South Pacific Black Powder Battles & Campaigns

Once agin I am indebted to Nicholas Murray and Chris Pringle for their 'Bloody Big Battles' scenario of this operation. Playing the campaign made me appreciate just how finely nuanced the scenario is and how much research and scholarship has gone into its design. Secondly, I can see that despite the French advantages afforded by their superior command and mobility the Piedmontese could have achieved a strategic win in the face of tactical defeats. Had they avoided battle at Ceva and Padagiera then Vitali and Brempt may have been able to fall back to Lesegano and engage the French in a delaying action there. Bellegarde could have remained in reserve or counterattacked if Lesegano fell. With the defeat of Vitali and Brempt the Piedmontese were compelled to either abandon Lesegano or try and hold the French there with Bellegard's divsion. The former course of action left the road to Carru open whilst the latter risked the majority of the Piedmontese's troops in a ...

Situation Report French Bonaparte is at Lesegano with Augereau, Massena and Serieur's divisions. Serieur is reduced to brigade strength (6 x small bns ligne) Massena has two scratch brigades: 1e Bde: 4 x legere bns (small)                                                           2e Bde: 4 x ligne bns (standard) Augereau has two brigades: Legere bde: 6 x  legere  bns (small)                                                 Ligne Bde: 4 x   ligne b ns  (standard) & 2 ligne bn s (small) 1 x bty horse artillery Stenghal is one stage east of Lesegano with 6 regiments of light cavalry. Piedmont Bellegarde has been killed in action and his force at Lesegano has surrendered after takin...

'Berthier! Write this down!' 'Oui mon General, jjjust a moment...' 'What time is it? Right...send this to Paris' 'The Army of Italy has once again vanquished the Sardinian King's forces. The road to Turin is open on the evening of 1e   Floréal and the commander of the Piedmontese army at Lesegno is mortally wounded. We march tomorrow!...that'll do, keep them happy...how many prisoners?' 'Ah, over 2,500 General,' 'Always a nuisance prisoners..oh well, tell them we're here to break their chains not shackle them or somesuch...get me Augereau please,' 'Oui mon General!' Bonaparte's gamble paid off, as these have been wont to do in this operation.  Augereau's diversionary attack on the Tarrono crossings tied down the Piedmontese reserve and main  French flanking assault broke their resistance with a combination of numbers and elan. The French deployed in attack formation, Serieur's d...

Bonaparte snapped shut his eyeglass and shifted nervously in the saddle; his horse, sensing the general's impatience, pawed the ground. 'What's Augereau waiting for? Not like him to dally,' he fiddled with his riding crop. 'Wwwaiting for powder and shot, the roads are abbbominable ...' said the Chief of Staff, glancing past his chief at the distant Tarrano river. 'Well he'd better hurry, the men are all pent up...pointless attacking without a diversion though.' There was a dull rattling sound carried by the wind and every officer who had one raised their eyeglass. Puffs, then clouds of smoke on the the other side of the river. 'Thank Gggod for that!' said Berthier. 'God? God's got nothing to do with it! Sound the advance!' The Piedmontese's strategic aim is to delay the French and then fall back on Mondovi. They have six of their eighteen battalions facing Augereau, who is staging a diversionary attack off tab...

The situation at dawn on 20 April was: Augereau's division is north of the Tarrano river  with four understrength demi-brigades Bonaparte is at Lesagno with Massena and Serieur's divisions, both of which are understrength, and with and one battery of horse artillery under his direct command.  In total the French have 12 battalions north of the river and 20 to the south, plus an artillery battery. Bellegarde has deployed six battalions under Vitali defending the line of the Tarrano. A further 10 battalions are drawn up defending Lesagno from the east, these are supported by a battery of foot artillery. Two battalions of grenadiers are in reserve. The challenge for the French is coordinate Augereau attack on the Tarrano river line with Bonaparte's main assault. If both occur simultaneously Bellegarde will not be able to transfer troops from one front to the other and his reserves will be stretched. If the attacks are not coordinated he may be able to move units t...

Situation Report Midnight 18th April Augereau victorious at Pedagiera.  Piedmontese totally defeated: eight battalions lost.  Two of Victor's battalions reduced to small. Vitali rendevous with Bellegarde at Lesagno: 18 battalions of infantry (including two of grenadiers), two of grenadiers, 1 battery of foot artillery. Bonaparte rendevous with Massena and Serieur at Ceva. Colli & Toisinge remain in position south west of Mondovi. Orders issued as at midnight 18th April Augereau to march to Lesagno, cross the Tarrano and attck the Piedmontese Bonaparte to march to attack Piedmnotese at Lesegno. Stengal to make haste to Lesagno. Bellegarde to assume command at Lesagno and hold that place. 19 April movements & Situation Report Midnight 19th April Augereau arrives at the Tarrano north of Lesegno with 4 standard battalions of ligne; 2 small battalions of ligne; 6 small battalions of legere at midday Bonaparte arrives at Lesagno with Massena a...

The French plan lacked subtlety but its execution was done with elan. Augereau eschewed an attack on either of the Piedomontese flanks and elected instead to pierce their line in the centre by massing overwhelming force at the decisive point. In doing so he hoped that the Piedmontese lack of mobility would prevent them from shoring up their position. Clausewitz would later describe the point of the attack as the schwerpunkt  and Boyd the Piedmontese inability to react as the French being inside their OODA loop. The direction of the French attack would expose them to fire from the Piedmontese battalions entrenched near the tavern and would involve navigating farmland broken up by ploughed fields bound by hedges  and vineyards Turn 1: Augereau: 'We chop a hole and the rest will follow"  The 4th and 29th Legere are in the van and deployed in skirmish order. The 4th and 18th Ligne are drawn up behind the skirmish screen in depth in assault columns  As th...

Pedagierra Set Up The redoubt at Predagierra represented a compromise solution to a difficult tactical problem. The road to Lesagano ran along a narrow wooded valley, and as such was superficially easy to defend. Any blocking force on the road would eventually be outflanked by skirmishing light infantry however.  The tavern at Pedagierra was located in a place where the valley floor broadened out to the north west of the road. The road itself ran along a gently curving ridge before the valley narrowed again to the south-west. As such, any attacker would be tempted to debouch onto the flat land and execute a flanking manoeuvre. Colonel Baron Brempt was therefore ordered by General Colli to locate the bulk of his force here, throw up field fortifications where necessary and engage and defeat the attacker. In theory this would bring the bulk of any advancing French force to battle, and provide an opportunity to both delay it and inflict casualties. The Piedmontese have en...

Situation Report & Orders as at Midnight 17 April The situation at midnight 17 April after the engagement at Ceva. Augereau is conducting a night march to join Victor at Pedagiera Ceva captured by Massena & Serieur French casualties: 1000 killed, 2000 plus wounded and missing (many of the missing drifted back into Ceva during the night) Piedmontese casualties: 1200 killed, 2400 wounded and captured. Massena & Serieur reorganise Division Massena Dommartin's is formed into one scratch demi-brigade of 4 small battalions of legere and no longer benefit form the elite 4 + special rule Joubert's brigade into one scratch demi-brigade of 4 standard battalions of ligne Division Serieur  All battalions in the division are now small Piedmontese retire from Ceva towards Lesegano Vitali's division now comprised of  2 x  standard Grenadier battalions  1 x small fusilier battalion 2 x standard fusilier battalion With the exception o...

The battle opened at first light with Massena's division mounting an assault on Ceva in text book style. Dommartin's legere brigade skirmished ahead of Joubert's six ligne battalions, all deployed in attack columns. I had to use Austrian figures to proxy for Piedmontese as I have none of the latter. In these times we must improvise. Textbook attack by Massena's division a defending battalion breaks - the pink die is the number of hits sustained in the combat; the smoke marker indicates disorder; a 5 on the red dice for the break test -1 for the disorder...broken! Another Piedmontese battalion breaks Turn 14: the French are taking casualties - one of their battalions throws 2 on a break test!   The attack was concentrated against the north east of the Piedmontese position. Brigadier Vitale had deployed the bulk of his infantry in earthworks outside the town, with his two grenadier battalions in reserve. A battalion of light infantry was charged w...

The General sat down, pulled a  filthy handkerchief from his pocket, and looked around the room. The Piedmontese Grenadiers had evidently vacated in a hurry, there was still plenty of wine to be had. 'Donnez, there's a good lad - bring me that bottle and write this down...what time is it?' 'Three hours past midday, citizen General,'; the aide uncorked the bottle and handed it to his commander. There was an infernal racket outside, women screaming and kids crying, or the other way round. 'The men are out of hand' said Donnez. 'What do you expect?' replied General Massena, 'those Grenadiers put up a good fight- nearly stopped us': he took a long pull on the bottle, wiped his lips with the back of his hand and examined the label with an appreciative look. "Write this down, for immediate dispatch to the Chief:  'Ceva is ours my General, Serieur got here just in time, Dommartin's brigade is knocked about but they will rally....

Orders issued previous day: French 1. Augereau to march to Pedagiera and attack that place off the march 2. Massena to march to Ceva and attack that place off the march 3. Serieur to march to Ceva and furnish Massena with whatever support he requires Piedmontese Bellegard to march east from San Michele and assume a blocking position between that place and Lesegano. All others to hold. War Diary Situation Report midnight 16 April 1. Augereau's march delayed, the roads are in a bad state. He remains a days march away from Pedagiera. 2. Massena has reached Ceva. His men have bivouacked for the night, piquets have been thrown out. He will attack at first light without waiting for Serieur who has been asked to come with all haste. 3. Serieur is half a days march away from Ceva, the men are tired and the road is bad. He has stopped for the night, received Massena's request and will march to the sounds of the guns at first light. 4. Bellegarde has assumed his blocki...

Italy 1796-97 The War of the First Coalition The Mondovi Operation: A Black Powder Campaign Scenario: Background In March 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte took command of Revolutionary France’s Army of Italy. In April 1796 the French broke out of the enclave they were holding on the Italian riviera and seized the central position between the allied armies of Piedmont and Austria. This scenario covers the second week of the campaign. It includes the actions fought at Ceva, Pedagiera, the Cursaglia and outside Mondovi, which resulted in Piedmont suing for peace.   Essentially, faced with two-to-one odds, the Piedmontese commander-in-chief General Colli conducts a fighting withdrawal via successive defensive positions. He is trying to keep his army intact and buy time for his Austrian ally, Beaulieu, to regroup at Acqui and return to the fray by attacking the French right flank. On the 16th, the leading French division under Augereau is repulsed at Pedagiera. This...