Battle of Brienne 1814 PT 2

[nevermore]

Battle of Brienne 1814 PT 2

Gamed in 15mm scale and organised by club member Mark, turned out to be well worth the effort excellent game and a really good feel for the period.

More photos of the battle on the main website in the gallery

http://grimsbywargamessociety.webs.com/



Commander of French - Napoleon


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Commander of Allies - Blucher


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In early January 1814, Napoleon's weakened forces lost the Rhine barrier and over aquarter of one million allied soldiers began their advance to French soil. After a series of defeatsunder his blundering marshals, Napoleon decided to take personal command of the remainingFrench divisions defending Paris--barely 60,000 men. Reinvigorated with his old energy and fire, the Emperor sought to place his army in between the advancing allies, defeating each allied sovereign in detail before they could unite.


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On January 28, Blücher and Schwarzenberg were dangerously close to joining forces.Napoleon pounced on the opportunity and directed his scattered divisions to converge againstBlücher at the crossroads of Brienne.


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Here, fate intervened. Russian Cossacks interceptedsome of the Emperor's written orders, which alerted Blücher to the trap.


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Not only was the wilyold Prussian ready for the French attack, the capture of Napoleon's orders meant that hisintended reinforcements would not fall on Blücher's exposed flank.


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 Throughout the morning andearly afternoon of January 29, French and Russian troops converged at Brienne for battle

A cavalry skirmish in the late morning drove back Pahlen's advance guard to the village of Brienne. The battle did not begin in earnest until 3:00pm, when Victor's infantry deployed for afrontal assault on the village and chateau. At this juncture,


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 both commanders fed reinforcementsinto the battle piecemeal, as more men arrived on the muddy roads. Ney launched his ownattack as dusk fell, and the battle continued into the darkness.


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Blücher and his chief of staff were nearly captured when the French stormed the chateau! The battle ended well into thenight, with each side suffering about 3,000 causalities. Since Blücher withdrew from the field,Napoleon claimed a victory. But in truth, the battle was inconclusive--Napoleon had missed aprime opportunity to destroy Blücher before he could rejoin the main allied formation


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http://grimsbywargamessociety.webs.com/