The Battle of Colbitz - Set Up

Start 0800

4 April 1813

Wargames Map

Campaign Background

General Reynier has deployed his IV corps to hold the town of Colbitz, and contain the enemy cavalry holding the bridge over the river Elbe.

Blucher has ordered 1^st and 2^nd corps to attack Colbitz.

General Yorck is unable to use his cavalry brigade, who are in contact with enemy cavalry at Kalbe. The remainder of 1^st corps is within striking distance of Colbitz.

General Kleist 2^nd corps is at Werben when the battle starts. He is determined to support 1^st corps and to this end sends his cavalry brigade ahead and drives the remainder of his corps to arrive on the battlefield as soon as possible.

The French cavalry in contact with Yorck’s cavalry at Kalbe belong to Marshal Marmont’s VI corps. They are under orders to move to Kalbe and engage any enemy found there.

The battle starts at 0800 4 April 1813.

Wargames table at start of battle

Wargames Table

Colbitz is the two section village at the bottom left

The road from right to left is from Parey to Walbeck

The road from top to bottom is from Bismark to Magdeburg

General Reynier has deployed his corps to defend Colbitz

His status is Hold

He has placed two brigades in Colbitz.


A third brigade is holding the farm to the right of the town

The fourth brigade, the artillery and the cavalry are all deployed to defend the bridge

General Yorck will arrive with 1^st corps on the Bismark road at the start of move 1

His status is Attack

General Kleist will arrive with 2^nd corps in the top right square

His cavalry will arrive on move 4, the rest of the corps move 8

His status is Attack

General Tauentzien has deployed 4^th corps east of the river Elbe

His infantry and artillery are positioned to hold any attack over the bridge.

His cavalry are west of the bridge observing Colbitz.

His status is Hold

Game Notes

This the second game of the PBEM Hanover Campaign.

Due to campaign orders 4^th Prussian corps must remain in defence.

Orders of battle can be found at Labels 02 and 03 on the right

Rule Note

The rules will be our standard wargames rules.

There have been no special amendments

They can be found at http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Campaign Diary 4 April 1813

The battle of Colbitz

There are five corps involved in this battle, two French and three Prussian. Not all of these corps would be able to participate in the way ordered by their respective CinC.

Prince Blucher was determined to destroy the French corps holding Colbitz, before it could be reinforced by the remainder of the French Army.

4^th corps was ordered to hold Parey. This would pin the French commander at Colbitz, and force him to deploy part of his corps to hold the bridge on the river Elbe.

1^st and 2^nd corps were ordered to attack Colbitz.

Marshal Davout had ordered IV corps to hold Colbitz. They had been there for some days and were in contact with Prussian cavalry at the river Elbe bridge. They were also aware of Prussian movements to their north, but so far these had not attempted to move south.

Davout was also aware that the enemy had crossed the river Elbe and were pushing westwards. VI corps was approaching Colbitz from the west and were in contact with enemy cavalry at Kalbe. This indicated that the enemy were moving west towards Celle. He ordered VI to strike north at Kalbe and strike the enemy in the flank.

Both CinC had devised good plans, but neither would work out as planned.

General Yorck ordered 1^st corps, screened by the cavalry brigade, to move south and attack Colbitz. However his cavalry were at Kalbe and unable to disengage from the enemy cavalry they were in contact with. His corps would have to march without their cavalry screen.

General Kleist ordered 2^nd corps, again screened by his cavalry brigade, to attack Colbitz. However the line of march did not make allowance for delay due to off road movement. His cavalry would arrive in time to join the battle, but not the remainder of his corps.

General Tauentzien ordered one of his infantry brigades to join the cavalry west of the river Elbe and carry out a recce in strength towards Colbitz. However the corps is on Hold orders and this type of manoeuvre is not allowed. His corps would remain in defence throughout the battle. If his cavalry were attacked they could defend themselves, but no other troops were allowed to cross to the west bank.

General Reynier had ordered IV corps to prepare Colbitz for defence. He also ordered earthworks but these are not allowed in our wargame rules. His cavalry were ordered to recce towards Parey, but to fall back if threatened by superior odds.

Marshal Marmont ordered VI corps to move to Kalbe, screened by the cavalry brigade. The corps was on Engage status, and would attempt to engage the enemy cavalry they were in contact with. This status and these orders would prevent them “marching to the sound of the guns” at Colbitz. Had they been on Normal status this might have been possible.

So the battle would be fought by 1^st Prussian corps, minus their cavalry, plus the cavalry brigade of 2nd Prussian corps. 2^nd corps would march towards Colbitz by the fastest route available, as they would be “marching to the sound of the guns”. But they would arrive late in the day, if at all.

The scene was set for the battle of Colbitz.

The Battle of Salzwedel - Move 13

2000 to 2100

4 April 1813

Table at the start of Move 13

French Move First

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 4

Artillery fire on town and miss

Manhandle gun towards town

Move Shaken infantry in town back half move

Test morale Shaken infantry, fail still Shaken

Prussians Move Second

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 5

Artillery fire on nearest infantry and miss

Move infantry behind town

Move infantry in town forward to skirmish range

Skirmish and inflict one hit

Polish infantry test morale and rout into supports

Supports test morale and pass

Prussian Victory

Bulow now controls both sections of the town

He also has considerable uncommitted reserves

Poniatowski also has reserves, but no time to regroup

He orders a withdrawal towards Domnitz

Battle Casualties

Prussians: 2 infantry and 3 cavalry casualties

Polish : 3 infantry and 3 cavalry casualties

Table at end of battle

The Battle of Salzwedel - Move 12

1900 to 2000

4 April 1813

Table at the start of Move 12

French

Move First

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 3

Artillery fire on nearest enemy infantry, miss

Move infantry closer to Salzwedel

Infantry in town skirmish, no casualties on either side

Prussians Move Second

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 6

Artillery fire on nearest infantry column, miss

Infantry line form column of march and move towards Salzwedel

Manhandle guns towards enemy

Infantry in town skirmish, both inflict one casualty on enemy

Prussians test morale and pass

Polish test morale and fail, now Shaken

Rule Note

Both cavalry brigades are now removed after three rounds of rout

Normally a brigade has three attempts to rally

If it fails on the third attempt it is removed.

After each attempt it must move away from enemy

This rule means that you don’t have to move routed brigades off the table.

Rule 16 deals with Rout and Reaction to Rout

Game Note

Most games would now end after 12 moves

In this case neither side has won, and the village is still disputed

It was agreed to allow one more move to resolve skirmish in town

The Battle of Salzwedel - Move 11

1800 to 1900

4 April 1813

Table at the start of Move 11

Prussians Move First

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 6

Move artillery and unlimber (now within command range)

Landwehr change into column of march and move behind town

Infantry in town skirmish, no casualties on either side

French Move Second

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 6

No artillery fire, general out of command range

Move routing cavalry away from formed brigades

Move general to artillery

Manhandle guns towards enemy

Return to town

Infantry in town skirmish, no casualties on either side

Rule Note

To issue orders the corps commander must be within 8”.

When a corps is widely deployed, as are these two, he cannot be within 8” of all brigades

So he must decide where is the most important.

In this case he must decide between skirmish in the town or artillery fire.

Rule 3 covers command and control for corps commander.

The Battle of Salzwedel - Move 10

1700 to 1800

4 April 1813

Table at the start of Move 10

French Move First

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 4

Guns unable to fire, general out of command range

Move cavalry to edge of town in column

Prussian cavalry test to Opportunity Charge, fail

Deploy cavalry into line

Skirmish in town, no casualties on either side

Prussian Move Second

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 6

General moves to artillery, limber and move guns

General moves back to town

Orders hussars to charge enemy lancers

Lancers test morale to counter charge, fail

Hussars charge home on stationary lancers

Hussars win melee

Lancers receive two more casualties, total three, automatic rout

Hussars receive one more casualty, total three, automatic rout

Rule Note

When infantry brigades receive six casualties, or cavalry or artillery three casualties, they automatically rout. This is to prevent brigades fighting to the last man due to lucky dice.

In this round the Prussian cavalry won their melee with the lancers, but their single casualty brought their total to three and resulted in an automatic rout for both brigades

Rule 17 explains Morale and Automatic Routs.

The Battle of Salzwedel - Move 9

1600 to 1700

4 April 1813

Table at the start of Move 9

French Move First

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 4

Another low roll for command points

Poniatowski is too far from guns to order them to fire

He forms column with his cavalry to pass by town

He brings up his reserve infantry to support the skirmish

Infantry in the town exchange fire but again both miss

Prussian Move Second

Orders – Engage

Command Points – 7

Maximum command points for Bulow

He is too far from guns to order them to fire

He now moves within command range

Orders guns to manhandle forwards towards enemy

Moves landwehr brigade towards the town

Bulow now moves back to take command of the town fighting

Both sides exchange fire

French miss

Prussians inflict one hit.

French test morale and pass

Rule Note

Skirmish fire can be very ineffective, especially in a built up area

One D6 is rolled and firers require a total of 6 for a hit

In these rules even one hit is serious.

Each casualty is minus 1 for firing, melee and morale.

Rule 11 deals with skirmish fire