"skirmishers leaving/returning to their parent battalion" Topic

Question:

At what point in the battle would skirmishers leave their parent units and then return.

answer: depends….

Ok but really what was the usual practice (or ideal practice)

My understanding is that they would deploy quite early. Perhaps 1000 yards from the enemy to form a screen in front of the division/brigade. The could be 200-500 yards from the formed infantry and would idealy return for the main assault?

This is actually the bit im especially not sure on. Could a battalion really spare to loose a company or so of infantry if they were going to assault. Would they try to return before this happened and if so only if the skirmish battle was over?

also if a brigade is on a harrass type order. That is to pin another brigade but not actually engage, would it deploy more skirmishers.

I remember reading the late prussian standard tactic was in a corps – 1 brigade leads false attack to flank (more skirmishers) while 2 other brigades attack the center. Meanwhile last brigade is held in reserve.

Depends on the tactical doctrine.
Those armies which did use linear tactics had to drive them in when things got hot, or actually even before things got hot to avoid any confusion.
The general trend (with the known exceptions outside of continental europe) was to use column tactics, keep the skirmishirs out in front as line of fire (ligne de feu in french) and move through at the point of attack with assault columns for the bayonet charge.

Brent Nosworthy's book on Napoleonic tactics has excellent detail on this kind of thing.

Nosworthy is a lot of rubbish on this and several other key tactical aspects. Forget all that stuff about 1807 reactions – it is based on a logic that means the French did not skirmish at all except Davout's Corps in 1811!

Unfortunately, the word itself causes a lot of confusion. The first case is the light troops/advance-guard skirmishing, where the armies close to contact. There wopuld be patrols right out front – probably with cavalry ahead screening the main army. Then behind would be a small formed unit as a support if things became serious (Austrian Hussars put half out in a screen and half in a formed unit).

However, I presume blucher is talking about skirmishers deployed from the main lines of infantry. How this was done under the Austrian 1807 regs and a general French approach are shown in Osprey Warriors 24 and 57. The answer is really that this was done when it was necessary – when there were no lights about or in difficult ground, where the enemy could not really be seen. For example, it was not necessary for the main lines at Aspern, but happened at Teugn-Hausen in the rolling ground. Skirmishers would also be used to cover retreats, just to keep the enemy off.

Blucher,

Sounds like you need to do some reading. Osprey Austrian infantry as Dave Hollins explains (when he is through with editorial comment) diagrams and explains skirmishers and their relationship to their formed support and the main line. I have read so many Napoleonic books on the subject, they all run together now.

Timing depended on the ground, the perceived state of the enemy, the mission for that unit of the army,at what level skirmishing is decided to be performed (company,battalion,regiment), etc. I think of the classic tactics as: the skirmishes move forward to harrass the enemy line; the main line moves forward in sync with the skirmishers; the skirmishers stop then gradually fall back as the main line moves forward toward the enemy line; the skirmishers filter to the rear of the main line as the line comes into long firing range contact with the enemy and then the real bloodletting begins. Kind of a well oiled machine which of course is hard to believe actually existing one the battle has begun.

As I said before, however, to really understand it, you need to do some reading of several authors about the subject. I think it is too complex to explain here in a couple of lines.

Since you use the name blucher, I would think you have done some reading that would have covered this. I hope I wasn't too simplistic in offering what I did above.

The 1809 regulations for Hungarian Insurrection may sound rather obscure or quaint but can be quite an eye opener on this aspect of warfare.
They detail two companies of light troops held to the rear of the line companies. The light companies skirmished in front & flanks as required until the enemy was close to musketry range of the main line – when they retired ready to cover their own line if it fell back or chased the enemy if their side won preserving the main line in as much order as possible.
Normally main regulations lagged practice, but whether this regulation reflected Austrian widespread practice or was specially crafted for the anticipated capabilities of insurrection troops as opposed to regular line infantry I have no firm opinion, though I suspect the latter.
It is also instructive as a sign of how 'modern' & 'flexible' Austrian military thinking could be which does not gel well with popular view but it exists in plain black and white to read (well ok, dark grey & light brown after 200 years).

Jeff Lewis