The Franco-Prussian War of 1810: The Battle of the Southern Frontier

On Friday afternoon I had the privilege of fighting the first battle of the campaign online (via Skype) against Professor Gary Sheffield. He took command of the Prussians (as General Steiner) and I commanded the French (as General Lapointe). We used the current draft of my FP3x3NapPW rules and fought the battle on a 3 x 3 grid of 6-inch squares. This was first game using larger squares … and I’ve become a convert.

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Situation

War between France and Prussia had been declared and both countries had moved formation towards their southern borders. They had met and faced each other from opposite sides of the river that formed the southern frontier between the two countries.

The French force was the 2nd Division. It was commanded by General Lapointe and comprised:

• 5th Line Infantry (Average)
• 6th Line Infantry (Average)
• 7th Light Infantry (Average)
• 8th Light Infantry (Average)
• 2nd Artillery (Average)
• 2nd Hussars (Average)

The Prussian force was the 2nd Division. It was commanded by General Steiner and comprised:

• 5th Line Infantry (Average)
• 6th Line Infantry (Average)
• 7th Line Infantry (Average)
• 8th Line Infantry (Average)
• 2nd Artillery (Average)
• 2nd Hussars (Average)

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The Terrain

The French Reserve Area was on the left of the map and the Prussian Reserve Area was on the right.

The river was fordable.

Before the battle began, no unit was allowed to occupy any of the squares the river ran through.

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The Battle of the Southern Frontier

Initial positions

General Steiner deployed his artillery unit on the hill overlooking the river, with an infantry unit in support. He also deployed an infantry unit in in each of the other baseline squares and held his remaining infantry unit and his cavalry unit in reserve. General Steiner placed himself next to his artillery unit as it gave him an excellent vantage point from which to see what the French might do.

General Lapointe chose to place his artillery unit in the centre of his frontline, supported on either flank and to his rear by individual infantry units. The remaining infantry unit and cavalry unit were held in reserve. General Lapointe chose to place himself in the the centre of his force so that he could quickly intervene in events should the need arise.

Turn 1

Neither side was able to seize the initiative during the opening moves of the battle, and the only action was an exchange of cannon fire by the opposing artillery units.

Turn 2

General Steiner was able to activate four of his units.

The Prussian artillery unit fired at and hit the French infantry unit directly in front of them, inflicting the loss of 1 SP.

All the Prussian infantry units then advanced up to the edge of the river.

In reply, the French artillery unit fired at the Prussian infantry unit directly in front of them ... but inflicted no casualties.

Turn 3

The Prussians retained the initiative and the infantry and artillery units all fired at the enemy units in front of them, but their fire was ineffective.

The French responded by moving the infantry unit on their left flank forward and up to the river's edge and replacing it with the infantry unit that had been in reserve.

The French infantry unit in the wood moved forward to the edge of the river, and its place in the wood was taken by the cavalry unit that had been in reserve.

The French artillery unit fired at the Prussian infantry unit to its front and inflicted the loss of 1 SP on it.

Turn 4

Yet again the Prussians retained the initiative. The infantry unit on the Prussian left flank fired at the French infantry unit on the other side of the river but inflicted not casualties on it.

The same was not true of the Prussian right flank, where its infantry unit hit its French opponent, inflicting the loss of 1 SP.

The situation was made worse by the Prussian artillery unit firing at and hitting the already weakened Prussian infantry unit, which was destroyed.

The French artillery unit was also on target and forced the Prussian infantry unit in front of it to fall back.

The French infantry unit of their right flank fired at the Prussian infantry unit opposite it, and inflcited the loss of 1 SP.

Turn 5

By now, the Prussians were used to holding the initiative, and their artillery unit exploited its position on the hill to fire over its own troops and at the French artillery unit ... which it hit, causing it to lose 1 SP. Furthermore, General Lapointe was hit and wounded, causing the lost of a further SP.

The Prussian infantry unit that had withdrawn advanced and reoccupied its former position, whilst the infantry unit to its left resumed its firefight with the Prussian unit on the opposite bank of the river.

In response to this, the General Lapointe moved his right-hand infantry unit forward to the riverbank.

Turn 6

Once again, the Prussian artillery unit fired at the French artillery unit and hit it, as a result of which, the French unit was destroyed.

All the Prussian infantry units fired at the opposing French units, with the result that the leftmost French infantry unit suffered the loss of 1 SP.

General Lapointe responded by moving the right-hand infantry unit sideways in order to give the cavalry space to advance out of the wood and up the the edge of the river.

At the same time, the left-hand French infantry unit fired at its opponent across the river ... to no effect.

Turn 7

The Prussian artillery unit fired at the French infantry unit in front of it, the left-hand Prussian infantry unit fired at the French cavalry unit, and the right-hand Prussian infantry unit fired at the nearest French infantry unit ... but none of this fire had any effect on the French units.

General Lapointe now decided to push forward, and his cavalry unit and centre infantry unit moved into the river and began to ford it.

Turn 8

At first, it looked as if the French gamble had paid off. Their cavalry engaged the left-hand Prussian infantry unit in Close Combat, and despite being in the river, it managed to inflict the loss of 1 SP on the Prussian infantry unit.

In the centre of the battlefield the French and Prussian infantry units engaged in Close Combat, but neither side was able to prevail.

The left-hand French infantry unit fired at the right-hand Prussian infantry unit without success.

General Lapointe then led his remaining infantry unit forward to support the French infantry unit in the centre of the battlefield.

General Steiner ordered his left-hand infantry unit to withdraw in order to allow his cavalry unit - which had been in reserve - to charge forward and engage the French cavalry in Close Combat. The result of this fighting was inconclusive, but it meant that the French cavalry were unlikely to cross the river without suffering casualties that they could ill afford.

In the centre of the battlefield, the Prussian and French infantry units continued to engage each other in Close Combat, with the result that the French infantry unit lost 1 SP.

At this point the French had lost a total of 8 SPs whilst the Prussians had only lost 3 SPs. The injured General Lapointe ordered his division to withdraw, and General Steiner let them retreat unhindered. He had won the Battle of the Southern Frontier and had shown that Prussia was not the aggressor by not invading France to destroy his opponent's division. He expected the King to endorse this decision of political grounds and possibly recognise his triumph with some sort of honour or preferment.

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Afterthoughts

This battle was fought using the first draft of my FP3x3NapPW rules. I commanded the French (General Lapointe) and Professor Gary Sheffield commanded the Prussians (General Steiner).

The rules worked quite well ... up to a point ... but in the after-battle discussions we came to the conclusions that a few minor changes would improve the rules and make them have a slightly more Napoleonic flavour. Gary pointed out that as they stood, they were ideal for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 ... but not quite for one set sixty years earlier. I agreed, and I will be making some changes to the draft rules in due course.