Merida Campaign Day 2

10 June 1813 – Southern Spain – Day 2

French attack the walled town of Manchita

 

In the north 1^st Spanish army retreat to Adjucen having lost the battle of Santa Amalia

13^th French army have occupied the town and are regrouping after the battle

Spanish guerrilla brigades have been active and have taken the town of Bargas.

 

In the centre 14^th French army have closed up to the border in order to attack San Pedro

2^nd Spanish army are taking up defensive positions just west of the border.

 

In the south 15^th French army have attacked the walled town of Manchita

All movement in the mountains is in column of march

Both armies are dispersed and will reach the battlefield throughout the day

 

Comments

The French occupation of Santa Amalia has extended their lines of supply from Bargas to Tomjos

It has also left them open to attack by the Spanish guerrilla.

 

2^nd militia brigade has attacked the convoy carrying two days supplies from Bargas to Tomjos. 

The skirmish is decided by rolling 1D6, which rolled a 3.  

This result caused the Spanish to withdraw without any casualties and the convoy to deliver their supplies to Tomjos.

 

1^st militia brigade attacked the town of Bargas, and were more successful.  

They rolled a 6, resulting in the capture of the town and the garrison withdrawing having suffered 10% casualties.  

It also meant the loss of the two days supplies held there.  

Worse still it will disrupt the supply line from Toledo.   

13^th French army will have to take urgent action to reopen their lines of supply

 

In the south the French have attacked Manchita

Both armies are widely dispersed and in difficult terrain

This will cause delay is some corps reaching the scene of the fighting

It will also mean that those corps will arrive on the table in column of march

 

It is only the second day of the campaign and already the French are suffering supply problems

Merida Campaign – Battle of Santa Amalia

Start of game

French launch a surprise attack on Santa Amalia

The battle was fought by 1^st Spanish and 37^th French corp

Both armies are full strength at the start of the game

 

1^st Spanish corps is in and around the town

2^nd Spanish corps will arrive at the start of move 1

3^rd Spanish corps will arrive at the start of move 5

 

37^th French corps enters table at start of move 1

38^th and 39^th corps both arrive at the start of move 5

 

13^th French Army – 10 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery

1^st Spanish Army – 11 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery

Battle of Santa Amalia – Move 12

The battle was fought by 1^st Spanish and 37^th French corps

The remainder of both armies arrived too late to play much part in the fighting

The French waited until all of their army had arrived before they attacked the town

However the loss of the town caused the Spanish to lose heart and they retreated

The French lost 3 infantry and 1 cavalry casualties (1300 men)

The Spanish lost 5 infantry, 2 artillery and 1 cavalry casualties (2300 men) and six brigades in rout

 

Comments

The first battle of the campaign was fought by the best corps of each army

1^st Spanish corps has four infantry, one cavalry and one artillery brigade

37^th French corps is the only Young Guard corps in southern Spain

 

This was an experiment to see if an encounter battle would work on the wargames table. 

The Spanish had one corps on the table at the start of the game

One Spanish corps would arrive, in column of march, at the start of move one

One Spanish corps would arrive, along the same road, at the start of move five

One French corps would arrive, fully deployed, at the start of move one

Two French corps would arrive, deployed in column of attack, at the start of move five

 

It looked good at the planning stage, but did not work on the table.

The Spanish were able to deploy, but at the rear of the town rather than in front

The French reinforcements arrived too late to take any real part in the battle.

 

It soon became obvious to the French that they could not wait for their whole army

If they did so they would run out of time, and would not be able to take the town

The Young Guard artillery were able to deploy within short range of the town

They inflicted 20% casualties on the garrison, and their infantry took the town with ease

The guard cavalry routed the Spanish artillery, but were in turn driven off by Spanish dragoons

 

The loss of the town had an immediate effect on the Spanish army

The town was held by two brigades from 1^st Spanish corps

The forward brigade took the artillery casualties

They were then routed by an infantry attack

The second brigade in the garrison joined the rout

 

The French cavalry now routed the nearby Spanish artillery

The gunners routed into their supporting infantry square

The rest of 1^st Spanish corps now joined the rout

 

2^nd and 3^rd Spanish corps played little part in the battle

Just as they reached their deployment areas the town fell

They came under threat from the two French corps cavalry and artillery

As they received their first casualties both Spanish corps retreated.

 

A pretty convincing, though not unexpected, victory for the French

If they could not win with the best of their three armies they would be in trouble.

 

Not so good for the Spanish.  

They lost the first battle with the best of their three armies

And indeed they lost the battle with the best corps in their entire army

Merida Campaign Day 1

 

9 June 1813 – Southern Spain – Day 1

The Spanish army deployed west of the Merida-Toledo district border.

Three corps occupy the border towns of Santa Amalia, San Pedro and Manchita.  

However they are not close enough to prevent the French crossing the border.

The remaining three corps are further west in Adjucen, Merida and Calamonte.

 

The French army are closer to the border, and all nine corps are deployed to attack

 

The campaign opens in the north where 13^th French army attack Santa Amalia

 

Comments

The Spanish army are deployed in a defensive position.  

Their have three corps observing the border

But the remaining six corps are in reserve

This deployment makes it much easier to supply all nine corps

But there will be a delay of 4 and 8 hours for  the reserve corps to reach the front

 

The French army have concentrated in preparation for an advance into Merida region  

The three forward corps are in contact with the Spanish

The remaining six corps are out of sight, but can reach the border within 4 hours.

This deployment makes resupply more difficult.

 

The French have occupied all of the towns in Toledo region.

The Spanish garrisons of those towns have formed guerrilla brigades

Each of these brigades must operate within one square of their original town

For example 1 militia brigade was the garrison of Bargas

They must remain within one square of that town.

 

Each French corps can carry a maximum of four days supplies

Each Spanish corps, and militia brigade, can carry only three days

This gives the French a considerable movement advantage

It also allows them to go one day more without resupply

 

The entire French army have a minimum of 51 days supply

This is 36 with the corps and a reserve of 15 in the supply depots

This reserve is to allow time for supplies to be moved to each corps

 

The entire Spanish army has a minimum reserve of 38 days

This is 27 with the corps and a reserve of 11 days supply

 

Each town gathers one days supply each day

Any surplus required to make the daily minimum is received by the main supply base

This is Toledo for the French and Merida for the Spanish

Happy New Year

We have just returned from the UK, having spent Christmas and New Year with our son and his family.

This was our first visit to the UK since December 2019, due of course to Covid

It was also the first time since then that I have been separated not only from my computer, but also our wargame

This will explain why I have not posted on the blog for three weeks

It is not a bad thing to have a complete break from our normal weekly routine

This includes, of course, not only the 1813 campaign but also the wargames table.

However I found that I really missed the weekly routine, though not so much the Wargaming and campaign

In fact it was a relief not to have to meet the weekly deadline to post on this blog and the 1813 campaign blog.

 

For the past 16 years our weekly routine has been dominated by Wargaming and our hill walking group

Jan and I have been walking in this part of Spain since we moved here in 2006

Having gained a comprehensive knowledge of the local walks we formed a walking group through the local U3A

Membership is mostly British ex pats, but also Dutch, Belgian and German.

Strangely no Spanish members.    This is not intentional on our part, but none have applied to join.

 

Over the years Jan and I have developed a pretty strict weekly routine

Monday we lead the hill walking group

Tuesday we visit the local town (Jalon) for the twice weekly shop

Wednesday I post the weekly walking blog and also the U3A and Jalon Facebook

Thursday I plan the next Monday walk and send an email to all members

Friday we visit the larger coastal town (Calpe) for our second weekly shop

Saturday I collate replies and prepare a map of the Monday walk

Sunday I rest!

 

The wargame fits in between the daily routine

Most afternoons we spend an hour or two Wargaming

When a game is completed I then spend the best part of one day updating the campaign

The next day I set up the next game

 

The above had resulted in a busy, but not hectic, weekly routine which suits us both very well

It is a good mixture of physical and mental activity

 

A year ago I started a new project, which has been very time consuming

I start the walking blog in 2009, and I take about 20 photos on each walk for the weekly blog

A couple of years ago a friend suggested that I make YouTube videos of them

At first it was intended to be an annual review, with about two photos from each walk

But gradually it extended and I am now making 6 to 10 videos of each month

At present I am up to 2018 and have done 131 visdeos.

I really enjoy making the videos, which are then available to friends and family to watch

Jan and I also watch one most days.

However this resulted in even less time for our Wargaming activities

 

Three months ago Jan went to see our doctor about increasing back pain

X-rays confirmed a couple of herniated discs

It is not life threatening, but it is very painful

The doctor confirmed she must take it easy until she can see a specialist

This meant she could no longer do our weekly hill walking, at least until her specialist appointment

This was a serious problem, because the walking group are our main social group

 

I didn’t want to stop the hill walking group, but I decided to start a second group

This would meet on a Thursday, and do easier three hour low level walks on good tracks

It has been very popular, and now has a membership of 20

For Jan it offers both regular exercise and a new set of walking friends

However it does double the amount of time I spend on administration.

 

The main casualty has been the 1813 campaign and this blog

We do try to fit in as much Wargaming as before, but it is very difficult

I find that we have to make a real effort to Wargaming each afternoon

And I never seem to have time to update the campaign.

 

I have always maintained that we find the time to do the things we really want to do

It is, of course, always a matter of priorities

And at present Wargaming has slipped from equal first priority to poor fourth priority

 

There is no chance that I will abandon my Wargaming entirely

But it may take a few months before I can find sufficient time to do it properly

At my present rate I should complete the backlog of the walking videos in about March

I will still have to produce two or three videos each month, but that will only take as many days

I should then have sufficient capacity to give the Wargaming the time it requires and deserves.

 

This problem is, of course, entirely self created

But I do enjoy all four projects and I am reluctant to give any of them up

And I am confident that I will be able to solve it by better time management

 

I plan to keep both this blog and the campaign blog going

I hope to post here each week, and at least once a week on the 1813 campaign blog.

You will be the first to know if I fail to do so

 

Happy New Year one and all