01 Action at Naumberg - 2nd May 1813

Russians at Naumberg on the Saale have got reports that French troops are approaching up the road from Weimar. The Cossacks who brought this news (some of it gleaned from local peasants) were not believed by the Russian commander - stories of two French corps with Napoleon himself at their head had to be wild exaggerations which some of the more easterly Cossack peoples were wont to do. Was the Russian General Winzingerode wise to dismiss their claims?



The road between Weimar and Naumberg is the Sankt Vert Strasse. The French are approaching the area from the SW corner. Naumberg is just off the map to the NE beyond Sankt Vert. The Drau Fluss is a tributary of the Saale (which is off the map to the W) and is not fordable at any point other than at the three places marked where roads cross it. A small subsidiary of the Drau that runs north and is called by the locals the Wernberg Fluss is likewise not fordable except at the marked road crossing. Via Clagenfurt and the Windgratz Strasse the Drau Flusse may be bypassed but this is wooded country.

The Russians are deployed NE of the Drau Fluss.

Objectives:

French - drive the enemy off or crush him and press on to Sankt Vert while preserving your LoCS down the Sankt Vert Strasse.

Russians - deny the French their victory conditions.

Notes:

If the French fail to reach Sankt Vert they will not suffer exhaustion as per the campaign rules but they will not be able to march further before 5th May.

If the Russians fail to stop the French they will suffer exhaustion as per the campaign rules.

This will be a 105 minute long scenario (1hr 45mins) and this map is 2.5 miles per side, so 1/4 of the area we usually fight on.

EDIT :~

I will get a Doodle Poll up for this game soon. It is not large and will not require many players and I hope we can fight it mid-week.

Here is a Doodle Poll for this game. We are going to be limited to weekends for games that allow our US players to play at the same time it allows European players to play before it gets too late in the evening. We cannot play mid-week to suit everyone unfortunately. I will simply take the date that has the most people able to play and that does not clash with whatever date Morsey has chosen for his Neimen River Pt.2 battle.

Doodle Poll.

We are fighting this battle at 20:00 GMT on Sunday 13th March.

Note1: We will go into the lobby at 20:00. If you are late you do not play. Do not be late.

Note2: There is no pre-battle briefing allowed. Plans are made here in the KS forums(*). Players who turn up who have not been reading the threads must be informed by their C-in-C using in-game couriers.

(*) This has not happened yet for either side so expect chaos.

This action was one of confusion, chaos and worrying rustlings in the dense undergrowth. The region around Naumberg is apparently famous for all the trees that grow there. Despite it being a heavily farmed part of the low-lying Saale valley, many farmers leave stands of woodland on their plots for winter fuel and as windbreaks for the cold easterlies that blow off the Moravian highlands. There is also a market in locally made furniture which uses a ready supply of oak and elm. This makes the area quite unsuitable for operations by formed troops although the Cossacks and voltigeurs were very much at home.

The previous afternoon, having given a report to General Winzingerode of two or more French corps advancing up the road from Weimar, apparently led by Napoleon in person, general Orlov of the Grekov Cossack division was insulted to be dismissed as exaggerating! He went back outside to mount his horse and ride back to his bivouac with mutterings of "Two corps... two corps my friend... you'll meet them in person in the morning!"

General Winzingerode spent an easy night in the warm bed of a local farmhouse only to be awoken next morning by the thump of cannon. Dressing quickly and rushing outside he found his cavalry batteries in action firing at French skirmishers who were pushing across the cold muddy water of the ford at the Drau Fluss only 300 yards to his front. Gulping down a cup of schnapps for his breakfast the Russian mounted his horse and began barking orders but his cavalry corps was too scattered in the densely forested terrain and simply too few to hold back the tidal wave of Frenchmen who poured north towards Sankt Vert up the main highway that led to Leutzen.

The worst delays for the French were pushing so many troops over a single river crossing, battalions waiting on the south bank found Russian cannon shots dropping among them. However within 30 minutes the German cavalry brigade of Generalmajor von Normann was across and his Westphalian, Bavarian, Hessian and Wurttemburg light horse sent the Russian guns scattering back and the Cossacks off into the woods where they wisely withdrew towards the north-east.

Some Russian officers to the north-west near Wernberg were able to identify French guardsmen and guard cavalry through their spyglasses and realising that that oaf Winzingerode had let himself be surprised by Napoleon, wisely withdrew. There was a minor skirmish between some of Orlov's Cossacks and the Dutch Lancers of the Garde near Sankt Vert itself but the Russian cavalry soon melted away allowing Napoleon's column to press on towards Leutzen.

Russian losses were 30 killed, 240 wounded and a handful missing. The French lost 40 killed, 280 wounded and again, just a handful missing.

Winzingerode's Russian cavalry corps has retired to Leutzen with Napoleon's eager army close on his heels.


French columns about to move off. The "Austrian" battalion is from the Regiment of the Duchy of Wurzburg. The Grand Duke is the brother of Archduke Charles, hence the similarity in style.



The Weimar-Naumberg road is choked by artillery and other vehicles. The guard cavalry waits behind.


Queues of French troops awaiting their turn to ford the Drau Fluss. The majority of French casualties occurred here before the Russian horse artillery was obliged to retire by von Normann's cavalry.


French cavalry advancing.