16 May 1813 – Battle of Eisenbach

Tactical map of battle area

Davout has ordered 2^nd and 5^th French corps to take Eisenbach

Wittgenstein is determined to hold the city with 2^nd and 4^th Russian corps

French – 28000 infantry, 1900 cavalry, 60 guns

Russian – 32000 infantry, 2000 cavalry, 57 guns

Table at start of wargame

Russians start on the table

French arrive at the start of move 1

Both start with campaign casualties

Both have one infantry brigade missing due to casualties

The French have 100 cavalry casualties

The Russians have 100 gunner casualties and three guns missing

The Russians have the support of 18 brigade, the garrison of Eisenbach.

0800-1200

 Wittgenstein orders his two Russian corps to advance and engage the French

2^nd Russian corps artillery are ordered to redeploy north of the city

2^nd French corps cavalry charge and rout the Russian cuirassiers

Wittgenstein immediately orders 4^th Russian corps to hold their ground

2^nd French corps leading brigade suffer short range artillery fire and are shaken

To the north 5^th corps prepare to advance

They send their artillery onto the ridge to get closer to the Russian infantry.

1200-1600

2^nd French corps artillery concentrate on the garrison of the farm

Their infantry then attack and rout the garrison.

French cavalry then charge and rout the gunners

Remaining French infantry advance and rout the supporting infantry

4^th Russian corps retreat with their only formed brigade covering the retreat

5^th French corps artillery open fire on the nearest infantry square

They break and run, taking the nearest infantry and cavalry brigade with them

2^nd Russian corps are forced to retreat

Conclusion

Wittgenstein has lost three of his eight infantry brigades

He has also lost both of his cavalry brigades and all of his gunners

He orders the survivors of both corps to retreat towards Barchfeld

The Russians have lost 3300 casualties

The French have lost 1700 casualties

Kliest has lost three of his four infantry brigades.  He orders the remainder of his corps to break contact and retreat towards Lehre.

The French have lost 1200 casualties

The Prussians have lost 2800 casualties