"Charging through lines of friendly infantry" Topic

I was playing a very simple rules set last week called Bravado Napoleonics. I rather like it but it's very loose.

At one point a British dragoon brigade charged through two lines of Allied infantry and routed two lines of French infantry.

I know that the Union Brigade charged through at least one line of British infantry at Waterloo and was able to rout two French divisions. They must still have had some order or at least violent impetus.

My question: have any of you heard of cavalry passing through more than one line of friendly infantry and succeeding? Or should I put some restrictions on these rules?

Adkin's 'The Waterloo Companion' describes the British cavalry charge at Waterloo as:
"Kempt's and Pack's brigades form line, fire, then open ranks to allow cavalry through. Ompteda's and Kielmansegge's brigades form square."
The individual cavalry squadrons passed thru the gaps created.
So cavalry passing thru an infantry line should involve some formation changes for the infantry.

I don't think I'd be too happy with that. I play General de Brigade, and it has an interesting feature for 'formation tests.' If one unit passes through another, the units must take the formation test. If it fails, it's unformed.

I would portend that a unit passing through at a normal speed, marching, walking, etc, again, a formation test may be warranted. But charging through, especially cavalry through infantry.. no way. It would be pandemonium.

Reference this. Years ago I was tending to my horse back home in Texas. Walking in the pasture, something spooked the grazing horses. About 10 to 12 of them came toward me at breakneck speed to escape whatever spooked them. Now I admit, this was uncontrolled, but for a few moments I was scared xxxxless. I cannot imagine a squardron of 100 horses moving at a fast clip attempting to get between me and the guy next to me. Not a chance.

While uncertain about the rule in GDBDE, I can oblige the reason that we have limited space on the table, time scales can be nebulous, so to accomodate the game flowing, allow passing through lines at normal speed with a formation test mandatory for both units. That means our cavalry (or infantry) don't get to charge uhtil the next move when they've cleared the unit passed through, or 2 moves if they have to reform after passing through.

In terms of rules, I propose that it all depends on your timescale. If a move is a couple of minutes, then charging through friendly troops without any negative impact should probably not be possible; however, if a move is 30 minutes, then all sorts of things could be happening to allow the charge to happen. Of course, you then have to decide what "charge" means in a 30 minute turn!

Concur

A turn represents 30 minutes, each unit is a brigade or large regiment.

That picture of the Scots Greys mixed with infantry has a lot to answer for!

As said above, cavalry charging through friendly infantry in a line formation would have the exact same effect as on enemy infantry in line but with a few less sabre cuts in the head.

Manouvering between friendly formed squares & columns in a line then charging was expected to occur without harm to either and explained in at least some of the regulations.

It will depend upon your ground scale the time-scale and what each unit represents

If

A turn represents 30 minutes, each unit is a brigade or large regiment

Then it does not really matter as a brigade (of infantry) will have gaps through which cavalry formations could pass, the representation on the table is what seemingly offends.

It is a game, if you do not like that element of the rules, change it. If you seek to represent a smaller formation, where a cavalry regiment charges through an infantry battalion in line, presumably from its rear to the front, I do not think it is feasible. I would suggest there would be a lot of very sick infantry, a lot of unhorsed cavalry and a regimental colonel looking for a new job. I have been kicked and run over by a horse, though not at the same time, it hurts! In a line, even a British line, you have two ranks of chaps standing shoulder to shoulder elbows so close together they can touch. The idea that a regiment of horse can pass through without at least disordering the unit, and itself, is I believe untenable.

There are several occasions when the rules we play come up with absurd suggestions. I heard last night that in one set a unit in a river is "in cover", so players sought to place units in rivers, to claim an advantage;- a battery of artillery being so deployed…

rabbit

To quote again:

"Kempt's and Pack's brigades form line, fire, then open ranks to allow cavalry through. Ompteda's and Kielmansegge's brigades form square."

So from a real and not a wargamers point of view it looks like it did happen. Did they go through individual files or platoon/Coys?

Tally Ho!

If your turn is 30 minutes, I do again have to wonder exactly what "charge" means within the rules. Within 30 minutes of the Union Brigade being unleashed at Waterloo an awful lot happened involving them in that part of the field, not just the charge itself. From memory (I am in Lithuania at the moment) within 30 minutes, they had charged, caused severe damage to the French infantry to their front, sabred the Grand Battery, been charged by French cavalry, the remnants had been rescued and they had started to reform behind the Allied infantry.

If a charge can occupy 30 minutes in the rules, there may be a slight problem with them.

There are several accounts of how the heavy cavalry passed through Kempt's and Pack's infantry at Waterloo.

Uxbridge, in Waterloo Letter No.5 wrote:

Towards the bottom of the slope I found our infantry mostly in line, but getting into squares to receive the enemy cavalry, and making intervals for us as our squadrons presented themselves. Thus we passed through the infantry as fast and as well as we could (but necessarily not with exact regularity), when, again forming, we instantly charged…

Lieutenant Shelton of the 28th regiment in letter no. 150 wrote:

It was at this moment that the Heavy Brigade came up, when the 28th wheeled by subdivisions [that is half companies] to its right and made way for the dragoons, who passed through the intervals; but as the latter came up in most regular order, there was in some cases not room for a troop to pass through, and I perfectly recollect a squadron of the Royals inclining considerably to its left to clear our left wing…

A similar description can be found in Winchester's letter no.168, referring to the 92nd regiment.

Another similar account can be found in Grattan's (Adventures with the Connaught Rangers)description of Salamanca, where he claims that Le Marchant's cavalry passed through the line of the 88th regiment:

"Open right and left" was an order quickly obeyed; the line opened, the cavalry passed through the intervals, and, forming rapidly in our front, prepared for their work

This seems to have taken place in close proximity to the enemy, as at Waterloo, with huge volumes of smoke from musketry obscuring some of the field. Also, as the 3rd division was deployed at least 2 lines deep, Le Marchant's cavalry presumably had to pass through all of them.

A charge would start out, not at full gallop or run, but at a walk. The idea that a "charge" is a full speed dash straight at the enemy is a misnomer. Since charges are usually somewhat planned, a unit could be given orders to reform to allow the unit behind to charge (walk) through. So yes, given enough time, and distance from the enemy, any unit could "charge" through another, but both units need to adjust their formation or chaos will ensue. I would recommend "Tactics and Grand Tactics of the Napoleonic Wars", by George Jeffrey for an understanding of how this could work.

Indeed Corporalpat,

Uxbridge's letter suggests that the cavalry passed through the infantry who specifically changed formation to allow them through, and then reformed and charged. No actual "charging" through the infantry there.

Grattan describes a very similar situation where the cavalry passed through, reformed and then did what they had to.

It does seem that Lady Butler has a lot to answer for in influencing the modern view of that "charge".

It does seem that Lady Butler has a lot to answer for in influencing the modern view of that "charge"

Not to mention the Dino de Laurentiis movie, Waterloo… actually, the movie was probably more correct when it showed the Grey's in slow motion, as representing the more likely speed of the Grey's attack.

npm

An interesting post. Thanks to those replying with quotations.

Is it just me never seeing it, or has there really never been a movie scene or a youtube video of a charge delivered by heavy cavalry at a speed slow enough to keep the front ranks of cavalry in any semblance of formation up to the last run to impact? They all seem to depict many hundreds of yards of hell for leather scattered chaos…

GQC, try the Charge of the Light Brigade.

As to the moving of the cavalry through the infantry I think you need only accept the quotes offered by Major Snort. This is the same opening up of a line as would happen for passage of line.

Taylor (letter 53 in the unpublished Siborne letters (G. Glover 2004) describes the 10th Hussars passing through a battery of artillery. This involves the cavalry in column of half squadrons wheeling by "threes", moving between the guns then wheeling each half squadron back into line and moving the regiment off as a column of half-squadron.

YouTube link
Better than most though the formation stills breaks up in the final part of the charge either due to a lack of training or on orders from the director.

youtu.be/xMAMNYx6b6w from War Horse gives a short glimpse of the formation from the air, uneven but not the usual band of individual riders galloping hell for leather towards the enemy.

So from a half-hour turn, brigade as base unit it could be done. I might have a check based on unit quality, but then that would gum up the extremely simple rules…

Yeah, I know cavalry charges weren't all flat out like most movies.

There is a first-hand account of a British infantry unit passing through another quoted in 'Sahib' by Richard Holmes.

I don't have to book on me, but it happened – as I recall – in about 1820, so a few years after the Napoleonic Wars, but I do not think the drill had changed in the meantime.

It described a British or Indian unit in the front line routing under heavy artillery and musket fire. As the routers approached the unit behind, the rear unit formed files on its file leaders to allow the routers to pass through, then closed its files to form to line again. The account is from a letter written by and NCO who observed the action from another unit. He was commenting favourably on how well the unit that opened and closed ranks had done, not because it was an unusual maneuver, but because they did it with such precision under difficult circumstances.

I do not know how many file leaders there were per company, but I got the mental picture of a venetian blind opening, then closing again.

Troops passing through each other is such an obviously potentially useful maneuver on the battlefield, I would have been surprised if there was not a drill to accommodate it. Opening on file leaders does not sound more complicated than other drills, such as forming square for instance.

The routed unit rallied, came back and rejoined the fight btw.