Road from Salamanca to Twin Peaks
Part II

Introduction: Napoleonic Battle in ACW Terms

by Jim O'Neill


I have taken the historical order of battle for both the French and Allied forces engaged at Salamanca and con verted them into Fire and Fury OOBs (Orders of Battles) for the Union and Confederate armies. I have arbitrarily chosen the Allied organization for the Southerners (that +1 charge bonus comes in handy) and the French for the Northerners (the French artillery was superior in number and quality to that of the Allies, so there is no need to alter the rules).

I have also listed the Divisions involved, with their original French or Allied commanders and strengths rounded off to the nearest 100, for reference purposes.

    French - Marechal Marmont

      Division C-in-C Men
      1st Foy 4,600
      2nd Clausel 6,400
      3rd Ferrey 5,500
      4th Sarrut 4,800
      5th Maucune 5,000
      6th Brennier 4,300
      7th Thomikes 4,500
      8th Bonnet 6,400

    Allies - Wellington

      Division C-in-C Men
      1st Campbell 6,400
      3rd Pakenham 5,900
      4th Cole 5,200
      5th Leith 6,700
      6th Clinton 5,500
      7th Hope 5,200
      Light Alten 3,500

At right, 5th Zouaves march towards Twin Peaks. Terrain by Doug Kline of Battlefield Terrain Concepts. 22mm buildings, haystack, fences, and troops by Musket Miniatures. Trees andf turf by Woodland Scenics.

In the full Order of Battle, I will leave the assigning of leaders' names to the person who is setting up the scenario. You may even be tempted to allocate the names of the actual players to their individual commands to encourage a feeling of involvement. It then gets really personal when someone 'cops one' on the Fallen Leaders' table.

To encourage this practice, I have used the names of various contributors to, and advertisers in, the ZOUAVE for the commanders in the fictitious ACW order of battle - without regard to which side of the Mason-Dixon Line their sympathies lie. The allocation of who is an 'exceptional' commander also bears no relation to their prowess with a pen, a product, or for that matter their various abilities on the wargames' table. Having been brought up on Perry Mason as a child, and having noted the American proclivity for litigation, this could be the first order of battle that is headed 'Without Prejudice.'

In the historical battle, the French had two brigades of cavalry under Curto and Boyer totaling some 3,400 sabres and the Allies had five brigades of cavalry under the overall command of Cotton totaling some 4,000. These however were attached to individual infantry divisions. An integral part of the Allied forces were the two independent brigades of Portuguese infantry with a combined strength of 4,500 bayonets.

The French artillery comprised 13 batteries and that of the Allies 10 batteries. In both cases each battery contained six pieces and all were usually allocated at divisional level. The normal organization of the Allied army was that each division consisted of two British and one Portuguese brigade. It should be noted that there was no corps command, hence the respective Army Commanders act as Corps' Commanders and convey those benefits as noted in the rules.

I hope you enjoy the ensuing game, if you give it a try. It is not so one-sided as it appears since American troops were much more resilient than their Napoleonic counterparts, which the FIRE & FURY rules reflect. When a Napoleonic brigade or division routed, it generally remained that way and would only stop running when either rallied by an extremely brave (or foolhardy) general, or when it ran out of breath. Although units in the American Civil War broke, they tended to come back into the fray much quicker, and thus there was a greater ebb and flow across the battlefield. The catastrophe that befell Thomieres need not therefore have the same disastrous domino effect.

In Papua, New Guinea, where I live, there still exists a strong tribal custom of an eye for an eye. It is called payback. I developed my deep interest in studying and wargaming the War Between the States through reading articles written in magazines such as the ZOUAVE. It has not only given me much enjoyment, but also cost me a small fortune. If, through this article, I have managed to sow the seeds of an interest in the Napoleonic Wars - please regard it as payback!

Sources and Bibliography

FIRE AND FURY: Rich Hasenauer. Published in 1990 by Dave Waxtel & Quantum Publishing. My personal favorite set of rules for battles at this scale. The two supplements covering the battles in the Eastern and Western theatres are also a must.

A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR: Sir Charles Oman. Published in 1996 as a reprint in seven volumes by Stackpole Books. This scholarly work is not a light read and is one of the two major secondary sources, but well worth the effort if you wish to make a detailed study of his period.

HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THE PENINSULA AND THE SOUTH OF FRANCE: W F P Napier. Published in 1993 as a reprint in six volumes by Constable. Napier was present at several of the major battles and writes great prose. His sl~,le is lively if opinionated. Again, not a light read.

NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS: David G. Chandler (Editor). Published in 1987 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A good collection of essays by various modern historians sketching out the highlights of the lives of the twenty-six Marshals created by Napoleon.

WELLINGTON IN THE PENINSULA, 1808 - 1814: Jac Weller. Published in 1962 by Nicolas Vane Ltd. To me, this is the definitive one-volume account of the campaign in Spain and Portugal although he reinforces Oman's misconceptions on the French column versus the British line.

My apology to Jim ONeill for allowing some mistakes to appear in his background article in the previous issue. Jim's name was misspelled in the author's credit line as well as in the table of contents. Even though I strive to make a perfect issue, (at least in regards to grammar and such), I do err at times. Jim was so nice because he didn't even bring it to my attention.i --IJ

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