French cavalry charge British line in the Peninsula. Connoisseur and Elite figures from collection of Dave
Waxtel.
Background
In the spring of 1812, Viscount Wellesley was operating with a force of less than 23,000 men in the Spanish Province of Salamanca. His army had been seriously weakened by detachments. Beresford was operating on the southern border of Portugal, entertaining Marshal Soult's army, while a force under Murray, supported by a Spanish army, invaded Valencia as a diversion. Two weak Spanish divisions under Espana were within a few days march, but spread along the army's lines of communications. An additional two divisions, the Guard and the Seventh, plus two cavalry brigades, were on the march from Lisbon, and not due for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Marshal Marmont, after replacing Massena, had spent much of the winter of 1811/1812 reconstituting the French Army of Portugal, until forced into the field by Wellesley's maneuvers. Due to other threats, Marmont had previously dispatched Reille's corps to assist Soult, and divisions from both I and II corps to aid Dorsenne against the guerrillas in northern Spain. Victor's corps had also been detached for independent operations, but was now hustling to rejoin Marmont. This left the Army of Portugal with an immediate strength of less than 27,000 men, a slight numerical superiority over the British/ Portuguese forces immediately under Wellesley's command.
Both commanders were of the opinion that their forces were sufficient to deal with the situation as long as it remained static. When word of Victor's approach arrived, however, Wellesley, reluctant to face the combined French forces without his own reinforcements, decided to withdraw towards Portugal. With Victor's corps still not up, Marmont followed cautiously. After some preliminary maneuvering, Wellesley determined that a defensive "check" at Garcia Villa would be necessary to complete a safe withdrawal in the face of the faster-marching and more numerous French forces.
Since both games lasted only nine Turns (out of a possible maximum of twelve Turns), we were able to fight the action twice in under five hours. The players, all experienced with the rules, were Jim Day, Josh Gottesman, Bruce Korhn, Rob Lockley, and Rex Martin.
Scenario
This NAPOLEON'S BATTLES scenario is based on the very interesting EMPIRE IV game reported by Jim Birdseye in THE COURIER, Vol. IX, #1. Villa Costa is a small, fictitious battle set in Spain in 1812. The article describes it as a "meeting engagement", but the force disparity and strategic situation (according the article, Victor's corps is nearby for the French, while the only possible immediate Allied support is Spanish) suggests otherwise for these rules, so the Allied army is cast in the defender's role here, in a scenario modification by NAPOLEON'S BATTLES designers Craig Taylor and Bob Coggins.
Due to rules differences, some adaptations were required. For both armies, the extra generals required in addition to those mentioned in the article were drawn from those who were actually part of the armies during 1812. Marmont's French army was not actually organized into corps, so the two corps used here are "temporary" ones with reduced command spans, commanded by that army's two most senior divisional commanders.
Also, to reflect normal French organizational practice, one brigade in each corps consists of light infantry. By 1812, most British divisions included a Portuguese brigade, so the "independent" Portuguese brigades in the article were "attached" to the numbered British infantry divisions. The objective victory points were spread to allow the Allies to win, unless their casualties considerably exceed French casualties, by holding Garcia Villa and contesting one of the hills. This will force the French to strike fast, hard, and deep in order to win.
Map
MAP NOTES: 1. All buildings have a "+ 2" combat modifier. 2. Both army commanders and both French corps commanders start on-table, as does the British General Cotton. 3. The Allied on-table forces are setup first, and the French on-table forces are set up second.
Battle of Villa Costa 1812 Napoleon's Battles Scenario
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