BEREZINA (1812) Battle Report
Napoleon's crossing of the Berezina is one of the most interesting and unusual battles of the period. Weary French forces begin the battle on both sides of the river while two Russian armies converge from different directions. Our scenario also has special rules to represent the 40,000 stragglers inter-mingled with the Grande Armee. We did not have nearly enough time (3 hours) to play such a large scenario to conclusion, but here's what we managed to accomplish....
7:00am: The French forces begin deployed on the field, with Victor's corps on the eastern bank. Before the battle, Napoleon elected to also place the Imperial Guard with Victor, hoping to buy time for some of the stragglers to cross the river and avoid capture. All Russian forces begin off table, nominally under the overall command of Admiral (yes, admiral) Pavel Chichagov [right]. 7:30am: French stragglers begin crossing the river, shielded by a strong covering force. Now approaching from the south, Wittgenstein and Chichagov waste no time with their pursuit. The field rapidly fills with slow-moving Russian infantry and artillery columns, so the Russian commanders throw their cavalry forward. Without supporting infantry, this is a bold gambit but perhaps a necessary one to slow the French retreat.... |
8:00am: "Sound the charge!" On both banks of the river, Russian cavalry plunges into the French line. But the French are ready and waiting to receive the attack on both fronts. An especially tragic/incredible moment ensues when 750 Russian dragoons charge into the teeth of three Imperial Guard batteries. The entire cavalry brigade is vaporized in a whiff of grapeshot...or in this case, many whiffs of grapeshot [pictured below]. Along the length of the line, the French hold steady and repulse the impetuous Russian attack.
8:30am: Eager to start down the road to Vilna and relative safety, some of the stragglers are moving off-table. This satisfies some French victory conditions for the scenario. About half of Victor's corps has also crossed the Berezina, heading for Vilna. But not all is well for Napoleon's rearguard action. Wittgenstein and Chichagov are not deterred by the repulse of their first wave and continue sending more Russian
cavalry into the meat-grinder. Heavy Russian artillery finally unlimbers and starts silencing their French counterparts with successful counter-battery fire. 9:00am: Oudinot's corps is now under heavy pressure from Chichagov, including coordinated cavalry and infantry action. Tactically, the French fare well...but the entire horizon seems filled with endless Russian infantry columns. |
9:30: Desperate to buy more time for the stragglers to cross the suspect bridge over the Berezina, Napoleon deploys the Imperial Guard to cover the bridge site. Victor is in danger of utter collapse and the Guard cavalry plunges into a horde of Cossacks, scattering them with ease.
10:00am: The fight for the bridge is on! Wittgenstein's advance, though glacial in pace, is backed by a steady stream of infantry. The Russian front line along the eastern bank is now within a mile of the bridge crossing and the remnants of Victor's corps ponder escaping while there is still time. The Imperial Guard forms a stout, compact defensive position to become the new rear-guard. On the opposite shoreline, Chichagov scores some success with a cavalry attack on Napoleon's right flank. The Emperor is heavily engaged along his entire front, making a clean disengagement to Vilna impossible to imagine....
10:00am: The fight for the bridge is on! Wittgenstein's advance, though glacial in pace, is backed by a steady stream of infantry. The Russian front line along the eastern bank is now within a mile of the bridge crossing and the remnants of Victor's corps ponder escaping while there is still time. The Imperial Guard forms a stout, compact defensive position to become the new rear-guard. On the opposite shoreline, Chichagov scores some success with a cavalry attack on Napoleon's right flank. The Emperor is heavily engaged along his entire front, making a clean disengagement to Vilna impossible to imagine....
Victory Objectives:We did not have nearly enough time to see this battle unfold to satisfying conclusion, so it's difficult to project who might have won. But even after a morning of combat, two observations could be made: (1) The Russians suffered dearly, with over 5,000 casualties, mostly in the cavalry. The French lost fewer than 1,000 men. (2) The French were heavily engaged along the length of the line, making a clean retreat in the afternoon quite difficult to imagine.
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