Sunday 1 March 2020

Santiago Campaign – Day 6

Campaign Map on 24 October 1813
Wellington orders 1st and 2nd corps to retreat to Santiago
3rd corps move east to cover the retreat
4th corps continue to defend Ourense

The Spanish guerrilla redeploy to attack French convoys
Two French corps are down to one days supplies
A third has only two days supplies
Their depots are spread over a wide area
Their lines of supply are in desperate need of reorganising

The French army has ground to a halt until it is sorted out

This will allow Wellington to regroup, resupply and reinforce his battered army

Campaign Notes
The French have won three battles and taken seven towns
However their very success has created serious problems of supply
They have sufficient supplies, but they are spread over too wide an area

7th corps – 1 days supply
8th corps – 1 days supply
13th corps – 4 days supply
16th corps – 2 days supply
Reserve – 1 days supply

Each corps can carry a maximum of four days supplies
They can resupply from any depot within a days march
Providing that they do not move or fight
However if they run out of supplies they will suffer attrition casualties
They lose 400 infantry or 100 cavalry or artillery for each day they are out of supply

At present the French have 26 days supply in their depots or with the corps
This is more than sufficient to keep the army supplied
However most of them are in the wrong place
Supplies are needed at Corunna and Lugo, each has only one days supply
Oviedo, and Sanabria each have four days supplies
But all are too far from the corps urgently needing supplies

Yesterday a convoy of four days supplies was taken between Oviedo and
Soult cannot afford to lose another convoy to the guerrilla
He orders the reserve corps to move to Sanabria and escort a convoy to Lugo
When they have recovered 16th corps will move to Oviedo for escort duty

The reserve corps can supply garrisons for four depots
At present they have seven depots
This means that three infantry brigades have to be detached from the four fighting corps

It will take a few days for Soult to reorganise his supplies
Until then he must postpone offensive operations
Wellington’s army has been battered by their three defeats
However as they retire, they fall back on their supply lines
All of their reserve supplies are at Ourense and Santiago
All four corps are now within supply range of those two depots

It will take a few days for Soult to reorganise his lines of supply
This will allow Wellington to regroup, resupply and reinforce his army

Soult now faces another problem if he wants to resume the advance
He will have to detach three infantry brigades as garrison
This will reduce the fighting ability of his fighting corps.

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4 comments:

  1. Yuri Wayfare1 March 2020 at 21:14

    I wonder if you would consider showing the supply situation on the map as well? Perhaps a number in a small circle or something, to keep it unobtrusive and obviously separate from the fighting units. Supply is such a well-thought out feature of your campaign system that it seems a shame not to showcase it a little more!

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  2. thistlebarrow2 March 2020 at 18:24

    Hi Yuri

    Thanks for your comment

    There is a lot going on behind the scenes in the campaign. I keep control of it all on a single page for each army, but on the computer. It would be really difficult to show it all on the map, and might actually be more confusing.

    Essentially it is only when a corps is running short of supply that it becomes a problem. Each French and British corps have a maximum of four days supply. This means that they really need to halt at least every three days. Providing that they do so supply is not a problem.

    It usually becomes a problem when one side is particularly successful, and advance too far too fast. If they move beyond three squares of a depot with sufficient supplies they are in big trouble.

    In the current campaign this is what is causing problem for the French. The British have been forced back on just two depots, and have no such problem.

    The advantage of Spain is the guerrilla element. If they roll a good dice a capture a convoy it can cause huge problems for the French. This has happened once in the current campaign, and has thrown the whole French offensive into confusion.

    I understand that it would be useful to know the exact supply position of each corps. But it would mean a lot of extra work for me. For each day I have to update the campaign map. A few months ago I started including direction arrows to help understand the flow of battle. You would be surprised how much extra work that required.

    My aim is to keep the administration of the campaign to a minimum. In the past I have given up on campaigns because it became all about "paperwork" and very few wargames.

    I am not dismissing your suggestion. I will give it some thought. You are right that supply is critical to the campaign, but only on those very rare occasions when one side does run out.

    I do emphasis on the campaign blog when a corps is down to one days supplies. And in try to explain why this is serious when I cover that day on this blog.

    regards

    Paul

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  3. Robert (Bob) Cordery3 March 2020 at 00:02

    Paul,

    The French look as if they might have a growing problem with supply if they are able to resume their offensive. Wellington may well feel that grudgingly giving ground - and nibbling away at the strength of the French Army as he does - might not win the campaign, but will leave the French unable to win.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  4. thistlebarrow3 March 2020 at 10:18

    Hi Bob

    Thanks for your comments

    I think you have summarised the current situation very well.

    The French are definately winning the campaign. They have occupied seven of the nine towns. They have also repeatedly defeated the British

    However Wellington is in a very strong defensive position. And the French urgent need to halt and sort out their supply problems will give him an opportunity to receive replacements for his battle casualties.

    But because of wide spread casualties he will always be weaker than the French. And if forced to retreat again he will have to accept defeat.

    His one hope is to take advantage of the wide spread, and isolated, French corps. But to go on the offensive he will have to abandon his current strong defensive position.

    I am very pleased with the progress of this campaign phase. I think it mirrors the real stragetic problems encountered by both the French and the British armies in the Peninsular. And it does so with an absolute minimum of campaign administration.

    regards

    Paul

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