The Scenario for Goldberg is ready!

I have finished the design of a 'normal' Napoleon's Battles Scenario covering the affaire at Goldberg (see previous posts). All the forces will be available for Bluecher: I Prussian Corps and Langeron's Russian wing and for Lauriston (or Macdonald): V and XI Corps and the Chastel's 3rd Light Cavalry division.
Lauriston will act as French C-i-C but Macdonald (unlike in the actual battle) could appear to take the overall command. The Macdonald's activities during that day are not well known but he will have a chance in this re-fight.
The Scenario will use divisional batteries like the 'one-half' or 'divisional' NB modifications.
See the Scenario at the main web site: The battle of Goldberg (1813). I expect to play it during this week-end.

The Goldberg affaire

A very busy and pleasant time in my life the past days!
In the wargaming front, I have been researching about the combat of Goldberg.
The main and first source was the Nafziger's book 'Napoleon at Dresden. The battles of August 1813' . In addition I have used other internet books:
+ Etude sur les opérations du maréchal Macdonald, du 22 août au 4 septembre 1813, la Katzbach by Gabriel Fabry
+ The Life and Campaigns of Field-Marshal Prince Blücher, of Wahlstatt by August Wilhelm Anton Gneisenau
+ Mémoires de Langeron: général d'infanterie dans l'armée russe by Gabrile Fabry
With these books I have designed a scenario for the standard Napoleon's Battles. The participating forces will be the French V and XI Corps under Lauriston (Macdonald was absent all the day) and the Prussian Yorck's and the Russian Langeron's Corps under Bluecher. On the contrary than in the actual battle, all units of these Corps will have a fighting chance!
Theres is only a small problem: I don't know the exact composition of the Langeron's advance-guard under Rudzevich, but thanks to the help of Steven H. Smith from the Napoleon-Series Forum, I know that he commanded that day 4 battalions, 18 guns, one Cossack regiment and two Russian regular light cavalry units (6 squadrons).
Until the actual re-fight, you can watch the table-top map.

The maps for Goldberg

The next battle will be the battle of Goldberg (August 22, 1813). This combat was the prelude to the battle of Katzbach (fought August, 24) and involved to the V and XI French Corps under Lauriston and Macdonald respectively, and the left wing and center of the Bluecher Army of Silesia, under Langeron and Yorck respectively. Bluecher was still under the false impression that Napoleon himself was at his front (in fact he was hurrying back towards Dresden) so, in accordance with the Plan of Trachtenberg, he retired to east.
The battle will be fought using true Napoleon's Battles (not my 'divisional' or 'one-half' versions). The map will be extracted from the same source that the Kalisz map, i.e. the magnificient 3rd Military Mapping Survey of Austria-Hungary (1:200,000). The Goldberg zone lies in the junction of sheets 33.51 and 34.51 aronud the 51º 10' latitude.

This information was completed with the derived from Google Maps. However, the Goldberg area lies today in Poland but until 1945 it was in Germany territory, so the names of the places in the contemporary narratives and maps are in German language, but these same places appear now in Polish in Google Maps or Google Earth.
A Google search produced the Polish translation of Goldberg, Zlotoryja, but the rest of the places were more harder to find.
A request to Napoleon Series Forum produced the correct answer by Oliver Schmidt: Topografia, a Polish web site containing the German-Polish equivalence of many geographical places from which I can to trace the contemporary names of the old german map.

So watch this space for the new battle.

The battle of Kalisz is finished

I have finished the re-fight of the battle of Kalisz, the last battle of the Russian Campaign or the first of the 1813 Campaign. The played battle was a total disaster for the Saxon-French Reynier's VII Corps.
The Russian forces, led by Winzigerode, cut the Kalisz bridge (see the accompanying picture) isolating Reynier, which was obligated to gain his retreat through a cloud of Cossacks and regular Russian cavalry.
However, the von Nostitz's and von Gablenz's Saxon divisions performed heroically, making a fighting retreat before the menacing Russian cavalry.
Watch the main site for the Scenario and the Battle in pictures.
The next battle will be the affair at Goldberg, the failed prelude to the battle of the Katzbach, between the Bluecher's Army of Silesia and the V and XI Corps under Lauriston.

Cavalry combat at Kalisz

The battle of Kalisz is now at its heights. The Saxon rearguard is fightins a running combat with the Russian cavalry and artillery. During the 15.00 h turn, a cavalry combat has taken place between two of the recenlty painted units: the Saxon Chevaux-Legers and the Russian Mounted Jagers.
In this occasion the Saxons routed the Russian regular cavalry unit, falling after over a Russian puilk which was also routed by the heroic cavarylmen.



Until the end of the re-fight, you can see the Scenario in the Battle of Kalisz page at the main site.