The Battle

The Prussian commander commenced his march at 5.00am on the morning of the 9th. He sent the 3rd Brigade advancing along the main road on the plateau of the Zahna Hugel from Wiesenburg towards Coswig. (The road entering the table on sector A2 as depicted on the map). The 3rd Brigade was followed by the 5th and Reserve Cavalry Brigades. The narrowness of the road and rough terrain through the defile meant that progress was very slow.

At around 6.00am the Prussians started to emerge from the defile, coming under immediate fire from the batteries placed at the cross-roads in front of Coswig.

The commander spent some time marshalling his forces, whilst receiving a galling cannonade. Not waiting for the other divisions to arrive on the scene, he launched an attack on Coswig, with battalion columns in echelon, his cavalry regiment moving onto his left flank. His Brigade battery was still in the wooded defile and could not yet provide support.

The battalions quickly advanced down hill to the Württemberg forces, and the battle developed enveloping the cross-roads and units covering the estate, (depicted in sector D1 as per the map). Units of the Prussian 5th Brigade were dispatched along the track through the woods to capture the Niemegk - Wartenburg road, (depicted on sectors A4 - E5) and capture the settlement of Neu Coswig. The remainder of the Brigade marched through the defile, intending when in more open ground to support the forthcoming attack on Neu Coswig. The Reserve Cavalry Brigade was held up in the inevitable traffic jams along the Wiesenburg - Coswig road. On arrival it was due to provide a link between the two infantry brigades immediately below the slopes of the Zahna Hugel.

The battle for the town intensified. The Prussians had several battalions repulsed and some broken due to their exposure to the intense fire fight at close quarters. On the extreme right flank the Prussians pushed up to the private estate but were held by the Württemberg Jägers around the perimeter.

Outside Coswig the fighting spread. The entire Prussian 3rd Brigade was now committed against the Württemberg Brigade Stockmayer, casualties were heavy on both sides. The Artillery crews had succeeded in repulsing two Prussian battalions by firing canister at almost point blank range. The Prussian commander deployed his Jägers company against the artillery. Losses began to mount among the officers and crews. The Prussians managed also to get the Brigade battery enfilading the Württemberg gun lines to telling effect. A further danger emerged however as the Prussians now able to deploy both cavalry regiments of the 3rd and 5th Brigades towards the stationary infantry battalions of the Brigade Doring, forcing them into square. The 5th Brigade battery was also coming up to support any cavalry action.

Urgent messages were sent to Prince Adam requesting aid for the beleaguered defendants of Coswig. The 7th Infantry Regiment were broken under the pressure and fled over the bridge. Pursued by their opponents into Coswig, hand to hand fighting broke out in the streets as the Württemberg Garde zu Füss, the last reserves available to the town counter-charged and ejected the jubilant Prussian infantry, but other battalions continued to press forward.

Shortly after eight o'clock the Prince gave the orders to an aide to prepare the cavalry regiments for an attack. If he could repulse the Prussian cavalry facing the Doring Brigade, the Württembergers could then sweep into the flanks of the Prussian 3rd Brigade and drive them from the slopes. The supporting 5th Brigade was not fully in place and could not counter the attack. It was potentially a decisive point in the battle.

Decisive Point

The Prince rode to the regiments and marshalled them behind the front line. Shortly after 9.00 am, they filed out around the flank of the Doring Brigade, and re-addressing their lines, charged straight at the Prussians, the Prince at the head of his favourite regiment. It was during the ensuing melee, that disaster overtook the Württembergers.

The Chevauxleger Regiment overthrew the Silesian Hussars. However, due to his impetuosity in following up the success, the Prince was surrounded by fleeing troopers and cruelly struck down from behind. The Württemberg cavalry promptly turned on their tails and fled back to their original positions, the Prussian cavalry and battery were then free to concentrate on the squares.

Elements of the 5th Brigade infantry were by now emerging from the woods and following a change of order advancing straight at the Brigade Doring.

In Coswig the Garde zu Füss repulsed yet another attack from 3rd battalion of the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment. However that exposed them to a counter charge by the Prussian Grenadier Battalion. Caught in the flank the Württemberg Garde were broken. At the same time the 1st Light Infantry Regiment were charged whilst attempting to change it's facing. They too were broken. The Prussian Reserve Infantry Regiment troops then overran the Württemberg batteries capturing all twenty guns.

The Stockmayer Brigade routed, leaving the Prussians in control of the town and bridge. Also the remaining formed Empire troops were now trapped on the wrong side of the river. General Franquemont ordered a general retreat through Neu Coswig and the Hessian forces. For the Empire forces the battle was over, the rout had begun.

De-brief

"Shako" produced a successful game for my opponent Chris and I. We had become involved in a very tight and tense battle. The game ebbed and flowed, and had for us a realistic 'feel', more importantly it had a result.

At the start of the battle Chris, as the Prussian Commander was frustrated by his slow advance due to the nature of the terrain, he also expected to be ambushed throughout the journey in the defile. He was mindful of the reports of campfires off to his left wing, and anticipated being faced with a French off flank march, which affected his dispositions for the march.

On emerging from the defile he was initially surprised to be confronted with a large formed body, expecting at any minute to be counter charged whilst his army was in the extremely vulnerable position, he decided to throw his 3rd Brigade into an attack to 'buy' time for his reserves.

Due to his traditional bad luck at dice throwing, the Prussian Commander suffered a number of setbacks with units breaking. He only recognised the battle when the Empire commander fell and the special conditions came into play. He then guessed that any forces reported away to his left flank would not become involved in this action, and altered his plans accordingly.

On reflection if the Empire Commander had been more astute, he would have disobeyed orders, destroyed the river bridge and defended the crossing from the west bank, although this would not have been historically correct.

If he had to fight on the east bank, perhaps the deployment of his light troops to effect an ambush in the defile, would have considerably slowed the Allied progress. The light troops could have fallen back onto lines of formed troops at the mouth of the defile. The Prince could have worked to the principle of getting the enemy to fight on a reduced front, when outnumbered, so the enemy cannot bring their numbers into play.

The fight for the town had been particularly fierce with heavy casualties on both sides. The Prussians had the worst of the encounter, until their skirmishers were able to disrupt the Empire battery gunners. The Hessians were not brought into the game, (rather like the Saxon forces in the original battle in the village of Blankenburg).

Summary

All in all a fascinating and close run game. The end verdict? I would award 6/10 for the rules. They are easy to assimilate, but do provide some frustration for experienced 'gamers' with their obvious French bias. I have comments on three areas.

Basing

Mr. Conliffe recommends each infantry unit having 3 stands, with some larger Battalions having 4 stands. Although my battalions are based on larger units, the visual effect of three stands for infantry and two for cavalry all in all gave a effective 'look' and 'feel' to the game.

However I have yet to decide how to represent my French style battalions, each with 6 companies, totalling 36 figures per battalion.

My Prussian and Russian battalions all have 4 companies, with 32 figures to a unit. It would be easy to create units for these forces, with four stands, albeit they are then the larger battalions Mr. Conliffe mentions in the section Unit Types.

I may just have to reduce the number of figures each formation has and stick to three stands per infantry unit. The 'upside' of this is that in effect it instantly doubles the number of battalions and squadrons I have available for battles. The downside is that I will need to buy and paint more command figures.

Movement

The ability of the French infantry formations to move, change formation and fire in a single bound, gives them an advantage I feel did not necessarily exist in early 1813.

The off-table flank marching rule could be said to be available to all in 1813, or conversely not to anyone, given the state of deterioration of the French armies and their officer corps. Mr. Conliffe does not permit units in square to move at all. This I feel flies in the face of historical accuracy. Indeed the Prussian 1809 Instruction and 1812 Regulations provided for Infantry formations (with cavalry support), advancing in square against enemy cavalry.

Combat Deployment

One rule in the Combat Deployment section concerns the Flexible Doctrine Armies. Mr. Conliffe states that Flank Support can only be granted to units in line supported by other units in line on either flank, (or by columns if in column). However one of the advantages of the allied nations employing the French Ordre Mixte style was that the linear formations were supported by columnar formations as a precaution against Cavalry attacks, etc. This bonus is available only to French Doctrine armies.

While the mechanics may seem a little oversimple to most experienced gamers, they work for me. More power to Mr. Conliffe's elbow!

Reference sources

Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia 1806 F. L. Petre Greenhill Books
The Campaigns of Napoleon D. G. Chandler Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Jena 1806 D. G. Chandler Osprey Campaign Series
Leipzig 1813 P. Hofschröer Osprey Campaign Series
Prussian Line Infantry 1792-1815 P. Hofschröer Osprey Campaign Series

More Battle of Coswig

Part 1: Historical Overview
Part 2: The Wargame
Part 3: The Battle