The 2nd Battle of Caldiero 1805 – The Refight

31st October 1805

From André Masséna, Marshal of the Empire, Commanding His Imperial Majesty’s Army of Italy.

To The Headquarters of His Imperial Majesty, hopefully somewhere near Vienna.

Greetings Sire!  I bring news of a great victory won by your brave soldiers under my command at the village of Caldiero.  You might remember the place from 1796, when you yourself won a great victory there… That’s what I remember as your ever-loyal servant anyway, Sire and I don’t care what Berthier says…

Following your brilliant example, the gallant soldiers under my command successfully held their ground against a determined attack by the Archduke Charles.  The perfidy of the Kaiserlicks knows no bounds as they used the cover of thick fog to launch a cowardly attack on our men.  Thankfully we prevailed and threw them back into their fortified position.  At daybreak today, we discovered that the cowards had retreated toward Vicenza, leaving me master of the field!

I enclose this dispatch with a chest of gold and jewels looted discovered within an Austrian nobleman’s estate hereabouts and trust that it will be accepted by your Imperial Majesty as the true and accurate account of the battle, just as I accepted your version of events in 1796.

I also include with the chest, a very fine rifled hunting piece and hope that Your Majesty has the chance to enjoy it.  Though be warned that it has a very light trigger, so be careful, or you could have someone’s eye out.

I remain Sire,

Your Obedient Servant,

André Masséna, Marshal of the Empire.

PS  A detailed and true account of the day’s action follows:

The surviving readers of this blog might remember back in the summer of 2020, at the height of Lockdown boredom, I was anticipating all the lovely Napoleonic games I would play once the repeated Lockdowns were over!  Of course that was all bolloxed by my sudden and rather unexpected Seven Years War Renaissance… However, I did write a scenario for the Second Battle of Caldiero that I fancied having a crack at.  Well we finally played it at the Carmarthen Old Guard during our November Big Game Saturday. 🙂

As mentioned before, I do like Napoleon’s Battles ‘grand-tactical’ rules, but it is fairly ‘niche’, so I’ve rarely got a ready pool of players.  My mate Andy had played it before but was very rusty on the finer points of the rules.  My other player Trevor had never played Napoleon’s Battles before, so needed to learn the rules from scratch. 

Rather than throw them straight in at the deep end with a scenario as large as Caldiero, I gave them a small tutorial game during our regular Thursday night meeting (pictured above).  This game, titled ‘The Battle of Fünfstraßen 1805’ was the ‘Austrians at Bay 1809’ training scenario from Napoleon’s Battles 1st Edition, using 1805 troop-stats.  I must have played ‘Austrians at Bay’ half a dozen times and the French got a hoofing in every game, so I was hopeful that the 1805 French superpowers might at last give them the edge… But no, they got hammered again… 

Anyway, Trevor really enjoyed it (he was the Austrians, after all) and our rules knowledge was suitably refreshed, so I quickly reorganised and re-labelled the troops for the Saturday Main Event.

I should add at this point that we decided not to use the full fog-of-war rules as described in the scenario, as it would probably take too long to play.  Nevertheless, the first four turns were fought in fog, which meant a maximum 2-inch visibility range for shooting and charging and the possibility of a ‘Blunder Combat’, as well as some other limitations.  As the French had the harder task, I took them, while Andy and Trevor took the Austrians.  To save time, I decided to simply go with the historical deployment for the French.  The Austrians were already limited in their deployment.

Above:  The view from behind the French army.  Sadly, my supply of roads is somewhat limited and I really should get some more.  I did however place the key roads on table (i.e. the main highway and the roads through the rough and swampy ground on the Austrian left).  One other balls-up was that I left a box of buildings at home, so all I had with me was the four buildings used for the Battle of Fünfstraßen scenario!  Aargh!  Thankfully, that was sufficient to represent the four key frontline villages of Caldiero, Stra, Gambione and San Zeno.

Above:  The view from the Austrian left flank.  In the foreground is the swampy valley of the Adige River.  The brown carpet on the right shows area of rough ground.  In the distance is the fortified high ground of the Colognola Heights, surrounded by steep slopes, thick with olive groves and vineyards.

Above:  This nice little set by Old Glory 15s, depicting a wounded Marshal Masséna, famously commanding from the comfort of his white phaeton at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, is anachronistic for 1805, but is too nice to leave in the box! 🙂

Above:  On the Austrian left flank, Nordmann’s two Grenzer brigades squelch through the marsh, though the 9th ‘Erdödy’ Hussars take advantage of a road to work their way around what they assume to be the French right flank.

Above:  However, just ahead of them, Colonel Petit’s 62e de Ligne have just landed on the banks of the Adige (in game terms, Petit’s detachment is place on the table after the Austrians have completed their deployment).  This detachment is securing the bridgehead for the remainder of Verdier’s 2nd Division to also cross.  The original plan had been for Verdier to land behind the Austrian flank, but the fog led them astray and they now find themselves in front of the Austrians!  However, at present the fog prevents either side from engaging the other.

Above:  On Nordmann’s right, Reuss-Plauen’s infantry (two infantry regiments and a brigade of grenadiers) are also squelching through the marsh, while the attached 3rd ‘Archduke Charles’ Uhlans keep their hooves dry on the road.

Above:  The uhlans form the left flank of a large mass of Austrian cavalry, who fill the narrow plain between the hills and the marsh.  In front is O’Reilly, with the 8th ‘Kienmeyer’ Hussars and 1st ‘Kaiser’ Chevauxlegers, while to the rear is Lothringen, with the 4th ‘Levenehr’ and 5th ‘Savoy’ Dragoons.

Above:  The village of Caldiero itself has been fortified by Vogelsang’s Division; IR 62 holds the village itself, with IR 2, Hertzberg’s grenadier brigade and a 6pdr cavalry battery in support.  To the rear of Caldiero, Lindenau’s Division has fortified a small hill and with two grenadier brigades (Duba’s and Hohenlöhe’s), IR 32 and a 12pdr position battery.  General of Cavalry Bellegarde has established his headquarters near the battery and from there commands the central four divisions of Vogelsang, Lindenau, O’Reilly and Lothringen.  

Above:  On the right flank of the main French position, near the village of Gambione, stands Duhesme’s 4th Division, consisting of Le Camus’ Brigade nearest the camera and Goullus’ Brigade.  To their rear is Mermet’s Reserve Cavalry Division, comprising Lacour’s dragoon brigade and Offenstein’s cuirassier brigade.

God these were painted a long time ago… I’m ashamed to admit that back then I believed THAT Osprey book regarding the shade of blue of Légère uniforms… 🙁  I was young, naïve, needed the money…  And yes, I know they should be wearing hats, not shakos in 1805… 

Above:  Masséna’s centre is spearheaded by Gardanne’s 1st Division, consisting of Lanchatin’s and Compère’s brigades and the 23rd Chasseurs à Cheval.  To their rear is Partouneaux’s Reserve Division, consisting of Solignac’s and Valentin’s massed grenadier brigades and the attached Italian 2nd Infantry Regiment.  Behind them come Debelle’s and Maurin’s chasseur à cheval brigades of d’Espagne’s Light Cavalry Division.

Above:  On the fortified Colognola Heights, Archduke Charles has set up his headquarters among the olive trees, from where he’d hoped to observe Simbschen’s right-flanking attack.  Nearby, a couple of cavalry batteries from Simbschen’s division, guarded by the 6th ‘Warasdiner St Georg’ Grenzer, sit behind their earthworks and wait for the fog to lift.

Above:  Further north along the ridge, two more of Simbschen’s regiments and another cavalry battery for a reserve for Simbschen’s attack down in the foggy valley below.

Above:  Down in the valley and clear of the olive trees, Simbschen has formed up with three infantry regiments and the 3rd ‘Archduke Ferdinand’ Hussars, ready to attack the French left flank.  However, the sound of French drums can be heard approaching through the fog…

Above:  In front of Simbschen, Molitor’s French 3rd Division is advancing through the fog.  Molitor has three infantry brigades; Launay’s (the largest), Herbin’s and Valory’s, plus the 29th Dragoons.  Molitor plans to boldly advance up to the Austrians through the fog and then use his superior firepower to blow them out of the way, before advancing up the slope…

Above:  “Christ à vélo!”  As Molitor’s troops advance, the thunder of hooves is heard as the Austrian 3rd Hussars suddenly burst out of the fog in front of Valory’s brigade!  Valory’s panicked infantrymen fail to form square and are ridden down without mercy!  Crazed with bloodlust, the hussars then launch a ragged charge on Herbin’s brigade.  Again, Herbin’s troops fail to form square, but their musketry manages to empty a few saddles before they too are swept away, taking the supporting horse battery with them.

Above:  The battle has only just begun, yet half of Molitor’s division is already fleeing toward Verona.

Above:  An overview of the French centre.  Like Molitor, Gardanne has advanced to close range through the fog, hoping to overwhelm the defenders of Caldiero with firepower prior to an assault.

Above:  On the right, Mermet’s Reserve Cavalry Division moves to the right, to counter the threat posed by Nordmann’s hussars.

Above:  At Caldiero, Compère’s brigade has deployed into brigade skirmish order, in order to increase their firepower and reduce the effectiveness of the Austrian battery to their front (in game terms, skirmish-stands are inserted as ‘spacers’ between the troop-stands and they gain a +1 fire modifier, while Austrian fire suffers a -2 cover modifier.  However, this formation is unwieldy to manoeuvre and suffers a -3 combat modifier).  Vogelsang meanwhile. moves his two reserve brigades forward on the flanks and effectively prevents the massing of French force against Caldiero.

Above:  On the French left flank, the Austrian 3rd Hussars have been left disordered following their rout of Molitor’s brigades, leaving them wide open to a counter-strike by the 29th Dragoons.  The French dragoons soon take sweet revenge for the infantry, destroying the hussars and sweeping them from the field!  However, Molitor has to make a decision; stay to fight with what he has left in the front line, or go back to rally the routing brigades and return in strength… He takes the fateful decision to go back to rally the routing troops…

Above:  Over on the Austrian left flank, Nordmann has manoeuvred the 9th Hussars past Petit’s detachment (which remains immobile on the bank of the Adige) and into position to threaten the French right and support the advance of his Grenzer and Reuss-Plauen’s infantry through the marsh.  However, Lacour’s dragoon brigade from Mermet’s Reserve Cavalry Division is approaching, followed by Offenstein’s cuirassiers.

Above:  Duhesme is feeling confident as he advances his infantry to meet the Austrians.  D’Espagne meanwhile, moves his chasseurs and horse artillery forward to support Duhesme’s left.

Above:  The rest of the French light cavalry and horse artillery are being sucked into what is likely to be a large cavalry battle in the centre.  However, at present the fog is still sitting on the battlefield and both sides are being cautious.  That will end once the fog lifts and the artillery opens fire in earnest.

Above:  Molitor’s attempt to rally his routing troops is not going well!  Only Herbin’s brigade has rallied, while Valory’s brigade and the gunners refuse to obey orders!  (in game terms, this repeated failure to rally was remarkable as with Molitor being rated ‘Excellent’, they only had to roll 1-8 on a D10!)

Above:  In the meantime, the rest of Molitor’s division is milling about without orders and the infantry of Launay’s brigade are being steadily whittled down by the fire of three Austrian regiments.

Above:  At Caldiero, things are not going well for Compère’s light infantry brigade, which is losing the firefight against the Caldiero garrison, a cavalry battery and Hertzberg’s grenadier brigade.  However, on their right, Lanchatin’s brigade has charged the Hungarian 2nd Infantry Regiment!  Following a hard, evenly-matched fight, the Hungarians are routed.

Above:  In the marshes, Reuss-Plauen’s advance has been extremely hesitant; partly due to the terrain, partly due to his remoteness from Archduke Charles and partly due to uncertainty as to French intentions on this flank.

Above:  In the centre, the great mass of Austrian cavalry waits for the fog to lift. 

[If you’re wondering about the individual cavalry figures mounted on yellow-edged coins, those are ‘Cavalry React’ markers.  Instead of moving a cavalry brigade, the player may instead place one of these markers.  This then allows the unit to move in reaction to the effects of combat or in reaction to the enemy’s subsequent move.  I usually try to match the regiment or at least the nationality, but for some reason, a Russian dragoon has sneaked on to the table here!]

Above:  At last, the fog begins to lift and the emplaced Austrian batteries open up on long-range targets.

Above:  The two batteries near Archduke Charles’ headquarters are firing at extreme range, but manage to inflict a steady trickle of casualties on the French infantry between Stra and Caldiero.

Above:  At last, the Austrian cavalry, their confidence boosted by their numerical superiority, charge the French lines!  The 3rd Uhlans and 4th Dragoons aim for Goullus’ brigade of Duhesme’s 4th Division, but they form square and beat the Austrian horsemen off with ease.  D’Espagne’s cavalry meanwhile are deployed and ready; the horse artillery empties some saddles among the 1st Chevauxlegers, who are then beaten off by Debelle’s Chasseurs, along with the 5th Dragoons.  

Above:  Near Caldiero, the Austrian 8th Hussars charge Lanchatin’s infantry, who are unable to form square, due to the proximity of Austrian infantry.  However, the hussars suffer losses from French fire during their charge and are beaten off. 

Above:  The Austrian cavalry assault is a failure, but they’ve suffered only light losses and fall back to lick their wounds while considering their next move.  D’Espagne meanwhile, still has Maurin’s chasseurs fresh and spies an opportunity…

Above:  At Caldiero, Compère’s light infantry are suffering catastrophic losses to Austrian fire and are now almost down to 50% of their original strength!  Gardanne decides to cut his losses and orders them to close up on their left flank and allow Solignac’s grenadiers to pass through.

Above:  Over on the Austrian right flank, Lacour’s dragoons launch a bold attack across the stream, against Nordmann’s 9th Hussars.  The gamble pays off, as the hussars are caught while still deployed in column formation.  Although not a knockout blow, the hussars are disordered and are forced back to the bank of the Adige River.

Above:  Petit meanwhile, is in trouble as skirmishing Grenzer begin to pick off his men one by one.  He prays that Verdier will cross the river and reinforce him soon.

Above:  In the centre, with all the Austrian cavalry disordered following their massive charge, Maurin’s fresh chasseur brigade charges the nearest rallying unit (the 8th Hussars), hoping to destroy at least one unit and perhaps start a general rout.  However, while the charge is marginally successful, only minor damage is caused to the Austrian hussars and Maurin falls back to reform.  However, one significant result of this engagement is that FML O’Reilly, having been ridden over by Maurin’s chasseurs, only narrow avoids death!  His division is therefore without leadership for a time while he has his wounds dressed.

Above:  Reuss-Plauen continues his cautious advance through the marsh, though is starting to suffer losses from French fire.

Above:  At the foot of the Colognola Heights, Simbschen continues his mugging of Launay’s brigade.  The 29th Dragoons in the meantime, have been broken up in very short order by accurate long-range artillery fire from the heights.

Above:  Molitor meanwhile, is STILL trying to rally the rest of his division!

Above:  With the Austrian 9th Hussars already pushed back by Lacour’s dragoons, Offenstein’s cuirassiers launch their assault across the stream, again throwing back the hussars.  However, with their backs to the river they have nowhere to run and are captured.

Above:  On the riverbank, Verdier finally arrives with Digonet’s strong light infantry brigade.  Petit stands relieved, but his regiment is still being whittled down by fire from the Grenzer in the marsh.

Above:  On the opposite flank, Molitor suffers another disaster as Launay’s brigade is finally broken by Austrian fire.

Above:  Things aren’t looking much better at Caldiero, as Compère’s brigade continues to be whittled down, despite falling back from the stiff fire coming from the village.  Lanchatin’s brigade meanwhile, despite their earlier success, have been routed by a combination of 12pdr fire from the redoubt behind Caldiero and musketry from the village garrison.  Partouneaux now takes over the mission of assaulting Caldiero, but simply doesn’t have the strength for the task.

Above:  With losses escalating rapidly due to fire from Duhesme’s division, Reuss-Plauen is forced to fall back into the marsh.

Above:  However, Duhesme isn’t going to let the Austrian infantry off the hook that easily and steadily advances to maintain the perssure.

Above:  With the threat to the right flank eliminated, Mermet recalls Offenstein’s cuirassiers and moves to reinforce the centre.

Above:  In the meantime, another indecisive cavalry clash has occurred in the centre.  D’Espagne’s light cavalry rally again at Gambione, having suffered only light losses.

Above:  The Austrian cavalry meanwhile, have already suffered around 25% casualties and daren’t risk another major assault.

Above:  At Caldiero the Austrians have reset their defence.  The depleted IR 2 takes over garrison duties in the village itself, while IR 62 move out onto the flank.  

Above:  Partouneaux meanwhile, still can’t see a way of taking the village.  His veteran grenadiers are full of fighting spirit, but the village fortifications and the sheer number of Austrian defenders negate any advantage.

Above:  The French situation looks even worse from the Austrian side!  The French now have absolutely nothing in reserve, while the Austrian position is massively strong, arrayed in depth and overlooked by fortified batteries and redoubts filled with grenadiers!

Above:  At long last, the remnants of Molitor’s division gets back into the fight!  

Above:  Simbschen meanwhile, has ridden up to the redoubts to redirect the fire of his batteries.

Above:  On the French right flank, Verdier finally goes on the attack, but not before the Grenzer finally finish off Petit’s 62e de Ligne.

Above:  Digonet’s light infantry exact swift revenge for Petit as they rout the Grenzer.  Nordmann still has one Grenzer brigade left intact, but the Austrian left flank is looking increasingly vulnerable.  However, it’s the Austrian RIGHT flank that the French need to be rolling up!

Above:  Back in the centre, the Austrian IR 62 came under intense French fire as soon as it left the cover of Caldiero.  The regiment was then charged by Maurin’s cavalry brigade and has now fled back behind the village.   Maurin charged on into the Austrian cavalry, but was forced to fall back following another indecisive clash and is now in the unfortunate position of having to rally under the muzzles of the Austrian 12pdrs!

Above:  As Duhesme keeps the pressure on Reuss-Plauen’s retiring Austrian infantry in the marsh, Mermet’s Reserve Cavalry move to reinforce the centre and perhaps remove the Austrian cavalry threat once and for all.

Above:  In front of the Colognola Heights, Molitor’s renewed attack is stalled yet again; this time by Austrian artillery fire from the redoubts.  However, he’s now close enough to deploy his artillery and take some revenge on Simbschen’s infantry.

Above:  The balance of Brun’s brigade (to whom Petit’s 52e de Ligne belonged) has finally crossed the river to reinforce Verdier.  Ormancey’s cavalry brigade and a horse battery are still waiting to cross, but the horses are proving difficult to load on the barges.

Above:  Duhesme’s infantry advance into the marsh, keeping the pressure on Reuss-Plauen and inflicting heavy casualties on the whitecoats.

Above:  Nordmann has managed to rally the remnants of Siegenfeld’s Grenzer brigade, but his other Grenzer brigade is now outflanked, disordered and taking casualties from Verdier’s advancing infantry.

Above:  “Dis bonjour à mon petit ami!”

Above:  Seeing the Austrian 1st Chevauxlegers milling about in some disorder, d’Espagne seizes the opportunity and orders Debelle’s Chasseurs to strike!  The 1st Chevauxlegers are destroyed and Debelle’s charge carries them into the freshly-disordered 4th Dragoons , who are thrown back through the 5th Dragoons.  Debelle’s charge sadly runs out of steam at this point, but the Austrian cavalry are left disordered and unable to respond to the French attack.

Above:  Mermet’s reserve cavalry move forward to exploit Debelle’s success in the centre.

Above:  The 4th Dragoons lick their wounds well to the rear.

Above:  At long last (over an hour late), Argentau’s Austrian Reserve Division arrives to stabilise the situation on the Austrian left.

Above:  The cavalry battle may as well be on the Moon, as far as the French infantry are concerned… Compère’s brigade has finally been destroyed by the combined weight of fire of three Austrian cavalry batteries and Hertzberg’s grenadier brigade.  The 2nd Italian Regiment moves to occupy their position on the left of Partouneaux’s line.  Partouneaux’s grenadiers meanwhile, are still struggling to make headway against the village and Solignac’s brigade on the left has already suffered 25% losses.

With an eye on his place in history, Masséna rides up in his carriage and congratulates his divisional commanders on their defeat of the Austrian attack.  “But Sir, I thought we were…” 

“I was just about to write up your citation for the Légion d’Honneur…”

“Ah, yes…  A great victory, Sir!”

Above:  Meanwhile, Lindenau’s grenadiers sit in their trenches, get a brew on and wonder what all the noise is…

Above:  “Adjutant, take down this dispatch to the Emperor:  ‘Greetings Sire!  I bring news of a great victory won by your brave soldiers under my command at the village of Caldiero…'”

Sadly, we had run out of club-time (again), so had to call it a day.  It would have been interesting to see how the French attack on the Austrian left developed, but there was no way in Hell that the French could ever have achieved their objective of clearing Caldiero and the entrenchments!

All in all, this was a really enjoyable game, despite the attritional nature of the combat!  It’s very easy to see why the Austrians defended this position and why historically it was something of a bloodbath, as in our game!

It would be fun to play this scenario again in the future, though this time binning the historical French deployment and instead concentrating all the French infantry on the left, leaving the cavalry to screen the right.  Then take the Colognola Heights and attack downhill from there.  I’d also abandon Verdier’s river-crossing and instead use Verdier’s division as part of the main assault.  There’s also the option to recall Seras’ division from Verona.

My thanks to Trevor and Andy for their excellent company!  

Models & Painting

The figures are almost all AB Figures 15mm from my own collection; the exception being Masséna’s carriage group, by Old Glory 15s.  Most were painted by me, though a few infantry regiments on both sides (and Masséna) were painted by Gareth Beamish and the Italians were painted by Jase Evans.

My thanks to Phil Portway for the loan of his swamp!

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…

So to Christmas…  I’ve sadly had to postpone the planned Kolin game until the New Year, though in a couple of weeks we will be refighting Cornwallis’ flank-attack at the Battle of the Brandywine in 1777, using British Grenadier! rules.  This is always a fun scenario to play and I’ve already posted one such refight from 2008.  I also played a mega-refight of the whole battle with Eclaireur, Brendan Morrissey, Giles Allison, the Perry Twins and others at one of our National Army Museum mega-games in 2005 or thereabouts.  However, my last refight of the scenario was exactly ten years ago (Christmas 2012), when I played it with my Minions… 🙂