The Defence of the Dürren-Berg (The Battle of Strehla, 20th August 1760) – The Game

It’s been well over a year since the last one, but I recently decided to break out the tricorn hats and put on a small Seven Years War Tricorn game during a W.A.S.P. club-night with Al and our new chum Roger.  With novice players, I wanted to keep things small-scale and simple, but also wanted to put on a historical scenario.  While scratching around for scenario ideas, I thought about doing a small part of a larger battle and settled on the defence of the Dürren-Berg during the Battle of Strehla 1760.

I’ll post the scenario in a future article, but I essentially cut the map (below) in half and deleted the Reichsarmee Main Body and Zedtwitz’s Imperial Cavalry.  From the Prussians I deleted Hülsen’s Left, Centre-Left and part of his Centre-Right.  To give Kleist’s cavalry a bit more flexibility given their historical deployment, I split Kleist’s command into two parts; Kleist himself commanded the ‘Kleist’ Hussars, the ‘Kleist’ Freikorps Hussars and the ‘Kleist’ Freikorps Dragoons, while the two battalions of the ‘Schorlemmer’ Dragoons were commanded by their regimental CO, Major Marschall von Bieberstein (‘Marschall’), rated ‘Good’.

Generallieutenant Johann Dietrich von Hülsen was still the Prussian C-in-C, though was not permitted to move from the western end of the entrenchments, which now formed a redoubt on the eastern edge of the table.  Prince Christian Carl zu Stolberg-Gedern (‘Stolberg’), the commander of the Reichsarmee Reserve Corps (and left wing on this occasion) became the Imperial C-in-C, rated ‘Poor’ with only one ADC.  All other scenario rules remained the same as the main scenario.

Above:  Generalmajor August Wilhelm von Braun’s command sits atop the the ancient hill-fort of the Dürren-Berg.  While a relatively small command, it is of high quality, with a battery of heavy guns, three grenadier battalions, two battalions of the ‘Alt-Bevern’ Infantry Regiment (rated elite) and the single-battalion ‘Hauss’ Fusiliers.  This last regiment comprises press-ganged ex-Saxon troops and isn’t to be relied upon.  While there’s no cover from enemy fire, the steep upper slopes of the Dürren-Berg provide an advantage against any enemy charge.  One of Braun’s grenadier battalions starts the scenario holding the hamlet of Clanzschwitz, which has been prepared for defence and lies mid-way between the Dürren-Berg and Guasco’s Imperial Grenadier Corps on the Otten-Berg.

Above:  Hülsen watches the battle develop from his headquarters in the entrenched lines at Strehla.  For this scenario, the western end of the entrenchments is represented by a redoubt held by Oberst von Burgsdorff’s brigade (two battalions of the elite ‘Markgraf Carl’ Infantry Regiment and a grenadier battalion) and two batteries of heavy guns, which will be within range of the Imperial right flank, should they launch a direct assault from the Otten-Berg.

Above:  Between the two positions are Oberst Friedrich Wilhelm Gottfried Arend von Kleist’s two regular cavalry regiments; the ‘Kleist’ Hussars and the ‘Schorlemmer’ Dragoons.  Both regiments are very large and are split into two tactical battalions.  As discussed above, the ‘Kleist’ Hussars are under Kleist’s direct control, while Major Marschall von Bieberstein commands the ‘Schorlemmer’ Dragoons as an independent formation.

Above:  Covering the right flank are Kleist’s Freikorps cavalry; four squadrons of dragoons and two squadrons of hussars.  I shamelessly averaged out their strength to enable both units to appear on table.  I gave Roger the option of re-deploying Kleist’s cavalry before the start of the game and he wisely decided to bring the regular hussar regiment over to reinforce the Freikorps on the flank.

Above:  On the Imperial side, Prince Christian Carl of Stolberg-Gedern commands the strong left wing of the Reichsarmee and has established his headquarters on the Otten-Berg, within another old fortification; this being an old Swedish redoubt from King Gustavus-Adolphus’ campaigns of the 17th Century.  Straddling the Otten-Berg is Feldmarschallieutenant Peter Alexander Graf von Guasco’s Imperial Grenadier Corps, consisting of the massed grenadier companies of the Reichsarmee (formed into three battalions, only one of which can be considered ‘elite’), three Austrian infantry battalions (from the ‘Sachsen-Gotha’ and ‘Pallavicini’ Regiments), an Austrian grenadier battalion, the Imperial ‘Hohenzollern’ Cuirassier Regiment, a few Austrian elite cavalry companies and a battery from the Imperial Artillery Reserve.

Above:  On Guasco’s left is the flanking-force, which has been ordered to fall upon the Prussian right and rear.  This consists of two Imperial corps, starting with this formation; Feldmarschallieutenant Carl Freiherr von Würzburg’s Reserve Corps.  This consists of one battalion apiece from the Austrian ‘Macquire’ and ‘Luzarra’ Infantry Regiments, a battalion of Austrian grenadiers and three very bad Reichsarmee battalions; two from the ‘Pfalz-Zweibrücken’ Regiment and one from the ‘Kurtrier’ Regiment.  There should also be the two battalions of the Hungarian ‘Nikolaus Esterházy’ Infantry Regiment, but they seem to have got lost.

Above:  On Würzburg’s left is Feldmarschallieutenant Wenzel Mathias Knoget Freiherr von Kleefeld’s Auxiliary Corps, which consists of the excellent Imperial Auxiliary ‘Blau-Würzburg’ Regiment and two battalions of Grenzer, which have deployed forward in skirmish-order.  Kleefeld also seems to have acquired the aforementioned Hungarian ‘Nikolaus Esterházy’ Infantry Regiment, who attached themselves to his column during the approach-march.

Above:  On the extreme left flank is the massed cavalry of the flanking corps, consisting of the Austrian ‘Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld’ Chevaulégers, the Hungarian ‘Baranyay’ Hussars and the Pfalz Life-Dragoon Regiment ‘Kurfürstin’.  These regiments are commanded by the young commanding officer of the Chevaulégers, Obrist Prince Frederick August von Nassau-Usingen.

Above:  A closer look at the Imperial cavalry.  The Pfalz ‘Kurfürstin’ Dragoons look spectacular in their dark red coats with black facings, but they’re a bloody awful regiment, having already surrendered en masse and been re-formed once during this war.  The ‘Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld’ Chevaulégers are dressed in blue with red facings and are a typically-solid Austrian regiment.  Although now titled ‘chevaulégers’, they were a dragoon regiment until very recently and the change of title makes little difference.

Above:  The scenario starts with a flurry of indecision among the Imperial flanking corps, requiring each column to dice to decide if they execute their orders or not.  Al’s dice-rolling is pretty good on this occasion; Kleefeld and Guasco go straight into the attack, though Würzburg and Nassau-Usingen suffer a delay in the execution of their orders.

Above:  As Nassau-Usingen’s cavalry finally start moving, Kleefeld sends a detachment of Austrian battalion-guns to provide close support to the cavalry.

Above:  Kleist decides to mass all his cavalry on the right flank, first bringing in his regular hussar regiment and then calling in Marschall’s dragoons to support.  This great mass of cavalry massively outmatches Nassau-Usingen’s Imperial horse.

Above:  As Guasco’s Grenadier Corps advances, Braun wisely withdraws his isolated grenadier battalion from Clanzschwitz and places it as a tactical reserve at the rear of the Dürren-Berg position.  Despite firing at extreme range, the Prussian 12-pounder batteries in the entrenchments are starting to make the presence felt among the battalions on Guasco’s right-flank and as a consequence, Guasco’s battalions start to become somewhat disordered, squeezing out other battalions as they edge to their left in an attempt to avoid the long-range fire.  Clanzschwitz itself also proves to be something of an obstacle to orderly manoeuvres.

Above:  Nevertheless, Würzburg has now got his corps moving and his battalion guns, along with the battery from the Imperial Artillery Reserve, are starting to do serious damage to the 2nd Battalion of the Prussian ‘Alt-Bevern’ Regiment and the 12-pounder battery at the south-western corner of the Dürren-Berg position.

Above:  Our photographer stupidly forgot to take some photos of the opening cavalry battle, but it initially went very well for Nassau-Usingen’s Imperial horse!  All three units in the Prussian first line were thrown back with considerable losses, though all managed to rally.  Desperate to take advantage of the situation, Nassau-Usingen then urged his men to charge on into the second line, though this didn’t go anywhere near as well.  The Austrian ‘Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld’ Chevaulégers, the best cavalry regiment present, was completely broken by the 2nd Battalion of the ‘Kleist’ Hussars, while the Pfalz ‘Kurfürstin’ Leib-Dragoons were thrown back by the ‘Kleist’ Frei-Hussars.

Above:  The ‘Baranyay’ Hussars perform best of all, managing to hold the 2nd Battalion of the ‘Schorlemmer’ Dragoons to a draw before falling back to rally.  Kleefeld’s gunners meanwhile, perform sterling service in hammering the Prussian dragoons.  Concerned for his flank, Kleefeld deploys the ‘Blau-Würzburg’ Regiment and his grenadier battalion along the ridge to defend against the inevitable Prussian cavalry attack.

Above:  With the Austro-Imperial artillery and musketry starting to have some effect on Braun’s defenders, Würzburg and Kleefeld go in with the bayonet!  The Hungarian ‘Nikolaus Esterházy’ Regiment goes in against the 1st Battalion of the ‘Alt-Bevern’ Regiment, while the Austrian ‘Macquire’ Regiment advances into the teeth of the Prussian 12-pounder battery to charge the 2nd Battalion of ‘Alt-Bevern’.  The Hungarians are halted by fire as they reach the ancient embankment, though the ‘Macquire’ Regiment storms over the bank!  However, despite being strongly supported, the Austrian infantry are thrown back by the dogged Prussian defenders.

Above:  While Marschall wheels his dragoons left to attack Kleeberg’s Imperial infantry, Kleist charges again to finish off the Imperial horse.  Again, the ‘Baranyay’ Hussars make a brave show of it, but are swept away by the elite ‘Kleist’ Hussars.  The Pfalz dragoons meanwhile, are simply destroyed by the Kleist Freikorps.

Above:  With the 2nd Battalion of the ‘Alt-Bevern’ Regiment hanging on by a thread, Würzburg’s Corps has another go at the Dürren-Berg, now supported by the leading elements of Guasco’s Grenadier Corps.

Above:  However, the ‘Luzarra’ Regiment once again fails to charge home on the right and the ‘Nikolaus Esterházy’ Regiment likewise fail on the left.  The ‘Pfalz-Zweibrücken’ Regiment in the centre however (ordinarily regarded as one of the worst regiments in the Reichsarmee), seems to be made of sterner stuff!

Above:  With insufficient room to deploy, the 1st Battalion of the ‘Pfalz-Zweibrücken’ Regiment gets squeezed out, but the 2nd Battalion presses home the attack!

[In game terms, the elite Prussian battalion started with an MR of 5, modified by +1 for flank support, +1 for rear support, +1 for defensive position, -1 for more casualties, -1 for being staggered and -1 for failing to stop the charge with musketry = 5.  The Imperial battalion started with an MR of 3, modified by +1 for flank support and +1 for rear support = 5.  So the odds were even!  However, the Prussians then got lucky with the dice, beating the Imperials by 2 (6 versus 4).]

Above:  The 2nd Battalion of the ‘Pfalz-Zweibrücken’ Regiment flee back down the slope, but unlike the Austrian regulars of the ‘Macquire’ Regiment, managed to rally at the foot of the hill.  Würzburg orders his Austrian grenadier battalion forward to take their place in the line.

Above:  However, having beaten off the Imperial assault, the Prussian infantry now receive a whiff of grapeshot in the face from a section of battalion guns that has been manhandled forward in support of the Imperial infantry!  The 2nd Battalion of the ‘Alt-Bevern’ Regiment can take no more and stagger back from the line, broken and leaving a yawning gap in the centre of Braun’s line.

Above:  However, Braun has maintained a single grenadier battalion as his tactical reserve for just such a moment and the grenadiers are able to rapidly plug the gap before the Imperials exploit the situation.

Sadly, I forgot to take any more photos after this point, but the situation on the Dürren-Berg didn’t get any better for the Imperial Army.  Würzburg’s battalions just couldn’t break the fresh Prussian grenadier battalion, while the ‘Nikolaus Esterházy’ Regiment seemed simply incapable of closing with the enemy!  Guasco’s Grenadier Corps meanshile, attempted to push on the right, but was hammered by long-range enfilading fire from the Prussian reserve 12-pounders in the entrenchments.

One bright spot for the Reichsarmee however, was that Kleefeld’s line held firm against the Prussian cavalry on the left.  The 1st Battalion of the ‘Blau-Würzburg’ Regiment completely destroyed the charge of Marschall’s dragoons, who then fled the field completely.  Kleist’s hussars and Freikorps meanwhile, were similarly repulsed by the 2nd Battalion of the ‘Blau-Würzburg’ Regiment and the combined grenadiers of the ‘Blau-Würzburg’ and grenzer regiments.

Sadly we had to leave the game at this point.  Al (Prince Stolberg) was resigned to defeat at this point, but in my view still had the chance to beat the Prussians.  His Grenadier Corps was mostly fresh and while he’d lost his cavalry division, he’d only lost one battalion from the three infantry divisions.  The Prussians meanwhile, had lost one battalion and Marschall’s dragoons, while Kleist had lost one of his hussar battalions and was locked into Attack orders; compelled to throw his cavalry up the hill against Kleefeld’s line until one side broke.

To achieve victory, the Imperial side only had to break two Prussian commands and had already broken one.  With a bit of luck, Kleist’s cavalry might also dash themselves to pieces…

Anyway, my thanks to Al and Roger for a good game in excellent company.  Hülsen and the Reichsarmee will be back again for the re-match this Sunday, as we tackle the culmination of their campaign in Upper Saxony; the Combat of Wittenberg.