18ctexan: Battle of Schongrabern

After the capitulation at ULM, the pursuit of the remaining forces of Austria (not including Archduke Charles forces facing Massena in Italy), and the subsequent fall of Vienna the campaign continues with the remaining Austrians on the north bank of the Danube. The French continue to advance; crossing the Danube at several points. The first battle will be at the crossroads near Schongrabern.

The Allied scum consist of the following:

Infantry: 9 regiments (2592 figures), 8 battalions of Austrian grenadiers (480 figures), 3 battalions of Grenz (216 figures) total = 32,880 men (3288 figures)

This includes some of the best units in the Austrian Army...Hoch und Deutschmeister, Kaiser Franz, Archduke Carl, and Archduke Ferdinand regiments

Cavalry: 6 cavalry regiments, including 4 Kurassier Regts, 1 Uhlan and 1 Hussar....5760 men (576 figures)

Artillery: 8 batteries of guns, 4- 12lb batteries, 4- 6lb batteries, total of 28 gun models (56 guns) total figures including limber teams (280 figures)

Austrian Totals = 4,144 figures

The Russians are on the march to join the Austrians

The French "heroes" include the following"

Infantry: 32 battalions- (3096 figures) = 30,960 men
Cavalry: 10 regiments - (540 figures) = 5,400 men
Artillery: 33 gun models (66 guns) total figures including teams (330 figures)

French Totals = 3,966 figures

Total Forces employed = 8,110 figures

The quaint town of Schongrabern. A few miles north of Danube.

Austrian troops

"Shot" of length of table/battleground

Austrian left flank

Austrian deployment area

French V Corps and Heavy Cavalry Division.

Schongrabern from the front.

Schongrabern from the "right flank".

Schongrabern...center

Because the Austrians decided to deploy 40,000+ men in under 2 miles of space they were able to deploy in great depth. And force French to attack "head-on". This appears to be the making of a very "bloody" battle with maneuver at a minimum.

Austrian center next to Schongrabern

Austrian center with close up of Kurassiers.

Austrian center. Lots of depth in deployment.

Austrian far left flank

Austrian far right flank

So the Austrians are deployed in depth on the entire battlefield. The French appear to mirror the Austrians. So if you are strong..."everywhere"...are you then really strong "no where"????
Every plan has a weakness just like every man has weaknesses! So the question becomes...."Is it better to force the enemy to make a mistake by your actions or simply try to counter any enemy attacks....offense vs. defense?

The Frenchmen by his very nature is "offensive" But what is the Austrian and can he adapt??

French left flank

French left/center

French far right flank

French center/ V Corps under Marechal Lannes

Close-up of French left flank cavalry and artillery batteries

And the CAVALRY CHARGE!!!!

Cavalry charge in the center.

Cavalry charge on Austrian right flank

Big Cavalry Charge-850+ figures!!...Almost length of field.

Now this is a big cavalry fight! Main reason the Austrians lost was the French were able to fire into their flank from well positioned infantry squares. Austrian infantry should have attacked at same time as cavalry.

The Battle of Schongrabern started with a very large cavalry attack on the part of the Austrians ( led by Archduke Ferdinand himself...perhaps trying to steal glory from his elder brother the Kaiser). Unfortunately for Ferdinand, the French were lead by Marechal Murat and Generals D'Hauptpol, Nansouty, St Sulpice, and St. Germain......the crème of the Heavy Cavalry divisions. Also instead of concentrating on the French cavalry, the Austrians split their forces and also attacked the French "grand battery" some 50+ guns. This also meant that they were subjected to infantry fire by flanking French infantry squares.....the Austrians took 200+ causalities before they even reached the French guns and cavalry.

Even so they closed with the French cavalry, but failed to charge "home" on the guns....bouncing off the guns and retreating from the field. The remaining Austrian cavalry were outflanked and being severally outnumbered...were forced to also retreat from the field. The cavalry charge was over and the Austrian cavalry were "ruined" for the rest of the day. However, the melee with the French cavalry also meant that the French "heavies" would also be out of the fight for a couple of hours!

On the far right another Austrian cavalry charge had the same result......a French victory and Austrian retreat!

Now it would come down to the infantry and gun lines!

Given that both combatant's cavalry had been removed from active participation in the battle...the battle became one of battery/counter battery fire and infantry musketry! The French continued to advance upon the entire Austrian line...which also deployed from column to line and the firefight was on!.

After about a hour of continuous fire the Austrians started to suffer disproportional losses to French skirmishers. The Austrians then decided to retire before the French could close to melee and "lock" the Austrians into a fight that might "rout" their entire command. Is was at this point that the Austrian command showed unbelievable skill in using their infantry to slow the French advance. Using lines interspaced with columns to first drive off skirmishes then make French deploy from column to line to engage in firefights...and then countercharging French lines with the columns...allowed the Austrians to slow the French advance...and eventually stop the French advance.....a superb technical feat of arms and a bright spot for the Austrians battle performance. The Austrians succeeded in safely removing all their guns and uninjured infantry...along with their remaining cavalry.

After losing big cavalry fight and artillery duel, Austrians start to fall back.