Lasalle Order of Battle for Sellerhausen

This is the OOB for the combat/battle of Sellerhausen. Near this small village, the defection of the Saxon contingent of the Grande Armee took place, leaving a dangerous hole in the Napoleon's line. This area was also the point of contact between the Bernadotte's Army of the North and the Begninsen's Army of Poland, a perfect target for the French counter-attack, immediately devised by Napoleon and carried out by part of the infantry and cavalry of his Old Guard.
I have used the 'Liberation' lists for both sides to use forces whose number and composition were similar to the actual units fighting in October 1813. The statistics of the Subcommanders have been diced out according to the ruleset.

French
19 Battalions/5 Regiments/6 Batteries
Army Moral 56 Break point 19

C-i-C Napoleon (+1/*)
Army wing Ney (-1/-)

32nd Division Durutte (+1/*)
1st Brigade Devaux (+1/*)
1/35th Légère Reg Reliable/Experienced/SK2
3/131st Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
3/132nd Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
2nd Brigade Jarry (+1/-)
4/36th Légère Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
3/133rd Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
3/Würzburg Line Reg Shaky/Amateur/SK1
Foot Artillery Foot/3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw

9th Division Delmas (-1/-)
1st Brigade Esteve (-/¶)
2nd Prov. Légère Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
1/136th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
2/136th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
3/136th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
2nd Brigade Maran (+1/-)
1/138th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
2/138th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
1/145th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
2/145th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
3/145th Line Reg Reliable/Amateur/SK1
2/9th Foot Artillery Foot/3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw
11/9th Foot Artillery Foot/3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw

Reinforcements
Old Guard Infantry Christiani (+1/-)
1/1st Grenadier à Pied Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard
2/1st Grenadier à Pied Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard
1/2nd Grenadier à Pied Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard
2/2nd Grenadier à Pied Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guargd
2nd Old Guard Foot Bat Foot/3 cannons/Heavy/1 Hw

Old Guard Cavalry Letort (+1/*)
Empress Dragoons Valiant/Experienced/Guard/Shock +
Grenadiers à Cheval Valiant/Experienced/Guard/Shock +
1/Old Guard Horse Bat Horse/2 cannons/ Medium/ 1 How
2/Old Guard Horse Bat Horse/2 cannons/ Medium/ 1 How

Heavy cavalry Daugeranville (-/*)
1st Carabinier Reg Valiant/Experienced/Shock
2nd Carabinier Reg Valiant/Experienced/Shock
1st Cuirassier Reg Valiant/Experienced/Shock

Allied
20 Battalions/10 Regiments/6 Batteries
Army Moral 68 Break point 23
C-i-C Bernadotte (-/-)
Prussian 3rd Army Corps Bülow (+1/*)

3rd Brigade Hessen-Homberg (-/-)
Subcommander Sjonholm (+1/*)
2nd E. Prussian Grenadier Valiant/Experienced/SK2
2/3rd E. Prussian Inf Reliable/Experienced/SK2
Fus/3rd E. Prussian Inf Reliable/Experienced/SK2
1/4th Reserve Inf Reliable/Amateur/SK2
2/4th Reserve Inf Reliable/Amateur/SK2
3/4th Reserve Inf Reliable/Amateur/SK2
1/4th E. Prussian Landw Unreliable/Amateur/SK1
2/4th E. Prussian Landw Unreliable/Amateur/SK1
3/4th E. Prussian Landw Unreliable/Amateur/SK1
4/4th E. Prussian Landw Unreliable/Amateur/SK1
Leib Hussar Reg Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit
6pdr Foot Battery #5 Foot /3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw

6th Brigade Krafft (-/-)
Subcommander Zastrow (-/*)
1/Colberg Inf Reliable/Experienced/SK2
2/Colberg Inf Reliable/Experienced/SK2
Fus/Colberg Inf Reliable/Experienced/SK2
1/9th Reserve Inf Reliable/Amateur/SK2
2/9th Reserve Inf Reliable/Amateur/SK2
3/9th Reserve Inf Reliable/Amateur/SK2
6pdr Foot Battery #16 Foot /3 cannons/Medium/1 Hw

Reinforcements
2nd Austrian Light Division Bubna (-/-)
1st Brigade Rheinau (+1/¶)
1/Peterswardeiner Grenz Reliable/Amateur/SK1 +
Jäger #6 Reliable/Experienced/SK2
Liechtenstein Hussar Reg Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit +
6pdr Cavalry Battery Horse /2 cannons/Medium/1 Hw
2nd Brigade Wieland (+1/¶)
3/Rainer Inf Reliable/Experienced/SK1 +
4/Würzburg Inf Shaky/Amateur/SK1 +
Kaiser Hussar Reg Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit +
6pdr Cavalry Brigade Horse /2 cannons/Medium/1 Hw
British Rocket Battery 3 launchers
1st Saxon Horse Battery Horse/2 cannons/Medium/1 Hw

Russian Cavalry Division Tschaplitz (-1/)
Comb. Dragoon Reg Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit
1st Conv. Chasseur à Cheval Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit
2nd Conv. Uhlan Reg Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit/Lance
Horse Battery #2 Horse/3 cannons/Medium/2 Hw

Cossacks Platov (-/*)
Tcharnusubov #5 Cossacks Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit
Black Sea Cossacks Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit
Sluysarev Cossacks Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit
Schaltanovka Don Cossacks Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit

There some questions to be thinked about in the next days: the inclusion (or not) of French and Allied brigade commanders and the role played by Napoleon and Bernadotte.

Edited:
The Subcommanders marked in red are optional. In the case of Austrian or French divisions they will make a more historical command chain. For the Prussian army, as it occurred in the reality, these officers allow the Brigade commander to use a subordinate commander for a specific battle line or an ad-hoc task force, as it occurred in the reality.

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The next battle: Sellerhausen

October 18, 1813 at the Sellerhausen-Stunz-Paunsdorf area, near Leipzig. The Saxon army has defected to the Allies, leaving a dangerous gap in the French line.
The Durutte 32nd division (Reynier's VII Corps) deployed in the Sellerhausen-Stunz area and supported by the Delmas and Compans divisions (Ney's III Corps), is awating for the attack of the newly arrived Prussians of the Bulow's Corps (Bernadotte's Army of the North) arriving from the north-east, that have linked with the Austrian Bubna's 2nd Light Division and the Russian cavalry of Platov and Tschaplitz Russians of the Benigsen's Army of Poland arrived from the south-east.
However, Napoleon is at hand and the Old Guard infantry (Christhiani's brigade), the Guard cavalry (Grenadiers a Cheval and Empress Dragoons) and a brigade of Heavy Cavalry (Carabiniers and Cuirassiers) are massing for a counterattack addressed to the weak contact point of the two Allied armies.
This combat has a multinational Allied force: Prussians, Austrians, Russians... and British (Rocket Corps) sith some colorful units: Austrian Grenzers and Jagers, Russian cossacks, British rocketeers.. and the Saxon artillery just after joining the Allies. In the French side, there were the Old Guard infantry and cavalry and the Wurzburgers.
This batte, as always in these times, was suggested by my "Chief of Staff", my old good Argentinian friend Armand d'Arc.
The map is taken from Nafziger's book on Leizpig and I am now working on the OOB, using the Nafziger's and Smith's books, so watch this space!

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British rockets à l'Armand d'Arc

Our Argentinian friend Armand d'Arc has kindly sent to me some pictures taken during his last action, the battle of Ganta, fought during the past months (austral winter).

Amongst the exotic military units designed by Armand for his fictional African campaign, I post today his Rocket Corps, composed from home-made rocket launchers and caissons.


Note that all artillery firing in the Armand's battles is almost 'real'. The ammunitions, pellets from hunting cartridges for cannons and pins with a plastic head for rockets, are launched by hand. All the knock down figures become casualties, of course!

The battle of Gohrde is finished!

The battle (or combat) of Göhrde has finished with the total rout of the tiny Pecheux's force. The French 50th division has suffered a 48.5% of losses, very similar to the 50% suffered in the real world.
The losses (1,950 men and 8 guns) included 810 prisoners (the wounded Pecheux amongs them) and two generals dead. However, the French inflicted 1,530 losses on the Wallmoden's Corps, mainly to the Russo-German Legion and the Von Lutzow FreiKorps.

As a curiosity, the Bennigsen Battalion did not take part in the battle (they arrived late) and the British Rocket Corps were only able to launch a rocket round in the last stages of the battle.
The narrative and the full history is in the main web site Wargaming with Napoleonic Miniatures

See two pictures of the actual memorial of the battle at Goehrde and from the spot where Eleonore Prochaska fell dead, by courtesy of Thomas Mischak, the men behind the shop KF 1/72 FIGUREN & ZUBEHÖR

A new rocket launcher

I have followed the kind indications from Rod MacArthur about the unaccurate pictures of the Osprey books on British Rockets (see previous post).

For the full history, including the conversions, see the main web site

The case of the misleading source

The following text is an extract of a long and hepful e-mail from Rod MacArthur, of the Napoleon-Series Forum, about the British Rocket designs:

"... I can see that you have faithfully copied the illustrations in the Osprey "Artillery Equipments of the Napoleonic Wars" by Terence Wise. I believe however that these illustrations are not completely accurate when one compares them to the original description and pictures in Congreve's own book ... The Osprey does not make the construction of the rocket car clear, but the original description does. You have shown it as an open cart, whereas it was in fact a standard Desaguliers frame with two long boxes, one down each side (to carry rocket sticks) joined together by small additional boxes in the centre (where two gunners sat when mobile) to make an "H" shape. Each rocket car had two launcher troughs, one carried on top of each side box, which could be fired simultaneously as a volley. "

"...The launcher troughs have been portrayed in the Osprey as tubes, with a thickened middle, which is what you have modelled. I think this is however wrong. The description in Congreve's book is of open troughs (like a half pipe) and what Osprey have interpreted as a thickenened middle section on the original drawings is in fact the rocket head itself resting half way up the open trough, not sticking out of the end as in the Osprey illustration..."

A more accurate representation of the Congreve rockets I have found in Internet, seems to be the following picture (taken from a Total War mod). The shape of the carriage is clearly seen, although the way in which is used to aim the rocket is nor correct.

The funny thing here is that my first designs were based upon the Congreve original drawings, but after I discovered the Wise Osprey book and I changed my accurate design for the wrong one! ... so the moral of this history is:

Do not trust seconday sources however beautiful it looks

I'll try to make a correct design in time to re-fight Göhrde so, watch this thread!

British rockets (3)

I finished this little project related with the battle of Göhrde. See some pictures of the three Napoleon's Battles bases




For the full history, including the conversions, see the main web site.

British rockets (2)

The British Rocket Troops set was one of the first launched by HäT (8003). The set has four sprues with 5 enlisted men, one officier, one launcher, two spare rockets and one carriage each. The uniforms were identical to British Horse Artillery, so no problem here.
I have decided to build two Napoleon's Batles bases with, respectively, one normal HäT launcher and two men, and one rocket being fired from soil level with two men.
I have also built a composite base. One half (with identical dimensions than the first two bases) has a home-made heavy launcher (see the enclosed diagram) and two men. The other half is a detachable base, consisting of a carriage and a mounted Rocketer. The mounted man is a conversion made with the torso of one HäT rocketer and the legs of an old Esci 217 Scots Greys set, which also provided the horse.

I am very grateful to the members of the Napoleon-Series and ALKAID Forums (specially to Kevin and Ximo) by their helping pictures and suggestions.
Next time the pictures!
.

British Rocket

The solid-propellant rocket was invented by the Chinese in the early 13th century, and were still used at India, in the late XVIII century by the Indian princes. In 1792, the rockets were successfully used against the British forces in the Seringapatam. The first Bristish studies failed to produce a working weapon until the project was taken up by Colonel William Congreve (1772–1828), at the Royal Laboratory (Woolwich). By 1805 the British had introduced the first reasonably effective military rocket to European warfare.
The first British successful rockets were incendiary devices used against Boulogne (1806), Copennhagen (1807), Dantzig (1813) and in the War of 1812 in America. Those used by the field artillery came in 6, 9, 12 and 18 lbs, and were assigned to the Royal Horse Artillery, due to their deployment speed, in 1813. From the two troops serving initially, the 2nd troop of Rocket Artillery was sent to Germany and saw action at the Battle of Gordhe in 1813.
In that battle, the rockets contributed to the success of the small British contingent:
"... The square of French infantry on the left,…..were still firm; but there happened to be two or three of the Rocket Brigade in the field, and the first rocket fired, fell directly in the square, putting them in the greatest confusion; and while they were so, the German Hussars, who had been previously repulsed, charged them again, and influenced by feelings of revenge, cut among them, right and left, giving no quarter ...”

To know more
History of the Rocket 1804-1815
Congreve Rockets
Rocket
British Royal Horse Artillery
Napoleon-Series
Artillery Equipments of the Napoleonic Wars