Tom Lytle from the Lone Star Historical Miniatures (LSHM) club in Texas put on the Battle of Talavera 1809 in 15mm at our annual Wargaming show 9-11 November in Austin Texas.
This was a refight of the epic battle pitting the French v. Wellington in Spain. Will history change or will Wellington see the French off in the same old way? Tom and his group from Houston Texas use a set of rules they developed themselves called: Quelle Affaire.
The Battle of Talavera was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some 80 miles southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, an Anglo-Spanish army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish army under General Cuesta in operations against French-occupied Madrid.
French Army of the Centre
Commander-in-Chief: Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Total French forces: 46,180, 84 guns
Spanish Army
Commander-in-Chief: Lieutenant General Gregorio García de la Cuesta
Spanish cavalry units ending in a number (Nr.) are regular units and so is the Carabineros Reales Regiment. Other cavalry units are probably newly-raised volunteers. Regular units titled Cavalry are heavy cavalry while units titled Cazadores are light cavalry. Units labeled Regiment are probably regular infantry from the old army, though Badajoz, Canarias, Mallorca, Osuna and Salamanca are not in Charles Oman's list. Units labeled Cazadores Regiment are regular light infantry. Infantry units titled Granaderos or Provincial are the standing militia units from the old army. All other infantry units are probably newly-raised volunteers.
British Army
Commander-in-Chief: Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley
Total Anglo-Spanish forces: 52,735, 66 guns
