Guns, Helping Japan & New Houses

A Soviet (presumably Russian?) lad puts a gun to good use

(image stolen from here)

Mrs Kinch and I paid a call on our new home today, cracking open a bottle of champagne and toasting the huge amount of work we're going to have to do before the place is habitable. On the other hand there is slightly less work to be done then I anticipated as gas and power are in place. Running water is next, but that shall have to wait for the plumber who will be paying a call on Tuesday. Pictures of the wargames room to be to follow.

Like many people yesterday, I was completely stunned by the sheer magnitude of the disaster in Japan. Our prayers must be with those who are struggling to contain the extent of the tragedy. Money helps too. I know several organisations are raising funds at present, I was about to make a donation to the Irish Red Cross - but was informed that they have yet to be asked for help and that they felt it would be dishonest to take my money without being sure it would go to Japan.

What I have done and what I would advise others to do is place a note (that's a bill to our American friends) in an envelope, whatever you can spare. Mark it "Aid for Japan" and put it on the mantelpiece for a few days. With due regard to the industry and courage of the Japanese, this is not a disaster that will be resolved quickly or easily. Those who need it, will still need it next week or next month. At present, I have been unable to find a means of donating money directly to the Japanese Red Cross. I'm sure regular readers of the blog will make their own arrangements, but I would advise taking a day or two to think about where your money is going and how best it might be used. Putting cash aside now will insure you don't forget.

And lastly, returning to the title of this post.

The internet speaks an infinite deal of nothing, possibly more than any other medium on earth, hiding its two grains of wheat in a great deal more than two bushels of chaff. However, on occasion it can throw up little gems, like "The Smoothbore Ordnance Journal".

This publication, hosted on the Napoleon-series.org, is a mine of information. I haven't finished reading all of it, but thus far I've learned about the destruction of bridges and Austrian horse artillery (compared to those of other states). But there are more riches waiting, with articles on the choice of horses for artillery haulage and naval gunnery. Dr. Stephen Summerfield, who has written extensively on the subject is the editor of this publication. I only regret I didn't come across it sooner, the section on bridge demolition already has scenario ideas dancing in my head.

Blood and thunder in the valleys.

Jemima Nichols

ready to take on Marianne any day.

One of the joys of taking a computer for a walk on the internet coming is the enormous variety of projects that people are toiling away on.

Take for example, the French invasion of Wales in 1797. This was the last invasion of Britain by the France until the next one. One third of a planned three pronged assault on Britain and Ireland and the only one to go ahead, it consisted of a rather half hearted assault by "the black legion". These gentry, most of whom were deserters and other sweepings of the Paris gaols, surrendered upon seeing groups of Welsh women coming to watch the battle. At least that's the legend. Apparently Mrs Jones traditional habit of red cloak and tall black hat was taken at a distance for the uniform of redcoat reinforcements.

You can find out a little more about the invasion here.

You can find a delightfully bats rendering of the invasion in 28mm here.

Pay particular attention to heroine of the hour, Jeminina Nichols, who rounded up twelve Frenchmen with a pitchfork.

The Battle of Corunna - Part III

The Death of Sir John Moore 1761-1809 17th January 1809
After William Heath

My apologies for the unbecoming maudle of yesterday.

On returning to the battle of Corunna, there are some other points of interest.

Sir John Moore was a distinguished soldier and is widely credited for having introduced the light infantry creed into the British army during his time as a brigadier at the camp of instruction at Schorncliffe. This appears, at least according to "The British Light Infantry Arm", an extremely engaging volume by David Gates, who later went on to write "The Spanish Ulcer", to be an overstatement. Moore was certainly friendly to the idea of light infantry, but it appears that junior officers (whose names I can't swear to, as my copy is already packed) provided most of the inspiration on this count.

What did mark out Moore was his humanity and his belief that men were better led than driven There is an episode in Christopher Hibberts history of the Corunna Campaign where he describes Moore mortgaging the lives of two men who were due to be hanged. He stayed the sentence of execution conditional on the good conduct of the rest of their regiment. This appears to have worked, but I doubt it was a man management style that would have found much favour with the peer.

Moore has also been featured in Bernard Cornwell's latest work, The Fort, set during the American War of Independance, where he fights dastardly Continentals for the King with a very satisfactory outcome*. My old friend GA Henty has also given Moore the full treatment in his "With Moore at Corunna", a Henty I haven't read but that I shall have to make time for.

However, if Moore's fame is remembered in the 21st century, it shall be because of the poetry of the Reverend Charles Wolfe. Wolfe was an Irish poet, who was widely believed to have been the real father of nationalist leader, Teobald Wolfe Tone. He wrote his poem shortly after the battle of Waterloo, though it did not achieve real success until ten years later when it was championed by Lord Byron, who was presumably taking time away from other persuits.

The poem itself, "Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna" is a little gem and I have always had a great affection for the last line. The ryhme scheme and cadence is well matched the subject matter, the slow beat reminiscent of a funeral march.

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,

As his corse to the rampart we hurried;

Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot

O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

You can find the rest here.

And finally, just to drag this back to wargaming - a clever Johnny over at http://www.ccnapoleonics.net has come up with a new variation on the published scenario covering the battle. What's interesting about his version is that it uses the Breakthrough format from Memoir '44 and the specialised card deck from Memoir '44 - Winter Wars. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I'm looking forward to it - my previous games of Breakthrough have been very satisfying.

It just goes to show that young Cordery is not the only chap who can't leave well enough alone.

You can find Michael Dippel's new Corunna scenario here.


*Though being a Bernard Cornwell novel, it turns out it was those wascally Chwistians awl awong.

The Battle of Corunna - Part II

The French counter-attack
the British advance at Piedralonga

On re-reading my post of yesterday, I realised that I hadn't included half the things I wished to and had just produced a somewhat lacklustre potted history of the battle.

For those of you who would like to know more, I recommend Christopher Hibbert's brief volume on the battle. This is classic Hibbert stuff, merging a well written and clear narrative with an admirable eye for personal stories, nor does he flinch from describing the appalling breakdown in discipline and control that occured on the retreat. Recommended.

Of course, for them as like to lift a heavier weight of paper, there is Volume One of Sir Charles Oman's History of the Peninsular War. It is an excellent book, but be warned - I have never met anyone who was able to buy just one volume of this work.

But returning to the game...

We played this several times and I believe the honours were about even. I remember two battles clearly - the first resulted in a messy scrap around Elvina which both sides simply trading blows until someone broke. Both players were new to the game and this precipitated an infantry bloodbath with virtually no involvement by the other arms. I think the issue there is that new players, particularly if they are Command & Colours veterans, rarely grasp the effect of casualties reducing firepower until they've played the game.

I found it interesting that both players were aware of this intellectually and had had it highlighted to them prior to the game, but didn't really seem to take it onboard until they had tried their old tactics and failed. A life lesson there perhaps.

The second battle saw a repeat of the abortive French assault on the centre, which was followed by a British assault on the left which was spectacularly successful, mainly I believe because the British player grasped that reducing the overall strength of the force infront of him was more advantageous then trying to pick of individual units.

The French then tried to press the British right with a cavalry charge that lost some of its punch through sloppy execution. The British formed square and as the French were unable to bring guns or infantry to bear on the squares, the French cavalry were seen off.

The situation after the
French counterattack at Piedralonga

(blogger seemingly will not allow me to un-italicise this text)

The second battle saw a repeat of the abortive French assault on the centre, which was followed by a British assault on the left which was spectacularly successful, mainly I believe because the British player grasped that reducing the overall strength of the force infront of him was more advantageous then trying to pick of individual units.

The French then tried to press the British right with a cavalry charge that lost some of its punch through sloppy execution. The British formed square and as the French were unable to bring guns or infantry to bear on the squares, the French cavalry were seen off.

The lessons that have been learned

- unsupported infantry advanced are a decidedly chancy business and generally lead to bloodbaths decided by dice rather than skill.

- cavalry charges should be supported by foot or guns in order to exploit infantry squares, also the timing of attacks (with regard to cavalry overrun) needs to be carefully considered.

The Battle of Corunna

The Battle of Corunna
Command & Colours: Napoleonics style

Much like the Battle of Maida, I've always had a soft spot for the Battle of Corunna. It formed the climax of my Napoleonic roleplaying campaign, called "The Halberdiers".

The players were all subalterns in the 46th Regiment of Foot, "The Kings Royal Corps of Halberdiers" who arrived with their regiment in the aftermath of the Treaty of Cintra and formed part of the advance into Spain. There was much skullduggery, intrigue, heroism and climbing of the greasy pole - and great fun it was too. I look forward to returning to it once we've moved house.

The Strategic Picture

The French had been beaten hollow at Rolica and Vimeiro in the previous year, but had been allowed to evacuate Portugal under the shameful terms of the treaty of Cintra. The British army kicked its heel in Portugal for quite some time, while the Spaniards set about the French in a jovial throat cutting sort of manner. The Spaniards had a notable victory at Bailen and London was all afire to help the gallant Dons kick the French in the seat of the pants.

Sir John Moore was dispatched to effect this seat kicking at the head of the British army. After advancing into Spain to support the Spaniards, he discovered that the first thing the Spaniards had organised after victory at Bailen was "the split"*. The Spanish command was hopelessly fragmented, mutually antagonistic and vastly overconfident - meanwhile Napoleon, who despite his many faults could never be accused of taking things lying down was about to cross the Pyrenees at the head of 200,000 men.

You will notice that at the beginning of the previous paragraph, I said, "the British army". While this is perhaps not strictly true, Britain had other troops mostly engaged in colonial security operations and home defence, what was certain was that Moore commanded the only field army Britain could deploy at the time. This inescapable fact informed his every decision. He could not afford to spend men with the prodigality of his opponent.

Moore advanced into Spain and had reached Salamanca before discovering that his new Spanish chums had been thoroughly whipped. He advanced further in the hope of distracting Napoleon's forces and giving the Spanish some time to regroup, eventually turning tail and making for the sea when the French began to pursue in earnest.

Moore's army marched through freezing conditions to the sea port of Corunna, losing nearly two thousand effectives to hunger, straggling and hypothermia. It was during this retreat that he lost the services of one Richard Sharpe...


When called upon to fight, the army did well, but with the exception of the rear-guard who were constantly harrassed by the French van, discipline was not good and collapsed completely on several occasions. Once Napoleon realised that he would not be able to cut Moore off, he withdrew, leaving matters in the hands of General Soult, known amongst my circle as "The Duck of Damnation".

Moore and the army made it to Corunna, but the transport ships had yet to arrive. When the French arrived a day later, Moore turned at bay and began preparations both to evacuate and to fight. Steps were taken to blow up the powder magazines and slaughter the army's horses. This episode forms part of Allan Mallinson's excellent Rumours of War.


The Tactical Picture

The two armies were posted on heights facing each other. Running in the valley between the two armies were streams which flowed to the sea. The heights of San Christobal anchored the British right, with the village of Elvina in the centre and Piedralonga on the left. When the French did not attack immediately, Moore thought that they might not attack at all and began the embarkation. However, French piquets drove in their British counterparts and an attempt was made to outflank the British leftl.

Meanwhile Soult established his batteries (he enjoyed a superiority in guns of two to one) on the heights overlooking Elvina. What followed was a prolonged shin kicking contest as the French drove out the British and were then driven out in turn, who were then counterattacked and so on. I imagine the impetus provided by charging downhill into the village helped feed this particular fight. Moore was attempting to rally the survivors of one of these counter-attacks when he was hit by a cannon ball. This hampered the defence, but the brigade commanders managed to fend off of the further French attacks, including an attack by the French horse on San Christobal, until Soult gave it up as a bad job.

By night fall, both armies were in much the same position as before, with losses of 1,500 men on the French side and 900 on the British. The British slipped away in the night, embarking on their transports while Spanish troops held the citadel to cover their escape.


*I imagine this taking place, Brendan Behan like, in a shadowy bodega where the wine and hot words were flowing.

Austrian Infantry by Mike Embree

Austrian Infantry (artist unknown)

I was writing yesterday about the need to learn more about the Austrian army. I had a few idle moments last night and had a look at the information that was available on my phone, which was when I found this, an admirably clear introduction to Austrian Regular Infantry.

I also noticed that it was written by a friend of mine, Mike Embree. This of course begs the question what else Mike has been hiding under a bushell.

Mike doesn't interest himself in Napoleonics these days which is a pity, but it does mean that he can devote his time to writing books about his new period, the mid 19th century. He's an active member of the Continental Wars Society. His last book, Bismarck's First War explored the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 in great detail. The conflict is an unusual one in that the methods with which it was fought are comparable with the Franco-Prussian or American Civil War, but the Casus Belli and the general air of the thing retain the whiff of the 18th century.

Mike's strength is the clarity of his prose* and his tenacity in pursuit of original sources. If the book has a weakness, it's that the publisher did not see fit to give sufficient space to the plethora of maps, etching and illustrations that Mike managed to track down. Mike has a new book in the pipeline, but more on that anon.



*I finally understood the Schleswig-Holstein question - though I'm still at a loss as to why one would go to so much trouble over two buckets of paint and a duck.

The Battle of Maida

The Battle of Maida by William Heath

One of the things on which you can rely is wargamers inherent need to tinker (yes you Cordery, see me after class), so it came as no surprise to me that only a week or so after the arrival of Command & Colours: Napoleonics, new scenarios started to appear.

What did surprise me was that the first was one I had considered writing up for myself, the Battle of Maida.

This is a battle that has always held a fascination for me, though one I'm hard put to satisfactorily explain. It was a small fight, a skirmish really in Napoleonic terms, though but it did give a boost to the morale of a British army that* had been staggering from disaster to cock up and back again for the previous decade.

In brief, the strategic picture was as follows, the British and Neapolitans were in possession of Sicily, while a French army was menacing Naples proper. The Neapolitan royal family, who were some queer fish, had fled to Sicily, but were eager to regain power on the mainland of their kingdom, while the British were happy enough to maintain Sicily as a naval base. The French who are doing a capital job of alienating some of the worst ruled people in Europe by being their usual charming selves have beaten down almost all resistance except for a fortress at Gaeta and an uprising in Calabria.

The British decided to land a force of some 6,000 men commanded by General Stuart in Calabria to annoy the French. The French despatched a force of similar size under General Reynier to crush the British. General Reynier's force was made up of scarlet clad Swiss, two battalions of the Polish-Italian legion, some light infantry, a single battery of horse artillery and a handful of cavalry. General Stuart who after landing seems to have done very little beyond waiting for the enemy turn up, met this force with a mixed bag of infantry and three guns of the RHA.

The French advanced in column, attempted to form line and were shot down by British infantry who then counter attacked with a bayonet charge. The French fled the field, but were not pursued by a British army entirely destitute of cavalry.

And that is it, albeit it in very broad strokes and recounted from memory.

The attractions of Maida are I think, the compactness of the action, the fact that neither General covered himself in glory, which leaves the player in the enviable position of showing how it *should* have been done and the exotic troops involved, Swiss fighting on both sides, Corsican Rangers and what would eventually become the legion of the Vistula. Only the lack of cavalry prevents it being the perfect wargaming engagement in my view.

For those who would like to know more, I recommend The Battle of Maida by Richard Hopton, which I borrowed from Donogh. An interesting companion to this is Counterpoint to Trafalgar: The Anglo-Russian invasion of Naples by the magnificently named William Flayhart. This was again stolen from Donogh, who was so lacking in common decency that he stole it back, damn his eyes.

Hopton does the job of a craftsman and describes his battle well, but Flayhart is even more interesting in that he manages to write a gripping book that is the anthesis of what one expects from a Napoleonic history book. There are no battles, little glory and a lot of diplomacy and skullduggery. Don't let the lack of violence put you off, it's fascinating stuff and vividly illustrates the problems of coalition warfare.

Maida is also interesting in that it has had an enormous influence in the historiography of minor tactics of the Napoleonic era. You can find a discussion of this particular academic donnybrook here.

But the fact remains that I have been pipped at the post and Mr. Laurence Cutner of Canada finished his Maida scenario first. I haven't played it yet, though it has been receiving favourable attention on Board Game Geek.

You can download it here.

*Barring some success in Eygpt.