Santiago Campaign – Day 8

Campaign Map on 26 October 1813

The absence of 16^th Italian corps on escort duty gives Wellington a short window of opportunity.

He has two days to attack Corunna, before they return and he is once more outnumbered

1^st British corps has recovered from earlier battle casualties, and is fully supplied

However it is not in position to attack the town, and must complete a four hour march to get there

This will reduce the time available to defeat 7^th French corps and attack the fortified town

Despite this he orders an immediate attack

Battle of Corunna

Both commanders are present at the battle

Both take advantage of this to take command of part of their army

                         

Wellington takes command of the cavalry, artillery and one infantry brigade

This leaves three infantry brigades under the command of general Stewart

Soult also takes command of his cavalry, artillery and one infantry brigade

They will form a reserve to counter attack

General Abbe commands the three remaining infantry brigades

Two are placed in the town as garrison, the third is a reserve

Wellington orders his artillery to advance and unlimber at short rang of the town wall

His cavalry will protect the gunners, his infantry will attack when the time is right

Stewart has orders to pin the French reserve, and support Wellington if possible.

Wellington routs one of the garrison brigades and storm the town with two infantry brigades

They take one half of the town, and engage the French conscript brigade holding the other half

Soult sends his dragoons to attack the infantry storming the town

Wellington counters with his hussar brigade

However the French win, and his cavalry are routed

The battle is extended by an hour to reach a conclusion

With two French brigades in rout, Soult orders a general retreat

Campaign Notes

It is usual for the attacker to start the battle with one map square between him and the attacker

This is four hours, or four wargame moves, from the enemy.

In this battle the British started the day two squares from the town                                                                                             

It would take them eight hours/game moves to reach the enemy

Instead of 8 hours/moves to fight the battle, Wellington would only have four

When the CinC is present on the wargames table, he can create a reserve by taking brigades from their corps commander

But he must then command this reserve himself for the duration of the battler

Both CinC were present, both created a reserve

Both did so by taking command of the cavalry, artillery and one infantry brigade from the single corps on the table

Wellington would have to defeat Soult in a very short time

If forced to fight a second day he risked the return of the Italian corps

Or possibly an attack on weakly held Ourense, the fall of which would force him to surrender

Most commanders would ignore the strongly held walled town

This is why Soult  created a strong, and very mobile, reserve

However Wellington decided to pin the French reserve and attack the town

To do so he would need to deploy his artillery very close to the town for maximum effect against the garrison

This would leave his gunners open to counter attack by the French reserve

To guard against this Stewart occupied the fortified farm on the right of the main road

He hid the remainder of his command behind the farm ready to engage the flank of any attack on Wellington

This worked well, and Wellington was able to rout one of the two brigades in garrison

However he had to expose Stewart in order to protect the actual attack

This resulted in the expected cavalry melee, which the British lost

Fortunately this was too late in the day for the French to take advantage of their cavalry superiority

Normally a game would end at 2000, which is 12 wargame moves

But in this battle the result was undecided at the end of the twelfth move

The British hussars had received 10% casualties from the French gunners

But they passed their morale test and still protected the infantry attack on Corunna

The game was extended for one move, during which the cavalry melee was decided

The French won, and routed the British hussars

However during the same move the British routed a second infantry brigade in the town

Soult was left with two infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade and his artillery

Wellington had four infantry brigades and his artillery

The battle would be decided by the fight for the town

This would only involve infantry, and the French cavalry could play little part

Wellington could detach one infantry brigade to protect his gunners and still outnumber the two French brigades

Soult took the right decision to abandon Corunna and retreat

He would avoid any further casualties and could join forces with the returning Italian corps

Wellington had won a much needed victory, but it was a temporary advantage

He would soon face the complete French army again, and this time they would be fully supplied.

Santiago Campaign – Day 7

Campaign Map on 25 October 1813

All four corps rally and resupply

Spanish guerrilla all rest and resupply

16th Italian corps moves east to secure lines of supply

Remainder of French army resupply as best they can

                                                                              

Campaign Notes

All of the British supplies are concentrated in Santiago and Ourense

All four British corps are within supply distance of both towns

Consequently all four corps resupply with ease.

1^st and 3^rd British corps rally shaken and routed brigades

They also start to replace battle casualties

For each move that they are supplied and stationary they receive replacements

These are at the rate of 400 infantry, or 100 cavalry or artillery, per corps

All Spanish guerrilla bands are now in position

They also rest and resupply

16^th Italian corps has moved east towards Oviedo

This is to secure the lines of supply and escort a convoy to Corunna

The rest of the French army resupply

7^th corps – 2 days supplies

8^th corps – 3 days supplies

13^th corps – 4 days supplies

16^th corps – 1 days supply

Reserve – 4 days supplies

The supply situation has certainly improved for the French

It will be restored when the convoy arrives at Corunna from Oviedo

However sending 16^th corps to Oviedo has left 7^th corps isolated at Corunna

It will take three days for 16^th corps to return to Corunna with the convoy

This will give Wellington a short window of opportunity, now that his army is fully resupplied

Santiago Campaign – Day 6

Campaign Map on 24 October 1813

Wellington orders 1^st and 2^nd corps to retreat to Santiago

3^rd corps move east to cover the retreat

4^th 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

7^th corps – 1 days supply

8^th corps – 1 days supply

13^th corps – 4 days supply

16^th 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 16^th 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.

Santiago Campaign – Day 5

Campaign Map on 23 October 1813

Despite his defeat at Lugo, Wellington orders an attack on Corunna

He is determined to strike at the French before they can regroup

3^rd corps, retreating from Lugo, is ordered to rally at Santiago

This town will now be his main base and supplies are moved from Ourense

The French have advanced beyond their depots and must reorganise

Four days supplies are sent from Oviedo, to resupply 7^th and 16^th corps

However the convoy is captured by guerrilla and the escort routed

The last thing that Suchet wants is a battle at Corunna

The battle of Corunna

The battle opens well for Wellington

2^nd corps is ordered to attack Corunna

The infantry attack, supported by artillery

The leading brigade inflicted 10% casualties on the garrison

Wellington takes command of their hussar brigade to form his reserve

1^st corps attacks the Italian corps in the open ground to the right of the town.

To do so the infantry have to advance through the dense woods

Meanwhile the artillery and cavalry move forward on the right

The cavalry receive 10% casualties from artillery fire

They are immediately charged, and routed, by the Italian hussars

Wellington moves his reserve cavalry to support 1^st corps

The infantry attack on the Italian infantry is disordered by the woods

As they attempt to regroup the centre enemy brigade moves forward

The Italian line engages the British column in a firefight, which they win

Suchet has taken command of 7^th corps artillery to form his reserve

They now move forward to engage the British attacking Corunna

Without their cavalry 2^nd corps have no answer to this threat

With two brigades in rout Wellington accepts defeat and retreats

Campaign Notes

Both armies were evenly matched in this battle

1^st British corps cavalry started with 10% casualties

The rest of the corps was full strength

2^nd British corps started at full strength

7^th French corps cavalry started with 20% casualties

The rest of the corps was full strength

16th Italian corps started at full strength

The French held a strong position

Corunna is a fortified town and had a full garrison of two brigades

That left two brigades and the artillery to counter any attack

With 20% casualties their cavalry was too weak to deploy, and hid behind the town

The Italian corps was more exposed as they held the open ground to the right of the town

However a large woods would disrupt any enemy approaching their battle line

Consequently Wellington had a difficult task

1^st corps would find it difficult to clear the woods and deploy to attack

To do so their artillery and cavalry must damage the enemy

In particular their cavalry and infantry

2^nd corps would have to attack over a very narrow front

A large farm prevented a full deployment

Soult could divide his forces either side of the farm

But this would mean considerable difficult in command and control

Or he could attack either side of the farm

He choose to attack on the left

Only on the British far right was there room for cavalry

So Wellington took command of 2^nd corps hussar brigade to form his reserve.

First blood went to the British when they attacked the left town section

It was held by a conscript brigade, and the loss of 10% casualties reduced their combat ability

However the loss of a cavalry on the exposed British right flank was a much more serious setback

Without cavalry he could not hold the ground for his infantry to deploy as they left the woods

Wellington moved his hussar reserve to replace the routed dragoons

This allowed the French to bring forward their reserve artillery in the centre

It was deployed to engage any British infantry attacking Corunna

After just five moves Wellington had to admit defeat

He had only suffered minor casualties

But both of his corps had suffered critical casualties

To press home the attack would almost certainly result in a major defeat

This short game was a master class in move and counter move

The loss of the British dragoon brigade was the critical factor

Wellington had to move his remaining cavalry to make up for this loss

This in turn allowed the French to place their reserve artillery to fire on the flank of any attack on Corunna

Very enjoyable wargame, but a terrible result for the campaign.

The British really needed to win this battle, to prevent being forced to retreat south

By doing so Wellington abandoned his last chance to regain the initiative

He would now have to concentrate at Santiago and await the next French attack

Soult could now take his time to reorganise his depots and replace his battle casualties

He would have to attack Santiago to win the campaign, but he could do so when it suited him to do so.