The Bridges - Pursuit of VI Korps 10 AM report

10 AM -  The weather is Fine, though clouds are gathering. Visibility on the table increases to 128”.

Austrian Headquarters - from here our situation looks most precarious, we are holding on to the upper half of Klein Stetteldorf and its bridge, but I do not think the next hour will spare us. IR 59 has given way and retreated over the bridge and I am pleased to say that they have rallied on the Church behind the village and so may provide us with a back stop, should we [sic IR 14] also need to retreat. 

The fighting on the slope opposite us may go in our favour and we may find that Schwarzenberg and / or IR 36 can come to our aid. With the French controlling the lower half of the village, I cannot get orders to him quickly enough to save our situation and so I will trust in his initiative. Our casualties are in the region of 350 men.

Orders -  To GM Froon (at lower bridge) fall back across the bridge and move north on the far side of the river, towards the Church. Use all haste to prevent your entrapment, the village may soon be lost [orders will not arrive and become effective until 11 AM].

Orders - IR 59 (Jordis) hold the position at the church at all costs.

Orders - IR 14 (Klebek) hold the northern side of the village for as long as possible, but do not get cut off from the bridge. Evacuate when absolutely necessary and take up position by the church, to secure the road.

French headquarters - We appear to be getting the upper hand at the village, but the forces necessary to reinforce success there are engaged either on the slopes or dealing with the Austrians at the lower bridge. At this stage it would be best to allow the forces at the lower bridge to continue to press the enemy, with a view to Lasalle’s cavalry getting over the bridge and driving north towards the church. Our casualties are in the region of 570 men.

Of significance will be the outcome of the fighting on the slopes - if successful there, Boquet’s 4th Division would best serve our objective by re-directing his efforts into and through the village to fully cut of the Austrian retreat.

Orders - Boquet (4th Div), at 1200 noon or before if the situation allows, disengage from the slopes and push through the village and cut off any prospect of an Austrian escape via the main road. Leave one gun battery with Marulaz.

Orders - Marulaz. 4th Infantry Division have been ordered to disengage by 1200 noon and leave the slopes and push through the village. Your cavalry are to screen that movement by remaining on the slopes. A battery of foot artillery is being left behind for your deployment.

On the slopes - The French advance begins, leading the way are columns of fresh soldiers from  Boquet’s 4th Division. The attack involves 7 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments and 3 gun batteries. 

Defending, the Austrians have Infantry Regiment 36 (Kollowrat - who has already suffered a hour long artillery bombardment), plus the three regiments of Schwarzenberg’s 2nd Cavalry Division, together with 2 gun batteries.

The forces are quite compact on the narrow approach up the slopes and it is in the initial moments of the attack that the Austrians defensive fire could have been quite destructive, but it wasn’t (seriously bad dice!). Half of the French columns paused to give fire, while the others pressed on with their attacks, this opening of the French line allowed their guns to get into the gaps and deploy to support the initial attacks.

The French were taking ground and pushing the Austrians back, but at great loss. Three of their infantry battalions were already enthusiastically heading for the rear! A moment came when both sides had to consider whether it was time to retire. The respective commanders had difficult decisions to make. In the end, the choices were made for them. An Austrian battalion broke and locally the French exploited the gap, causing the whole Austrian line to pull back in response.

This became a general, but measured retreat, as the line continually had to re-adjust.  But there was still plenty of capability amongst the Austrian line, so the French had to remain cautious in their advance.

Down at the lower bridge - Following the fight amongst the vineyards, the Austrians retired towards the lower Bridge. Froon was eager to get onto the other side of the river as the crossing would be much easier to defend from there, but the French had caught up with him [they activated first and made full use of advancing and locking Froon in position].

The Austrians already had a Landwehr unit defending the far side of the bridge, plus wisely, Klenau had posted a valuable artillery battery at the bridge as part of his initial deployment and this was about to prove itself a well judged decision.

Having caught the Austrians, who stood to fight, his battalions advanced straight into a wall of Austrian musket fire and several of his units wavered and fell back. One battalion managed to charge into contact, but was repelled and Bruyére’s 14th Chasseurs á Cheval, who were positioned to charge, suddenly became hesitant (a Random Event put them out of command) in the confusion.

Delay and casualties saw the French attack fizzle out as they withdrew back to the vineyards. Though the attack had failed, the Austrians had lost an infantry battalion and a second was close to collapse, but the reprieve allowed Froon to get his force to fall back on the bridge.

A quick and decisive stab at capturing the bridge and possibly destroying Froon, had slipped from Molitor’s grasp.

At the village - 1st and 2nd Battalions of 37th Regiment are the last of the French troops that Ledru can count as fresh and they lead the assault to take the upper half of Klein Stetteldorf. Their short energetic attack ejects IR 14 from the town, who race across the bridge to join IR 59 at the church. 

Ledru is not sure why there isn’t an instant counter-attack, but in truth IR 14 has neither the strength left or the confidence to do that.

Summary - Overall, the French have gained ground, but it has been as some cost in casualties, especially amongst the infantry. Masséna’s impatience to press his commanders to make early assaults, rather than using his advantage in artillery to first make sustained bombardments, means that several of his formations have now lost their capability to fight on effectively. 

11 AM - the weather remains fine. Visibility on the table is at 152”

Austrian Headquarters - We have lost the lynchpin of our defence [Klein Stetteldorf] earlier than I would have hoped. If our centre is broken, Schwarzenberg at the slopes and Froon at the lower bridge will be isolated. It is essential that we hold for as long as possible at the Church, but I am aware that much is being asked of the men, as losses have been high and units are worn. We are without reserves, so must absorb the enemy attacks as best we can.

Orders  - Schwarzenberg retire at best speed and cross the ford with a view to concentrating at the Large Farm (order will arrive at 1 AM).

Orders - Hohenfeld, stand at the church for as long as possible with both regiments (IR 14 and IR 59). If pressed beyond endurance withdraw to Kis-Megyer, a large farm (in map sector 3), (order instant).

French Headquarters - We have the village, but at the moment do not have the strength to take advantage of that capture and the lower bridge is still contested. We need to reinforce success at the village (Boquet’s 4th Division already tasked) and to secure the lower bridge with a view to dispersing the Austrians and driving up the eastern bank of the river. All current orders stand.

The fight at the slope concludes - The Austrians continue to withdraw and do so in managed way. The French cavalry have taken up the pursuit and seeing a limbered gun battery pulling out, 14th Chasseurs á Cheval eagerly position themselves to attack, but are driven off with casualties by musket fire from a nearby infantry regiment.  After that, the Austrians were allowed to retire in good order, though it should be noted that IR 36 and the Austrian Horse Artillery are now in poor shape.

The French now need to re-organise themselves before the infantry can move down to the village as ordered by Masséna.

The lower bridge - Though Molitor’s infantry were pretty shaken up and not ready to return to the fight, Lasalle’s cavalry was in good shape. His 1st Brigade ( Bruyére ) was in position to attack again and was now joined by 16th Chasseurs á Cheval from 2nd Brigade ( Piré ) and the horse artillery (8th Hussars would not arrive until 12 noon). The dashing Lasalle didn’t waste any time in sending the cavalry to the bridge to try and catch the tail end of the Austrian retreat and gain the bridge before an effective defence could be set.

The French horse artillery deployed and fired at the landwehr, just as their cavalry thundered over the bridge. The landwehr fell back, but 2nd Battalion of IR 60, who had been moving to support the landwehr stood firm and delivered a devastating volley against the leading Chasseurs á Cheval as they exited the bridge. It was enough to send them reeling back - through the following regiments, causing some disorder, but 1st Battalion IR 60 had seen enough and they fled, causing 2nd battalion to waver and fall back, leaving the bridge insecure - the French cavalry began to pour over it, causing chaos amongst the Austrians.

2nd Battalion, together with 1st Foot Artillery, retreated enthusiastically (off table). Around the same time, Buryére, Commander of 1st Cavalry Brigade was killed, causing confusion and disorder amongst the cavalrymen, the momentary respite allowed the landwehr to also get away (off table). Colonel Domengeot took command of the brigade.

[Admin considerations - the retreating Austrians were forced to retreat, not only off the table, but eastwards and also off the edge of the campaign map - what to do?

Firstly it seems right and proper that these retreating Austrians cannot simply carry on taking campaign moves, sliding up the side of the map, to re-enter at some point while in the meantime being immune to French attention …. So the following was decided;

First - would the lead French cavalry regiment pursue and also leave the campaign area? Roll 1D6, on a 1, 2 or 3 they would. If yes, then all units leaving the game area would not be able to return to the campaign. I rolled a ‘6’ so the French cavalry did not pursue, so what will Froom do?

Second - We must assume that Froom’s retreat will NOT be parallel to the map, but slowly moving away from it, in a north east direction, towards the Austrian line of communication, but that there is a chance that they will attempt to re-route to rejoin Klenau, further up, perhaps above the village at some point …. so; 

In the 1 PM Campaign turn, roll 1 D6, they will re-enter at the Church at the dirt track on 5 or 6. If they fail to enter, then;

In the 2 PM Campaign turn, roll 1 D6, they will re-enter on the dirt track at Kis-Megyer Farm (top right of map) on a score of 5 or 6. If they fail that entry die roll, they are assume to be retreating with all haste safely away from the campaign area and we will not see them again!].

At the village - Klenau moves his headquarters up to Kis-Megyer Farm (top right of the map - 3) and the divisional commander Hohefeld moves his headquarters to the church. He has both IR 14 and IR 59 with him. Both are worn, but still seem sufficient deterrent to cause Ledru to wait for Boquet’s 4th Division to join him as promised, before advancing from the village. 

Summary - The French hold the village (5), but they are not strong enough to advance from it and the Austrians are not strong enough to counter-attack there. The success at the lower bridge (9) will release Lasalle’s cavalry for redeployment, whilst Froon (Austrian) is potentially dispersed and lost to the immediate campaign. Schwarzenberg’s force (Austrian) (1) that have just been pushed off the slopes (4), is a still a significant threat and are causing the French forces at the slopes (3) to remain, screening …. some might say pinned!

Resources - 

My other bit of webspace is called COMMANDERS, it has a variety of snippet based type pieces there. LINK

https://commanders.simdif.com/dear_diary.html

The next campaign turn (12 noon) LINK

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2026/02/pursuit-of-vi-corps-12-noon.html

The previous campaign turns (8 and 9 AM) can be found here LINK;

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-village-comes-under-pressure.html