At last! For those of you who feel like celebrating the 201st anniversary of the Battle of Marengo in style, here is what the latest research has to say about the battle. While not earthshattering in any way, it shows what Dave Powell would had come up with had Dean sent him to Europe for a week or two. For instance he would have found that Feldmarschal-Leutnant Peter Vitius von Quasadanovich really did retire in February 1797, allowing Oberst Frimont to command the Austrian Advance Guard without interference.

The most confused OOB issues are still the distribution, and to some extent the numbers, of both sides' guns, with the (dis)organization of the French cavalry coming in as a close second. Surprisingly enough all Austrian OOBs we have found are, the guns apart, quite consistent. The eleven Grenadier Battalions of Morzin's Division are a charming-but in game terms trivial-mess, but that is about it. These units are sometimes referred to by the name of their commanders, e.g. "Weber's" and sometimes by listing the numbers of the regiments supplying the men, e.g. "Grenadier Battalion 12,34,57, 73," both things that changed from time to time. Anyhow, these were brigaded under Latterman and Widenfeld in brigades named after the same two guys, so forget about the 1st and 2nd Grenadiers.

The French COB is a bit harder to sort out, mostly thanks to Napoleon's own propaganda that eventually turned Marengo into a quasimythical event. The brigade structures of Victor's and Lannes' formations are a bit hazy, and the cavalry organization is a pure mess. The Army of Reserve had four cavalry brigades with Murat functioning as head cheerleader more than anything else. It is even hard to determine his whereabouts before the battle; he seems to have materialized out of thin air at noon and set about leading mad charges. Of these brigades, both Kellerman's and Champeaux's fought together during the battle, while Rivaud's Brigade arrived in the evening and was involved in driving Ott's troops back. The fourth brigade under Duvignau was near Marengo on the morning of the 14th, but Duvignau had been injured during the night and when the fighting started both units dissolved. The 12th Chasseurs were eventually sent of to guard the French extreme left just south of the map edge, the 6th Dragoons somehow resurfaced with Napoleon, and the 8th Dragoons spontaneously joined Kellermann. For the purposes of this game the two dragoon regiments are incorporated respectively into the Consular Guard and Kellerman's brigade.

It is a complete mystery how many guns Napoleon eventually fielded, and the more you research it, the more confused you get. Dave Powell's 32-odd pieces is most likely a bit too generous, and as the French had about ten 12 lb guns in the entire army, the optional heavies are very doubtful. The problem with both sides' guns at Marengo is that while the numbers usually add up about the same in all different OOBs, they are distributed very differently. For game purposes this can be reworked for ages, and as the jury (that is, better informed people than us) is still out on it, we have done minimal changes until we know for sure. The problem is mainly one of "feel." How did Melas or Napoleon think of the artillery? How many guns were "army assets" and under the army commander's absolute control?

In order to support Desaix's attack, Napoleon had Marmont gather every surviving piece to form a grand battery of some fifteen-odd guns, a far greater span of control than what Melas had. The Austrian artillery was indeed used very aggressively during the battle, but this was mostly on lower commander's initiative. Furthermore, how many guns belonged to a specific corps or division? Did Victor think in terms of "my corps' battery?" Or Hadik of "my division's guns?" And further still, how many guns were "regimental," that is dragged along by regiments or brigades as their private property, way out of any higher commander's control? If one looks at the OOB, for instance, it becomes apparent how almost all Austrian artillery were kept at brigade level, out of even divisional control. This is an important difference in doctrine I will return to at a later time, but for now only minimal changes have been made to the actual distribution of guns. Still, those who feel adventurous can shuffle them around any way they see fit.

For Final Touches

Chambarlhac's rating has been downgraded as he performed so badly in the battle that his own troops took shots at him (he seems to have suffered a nervous breakdown). Ott's wing has been solidified to rob the Austrians of flexibility they did not have. Most of Moncey's Corps has been cut out of the optionals as apart from Lapoype's Division (that spent the day ferrying itself back and fourth over the Po) it was scattered around Milan, at least two days away. Lannes and Champeaux start further west than before (several Austrian accounts mention seeing their campfires north-east of Marengo) and therefore some restraints have been put on French initiative to maintain play-balance. Stricher's brigade has been radically raised in morale as it contained the borderline psychotic Transylvanians of Infantry Regiment #51, Baron Spleny's, that broke a French cavalry charge by countercharging it with the bayonet before proceeding to shoot up the Consular Guard in a bad way. The French Cavalry division has been broken up and relieved of its artillery. A counter has been introduced for Hardegg's pioneers that under heavy fire built a bridge over the Fontanone. Finally, note (just so that is clear) that Berthier is in theoretical command of the French Army and that Napoleon commands only the Consular Guard as he could not hold army command for political reasons. Berthier's chief of staff was Dupont of Friedland and Bailen fame. It has no bearing on the game.

Enjoy.

More 201 Year Jubilee Battle of Marengo Update

Introduction
Here Is What You Need To Do!
Scenario Alternations
Orders of Battle: French
Orders of Battle: Austrian
French and Austrian Loss Charts (Large: slow: 209K)
French and Austrian Loss Charts (Jumbo: slow: 436K)