"1813 Erfurt Campaign" Topic

Day One. The campaign opens with a French attack on Amstadt, which is the Russian southern flank.

Davout orders 2nd and 5th corps to attack 3rd Russian corps, who are deployed just west of Amstadt. Further to the north 4th Russian corps is under orders to support Amstadt should it be attacked. They move to join to join 3rd corps as soon as they hear the sounds of battle.

The result is a French victory. The full battle report is on the campaign diary blog
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Day Two. Having lost the battle of Amstadt, 2nd and 3rd Russian corps retreat east towards the river Saale. This leaves 1st Russian corps at Erfurt isolated and in danger of being surrounded and overrun. Wittgenstein orders them to abandon Erfurt and retreat east of the river, taking all supplies with them.

5th French corps enter Amstadt and secure the abandoned Russian depot.

6th French corps move into Erfurt as the Russians retreat.

Day Three. The Russian army complete their retreat east of the river Saale.

The French are now in possession of Erfurt (the campaign objective) and all of the west bank of the river Saale.

Both armies are running short of supplies. This is a particular problem for the French, because their rapid advice has left them out of supply range of their depots. Davout orders new depots at Amstadt and Erfurt, and to move supplies forward from his main depot at Horsel.

Davout would like to follow up his pursuit of the defeated Russians, but dare not do so until he has resupplied and reorganised his corps.

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Day Four. Both commanders need at least one day to regroup and resupply. However French cavalry report that the bridge on the Erfurt to Rudolstadt is held by a single Russian infantry brigade.

Davout orders 6th corps to take the bridge, cross the river and swing south to attack the Russian right flank. 2nd corps (Young Guard) are ordered to support the crossing and to attack over the river when the attack develops.

This could be considered a rash option. The Russians outnumber the French. Although the river is fordable to infantry and cavalry, they are disordered whilst doing so. The Russian defensive is very strong, except for the lightly held bridge.

6th corps have to pass through Erfurt is order to reach the bridge. As they do so their cavalry cross the bridge and deploy to hold it until the infantry can join them. Their artillery is leading the long column, so that they can deploy on the French side of the river and support the infantry crossing.

The Russians react immediately they see the French advance. 1st corps send a Cossack brigade and two infantry brigades to oppose the French crossing. The Cossacks charge the French chasseurs, and against all expectations win the melee. They roll 2D6 to decide the outcome, and achieve a total of 12!). The French cavalry lose 100 casualties and rout back over the bridge. In doing so they ride through their artillery and leading infantry brigade, who are both shaken.

The whole French attack is stalled for at least three hours. During this time the Russians redeploy to secure the northern bridge and the whole of the east bank of the river Saale.

The French have only lost 100 casualties, but they will lose many more to attrition due to lack of supplies. The Russians have secured at least two days to regroup, resupply and reinforce. However the French still hold the west bank of the river Saale, and the city of Erfurt (which is the campaign objective)

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Day Five. Both armies redeploy following battle of river Saale.

1st and 4th Russian corps move north to cover both bridges
2nd and 6th French corps retreat out of range of the Russian guns

2nd and 6th French corps, and 4th Russian corps, are all out of supply
But they have to move following the battle of the previous day
In doing so each corps lose 400 infantry casualties to attrition
To resupply they must be stationary and within one days march of supplies

Davout orders the movement of supplies from Amstadt to Erfurt

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Day Six. Having failed to cross the river Saale Davout decides to consolidate on the west bank. He will concede the initiative to the Russians.

Wittgenstein is in a strong defensive position, but is aware he must take Erfurt in order to win the campaign. He is not prepared to repeat the French mistake and try to cross a strongly held river line. Instead he will try to tempt the French to cross in the north, and then attack them with their back to the river.

He orders 2nd corps to move south towards the main army.
If the French follow he will turn and attack as they cross the river
If they fail to follow he will concentrate three corps in the centre and attack
He is confident that 2nd corps will rejoin him before 14th corps can rejoin Davout

2nd French corps cross the river in the north, but halt and wait orders from Davoout

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Day Seven. Unable to attack across the heavily defended river Saale, Wittgenstein decided to tempt the isolated northern French corps to cross the river, and then attack him as he does so. 2nd Russian corps is ordered to retreat south behind a hill, regroup and wait for a good opportunity to attack.

14th Westphalian cross the river as soon as the Russians retire. However they are ordered to take Weissensee first, and then pursue the Russians. In doing so they fail to fall into the Russian trap.

The Russians do counter attack, but arrive too late to save the town. They also lose the subsequent battle. They are forced to retire south, but two of their brigades who fought in the town are routed to the east. They will have to evade the Westphalians and rally before they can rejoin their corps.

The Russian ploy has failed completely. They have lost Weissensee and its depot, and have allowed the French to gain a foothold on the east bank of the river, and on their now exposed northern flank.

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Day Eight. 14th Westphalian corps is very short of supplies, but fortunately the Russians have abandoned three days supplies at Weissensee. The Westphalians secure the town with one brigade, whilst the remainder of the corps move to force the two elements of 2nd Russian corps even further apart.

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Day Nine. Both armies halt, regroup and resupply.

The French now have a firm bridgehead on the east bank of the river Saale. However only two of their corps are in contact with the Russians. The other two are within one days march, but the army is not yet concentrated.

Three of the Russian corps are concentrated along the east bank of the river Saale. Wittgenstein orders the fourth corps to abandon Hofelfelden and rejoin the main army.

As soon as 3rd Russian corps do so, 5th French corps (opposite them on the west bank) also march north. However the French have the advantage of a good road running alongside the river, the Russians have to use a road some distance from the river bank.

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Day Ten. Wittgenstein has three of his four corps in position to hold the Erfurt to Rudolstadt road and bridge. He orders his fourth corps to abandon Hofelfelden and march north to join them. They will take 24 hours to arrive.

Davout has only two corps in position to attack, and only one of those are east of the river Saale. However a third will arrive at 0900 and the fourth at 1200. He estimates that he can bring all four corps in contact by late afternoon, and defeat the Russian army before their fourth corps can arrive.

If he is right he will win a decisive victory. If he is wrong he risks a serious defeat.

You can read the outcome on the Campaign Diary Blog here

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Day Eleven. Having lost the battle of Erfurt, Wittgenstein orders his army to retreat and rally at Rudolstadt. Two of the three corps which took part in the battle are in rout and the third is covering the retreat. The fourth corps, which did not take part in the battle, is also ordered to Rudolstadt.

Davout orders his four corps to rest and regroup in their battle positions. His advance throughout the campaign has been so rapid that he has over extended his lines of supply. He must reorganise them before he can pursue the Russians.

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Day Twelve. Wittgenstein has concentrated his army at Rudolstadt. He has also rallied the two corps which routed from Erfurt. All four corps have been issued two days supplies and infantry battle casualties concentrated in one brigade in each corps. He desperately needs more time to replace those casualties with reinforcements.

Davout has brought up sufficient supplies to issue four days to each corps. They have also concentrated their battle casualties.

Both armies have suffered considerable battle casualties, but the Russians many more than the French.

Both armies are now fully operational

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Day Thirteen. Davout orders his army to advance and make contact with the Russian Army.

Wittgenstein has been allowed another day to top up his supplies. He has also received much needed replacements for his cavalry battle casualties.

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Day Fourteen. The battle of Rudolstadt was the decisive battle of the campaign. All eight corps took part in the battle, it was hard fought, both sides suffered similar casualties and the outcome was in doubt right to the end.

The battle opened with three corps per side, which filled the cramped battlefield. Then each side received a further corps after four moves. The Russian reserve arrived just in time to restore their right flank.

The fourth French corps had a long approach march to join the battle, and arrived too late to play a decisive part. By the time they were in position it was too late to commit them to attack. To do so would have resulted in heavy casualties, and night would fall before they could exploit any success.

At nightfall the Russians held the town, and the hills to the north. They had lost their left flank and two corps were in retreat. The French had no available reserve to continue the battle, and would require at least 24 hours to reorganise and redeploy before they could resume battle.

The Russians claimed a victory because they held the town, which was the objective of the battle.

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Day Fifteen. By daybreak the Russian army had abandoned Rudolstadt and retreated to the east. Although they held the town at the end of the battle, two of the four Russian corps were in retreat. Wittgenstein could either order a general retreat and attempt to save the remainder of his army, or risk their destruction is a second day of fighting.

Marshal Davout ordered his army to attack at daybreak. He redeployed his army under cover of darkness and positioned 14th corps to attack the town. The Westphalians had arrived too late to take part in the fighting the previous day. They were fresh and eager to lead the attack.

The Russian retreat confirmed that the French had won the Erfurt campaign.

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The campaign has ended in a French victory. There is a short summary of the campaign on the campaign diary blog

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