17 June 1813 – Central Germany - Day 1

 

Both armies are deployed close to the border

The campaign opens with the French attack on Forchheim

16 June 1813 – Central Germany – Bayreuth Campaign

 

Map of Europe

This map shows the location of the five campaign areas. 

Each square is a military region.  

The current location of each army group is shown.  

The stars show the location of previous phases.  

The colour indicates which side won.  

 

This is the 87^th phase since the campaign started in April 2009.  

It is the 13^th in the sixth revision which started in June 2020 

 

The white star shows the location of Bayreuth

 

Map of Germany

This map shows the location of the six army groups in Germany.  

Each square is a military district.  

Nine squares is a military region.  

The stars show the location of previous campaigns fought in Germany. 

The colour of the star indicates which side won.  

 

The white star shows the location of Bayreuth

 

There are three allied armies would concentrate in Germany

Prussian army at Berlin

Russian army at Dresden

Austrian army at Vienna

Their objective is to defeat Napoleon

 

General Wittgenstein commands the Russian army

They are concentrated in the Dresden region

Their objective is to march into the Erfurt region and engage the French

 

Marshal Davout commands the Second French army

They are concentrated in the Osnabruck region

Their objective is to march into the Erfurt region and engage the Prussians

Map of Central Germany

This map shows the location of the French and Russian army.  

Each square is a military district.  

Nine squares is a military region.  

The stars show the location of previous campaigns fought in Central Germany. 

The colour of the star indicates which side won

 

There are three regions in Central Germany

Dusseldorf Region (on the left) is held by the French army

Dresden Region (on the right) is the held by the Russian      

Erfurt Region is the disputed area in the middle

 

This map shows the current location of the French and Russian armies.

Bayreuth is indicated by a white star

Erfurt Region

This map shows the location of the French and Russian army. 

Each square is a military district.  

Nine squares is a military region.  

This map is used for strategic (planning) movement.

Bamberg-Bayreuth District

This map shows the campaign area

It covers the area between Bamberg and Bayreuth

The district border is in the middle of the map

 

Each square is a 2x2 foot scenic square.  

Nine squares is a wargames table.  

Nine squares is also a military district.   

 

This map is used for tactical (daily) movement

 

The French objective is to take and hold the city of Bayreuth

The Russian objective is to defeat the French and hold Bayreuth

Campaign Diary

01 Feb 1813           Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia declared war on France

01 Feb 1813           Formation of Second French army in Dusseldorf region

26 Feb 1813           Second French army declared operational.

27 Feb 1813           The Russians moved into the Erfurt region

28 Feb 1813           Davout entered Erfurt region and occupied Fulda district

14 Mar 1813           Start of Erfurt campaign phase

21 Mar 1813           French win Erfurt campaign phase

01 May 1813           Start of Gera campaign phase

09 May 1813            French win Gera campaign phase

16 Jun 1813             Start of Bayreuth campaign phase      

 

French Order of Battle                                                                                              

Second French Army Group

Fourth French Army

10^th Young Guard corps

11^th French corps

12^th French corps

 

Fifth French Army

13^th French corps

14^th French corps

15^th Italian corps

 

Sixth French Army

16^th French corps

17^th Polish corps

18^th Vistula corps

 

Each corps has four infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade and corps artillery

144,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, 270 guns

 

Russian Order of Battle

Russian Army Group

 

First Russian Army

1^st Russian corps

2^nd Russian corps

3^rd Russian corps

 

Second Russian Army

4^th Russian corps

5^th Russian corps

6^th Russian corps

 

Third Russian Army

7^th Russian corps

8^th Russian corps

9^th Russian corps

 

Each corps has four infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade and corps artillery

144,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, 270 guns

         

Reference

The campaign diary contains comprehensive details of the whole campaign.   The labels on the right are an index to various parts of the campaign.

 

01 - Introduction to the1813 campaign

02 - Five campaign areas

20 - Introduction to the campaign in Central Germany

21 - Second French Army order of battle

22 - Russian Army order of battle

23 - Daily diary for the campaign in Central Germany

24 - Battle reports of all battles fought in Central Germany

25 - Summary of campaign in Central Germany

Summary of Southern Spain Campaign – 15 June 1813

Regional areas of Southern Spain

There are three regions in Southern Spain

Lisbon region is a safe rear area for the Spanish army

Valencia region is the rear area for the Fifth French army

Seville region is the disputed area between them

 

The main French depot is at Valencia

The main Spanish depot is at Seville

 

French Strategy in Spain

King Joseph is the commander in chief of all French troops in Spain.

However he commands no respect from either his army commanders

Both Soult and Suchet are determined to remain independent commanders

Suchet wants to invade southern Spain and become King of Andalusia

Soult wants to defeat Wellington and become King of Portugal

 

All three agree that Soult will drive Wellington out of Spain

Suchet will invade Andalusia and take Seville

He will then detach two of his four corps to support Soult

Soult will invade Portugal and drive Wellington out of the Peninsula

 

Anglo-Spanish Strategy in Spain

Wellington is the commander in chief of all allied troops in the Peninsula

However all Spanish generals deeply resent this appointment

Giron is determined to take Madrid and become the hero of Spain

 

Wellington is well aware that he cannot rely on his Spanish generals

To defeat the French he must first take Madrid

To do so the Spanish army must hold southern Spain to pin Suchet

Most importantly the Spanish must avoid a comprehensive defeat

This would allow both French armies to concentrate against Wellington

         

Diary of North Spain Campaign

01 February 1813    Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia and Spain declared war on France

04 February 1813    Spanish army operational n Saville region

28 February 1813    Fifth French army operational in Madrid Region

09 March 1813        Start of Toledo campaign phase

13 March 1813        Spanish win Toledo campaign phase

20 April 1813           Start of Cuidad Real campaign phase

30 April 1813           French win Cuidad Real campaign phase         

08 June 1813          Start of Merida campaign phase

15 June 1813          Spanish win Merida campaign phase

 

Reference

The campaign diary contains comprehensive details of the whole campaign.   The labels on the right are an index to various parts of the campaign.

 

01 - Introduction to the1813 campaign

02 - Five campaign areas

50 - Introduction to the campaign in Southern Spain

51 - 5^th French Army order of battle

52 - Spanish Army order of battle

53 - Daily diary for the campaign in Southern Spain

54 - Battle reports of all battles fought in Southern Spain

55 - Summary of campaign in Southern Spain

 

15 June 1813 – Southern Spain – End of Merida Campaign

Battles fought during campaign phase

Suchet won four of the six battles fought.

 

He won the first three, forcing the Spanish army to retreat west to Adjucen, Merida and Calamonte.

 

To pursue the retreating Spanish, Suchet had to detach more infantry brigades to protect his every lengthening lines of supply.   This was necessary because of the increased guerrilla activity, which resulted in the loss of the town of Bargas – not once but twice.

 

The French won the fourth battle to the east  of Adjucen.  However 2^nd Spanish corps occupied the city, and 13^th French army were forced to lay siege. 

 

The Spanish won at Calamonte, and also at the final critical battle of Merida.

 

By now the French were down to one or two days supplies for each corps, and the final blow was when the guerrilla captured Bargas for the second time.  This caused the collapse of the French supply system in the north. 

 

Suchet ordered his army to retreat east to resupply and regroup

 

The campaign started on 11 January and ended on 7 April 2023

 

The course of the campaign was very similar to historical campaigns in Spain.

The French armies defeated the Spanish field armies during the early part of the campaign.  However as they advanced they had to detach infantry brigades  to hold the captured towns.   The Spanish garrisons of those towns became guerrilla bands, and attacked both the lines of supply and the towns themselves.   During the latter part of the campaign the French supply system broke down, forcing Suchet to call off offensive operations and retreat to resupply and regroup.

 

Seville Region

Suchet orders his army to retreat to Toledo

 

Giron orders his army to deploy in and around Merida

15 June 1813 – Southern Spain – Day 7

French retreat to regroup and resupply

 

In the north 13^th French army abandon the siege of Adjucen and retreat to Santa Amalia

1^st guerrilla brigade occupy Bargas

4^th French brigade retreat to Toledo

The French lines of supply is cut

 

In the centre 14^th French army retreat to San Pedro

In the south 15^th French army retreat to Manchita

The Spanish have won the Merida campaign