The deployment at Peterdohna

The fictitious battle of Peterdhona is about to start as both sides have arrived at the battlefield at 9.00 a.m. The French Saint-Cyr's XIV Corps is deploying at the north awaiting reinforcementes, led by the Emperor himself, whose arrival is scheduled for 12.00 a.m.
At a distance of scarcely one km, the Russians have occupied the town of Sehidewitz and their cavalry is linking with the Prussian avant-garde. Barclay de Tolly, the Allied Commander is running towards the battlefield, in order to confirm the rumours about the presence of Napoleon in the zone.
See the last pictures at the main web-site

The Second Siege of Saragosse

Today, january 27, is the bicentennial of the Frech assault to the breaches during the second siege of Saragosse.
The siege began in december 21 and finalized in february 20. The besieged were under the command of General Palafox, whereas the French troops were under marshal Moncey, next under general Junot and finally, from january 22, under marshal Lannes. This last ordered the assault at 11 hours of 27 of January.
As night arrived, the attackers were the owners from the zone near the Gate of the Carmen, having taken 15 artillery pieces and 200 prisoners and giving death to 600 Spaniards, themselves undergoing a similar number of losses (around 800).
From that day, a new phase began: the fight house-to-house, the true "war to the knife"

Más información/more information: http://www.terra.es/personal4/filomenas/

Napoleon's Battles 3rd Edition

The new Napoleon's Battles 3rd edition (NB-III) has arrived at home. My copy is numbered #22, and it is signed by Coggins and Craig (the designers of the original NB). NB-III is edited by Lost Battalion Games (LBG), in whose web-site you could find more information Napoleon's Battles.
NB-III comes in a large, black, game box and contains:
- Full color rules and reference books.
- 15 player aid cards: 2 Game Cards, 2 Sequence of Play cards, 2 Artillery Fire Templates, 2 Spread Artillery Fire Templates, 2 Terrain Markers, 1 Artillery Spread Formation Spread Templates, 1 Brigade Skirmish Spread Template, 2 Manoeuver Template and a time record chart card.
- Information cards for Austria, Bavaria and Saxony, Britain, Confederation, France, Iberian states, Italian states, Low Countries, Poalnd and Wurttemberg, Ottoman Empire, Prussia, Russia, Scandinavian states, Westphalian states.
- 12 full color scenarios cards covering the battles of: Valmy 1792, Novi 1799, Marengo 1800, Auerstadt 1806, Raab 1809, Talavera 1809, Albuera 1811, Gorodetschna 1812, Lutzen 1813, Craonne 1814, Quatre Bras 1815 and Waterloo 1815
- 160 8mm cubed wooden Markers: Half Move, No Move, React, Rout, Disorder, Free Rolls, Limbered and No Supplies. 26 wooden discs for Mystery Deployment, Initiative and Turn Record and two ten-Sided dice.
- One CD containing a database for generals and pdf files for the Scenarios and labels.

Besides the new formating of the material (including a welcome increasing of the font size!) making it more easily to manage , the inclusion of the CD and wooden markers, and some minor artistic licenses (the bases show 9 10mm figures in 3 files of 3 ranks), NB-III IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME THING THAN NB-II. Therefore it will be somewhat disappointing for those gamers expecting new and radical variations, and a must for old freaks of NB like me!

Map and special rule for Peterdohna

The above map is the first version for the battle of Peterdohna. Following the classification of Napoleon's Battles, is an 'encounter battle' with both sides occupying initially similar terrain objectives, and having both the same goal, to break through the enemy.
The Allied commanders (Barclay de Tolly, Wittgenstein and Kleist) supposed that Saint-Cyr, defending the approachs to Dresden, was isolated and attacked him. The French marshall did know that Napoleon was running to his help, and also attacked the Allied.
However, this battle 'occurs' during the Campaign of Leipzig, so the Trachenberg Plan marking the Allied strategy, will be of application: direct confrontation with Napoleon himself would be avoided, whereas isolated French marshalls and generals would be attacked.
In order to simulate the effect of the Trachenberg Plan, the following special rule will be used to see the time that Allied staff takes in realizing the Napoleon's arrival:
Every turn after the arrival of Napoleon, Barclay de Tolly, if present in the battlefield, will throw 1D10. In order to pass the test, the first turn a ‘1’ must be thrown; the second turn '2' or less ; third time '3' or less.... When succesful, Barclay de Tolly must to order immediately a general retreat, leaving only a rearguard.

See the Scenario and the map at the main web-site Peterdohna (september 26, 1813)

Antoher bicentennial: Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born 200 years ago (January 19, 1809) in Boston and died in Baltimore (October 7, 1849). He was an American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic, and is considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

The Allan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band active between 1975 and 1990, founded by Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons. One of their hit albums was 'Tales of Mistery and Imagination' based upon several horror histories and poems of E.A. Poe.
This small tribute goes to the memory of one of the greatest writers for all time. Enjoy 'The Raven'!

Dardo/Dart Awards

This blog has received the Dardo/Dart Award to the transmision of cultural, ethical, personal and social values.
The Award comes from the blog of Juan Antonio Galindo, plastic artist from Granada (Spain), whose link is
Juan Antonio Galindo Martin
This Award chain must continue with two basic requirements:
1- To choose others blogs (at least 5) warning the bloggers
2- You must post a link in your blog to the blogger that granted the prize to you
¡MANY THANKS!

Este blog ha recibido el Premio Dardo a la transmisión de valores culturales, éticos, personales y sociales.
El Premio ha venido desde el blog de Juan Antonio Galindo, artista plástico de Granada (España), cuyo enlace es:
Juan Antonio Galindo Martin
La cadena de este Prremio debe continuar con dos condiciones básicas
1- Elegir otros blogs (al menos 5) y avisar a los bloggers
2- Se debe colocar un link en vuestro blog a la persona que os concedió el Premio
¡MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Blogs elegidos/Chosen blogs
Epitafios y demás
Los negros sueños del cuervo
Murdock's Marauders
Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargame Figures
Guerra de la Independencia Española

The battle of Corunna (january 16, 1809)

The Battle of Corunna (or La Corunna, A Coruña, La Coruña, or Elviña) refers to a battle of the Peninsular War that took place on January 16, 1809, when a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore who were attempting to leave northern Spain following an unsuccessful campaign.
After a long retreat marked by privation, and winter conditions, the main British force under Moore (another contingent comprising Alten's and Craufurd's light brigades retired towards Vigo) arrived in Corunna on 11th January and would have immediately evacuated by sea but found that the transport vessels had not yet arrived. Meanwhile, the French army began to arrive the next day, building up strength as they arrived from the march. The long-awaited transport ships also arrived on the 14th and that evening the British evacuated their sick, some horses and some of the guns, cavalrymen and gunners.
Moore had deployed his army to cover the evacuation by placing the main part of it on a ridge astride the road to Corunna, a mile and a half south of the harbour. The left flank was covered by the river Mero and the left and centre of the ridge was quite defensible. The western and lower end of this ridge was more vulnerable and could be swept by guns on the rocky heights of the loftier range opposite, and the ground further west consisted of more open terrain extending as far as Corunna which might be provide the means of turning the whole position. Moore held two divisions back in reserve a little north and westwards in order to guard the right flank and to prevent a turning movement.
As day broke on 16th January the French were in position on the heights and all through the morning both armies observed each across the valley between them. By afternoon Moore considered an attack unlikely and he ordered the first divisions to make their way to the port, the rest of the army would follow at dusk, but shortly after, at 2pm, he learned that the French were attacking.
Soult's plan was to move against the strongly-placed British infantry of the left and centre in order to contain it while the infantry division of Mermet attacked the more vulnerable British right above the village of Elviña. The cavalry was deployed further west near the more open country leading to Corunna. If the attacks succeeded they could seize western end of the British lines and push on to cut off the bulk of the army from Corunna. Mermet’s infantry advanced quickly and soon pushed the British picquets from Elviña and attacked the heights beyond. At the same time a French brigade pushed up the valley on the British right in an attempt to turn their flank.
The fiercest fighting took place in and around Elviña as the possession of this village changed hands several times, and the British suffered particularly from the fire of the heavy artillery on the heights opposite. Moore remained in this area to direct the battle ordering one regiment to fire down upon the flank of the French column that was attempting the turning movement and calling up the reserve to meet it. The British commander was struck by a cannonball and fell mortally wounded. For a time the British were without a commander, which hampered attempts at a counter attack in this crucial sector, but the fighting continued unabated. Further west the French cavalry attempted to push forward as part of the flank attack but they were hampered by the rough terrain and eventually driven back by the advance of the British reserves.

Night brought an end to the fighting by which time the French had been repulsed and had returned to their original positions; both sides holding much the same ground as before the fight.
At around 9pm the British began to silently withdraw from their lines, leaving behind strong picquets who maintained watch-fires throughout the night. At daybreak on the 17th January the picquets were withdrawn behind the rearguard and went aboard ship; by morning most of the army had embarked. Finally, on the 18th January, the British rearguard embarked, the small Spanish garrison under General Alcedo faithfully holding the citadel until the fleet was well out to sea.
The campaign pointed up the difficulties of a winter campaign, which further contributed to many of the privations sustained by the army. The British returned to Portugal later that year, refreshed, resupplied and with a new commander, Sir Arthur Wellesley.

Extracted from Wikipedia
To know more: Corunna 1809.Sir John Moore’s Fighting Retreat. P. Haythornthwaite. Campaign 83. Osprey Military Publishing. 2001

The next battle: Peterdohna (september 1813)

This is a fictional battle fought between the Russo-Prussian contingent of the Army of Bohemia led, respectively, by Wittgenstein and Kleist under the Barclay's command, against the French St-Cyr's XIV and Lobau's I Corps supported by Mortier's Young Guard and Lefevbre-Desnouttes's I Cavalry Corps, commanded by Napoleon himself.
After the battles of Dresden, Kulm and the Katzbach, there was an interlude in the southern front. Schwarzenberg and Napoleon played a 'cat and mouse' game, with the first trying to traverse the Bohemian Mountain passes -hoping to turn the Napoleon's flank or rearguard- whereas Napoleon tried to catch him. During the month of September of 1813, both contenders went all over the net-road in the Dresden-Pirna-Dohna-Peterswalde area, but the strict following of the Trachenberg plan by the Allied, avoided the clash.
This Scenario covers a 'what if', with Napoleon closing at last the trap around the Allied, in a fictional site named Peterdohna : Peterswalde + Dohna. The OOB’s and the narrative have been taken from
Nafziger G. 'Napoleon at Leipzig. The Battle of Nations 1813', The Emperor Press, Chicago, 1996
Petre, FL 'Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany, 1813', J. Lane, 1912
Zucker, K. '1813. The Year that doomed the Empire'. OSG, 2007
and the maps from Google Earth, Google Maps and the 3rd Military Mapping Survey of Austria-Hungary.
The Scenario will be designed for 'normal' Napoleon's Battles

Death of Dionisio Alvarez Cueto

I am sad to announce that Dionisio Álvarez Cueto died (january 6) in Madrid (Spain). He was 44 years old. Dionisio was an artist who specialized in the Peninsular War and Spanish uniforms in particular.
Along with Miguel Angel Martin Mas (collaborator of the ALKAID magazine) he founded the Editorial "Las cuatro plumas" (The four feathers) publishing "Madrid 1808. The 2nd of May for everybody". His military illustrations gave life to more than a dozen of books and numerous articles in national and foreign specialized magazines.
He will be missed
See some samples of his peculiar and unmistakable style.

The dead of Colbert at Cacabelos (january 3, 1809)

The action at Cacabelos (León), 3 January 1809, was a minor British victory during Sir John Moore’s retreat to Coruña. It was fought between the British rearguard and the lead elements of Marshal Soult’s pursuing army. The purpose of the British stand was to give Moore time to destroy the stores at his main supply depot at Villafranca, six miles to the west. See two accounts of theis small action, the first near contemporary and the second more recent:

Annals of the Peninsular Campaigns, from MDCCCVIII to MDCCCXIV (by Thomas Hamilton, Edited by Carey & Lea, 1831). pages 51-52

'Since the affair of the twenty-eighth, no engagement had taken place. On the third of January, the advanced-guard of the enemy were seen advancing on Cacabelos. The town is divided by a rivulet (River Cua), along the banks of which part of the reserve was stationed. On a hill, about half a league in front, were posted the 95th Rifes, and the piquet of cavalry. The General ordered the 95th to retire, through the town by a bridge.
While this order was executing, the French cavalry came on in force, driving the piquet before them, and, charging the rear companies, which had not yet crossed the bridge, succeeded in making some prisoners. The enemy, imagining they had thrown our rear guard into confusion, immediately advanced a body of dismounted chasseurs, who, dashing forward through the stream with great spirit, attacked the 95th, which had barely gained time to extend in skirmishing order.
The regiment received the attack with admirable steadiness, and, retreating up a hill in rear of the town, took post among some vineyards, from which they continued to gall the enemy by a well-directed fire. From this position the French cavalry attempted to dislodge them, but without success. The95th again repulsed them ; and they retreated with the loss of a considerable number in killed and wounded. General Colbert, an officer of great gallantry and distinction, was among the number of the former. '

Corunna 1809. Sir John Moore's fighting retreat. Philip Haythornhwaite. Campaign 83. Osprey Military Publishing, 2001

Colbert advanced at the head of his brigade, drove back the 15th Hussars and overran the detachment of the 95th, taking 48 prisoners, Moore's secretary, John Colborne, and others of his staff out reconnoitring, had to ride for their lives. The remainder of the outlying British troops crowded over the bridge in some confusion, and Colbert, perhaps not realizing the strength of the force before him, attempted to charge after them. Many got across the bridge, but came under heavy cross-fire from the 95th, 52nd and 28th firing from behind stone walls, and from the artillery.
One British participant remarked that 'I never saw med ride more handsomely to destruction', until 'we poured it into right and left, and they went down like clockwork'. The cavalry was driven back, leaving the road 'absolutely choked with their dead' according to Blakeney of the 28th, and among these was Colbert.
He had led the charge but was shot dead by Rifleman Thomas Plunket of the 95th, a noted 'character' and a splendid marksman. (It was said that Plunket was urged to shoot Colbert by Paget himself, with the promise of a purse of money if he succeeded; though others rejected so base a motive or claimed that it was Thomas Graham who made the offer). All the British lamented Colbert's fall, as Charles Steevens of the 20th remarked, 'Colonel Ross, and all of us who witnessed it, were very sorry, as he seemed to be a remarkable gallant fellow; but, alas!, is the fate of war".

The combat finished as darkness fell, after the involvement of the accompanying French infantry, General Merle’s division. Both sides lost around 200 men in the fighting, which gave the British the time they needed to destroy their supply depot at Villafranca. The rearguard was retired by Moore, and the retreat to Coruña continued.