15 March 1813 – Battle of Suhl

 

                       

                                     Tactical map of battle area

14^th Westphalian and 4^th Russian corps both have orders to take Suhl

Both corps are at full strength

 

Westphalian – 4 infantry brigades, 1 cavalry brigade, 1 corps artillery

Russian – 4 infantry brigades, 1 cavalry brigade, 1 corps artillery

Table at start of battle

14^th Westphalian corps will enter from the left at the start of move 1

4^th Russian corps will enter from the right at the start of move 1

Both corps are in column of march and must enter on the road

 

The town of Suhl is the walled town in the centre of the table

It does not have a military garrison

But the civilian population have closed the gates to both sides

End of move 4

Both commanders have opted to ignore the town

The winner of the battle will secure the town

 

Both corps enter the table behind a cavalry screen

The cavalry have deployed to the right to protect the corps deployment

The faster moving Westphalian lancers have delayed the Russian advance

End of move 8

4^th Russian corps continue to deploy

Their artillery has opened fire, but not caused any casualties

The cavalry brigade on the left is providing protection for the deployment

 

14^th Westphalian corps is fully deployed and ready to advance

Their artillery are firing on the enemy cavalry, but no casualties

If they do not advance now they will not reach the enemy before nightfall

End of move 12

As the Westphalian lancers prepared to attack their artillery fire on the cuirassiers

The Russian cavalry received 10% casualties, failed their morale and were shaken

They were unable to counter charge and broke when the lancers charged

This left the Russian gunners exposed, and they promptly retreated

The Westphalian infantry now advanced, supported by their cavalry

On their left the leading brigade routed the conscript Russian brigade

They routed into the Grenadier brigade behind them, who also broke and ran

 

On the right the Westphalian infantry attacked a Russian square

This should have been an easy victory

But the Russian infantry won the melee (good dice again)

This melee was a draw, but the rest of the Russian corps was in retreat

 

Summary

Until move 8 no one had suffered any casualties and either corps could win

The Westphalians were lucky with their final artillery round, which hit the Russian cavalry.   This led to the retreat of the Russian artillery, just as the Westphalian infantry advanced.

 

The Westphalians have lost 1 infantry casualty (400 men)

The Russians have lost 3 infantry and 3 cavalry casualties (1500 men)