Here some feedback. General feedback that can be applied to all Dennewitz scenarios: - 1 Bat. of 25th French Division is not on map, on purpose? - Change the Wesphalian chevauxlegeres in French XII Corps, they seem to be the infamous Wesphalian lancers that did not move on Neys order. Either remove them or maybe fix them so they only react when they are in themselves in danger, whatever is done the quality should be lowered too. - It must be noted that the Prussian troops of Kleist at Jüterborg that could make a flank move aren't in the scenario and so there is no threat to the French right wing. Should there be something done to compensate this? Maybe a very low probability that the Prussians show up or maybe fixing some French for covering the flank? - The Strength of the VII French Corps has to be checked, not only for this scenario but for all Dennewitz scenarios. In the game we have 15k men at least 25% below the +20k that can usually be found as strength for the VII Corps. Some sources say 24k(Napoleon, His Army and Enemies. webpage) others 21k(Osprey Campaign 25). Especially the Saxon troops are much weaker than what seems necessary to withstand the Prussian assaults at Göhlsdorf that still have to come, such weak Saxons could not have conducted such a heavy fighting. So the problem seems to be alone the strength of the two Saxon divisions(24th & 25th). Under "Napoleon, His Army and Enemies"(webpage) they are set at 8500 & 8000 men what at first seems too high especially as the Saxons had casualties at Großbeeren, but Ney had received 6000 Saxon troops as replacement at Wittenberg before the Battle of Dennewitz so the high strength may be correct. Osprey Men-at-Arms 90 p.20 gives the Saxons 18.344 men of all ranks(including sick & wounded) for 1st August 1813 and the French 32nd division 8000 men, that the 32nd was now after Großbeeren down to about 5500 while the Saxons still seemed strong enough to attack at Dennewitz confirms that Ney had received reinforcements for the Saxon troops. Hard numbers are a problem, I tried to calculate them of Nafiger strength & casualty figures, I took strength from 15th August and applied casualties from Großbeeren, then I took strength from 17th September and added back the casualties from Dennewitz, the difference shows that least 3245 men were added to the Saxon infantry units after Großbeeren and before Dennewitz. As the Saxon force surely shrunk further after the defeat at Großbeeren just like it surely shrunk further after the defeat at Dennewitz, I lowered the Strength after Großbeeren by 10% and raised the strength for Dennewitz by 10% and filled the missing number with average values, that gives about 5757 men difference not taking possible artillery and cavalry replacements into account. That confirms that Ney likely got around 6000 Saxon replacements taken up at Wittenberg. Long talk short conclusion, the Saxon battalions at Dennewitz are far too small. Numbers I suggest are: 24th Division 1st Brigade 841 Guard Gren. 754 1/1 Light Regt 759 2/1 Light Regt 745 1/Maximilian IR(many numbers missing, used figure of 15th August, likely unit was bigger) 711 2/Rechten IR 106 Jäger Co.
2nd Brigade 840 Spiegel Gren. 726 1/Fred. Aug. IR 616 2/Fred. Aug. IR 763 1/Steindel IR 719 2/Steindel IR
25th Division 1st Brigade 737 Kleist Gren.(named Anger in Nafizger OOBs) 674 1/2 Light Regt 587 2/2 Light Regt 557 2/König IR 600 1/Niesemeuschel IR
2nd Brigade 677 1/Pr.Anton IR 569 2/Pr.Anton IR 296 1/Löw IR 296 2/Löw IR The 2 Löw battalions are a prime example, according to the casualties at Großbeeren they should be at least down to 132 respectively 105, but at Denenwitz they have almost 300 men per battalion, were should they have come from if not from considerable replacements of Saxons at Wittenberg.
Specific feedback for "058 Dennewitz: The Cauldron" only: - 27th French Division missing, it has the famous Polish Uhlans in it that broke through the Prussian lines and rode behind it overrunning the Prussian ammunition column, and it also has 4 line bat. of Polish Infantry. Nafziger gives at Dennewitz: 27th Division: Général de division Dombrowski Brigade: Général de brigade Zoltowski 1/,2/2nd Polish Infantry Regiment(Attached to 32nd Division) 1/,2/4th Polish Infantry Regiment 18th Light Cavalry Brigade: Général de brigade Krukowiecki 1/,2/,3/,4/2nd Uhlan Regiment 1/,2/,3/,4/4th Chasseur à Cheval Regiment It seems from other OOBs that this division might have been spread across the Army for whatever reason. Zoltowski brigade is often attached to 32nd Division while Krukowiecki's brigade is attached to III Cavalry Corps, this spreading would also explain why the 27th doesn't show up in many OOBs or on many maps. - French right flank seems too strong because the heavy fighting that the French, Italian and Württemberger had already done, they are(including the missing 27th Div.) at a strength of 23k what is their starting strength for the battle but they should have less men and fatigue added to them as they already had combat behind them. In the combat until 3:30pm Prussian Landwehr cavalry broke several Italian battalions, Lorge's cavalry including Bertrand's baggage train was also carried away by Prussian Landwehr cavalry. Other Prussian cavalry crushed the French 10th Horse Chasseurs and captured an Italian battery. Later the 2nd Polish Uhlan Regiment and a handful of French chasseurs from Lorge's cavalry made a daring attack, they passed the Prussian skirmish line then attacked five or six battalions formed in squares, they pressed forward passing between the squares of infantry and engaged General Tauentzien's landwehr cavalry. When the Prussian 1st Life Hussar Regiment got into the action they tried to disengage and rode South-West overrunning a Prussian ammunition column before passing the Prussian line again to get back to the own line. Later the Italians and Wurttembergs were driven back, 2 Wurttemberg battalions formed in squares were broken by canister fire and suffered horrible casualties, of it 1 square lost 531, only 70 escaped. - The position of forces around Gohlsdorf should be reconsidered. I haven't read anything that indicates that the Prussians were in Gohlsdorf before the Saxons. AFAIK the Saxons took position in and on each side of Gohlsdorf and the Prussians attacked them several times. The Prussians were at first there with Borstell's 5th Brigade that joined the battlefield about 4pm, its first attack was repulsed by the Saxons. Oppen's Reserve Cavalry must also been there as it was driven off by Saxon artillery. The currently there positioned 3rd Brigade under Hesse Homburg was ordered by Bülow to Gohlsdorf to support Borstell's 5th Brigade. From the morning to the afternoon the 3rd & 4th Prussian corps formed a line from Wölmsdorf over Niedergörsdorf to north of the woods north of Dennewitz. The later arriving reinforcements, starting with Borstell's 5th Brigade arrived West of Göhlsdorf, so extending 3rd & 4th Prussian corps to the South of Wölmsdorf seems unnecessary.
_________________ Général Christian Hecht Commandant en Chef de la Grande Armée Comte et Chevalier de l'Empire
Last edited by Christian Hecht on Tue Sep 12, 2017 10:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.
|