Following last year’s concentration on Napoleonics and a long, fallow period for the first half of the year, we’ve recently had a flurry of Seven Years War games at W.A.S.P., with this being the second of these games.  I’ll post the battle-report shortly, but here’s the scenario.

As always, this scenario is designed for Tricorn, our mid-18th Century variant of Shako rules, but it should be easily adaptable to other rule-sets.  This scenario is very much small-scale and is easily playable on a typical club-night.

The History Guff

Following the the defeat of the Duke of Cumberland’s Allied army at Hastenbeck on 26th July 1757, the Duke was forced to capitulate and on 10th September agreed to the Convention of Klosterzeven.  This treaty allowed the French to occupy of Hanover, forced the allied contingents of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel and Schaumburg-Lippe to return home and required the Hanoverian Army (with the exception of the garrison of Stade) to retire behind the Elbe.

This treaty went down like a bag of cold sick with the Duke’s father King George II and especially with King Frederick II of Prussia, whose western flank was now completely exposed to French attack.  The Duke of Cumberland would eventually return to London in disgrace.

However, the situation changed completely following Frederick’s decisive defeat on 5th November 1757 of the Franco-Imperial Army at Rossbach and George was consequently persuaded to tear up the Convention and return to war, this time with the talented Prussian General Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in command.

As a member of the ruling family of Brunswick (i.e. Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) he was distantly related to King George and was also King Frederick’s brother-in-law, so was an ideal choice to lead this coalition army.  Even so, he only agreed to the position on condition that he would receive a Hanoverian commission with the rank of General of Infantry, have complete authority over the Hanoverian Army and report directly to King George (even so, Frederick still treated him as though he were still a Prussian general under his command).

Ferdinand immediately assumed the offensive, surprising the French who had already moved into their winter quarters.  By early 1758 he had manoeuvred the French out of Hanover and had forced them back over the Rhine.  In June 1758 he launched a new offensive over the Rhine and on 23rd June won a remarkable victory, attacking and defeating the far larger French army of the Comte de Clermont at the Battle of Krefeld.  This string of successes gave confidence to the British Parliament, who at last agreed to send a British contingent to Germany (the British contingent would be more than doubled following Ferdinand’s great victory at Minden in 1759).  However, Prince Ferdinand’s entire operation west of the Rhine depended upon a single and very vulnerable bridge of boats at the town of Rees, defended by a small detachment under the Brunswicker Lieutenant General Philipp Ernst Freiherr von Imhoff.

At 57 years old, Imhoff was a very experienced and talented officer, having fought in the War of Polish Succession and the Austro-Turkish War of 1737-39.  He had also raised a regiment to fight in the War of Austrian Succession, though Brunswick’s intervention in the war came too late for his regiment to see action.

In 1757 Imhoff had commanded the entire Brunswick Contingent under Cumberland’s command.  However, being a man of strict honour, he had refused to repudiate the terms of the Convention of Klosterzeven and had attempted to march his contingent back to Brunswick.  Arrested by the Hanoverian General von Wangenheim, Imhoff then spent several months in prison before being restored to the army at the same rank in June 1758, though no longer in command of the Brunswick Contingent; that role having now been given to the 22 year-old ‘Hereditary Prince’ (Erbprinz) Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick.

In late July, Imhoff established his camp near the town of Mehr, in order to place himself between the bridgehead at Rees and the French garrison which remained on the eastern bank of the Rhine at the small fortress of Wesel.  Having placed himself here, he then heard from a spy at Wesel that a French force was east of the Rhine and was marching down the right bank, clearly intent linking up with the garrison at Wesel and then attacking Rees.  Imhoff called in his two remaining battalions under General von Zastrow and prepared to meet the enemy.

The French force in question was commanded by Lieutenant General François de Chévert and outnumbered Imhoff by roughly 2:1.  Imhoff’s supposition was correct; Chévert had been ordered by the Marquis de Contades, the new commander-in-chief of the French army of the Lower Rhine, to make a junction with the garrison at Wesel and then fall upon the bridge and magazines at Rees.

The 61 year-old Chévert was an outstanding commander, having built a solid reputation during the War of Austrian Succession, being particularly distinguished at the Battle of Hastenbeck in 1757 and being appointed as one of the eight holders of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Louis.  However, he had suffered repeated bouts of sickness during late 1757 and into 1758, so was forced to go home to recover.  Like von Imhoff, he had only returned to active service with the army in June 1758.

On the evening of 4th August, Imhoff’s spy informed him that the French column was intending to mount a night-attack on Rees that evening!  Imhoff immediately left his camp and marched to Rees, meeting up with Zastrow’s two battalions, thus bringing his total strength to 3,500 men (6 battalions, 4 squadrons of dragoons and a detachment of Bückeburg Carabiniers).  However, no French attack developed and at 0500hrs Imhoff marched back to his camp at Mehr, bringing Zastrow with him.

In the meantime, Chévert had arrived at Wesel and there had absorbed two additional battalions and a contingent of militia and volunteers from the garrison, bringing his total strength to 6,500 men (10 battalions, 4 squadrons of dragoons, 12 heavy guns and various detachments of grenadiers, militia, pioneers and hussars).  However, by the time that this reorganisation was completed, Chévert realised that it was far too late in the day to attempt a night-attack on Rees and instead decided to rest his men and then march out at dawn on the 5th.  By 0700hrs his column was fully on the march from Wesel to Rees along the right bank of the Rhine.  However, he was unaware that this route would take him directly through Imhoff’s camp at Mehr.

At 0800hrs, Imhoff’s column arrived back at its camp and began pitching its tents.  However, at 0830hrs a report came in from the Bückeburg Carabiniers, alerting Imhoff to the appearance of a French column only a short distance away, at the Wildemann Farm on the road to Wesel.  Imhoff immediately ordered his men to abandon their camp preparations and to take up arms!

By 1000hrs, Chavigny’s French advance guard had been in contact with the Bückeburg Carabiniers for around an hour and Chévert could now see Allied troops manoeuvring on the high ground of the Galgenberg.  He now knew that a fairly significant force lay between him and his objective at Rees and that he would have to smash through them.  He ordered his corps to mount a general attack; Hamilton’s Brigade, which led the main body, would form up behind Chavigny’s advance guard on the right, while La Marck’s Brigade would form on the left.  His heavy guns had wisely been placed at the front of the main column, so these were now able to get immediately into action.  However, the head of the column was already taking effective fire from Allied guns drawn up behind two redoubts.

Imhoff realised that while the French were trying to deploy in close terrain, he had the opportunity to trap them there, thus limiting their options for manoeuvre.  Despite the fire from the French artillery, he ordered his line to advance to the hedgerows and engage the enemy more closely.

With Chavigny’s advance guard already pushing back the Allied vedettes along the main Wesel-Rees road (chiefly the massively-outnumbered forty men of the Bückeburg Carabiniers), Chévert ordered Hamilton’s Brigade to follow up the advance guard with an aggressive attack on the Allied left and centre.

From his elevated position on the Galgen-Berg, Imhoff had a good view of French movements and quickly deduced Chévert’s plan to turn his left.  Confident that his left would hold given that the French were finding it difficult to deploy in the close terrain, Imhoff decided to return the favour and ordered the Hanoverian ‘Stoltzenberg’ Regiment to march to the flank, use the sunken lane at Hovelmannshof to march around the French left and from there launch a surprise attack on the enemy flank.

Although the ‘Stoltzenberg’ Regiment had its own march obstructed by the terrain, especially the complex of hedgerows around the Hovelmannshof, they were finally in position to launch their attack at 1100hrs.  Meanwhile, on the opposite flank, the militia contingent was falling back in some disorder in the face of stiff opposition from the ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiment.

Then the ‘Stoltzenberg’ Regiment struck the flank!  This was accompanied by a frontal charge at bayonet-point by the two battalions of Imhoff’s own regiment.  The red-coated Switzers of the ‘Reding’ Regiment fired a ragged volley, but then fled in considerable disorder.  They briefly rallied, but with the Allied infantry pressing forward, they broke again, taking the rest of La Marck’s Brigade with them.

Seeing the French left wing giving way, Zastrow now led the rest of the Allied line forward, spearheaded by the two Hesse-Cassel regiments; ‘Erbprinz’ and ‘Toll’.  On the left flank, the ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiment was able to advance to very close range of the enemy, its white coats apparently confusing the French so much that they completely failed to fire at them!  Attacked at very close range, Chavigny’s entire command now disintegrated, with Chavigny himself falling wounded.

With the collapse of La Marck’s and Chavigny’s Brigades, Hamilton’s Brigade attempted to fight on, but was forced to give ground.  Eventually, pressed hard in front and on both flanks, this brigade too broke and fled, leaving most of their twelve heavy guns to be captured.

With his corps now completely disintegrating, Chévert ordered the ‘Du Roy’ Dragoons to march around the woods on his right flank and attack the Allied left.  While a desperate move that was unlikely to achieve very much, it did serve to check the Allied pursuit and allowed Chévert’s men to escape relatively unmolested back to Wesel.

The butcher’s bill for the French came to 17 officers and 500 men killed, with 49 officers and 363 taken prisoner and 11 guns and one colour captured.  The Allies had lost 3 officers and 185 men.

Imhoff had won a remarkable little victory against considerable odds, saving the bridge and magazines at Rees and Prince Ferdinand’s line of communication.  However, the action alarmed Ferdinand and alerted him to the fragility of his position.  This action was one of many factors that convinced him to end his offensive and he ordered his army to cross back over to the western bank of the Rhine on 9th/10th August.

[Irrelevant Military History Trivia:  The area of this battle roughly equates to Drop Zone ‘A’ where on 24th March 1945, Brigadier Nigel Poett’s 3rd Parachute Brigade of the British 6th Airborne Division landed at the start of Operation VARSITY.]

Orders of Battle

The Allied Corps of Generallieutenant Phillip Ernst Freiherr von Imhoff

(Excellent – 2 ADCs)

Right Wing – Oberst von Stoltzenberg      (Good)
Grenadier Coys, ‘Erbprinz’, ‘Imhoff’ & ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiments      [5/2]
I. Bn, Brunswick Infanterie-Regiment ‘Imhoff’      [4/1]
II. Bn, Brunswick Infanterie-Regiment ‘Imhoff’      [4/1]
Hanoverian Infanterie-Regiment ‘Stoltzenberg’      [4/1 – Large Unit]
Brunswick Battalion Guns      [2/0]

Left Wing – Generalmajor von Zastrow      (Average)
Sachsen-Gotha Infanterie-Regiment ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’      [4/1 – Large Unit]
Hesse-Cassel Infanterie-Regiment ‘Erbprinz’      [4/1 – Large Unit]
Hesse-Cassel Infanterie-Regiment ‘Toll’      [4/1 – Large Unit]
Hesse-Cassel Battalion Guns      [2/0]

Cavalry – Oberst von Busche (Average)
4 Sqns, Hanoverian Dragoner-Regiment ‘Busche’      [5/2]

Artillery Reserve
Hesse-Cassel Light Position Battery      [3/0]
Hanoverian Light Position Battery      [3/0]

Allied Order of Battle Notes

1.  The army also included the esoteric Corps of Carabiniers of Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg.  Consisting of only 40 men, this corps is too small to represent as a unit in game terms.

2.  The massed grenadier companies only form a very weak battalion, but with good morale.  They therefore have MR 5, but apply one hit before the start of the game.  Kronoskaf only mentions two companies (from the ‘Erbprinz’ & ‘Imhoff’ Regiments), but the ‘Imhoff’ Regiment actually had two grenadier companies and accounts of the battle also mention the involvement of the grenadiers of the ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiment, so there must have been at least four grenadier companies present (though admittedly the Sachsen-Gotha grenadiers may have been on the opposite (left) flank).

3.  The ‘Busche’ Dragoons were historically split into two 2-squadron elements, with each element being placed in reserve behind the left and right flanks of the corps.  Such small units would not normally be represented in game terms, but with the agreement of both players, a second unit of the ‘Busche’ Dragoons may be added.  In this instance, the two units are each attached to the Left and Right Wings, Oberst von Busche’s separate command is deleted and the French also gain a second unit of dragoons.  Adjust the formation and army breakpoints accordingly.

4.  The ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiment was a ‘subsidy regiment’ funded by Great Britain.  It actually still belonged to the Duchy of Sachsen-Gotha at this point and wore white coats (probably of British/Hanoverian cut) with dark green facings and white buttonhole lace.  However, following the calling out of the Reichsarmee in support of Austria and France, the Duchy of Sachsen-Gotha had split loyalties and to avoid political complications the regiment was transferred to Hanoverian service in 1759, thus switching to red coats.  Although organised and trained along Hanoverian lines, it had around 100 fewer men than a Hanoverian regiment, though still weighed in at 814 men at full strength, so I would still class it as a Large Unit and it gains the +1 fire modifier against chargers normally enjoyed by British & Hanoverian units.

5.  The Allied brigadiers are not specifically identified, but I like to name commanders.  I’ve therefore speculatively added the names of officers who are either mentioned in the accounts of the battle or who were in command of one of the regiments within each brigade.  These names are in italics.  Zastrow is described as ‘leading forward the centre’, which would appear to mean the two Hessian regiments, but then the Sachsen-Gotha Regiment was also included in this attack, so I’ve stuck all three together under Zastrow’s command.

6.  The number and calibre of guns with Imhoff’s Corps is not known, so the composition of the Reserve Artillery is completely speculative.  Accounts mention the Allied artillery being deployed behind two redoubts, one of which was on the Galgen-Berg.  It’s possible that this simply referred to battalion guns, but it seems unlikely that such a force would have been left completely without any field artillery.  I’ve therefore given Imhoff two light position batteries (one Hessian and one Hanoverian), but this is pure speculation.

Allied Formation Breakpoints

Division                  FMR      ⅓      ½      ¾
Right Wing                  20          7       10       15
Left Wing                     18          6        9        14
Cavalry                           5          –         –         –
Artillery Reserve          6          –         –         –

Army                       FMR     ¼       ⅓       ½
Allied Army                 49         13       17       25

The French Corps of Lieutenant-Général François de Chévert

(Good – 2 ADCs)

Right Wing (Brancas Brigade) – Maréchal de Camp Milord Hamilton      (Average)
1st Bn, Infantry Regiment ‘Foix’      [4/1]
1st Bn, Infantry Regiment ‘Brancas’      [4/1]
2nd Bn, Infantry Regiment ‘Brancas’      [4/1]
1st Bn, Infantry Regiment ‘Royal-Lorraine’      [4/1]
1st Bn, Infantry Regiment ‘Périgord’      [4/1]
Battalion Guns      [2/0]

Left Wing (Reding Brigade) – Maréchal de Camp Chevalier de la Marck      (Average)
1st Bn, Swiss Infantry Regiment ‘Reding’      [4/1]
2nd Bn, Swiss Infantry Regiment ‘Reding’      [4/1]
1st Bn, German Infantry Regiment ‘La Marck’      [4/1]
2nd Bn, German Infantry Regiment ‘La Marck’      [4/1]
1st Bn, Infantry Regiment ‘Royal-Barrois’      [4/1]
Battalion Guns      [2/0]

Avant-Garde – Maréchal de Camp de Chavigny      (Poor)
Volontaires de Muret, Cambefort, Pajet & Milice      [2x Skirmishers (3)]
Grenadiers de Royal-Roussillon, Conty, Cambrésis & Milice      [4/1]
Battalion Guns      [2/0]

Dragons – Colonel Comte de Scey (Good)
4 Sqns, Dragons Du Roy (Poor)      [4/1]

Artillery Reserve
Heavy Position Battery      [3/0]
Heavy Position Battery      [3/0]

French Order of Battle Notes

1.  French Dragoons were still roled very much as mounted infantry and are therefore classed as Poor Dragoons, with MR 4.  On this occasion however, they were the only large body of cavalry available to de Chevert, so he kept them mounted as a cavalry reserve.  They may not therefore dismount to fight on foot.  There were also two companies of hussars attached to the Avant-Garde, though these are too few to be represented as units in game terms.

2.  While the names of the brigadiers are mentioned in accounts, the commander of the dragoons is not identified.  The Comte de Scey was Colonel of the regiment at this time, so I’ve speculatively added his name to the order of battle in italics.

3.  Chévert would ordinarily be strong candidate for being classed as ‘Excellent’, but possibly as a result of his ongoing sickness he had a very bad off-day at Mehr, so I’ve downgraded him to ‘Good’.  Despite being demoralised by his defeat at Mehr, he performed superbly in commanding the successful flank-attack at Lutterberg on 10th October 1758, but his his deserved Marshal’s bâton was instead awarded to the Prince de Soubise, a toady of Madame Pompadour.

4.  The Volontaires de Muret, Volontaires de Camberfort and Volontaires de Pajet were detachments of ‘Volontaires de l’Armée’, meaning detachments of volunteers temporarily taken from the infantry regiments to act as flankers in lieu of dedicated units of light troops.  There was no formal strength or organisation, so it’s impossible to know exactly how strong they were, but judging by the overall army strength and adding in the 100 militia known to be present, I’ve arbitrarily designated the combined Volontaires as roughly battalion-strength, represented by two skirmisher stands (MR 3).

5.  The grenadier companies of the Royal-Roussillon Regiment (1 coy), Conty Regiment (1 coy) & Cambrésis Regiment (2 coys) were present with the avant-garde, along with 9 coys of militia grenadiers.  French grenadier companies were very weak, being only 1/17th of a battalion or 48 men at full strength (around 30 men being more typical on campaign).  I’ve therefore grouped them as a single poor grenadier battalion (MR 4).  There is also mention of the grenadier companies of the Foix, Royal-Lorraine and Périgord Regiments being moved to protect the right flank of Hamilton’s Brigade, but these would not be sufficient to warrant showing them as a separate unit in game terms (probably no more than 100 men in total).

French Formation Breakpoints

Division                  FMR      ⅓      ½      ¾
Right Wing                   22         8       11       16
Left Wing                      22         8       11       16
Avant-Garde                 9           3        5        8
Dragons                         4           –         –         –
Artillery Reserve          6           –         –         –

Army                        FMR      ¼      ⅓      ½
French Army                63         16      21      32

Terrain Notes

The Galgen-Berg feature is only a very gentle rise in the ground and does not provide a defender with the usual +1 melee modifier.  It does however, allow observation over terrain and blocks line of sight as normal.

The Built-Up Sectors (BUS) marked on the map are mostly strongly-built farmsteads and provide the defender with a -1 cover and +1 melee modifier.

It’s probably also worth reminding that units defending BUS may fire at opportunity targets in any direction as Skirmisher fire.  They may also conduct volley fire simultaneously at ALL units attacking the BUS, but do so with a -1 modifier.  They may not claim any support modifiers in melee, but the attackers may claim rear (not flank) support.

The Allied redoubts each provide a single battery with a -1 cover and +1 melee modifier. Class as a linear obstacle to pass through (note that this movement penalty must be paid if attempting to charge into contact).

Woods (dark green) behave as per the Tricorn QRS.  They also give the defender a -1 cover modifier against skirmishers and formed musketry only.  Visibility is limited to 2 inches and rear-support may only be given by units within 2 inches.

Orchards (medium green) behave as per the Tricorn QRS.

Hedges behave as Linear Obstacles as per the Tricorn QRS and give defending formed infantry a +1 melee modifier, but no cover modifier.

The hedged lane extending north through Hovelmannshof is a sunken lane.  The hedges behave as normal, but any troops within the lane may not be observed beyond 4 inches range and they gain a -1 cover modifier.  Artillery may not deploy and fire if placed in the lane.

Marshes (indicated by the broken blue lines) behave as per the Tricorn QRS.

All other water-features are impassable.

Scenario Notes & Victory Conditions

1.  The game lasts 12 turns.

2.  Both players may issue any orders to their commands at the start of the game.

3.  Both sides deploy as per their historical positions on the map (above).  This was very much as ‘come as you are’ encounter-battle, with deployment being determined long before by the Allied positions within their camp and the French order of march.  The two exceptions to this rule are that the Hanoverian ‘Busche’ Dragoons may be placed anywhere to the rear of the main Allied line and that the northern redoubt and associated battery may be placed anywhere along the front of the Allied left wing.

4. In order to claim a victory, one side must break the opposing army’s morale.

Umpire’s Eyes Only!

The appearance of the white-coated Sachsen-Gotha troops in front of them, caused a brief moment of confusion among French ranks, which allowed the Allies to take the local tactical initiative in that sector of the battlefield.  For that reason, when the ‘Erbprinz von Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiment first comes within the musketry pattern of a formed French battalion, no French unit (including skirmishers and artillery) may fire at that unit for that turn only.

If possible, do not reveal this to either player.  However, if one player has sneakily read this scenario, ensure that BOTH players are aware of the rule.

Balancing Options

Historically, Mehr was a resounding Allied victory, but when we played this scenario it turned into a catastrophic Allied defeat (tune in next time for the game report).  The players deemed this to be the result of some astonishingly poor dice-rolling on the part of the Allies, compounded by the French seemingly having the luck of the devil.  However, in my opinion the French are somewhat overpowered, as many accounts mention the poor quality of Chévert’s infantry.

The Chevalier de la Marck’s Brigade (Reding, La Marck & Royal-Barrois Regiments) performed particularly badly and broke very quickly, so perhaps downgrade these units to MR 3 and adjust the formation and army breakpoints accordingly.  However, in our refight this brigade never actually got into action, so this would have made no difference whatsoever to our refight!  A general upgrade of the superb Allied infantry to MR 5 might therefore also be an option.