"Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry!"

Marlborough’s finest hour (or four)

Marlborough is in this writers opinion England’s greatest general. His diplomatic abilities coupled with a supreme battlefield craft made him a true master of his art. The battle of Ramillies fought on the 23rd May 1706 out-shines (IMHO) even Blenheim as a case study in how to fight a set piece battle in the 18th Century.

Background.

The war of the Spanish Succession had been rumbling on for some years. The King of Spain and died without direct issue and there was a dispute between the European powers as to whom should take the throne. Charles II had bequeathed his crown to Phillip his nephew and through his sister’s marriage; the younger son of the Dauphin of France. This meant that the now Phillip V of Spain was an heir to the throne of France and potentially in a position to unify France and Spain under a single Bourban ruler.

The other major European players were obviously not happy with the spectre of a European super state (oh how they would weep now!), controlled by Louis XIV so looked to oppose the succession of Phillip by supporting the claim to the throne of Luipold I, A Habsburg and the current Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (what is now modern Germany).

Up until 1704 the armies of France had been thought invincible. However they were decisively beaten by Marlborough at Blenheim in 1704. Unfortunately Marlborough’s army; an alliance of English, Dutch, Hessians, and Prussians to name but a few had failed to take advantage of this victory despite Marlborough’s best efforts. The political wrangling between the factions would repeatedly diminish or reverse gains made on the battlefield.

By 1706, Louis wanted Peace for France but wanted to negotiate a settlement on his terms. To that end he resolved to launch a major offensive on all fronts in an effort to secure either a collection of local victories or one major victory before calling for peace talks and ending the ruinously expensive war.

After a number of victories for the French in Alsace (Eastern France on the Rhine) they felt that the time was right to go toe-to-toe with Marlborough. If they could send him packing then they would more than likely fracture the Alliance and get favourable peace terms.

Marlborough, convinced that the quickest way to concluding the war was to decisively beat a French army in the field was not coy in marching straight off to confront the French. He mustered at Maastricht and then marched towards the French army that were waiting for him at Ramillies.

Generals.

Marlborough

John Churchill the 1st Duke of Marlborough is a complex and interesting character and I would urge anyone to read his biographies that I have listed below. With the assistance of his belligerent wife Sarah he was able to use patronage and influence to rise quickly through the ranks of the army. Criticism has been levelled at Marlborough by some (including his contemporaries) for his use of influence. However I do not think he can be blamed given that for promotion in the English Army at the time; merit meant nothing and influence everything.

His reputation for avarice and his abandonment of James II of England during the “Glorious Revolution” certainly has left a stain on his reputation.

What is not in question is his ability as a military commander. His charm and affability was the mortar that held the fragile alliance of England, The Netherlands, Portugal and varying other states together. His organisational skills and those of this staff allowed him to out manoeuvre and wrong foot opponents repeatedly. Time and again he showed an unmatched ability to visualise the whole battlefield while at the same putting the blinkers on his opponent.

Francois de Neuvill, duc de Villeroi.

There are some commanders who though generals of high merit are unfortunate in that due to the vagaries of history do not get the merit they deserve. Villeroi does not fall in to this category. He had attained his position as Marshall of France based pretty much on his close relationship with Louis XIV. He was an excellent courtier and charming individual but most professional soldiers in the French army had very little respect for him as a military commander despite his obvious personal bravery.

He could not command the respect of his officers and simply did not have the skill or; at the age of 62, the drive to be able to take on a man of Marlborough’s calibre. On the day was simply outclassed.

Armies of the Age of Marlborough.

Infantry was now becoming the main weapon of the battlefield during this period. The advent of the bayonet and more specifically the socket bayonet had removed the need for bodies of pike men to protect the musketeers from cavalry. Now the musketeers could protect themselves while at the same time increasing their firepower.

Improvements in firearms and the rate of fire coupled with the use of the bayonet meant that bodies of troops were becoming increasingly linear in nature compared to the large square blocks and deeper formations seen in the previous century.

The English were beginning to use a more thinner wider formation where a Battalion would “fire by platoons”. What this meant was the each platoon would fire in turn. By the time the last platoon had fired then the first had re-loaded. The result was a constant ripple of fire coming from the line.

The French still stood by the tried and tested “Volley Fire”. Their formation would be slightly narrower than the English and deeper. The regiment would close and deliver one devastating volley at the enemy.

Cavalry was still important on the battlefield and continued to be the arm which would deliver the coup-de-grace to a wavering opponent.

The Battlefield.

The two armies met at the seam between the Plateau of Mont St Andre and the Plateau of Janderenouille. A deep stream known as the Little Geete cuts its way north creating a gully east of the villages of Autre-Eglise and Offus. To the south of these villages running East to West is the Maastricth to Charleroi road and the River Mehaigne. At the head of the Little Geet, south of Autre-Eglise and North of the Mahaigne is the village of Ramillies.

Deployment

Villeroi had chosen the ground as being a good defensive position in which to draw Marlborough on to him. He anchored his left flank to the village of Autre-Eglise and in long concave crescent round to his right which was secured on the River Mehaigne. There is divided opinion as to whether or not the French actually garrisoned Taviers or in fact deployed behind that village anchoring on the River Visoule which runs in to the Mehaigne and with the marsh ground to their front. My view is that there seem very little benefit from occupying Taviers as on the map it would seem that the difficult marsh land would be to your rear and make any withdrawal of re-enforcement difficult.

On the French right the first line was made up of the Maison du Roi, arguably the best cavalry in Europe at the time. They were supported behind by Bavarian Cuirassiers and Dragoons. The centre including Ramillies and Offus had Walloon and Bavarian infantry with support behind from Walloon and Bavarian Cavarly. The Villages of Offus and Autre-Eglise were garrisoned for defence with barricades and loop holes cut in to buildings and walls for musketry.

The French also deployed some hefty artillery batteries in front of Ramillies and the two northern villages all of which were well positioned with good fields of fire.

The Allies lined up with Orkney on the left opposite Offus and Autre-Eglise with his English and Dutch Infantry supported by Lumley’s Cavarly. On the right were the massed Squadrons of Dutch and Danish Cavalry under Overkirk, supported by detachments of infantry.

Marlborough recognised two things as he looked over the battlefield with the French arrayed in front of him. First that the French deployment had formed a concave crescent formation, this meant that his lines of communication were longer than his own and the shape of this line would make it more difficult to move units around the formation. Also: Villeroi had over extended slightly in order to reach the banks of the Mehaigne leaving his troops spread thinner than Marlborough’s. Secondly was the terrain itself but we will come to that later.

The Battle

The battle opened with skirmishing on the Allied left and an attack against the French left. Orkney led the first line of English Infantry across the Little Geete on the Allied right, towards the villages of Offus and Autre-Eglise. At this time the English were starting to create a reputation for themselves as determined, disciplined troops and their advance caused Villeroi concern.

Marlborough realised that Orkney probably could break through on the right but getting cavalry in sufficient numbers over the stream to support him was going to be difficult. The was probably a French Cavarly reserve to the rear which would cut the English apart once they broke in to the open. As such, and much to the annoyance of Orkney, Marlborough ordered him to withdraw to his start line. The attack on the left whether a planned feint or probe certainly had the desired affect on Villeroi who focused on this part of the battlefield and started to pull troops from his centre to re-enforce his left.

Meanwhile, Overkirk, in command of the Anglo-Dutch troops had launched an assault on Ramillies itself and to support this, unleashed his cavalry squadrons across the plain to the south of Ramillies. The Dutch and Danish cavalry smashed in to their French opponents and though initially having the best of it, the Maison-du Roi, the kings of the Europeaon Cavalry rallied and counter attacked with skill and aggression.

Marlborough immediately recognised this as a threat. When he deployed he had noted that the terrain on his right was such that he could mask his troop movements and could start bringing troops from his right over to the centre without the French noticing. He began moving his supporting cavalry on the right along to his centre to add weight to Overkirk. Villeroi was oblivious to this and continued to move his troops to the left to re-enforce Offus and Autre-Eglise.

Marlborough threw himself in to the Melee on the Allied right while his re-enforcements were manoeuvring and nearly came to grief. In one story after being unseated from his horse, he was being assisted in mounting another by a Colonel Bingfield when a stray cannonball flew between the Dukes legs decapitating Bingfield!

The additional squadrons being fed in to the Allied line now started to pay dividends,

De Guisgard, the French Cavaly commander had been doing good work but the disparity of numbers now started to tell. He was pinned to his front just trying to contain the onslaught of the Dutch and when a gap opened in his lines on the right, 21 Danish Squadrons burst through, re-formed to the rear of the French, and charged.

The French were now massively outnumbered on the right and only at this point did Villeroi realise that he had been focusing on the wrong part of the battlefield. He desperately tried to bring his Cavarly reserve to bear but it was too little, too late.

The Maison de Roi broke and the whole French line started to collapse from right to left.

Orkney now re-crossed the Little Gheet and burst in to Offus, the remaining Allied Cavalry on the Left, The Scots-Greys Regiment picked their way across the stream and attacked in to Autre-Eglise where they inflicted heavy casualties on the now panicking garrison.

Before long the entire French army was in complete disarray and in full route to the North and west.

It was during this rout that the French suffered their worse casualties. The French and Bavarian commanders only just escaped capture.

The Allied cavalry were now unchained and pursued the retreating French mercilessly. It had gone midnight before Marlborough ordered an end to the pursuit.

By dawn the next day the extent of the defeat became obvious. In a little over 4 hours the Allied had broken the French army and in the pursuit that followed inflicted between 8000 and 12000 casualties (dead and wounded) and 7000 to 10000 captured.

Aftermath

Marlborough had managed the battle wonderfully. He identified crisis areas quickly and acted decisively he probed and felt his way along the French line to find their weaknesses and was able to deliver the maximum of weight behind he chosen axis of attack while at the same time keeping the French entirely in the dark as to where the blow would fall.

Unfortunately once the cannons went silent the same old rivalries and in-fighting began amongst the Allies and as the cracks in the alliance widened Louis was able to avoid Ramillies becoming the decisive battle of the war that it should have been.

Sources

Please bear in mind I do not unfortunately have access to primary sources and so this piece has relied on my reading of secondary sources in books and the internet. I would be happy to receive any suggestions of amendments or points of discussion.

Marlborough: Britain’s Greatest General - Richard Holmes

Marlborough: His Life and Times - Winston Churchill

Blenheim: Battle for Europe - Charles Spencer.

http://www.britishbattles.com/spanish-succession/battle-ramillies.htm

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_ramillies.html

Lutzen 1632

I find this battle fascinating for so many reasons but given it’s timing, location and the fact that we here in England were worrying about our own domestic problems at the time it is not as well known as say Marston Moor or Naseby.

This battle had everything though, two outstanding commanders of very different schools, huge numbers of combatants, ebb and flow, a controversial and undecided outcome and the death of two of the protagonists. What more could one wish for?!

BACKGROUND

The Thirty Years War had been raging across what is now Germany, The Czech Republic and much of Europe for nearly 15 years. The complexities of the causes of the conflict are mind boggling and I do not pretend to understand them all. It is seen as a religious war between Catholics and Protestants but this simple sectarian justification masks the fact that in the end, as always it came down to dynastic rivalries, imperial expansionism and greed in the guise of religious zeal.

To keep the context of the battle simple I will refer to the two forces as Catholics and Protestants but let me be clear that this in no way to suggest that the armies were all either Papists or Puritans. Soldiers across Europe at this stage were whatever religion got them pay and food, and it was common for individuals to desert one camp for another and then back again depending on the conditions and prospect of loot. Even the armies commanders were prepared to consider a change of allegiance depending on which way the political winds, or gold was flowing.

THE PROTAGONISTS

Albrecht von Wallenstein

Supreme Commander of the Forces of the ( most Catholic) Habsburg Monarchy.

He was essentially a soldier of fortune who had played the system of raising regiments and obtaining contracts from the government so well that he had become one of the richest and most powerful men in the area. The ruler of a the Duchy of Friedland. His wealth and ambition caused concern for the Emperor; Ferdinand II and he was released from service in 1630. However after a series of defeats by the Protestant forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden he was recalled.

A very capable commander his gifts were in the organisation and logistics of an army. Not lacking in tactical prowess he was getting a bit long in the tooth by 1632 to lead from the front.

King Gustavus Adolphus II of Sweden.

Probably the most famous commander to come out of this period, his tactical doctrine and fantastic leadership qualities have some list him as one of the great military commanders. A number of Protestant Scottish soliders served under his command and what they learnt from the charismatic King would be applied a decade later in the English Civil War.

Gottried Zu Pappenheim

A born again, devout Catholic and outstanding Cavalry commander he raised a regiment of Cuirassiers (heavy cavalry) and conducted an outstanding campaign behind Adolphus’ lines of communication which slowed the Swedish King’s ability to re-enforce his army quickly.

He was killed during this battle while leading his Cavalry straight in to the action.

OPENING MOVES.

Winter had come early to this part of what is now in central Germany. Wallenstein was convinced that given the conditions the fighting for 1632 was over and that both sides would now look to consolidate what they had and billet their armies in winter quarters. He sent Pappenheim with his Corps ahead and then marched his main headquarters towards Leipzig.

Adolphus on the other hand, not to be put off with heavy fog, sub zero temperatures and dreadful marching conditions decided that he wasn’t yet done for the year. He got intelligence of the fact that Wallenstein has split his force and resolved to attack!

Adolphus knew (roughly) where Wallenstein was and so on the morning of the 15th November 1632 he marched his army towards Lutzen hoping to intercept Wallenstein as he marched up the road that passed through this small town to Leipzig.

On approach he reached a large stream called the Rippach and on the other side of this was a regiment of Croat cavalry. Unfortunately for the Protestant King these outstanding light horseman put up a hell of a fight and seriously delayed his advance.

The result: Wallenstein was warned of Adolphus’ approach and sent word to Pappenheim to get his Bohemian backside back to Lutzen and to not spare the horses! (or words to that effect).

With the delay, Adolphus could not attack on the 15th as it was already late afternoon. As such he camped in battle array with a view to launching his attack first thing on the 16th November.

THE BATTLE

The following morning Adolphus set off towards his target. It was bitterly cold and a thick fog sulked across the area. This caused further delay for the Protestants who took a long time to get in to position for the advance.

Wallenstein had problems. He was out numbered in cavalry and though he had time to throw up defensive works along the length of the Lutzen to Leipzig Road, without Pappenheim, his left open to being outflanked by the protestant cavalry. To try and deter an attack on the left he moved his baggage and camp followers up to occupy the area where Pappenheim should have been. (He even got them to make fake flags out of bed sheets to make them look more like soldiers).

This didn’t fool Adolphus who after finally getting his army in position at 11am ordered an all out Cavarly attack on the Catholic left flank while his infantry pinned the enemies right and centre.

Things went well when the Finnish Hakkapelitta Cavalry smashed in to the Catholics left and the fake troops from the baggage train remembered they had important engagements elsewhere and fled. The Catholic left was now open to turn and it was simply a case of rolling up Wallenstein’s battle line…Or was it? In true Cavalry style who should ride over the hill at this moment but Pappenheim ahead of about 2500 cavalry! He smashed in to the Protestant cavalry and saved Wallenstein’s left wing. During the charge, Pappenheim took a cannon ball to the chest, knocking him from his horse and leaving him mortally wounded. One of the most incredible items preserved from this period is the note found on Pappenheim’s body from Wallenstein pleading for him to return to Lutzen. The note which has survived to this day is stained with Pappenheim’s blood from the injury he sustained. It is a fantastic poignant piece of history which I feel really brings the battle to life.

At around the same time that Pappenhiem fell, Adolphus who had been charging around like a man possessed rallying and cajoling different elements of this army lost his way in the fog and smoke and got separated from his life guard. Unfortunately for him, he ran straight in to a troop of enemy cavalry who recognised him, shot him, stabbed him and then shot him again. So ended the life of one of the most influential generals of the period. In something akin to a scene from a Hollywood film, as the smoke and fog thinned, Gustav’s white charger cantered along the battle line, riderless. The story of the Kings death swept through the Protestant army.

The combination of Pappenheim’s arrival and Adolphus’ death marked a shift in the battle. The Protestent’s momentum stalled. The Protestant infantry that had been assaulting Wallenstien’s centre failed to the take the entrenchments and began streaming back to their start positions.

The loss of the Swedish King had left the Protestant army leaderless. In to this breach stepped Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. He had been commanding on the left but upon hearing of the Kings death took command of the whole army. Obviously there was some discussion as to if he had authority to do so which was briskly settled when he shot and killed a Colonel who questioned his orders.

There is some debate as to whether the death of the King galvanised the army or whether Bernhard actually kept the fact of his death a secret. There can be no doubt at the very least there were rumours flying up and down the line that he was dead.

Bernhard reorganised his army and his Swedish Infantry once again threw itself at Wallenstien’s centre. This was a key position. The Catholics had placed three large batteries of cannon amongst three windmills on a ridge line. The Cannon were supported by entrenched musketeers along the road below the ridgeline. The Protestants threw everything at this position and finally took it as evening approached but at great cost and only thanks to some pretty poor showing by the Catholic cavalry reserve.

Wallenstein’s recognised at this point that his position was untenable and began an orderly withdrawal. This was about 6pm and though Pappenhiem’s infantry turned up about 6pm and wanted to counter attack the Swedes, Wallenstien refused the request.

Aftermath.

There is some dispute over the extent of the Swedish Victory, Protestant propaganda obviously claimed a crushing victory but in reality the bloody assault on the Windmill Battery had cost them 6000 dead and wounded. The Catholics suffered less casualties but left the field in the hands of the enemy.

Though a tactical and strategic victory for the Protestants the butchers bill would have an impact on their ability to prosecute the war. They had lost their charismatic leader and the cream of their infantry. They achieved their objectives of pushing the Catholics out of Saxony but over the next few years, without Adolphus the Swedish interest in the war began to lose momentum and the Protestant cause lost direction.

Wallenstien would become less aggressive over the next few years and sensing the changing winds made overtures about switching sides. He had a number of enemies in the Habsbourg court including the Emperor and eventually his lack of political skill caught up with him he was assassinated by a group of men led by an English captain Walter Devereux on the 25th February 1634.

The Thirty Years War would trundle along bringing misery to tens of thousands for the next 16 years until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

If you have found this interesting please check out my website which is http://keepyourpowderdry.webs.com

I have a copy of this article but also some orders of battle and maps of the battle. Also a scenario for Impetus Barouqe (wargames rules) for the storming the Windmill Battery. I would be happy to receive any comments your have.

Lutzen 1632 by Richard Brzezinski http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/L%C3%BCtzen-1632_9781855325524/

Europes Tragedy a History of the Thirty Years War by Peter H Wilson http://www.amazon.co.uk/Europes-Tragedy-History-Thirty-Years/dp/0713995920

Also

http://www.strategos.demon.co.uk/tywhome/Lutzen.htm

5th May 2010

Wargame Club game, Impetus Rules, 360 points,  (for rules see http://www.dadiepiombo.com/impetus2.html)

Later Polish –v- Early Rus.

Excellent game with Mick at the Club last night.

I used my Later Polish Army which I really think I’m getting a feel for now. I split it in to three Commands, the first of Heavy Cavalry with a supporting unit of Mounted Crossbow (this command also contained my Superior C-in-C). The second was a large command of Defensive Wagons, Town Militia with good Crossbows and Pavises and a Warwagon with B class Artillery. The third command on the right wing was a mix of light cavalry with bows, light cavalry with lance/spear and one unit of Heavy Cavalry.

Mick had two commands; the first was a large command of infantry with long spears formed up double depth (this give a bonus in melee) with a screen of skirmishers. One unit of light horse with bow and melee weapons was attached to the right of this command. His second command was a screen of light horse with two units of medium cavalry behind.

The terrain was relatively open but two areas of broken ground allowed me to anchor the flank of my 2nd command to it in the centre and created a corrider wide enough to deploy my 3rd Command (light horse) across it.

My first command I deployed on the left in a wedge like formation, the mounted crossbow unit leading out two units of heavy cavalry who were side by side.

The first turn went to Mick, he wheeled his main command (on his right) slight out and sent the light horse unit far out to the right on to the edge of the broken ground. I sent both command 1 and command 2 forward. The Wagonburg units of command two automatically become disordered when they move but I figured this was a price worth paying for trying to get my missile troops in to range ASAP.

I wheeled my 3rd command to the left to take up a blocking position on the right between the two areas or broken ground. I had a screen of light bow armed cavalry in front with units of melee light cavalry behind. This would allow me to charge through the missile horse troops in to contact with the enemy if the missile horse were threatened. Behind them were a unit of the excellent Polish heavy cavalry which though impetuous would certainly be able to go toe-to-toe with Mick’s medium cavalry.

Both Mick and I are slow players so things trundled on uneventful for a while. The Rus light horse on my left engaged my mounted crossbow from short range and did some damage. This left my mounted crossbow practically non-effective as a combat unit but still on the field. I had a choice whether to charge them in to contact with the light horse and gamble that I could cause some damage to them but almost guarantee their destruction or disengage but keep them on the table. I chose the latter which I think made sense. Lost units contribute to the ultimate “break point” of your army. By still having them on the field the were of value even if they couldn’t fight.

My two units of heavy cavalry under Command 1 had gone “out of control” at this point. This means that I had to move them forward toward the enemy (the drawback of having impetuous cavalry) They passed through the mounted crossbow, the Rus light horse evaded and the momentum took the knights right in to Mick’s command 1. The skirmisher screen got off a shot before being disbursed and I crashed in to the ranks of formed up spearmen!

I am a cautious player which does not lend itself well to commanding cavalry and I really have to go against my instincts sometimes. I felt that being so close to the enemy who were perfectly capable of shooting me up with their skirmisher screen meant that I had to close. The Rus formation meant that I lost a charge bonus normally attributed to the heavy cavalry but I was still 7 dice to Mick’s 5.

On the other side of the battle field Mick had closed with his 2nd Command and moved his bow armed light horse to within point blank range of my light horse. Neither of us realised and it wasn’t until Bob pointed out that because it was point blank I got to return fire immediately. On reflection Mick probably would agree that this was a mistake but only because he did not realise about the return fire rule (which I didn’t either). He got 5 dice against me but in return because my troops hadn’t moved I got 9!. Carnage ensured.

While this was going on my wagonburg in Command 2 finally got within range. The skirmisher screen on the Rus Command 1 was a problem for my Crossbowmen so I started pounding them with artillery. Once I got those clear the crossbow could start doing damage on the formed up infantry behind.

As things stood I was making good progress with the heavy cavalry on the left, destroying two lots of skirmisher, a unit of spear and a unit of light horse. However the poles were no longer fresh and sooner or later my luck with the dice was going to turn.

In the centre I was looking very strong. Fresh militia with good crossbows, with the protection of defensive wagons and supported by artillery. On the right my light horse had done the job softening up the opponents cavalry but I only had one unit of fresh Heavy Cavalry to deal the knock out blow. The right was definitely in the balance.

Unfortunately we had to call it a day there as it was getting very late. I had not lost a single casualty and had done damage to the Rus’ but to call it anything but a draw would be unfair.

However, I felt that I am finally getting the combinations of troop types right with this army and started to use find a way for each command to support the other. I was in a strong position in the centre and though the left would not have defeated Micks right single handed I am relatively confident that they would have been weakened enough that the artillery and missiles from the centre to have done the rest.

The right was a different story and I am not sure what would have happened there. My feeling is that without some really good dice rolls I may have had problems. I simply did not have the numbers to hold of the Rus cavalry. If Mick had broken through there, then who knows….