Battle Report: 20th November 1999

1859 Austrians ~vs~ 1859 French

(Robert Avery ~vs~ Rupert Avery) .

1859 Austrians
Brigade	Unit	Fig.'s	Org.	Class	Weapons	Pts/Fig	Points
	CinC	1					100
1st Brigade	Attached Jaegers	32	4x8	LightsB	mlr	12	424
	1st (Grenadier) Battalion	32	4x8	RegB	mlr	11	392
	2nd (Fusilier) Battalion	42	6x7	RegC	mlr	9	438
	3rd (Fusilier) Battalion	42	6x7	RegC	mlr	9	438
Cavalry	Uhlans	14	2x7	RegB	l, s, p	16	244
Artillery	Battery	3	3x1	RegB	light mlsb FA	73	259
							2295

.

1859 French
Brigade	Unit	Fig.'s	Org.	Class	Weapons	Pts/Fig	Points
.	CinC	1					100
	Imperial Guard	16	4x4	RegA	mlr	12	232
1st Regiment	1st Battalion	36	6x6	RegC	mlr	9	384
	2nd Battalion	36	6x6	RegC	mlr	9	384
	3rd Battalion	36	6x6	RegC	mlr	9	384
	Attached Zouaves	36	6x6	RegC	mlr	9	384
Cavalry	Cuirassiers	12	2x6	RegB	s, armour, mlc	16	212
Artillery	Battery	3	3x1	RegC	light mlrb FA	79	267
							2347

.

.	Austrians	French
Foot	2960	3200
Horse	280	240
Guns	6	6

Casualties

The Austrians lost 160 Jaegers; 240 Grenadiers; and 80 Uhlans: for a total of 480.

The French lost 160 Imperial Guard; 80 1iere Bttn; 60 2ieme Bttn; 200 3ieme Bttn; 200 Zoauves and 100 Cuirassiers for a total of 800.

Results

A win for the Austrians.

Analysis

A good battle played over about 3 hours.

The French were somewhat unlucky at the beginning of the battle: by rights their counter-battery fire should have taken out the Austrian artillery. The fact that it didn’t was to prove crucial: as the Austrian artillery contributed muchly to the French defeat. The Austrian skirmishers also proved incredibly difficult to hit: not taking any casualties until at least half-way through the battle.

However, if there was one moment that perhaps the French could have played better, it was the moment when the Austrian Grenadiers were disordered in the woods. If, instead of firing (which would have worked in open terrain) the French had charged, then the Austrians would probably have broken and fled (they would have counted as under partial flank fire and disordered). This would have enabled the French battalion to appear on the Austrian flank and put an entirely different perspective on the battle.