an equally colourful service history in the Royal Bavarian Army.

While Hartmann fought at Waterloo, General of Infantry Baron Ludwig Samson von der Tann-Rathsamhausen was born on the 18 June, 1815, on the very day of the battle, and was a descendant of an ancient baronial family widely spread through Francony and Hesse. His father, Baron Heinrich von und zu der Tann, served as chamberlain to King Louis I of Bavaria and as a result of that close association the younger von der Tann was trained as a royal page. Preferring a military life he sought (at the risk of offending his pstron) and obtained a commission as a second lieutenant in the Bavarian artillery. In 1840 he was made first lieutenant and posted to the General Staff, making captain shortly afterwards. In 1844 he served as adjutant to Prince Maximillian, a position he held when the prince succeeded his father as King. In 1848 when the first Schleswig-Holstein War broke out he was permitted to lead a Frei Korps,  winning success over the Danes. When the Danes finally gained victory, von der Tann returned to Bavaria as adjutant to the King, advancing to major-general shortly after and in 1860 rose to lieutenant-general. In 1866 he accepted the appointment of chief of staff for the Bavarian Army in the disastrous campaign against the Prussians, for which he was widely blamed. In the restructure of the Bavarian Army under Prussian guidance, he was given command of Bavarian I Corps in 1869. Despite the military reforms and Bavaria's acceptance of Prussian command over her troops, von der Tann was hardly a strong supporter of his new masters and at Wörth on 6 August 1870 blatantly ignored three requests from the Crown Prince of Prussia to attack before being directly ordered to do so. He fought at Sedan  and later in the Loire, where his corps suffered defeat at Coulmiers. He lived for another ten years after the war, passing in 1881.

Johann Baptist Ritter von Stephan was a very different sort of officer for a general in Bavarian service. Born in 1808 he had entered the army 1824 as a private soldier and by 1833 had made lieutenant. He transferred to the Greek service for four years, returning go Bavaria in 1837. By 1848 he was a major and adjutant to Prince Karl Theodor. Under this royal patronage his career took off - Lt Colonel in 1853, Colonel in 1855 and Major General in 1861 commanding the second Bavarian infantry brigade which he led in 1866. In 1870 he commanded the Bavarian 1st Infantry Division at Wörth, Sedan and Villepion, where he was twice wounded. He never fully recovered from his wounds and died in 1873