Talavera 208 - Bassecourts Spanish 5th Division, Provincial de Siguenza (Militia) Regiment

5th Division: Major-General Bassecourt
1st Real Marina (Royal Marines), 1st Battalion
1st Real Marina (Royal Marines), 2nd Battalion
Africa Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion
Reina Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion
Murcia Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion
Murcia Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion
Provincial de Siguenza (Militia)

The Provincial Militia (Milicias Provinciales) were forty-two regiments each of one battalion except the Mallorca Regiment of two battalions.

The regiments took the name of their area of origin and detached their grenadier companies to form four divisions of two battalions in each.

The role of the militia during wartime was to support the main field armies by acting as garrison troops, but were considered to be able to take their place in the line alongside the regulars when required.

With a strength of 550 men per battalion in 1808, the militia battalions amounted to a force of about 30,000 men .

In 1805 the uniform changed from a blue coat and breeches to the white seen in the accompanying illustrations with red collars, cuffs and turn-backs and gold lace and buttons for officers.

However, as highlighted on the following link, many of the Provinciales had not received their white uniforms when the war started with many described accoutered in the more common brown with red facings as illustrated in the units covered in my posts about General Portago's 3rd Spanish Division at Talavera. 

http://www.the-ancients.com/gemigabok/spanish-militia-uniforms-in-may-1808/

Spanish 3rd Division - Talavera

The Provincial de Siguenza were one of the regiments that are reported to have been in their 1805 white uniform and I have depicted them, thus, but with a few brown clad recruits having joined the battalion by 1809.

The appearance of the Siguenza regiment on the Spanish order of battle can be traced from the start of the war as shown in May 1808 with the Spanish forces mustering and those troops forming the Army of Andalusia.

Spanish Army of Andalusia, 20th May 1808

Gibraltar Camp:

3/Guardias Wallonas (30/800)

Valencia Infantry Regiment (l/2)(7/318)

Corona Infantry Regiment (39/675)

l/,3/Africa Infantry Regiment (36/455)

Barbastro Light Infantry Regiment (l/2)(6/246)

Campo Mayor Infantry Regiment 33/1034

3/Murcia Infantry Regiment (10/121)

l/,2/Jaen Infantry Regiment (34/795)

Grenadieros provinciales de Andalucia (2)(50/l,400)

Provinciales de Cuenca (12/487)

Provinciales de Jaen (14/496)

Provinciales de Lorca (12/434)

Provinciales de Guadix (13/503)

Provinciales de Siguenza (14/543)

Provinciales de Chinchilla (13/408)

Provinciales de Malaga (12/313)

Artillery (20/575)

Sappers (9 131)

Santiago Cavalry Regiment (2)(16/130)

Alcantara Cavalry Regiment (2)(15/116)

Cueta:

Espana Infantry Regiment (44/872)

Cantabria Infantry Regiment (51/916)

3/Jaen Infantry Regiment (13/512)

Fixo de Cueta Infantry Regiment (62/l,112)

Artillery (18/326)

Sappers (6/250)

Cavalry (l sqn)(7/98)

Source - Clerc, Capitulation de Baylen, Causes et Consequences, Paris, 1903

The Siguenza were, as many of the Provinciale, popular formations with the people compared with the national army, and most show good up to strength numbers.

The Siguenza were, like the Africa and Murcia battalions who would stand alongside them at Talavera, part of Lapena's Reserve Division at Bailen in July 1808.

Spanish Forces at Baylen

17th  July 1808

Commanding General: Lieutenant General Francixco Xavier Castaños

Reserve Division: Lieutenant Genreal Manual de Lapeña

Provincial Grenadiers (912)

2/Africa Infantry Regiment (525)

Burgos Infantry Regiment (2,089)

Det/Reding #2 (Swiss) Infantry Regiment (243)

Zaragosa Infantry Battalion (8922)

3/Murcia Infantry Regiment (420)

Provinciales de Siguenza Infantry Regiment (502)

Naval Grenadier Company (50)

Pavia Dragoon Regiment (541 men & 408 horses)

Jerez Lancer Regiment (70)

Artillery (12 guns)(502)

Sappers (1 co)(100)

Source - Oman

Many of the battalions that served with Castanos at Bailen would form the core of his Army of the Centre that followed up the French withdrawal to the River Ebro in the late summer and early autumn of 1808 and would later find themselves chased to the south east of Madrid as the Emperor led his Grande Armee back into the Peninsula that November.   

Spanish Army of Andalucia, 19 July 1808

Commanding General: Teniente General Francisco X. Castanos

Reserve Division: Teniente general Manual de Lapena

Granaderos provinciales (912)

Africa Infantry Regiment (525)

Burgos Infantry Regiment (2,089)

2/,6/von Reding (Swiss) Infantry Regiment (243)

Batallon de Zaragosa (822)

3/Murcia Infantry Regiment (420)

Provincial de Siguenza (502)

Compania de Granaderos de marina (50)

Dragones de Pavia (541 men/408 horses)

2 Horse Batteries (12 guns)(502)

Sapper Company (1)(100)

Source - Gomez de Arteche Y Moro, Guerra de la Independencia, Historia Militar de Espana de 1808 a 1814

Following the reformation of the Army of the Centre under its new commander the Duke of Infantado in the December 1808 at their winter quarters in Cuenca, the Siguenza disappear from the order of battle and were definitely not involved in the Battle of Ucles in January which makes me wonder if they were left in Siguenza to recruit, when the Army of the Centre passed through on their march to Cuenca.

Either way the regiment does not appear in the orders of battle until April of 1809 when it is listed among the units transferred from the Army of the Centre to the Army of Estremadura with which it would be at Talavera in July 1809.

Forces Passed to the Army of Estramadura from the Army of the Centre by order of the Supreme Central Junta. April 1809 after the Battle of Medellin.

Division: Mariscal de campo de Echevarri
l/Reyna Infantry Regiment (l)(795)
l/Africa Infantry Regiment (l)(838)
lst Real Marina Infantry Regiment (2)(615)
l/,2/Murcia Infantry Regiment (2)(l,229)
2/Cazadores de Barbastro (l)(851)
Cazadores Voluntarios de Valencia y Albuquerque (l)(831)
Provincial de Siguenza (l)(l,081)

My Provincial de Siguenza are composed of figures from the AB and Warmodelling range of figures which helps differentiate their appearance from the regulars in their division, all composed of AB figures.

My Coronela and Sencilla are my home brewed concoction and I take no responsibility for their accuracy, only to say that I have taken the Siguenza coat of arms and applied them as required. They are posted here should others choose to use them.

So there we are, the final battalion of Bassecourt's 5th Division is finished and the pictures of the whole division on parade with General Bassecourt and Cuesta in attendance will follow.

As the first game approaches at the end of June, I will be finishing off the order of battle with the Spanish Horse battery of guns that accompanied Albuquerque's cavalry to the British left flank and will complete the project bar a few odds and end figures that will be added through the games.

This weekend I am off up to Lincoln and Newark for a weekend away with the chaps from the Devon Wargames Group. We will be spending an afternoon, guests of Wargames Foundry with a big game planned on the Saturday. Then it's a curry and a few evening games at the hotel in Lincoln before off to Partizan at Newark on the Sunday.

As always I will have the camera to hand with posts about all the fun and games to follow, and if that was not enough we have a book review to come from Mr Steve, so lots of things to come here on JJ's.

Sources referred to in this post:

http://www.eborense.es/batalla_talavera1809_ejercito_espanol.html

The Armies of Spain and Portugal 1808-14 - G.F.Nafziger & M Gilbert

Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (1) 1793-1808 - Rene Chartrand & Bill Younghusband

Grand Duchy of Warsaw - 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment

This week has been taken up with a lot of work finishing off the Talavera table so the figure painting schedule had to be adapted slightly to account for the time. With that work done it's back to the Poles.

The second battalion of the 4th Grand Duchy of Warsaw Infantry Regiment completes the Polish infantry component at Talavera.

For more information on the history of the Grand Duchy's involvement in the Peninsular War, see my previous post on the 1/4th.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/grand-duchy-of-warsaw-1st-battalion-4th.html

As previously the battalion is composed of figures from the Warmodelling range of figures with an AB French officer with sword drawn at the front and my Colour is from Adolfo Ramos' range of flags, a link to which is in the side bar.

Strictly speaking, these chaps should see no action in the forthcoming games as they were held in reserve by Sebastiani throughout the 28th July, so I'm probably going to have to come up with a suitable penalty if the French players decide to make use of them.

I hope you like the cameo close up, that heads up the post. I am quite keen to let the figures do all the work, so I have been messing about with a banner like header using the figures. Let me know what you think.

The Grand Duchy of Warsaw, 4th Infantry Regiment drawn up for battle on the Talavera table

Next up, we are into the "donkey wallopers" with the Vistula Legion Lancers, followed by Westphalian Chevau Legere and then probably the best cavalry on the table, Fane's British heavy dragoons. However I have another trip to Paris lined up this week and I am keen to get the "Night Attack" scenario finished off with the third and final test game. So I might be mixing things up a bit.

Grand Duchy of Warsaw - 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment of Infantry

Poland is one of those countries that, over the centuries, has found itself in the unfortunate position of being surrounded by powerful neighbours often seen by them as a buffer between opposing power blocks and a useful possession to supply manpower and wealth. This position has often led to its partition and forced Poles into a struggle for unification and recognition of its borders.

Such a partition between powerful neighbours occurred in November 1795 when the country was divided up between Russia, Prussia and Austria and its King, Stanislas Augustus, forced to abdicate and an early retirement in Russia.

France, alone, opposed this partition and became the natural refuge for Polish exiles and a recruiting base for the nucleus of Polish legionary units fighting for France against the occupiers in the years following.

The culmination of the rise of Napoleonic France reached its pinnacle with the defeats of Russia, Prussia and Austria in the campaigns of 1805, 1806 and 1807 and the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander of Russia and King Wilhelm of Prussia on a raft moored in the centre of the River Niemen.

Treaty of Tilsit - 7th to 9th July 1807

One of the results of the treaty was the creation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw under the nominal control of the King of Saxony, not quite the position the Poles had struggled for over the years, having pressed Napoleon for the reconstitution of an independent Poland set up on the borders of 1795. The creation of the Duchy, though not meeting the expectations of Poles was to prove a future source of tension between France and Russia and one of the principle causes for a return to war between the two empires in 1812.

The Grand Duchy infantry 1809-12 - Grenadier of the 4th Regiment 1b (One interpretation!)
Note the change to a czapka seen after Spain

A new Polish army of about 40,000 men was established under the command of General Poniatowski constructed on the French model and contained twelve infantry regiments each of three battalions, seven cavalry regiments and three artillery battalions each of four batteries. The new army incorporated units from the former Legion du Nord but saw the former Italian Legion left separate from the Duchy's army and renamed the Legion of the Vistula consisting of three infantry regiments of three battalions and an uhlan (lancers) regiment.

In the spring of 1808, Napoleon ordered the Vistula Legion into Spain, later reinforced by a Second Legion bringing the force up to four infantry regiments, a battery of 8 lbr guns and the uhlan regiment. This force was followed in the August by the best units of infantry in the Grand Duchy's army, the 4th, 7th and 9th regiments each of two battalions.

With the re-invasion of Spain in November 1808, the Grand Duchy Infantry regiments were part of Lefebvre's IVth Corps, 3rd Division under GdD Valence

French 4th Corps In the Tagus Valley Mid-December 1808
Commanding Officer: Marechal Lefebvre

lst Division: General de division Sebastiani
lst Brigade: General de brigade Roguet
28th Line Infantry Regiment (43/l,050)
32nd Line Infantry Regiment (64/l,623)
2nd Brigade: General de brigade Pouzet
58th Line Infantry Regiment (42/l,335
75th Line Infantry Regiment (45/l,000)
Artillery: (4/2l0)

2nd Division: General de division Leval
Madrid Garrison:
Nassau Infantry Regiment (l,l42)
Baden Infantry Regiment (940)
Prince Primate (Frankfurt) Battalion (366)
Polish Artillery (64)
Detachment: General Chasse
Dutch Infantry Regiment (48/907)
Det. Dutch Hussar Regiment (4/56)
Det. Prince Primate Battalion (3/54)
Det/Hesse-Darmstadt Infantry Regiment (l2/442)

3rd Division: General de division Valence
lst Brigade: General de brigade Vonderweidt
4th Polish Line Infantry Regiment (25/850)
7th Polish Line Infantry Regiment (52/l,750)
2nd Brigade: General de brigade Schramm
9th Polish Line Infantry Regiment (56/l,630)
Artillery (8/250)

Cavlary: General Maupetit
5th Dragoon Regiment (30/430)
Westphalian Chevauxleger Regiment (28/400)
Dutch Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (l6/320)
Division: General Lasalle
9th Dragoon Regiment (27/474)
l0th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (22/443)
5th Chasseur a Cheval Regiment (23/426)
Polish Lancer Regiment (33/600)
3rd Dragoon Division: General Milhaud
l2th Dragoon Regiment (24/422)
l6th Dragoon Regiment (20/304)
2lst Dragoon Regiment (23/3l8)

Balagny, Campagne de l'Empereur napoleon en Espagne (l808-l809)

By February 1809 IVth Corps was under the command of GdD Sebastiani and along with I Corps under Marshal Victor was detailed to follow up and pursue Spanish forces operating to the south of Madrid

IV Corps: Général de division Sebastiani 1st February 1809

1st Division: Général de division Sebastiani (5,660)
28th Line Regiment (3)
32nd Line Regiment (3)
58th Line Regiment (3)
75th Line Regiment (3)
Artillery:
19/6th Foot Artillery (0/0/0/1)
8/7th Foot Artillery (1/5/6/84)
13/7th Foot Artillery (1/3/2/20)
Dutch Horse Artillery (4/6/5/48)
9th Artillery Artisan Company (0/0/0/6)
2/6th (bis) Train Battalion (0/0/1/15)
3/11th Principal Train Battalion (1/3/5/102)
Dutch Train Company (2/5/4/58)
Det/Light Mule Train Battalion (1/0/0/20)

2nd Division: Général de division Leval (3,127)
2nd Nassau Regiment (2)
4th Baden Regiment (2)
Hesse-Darmstädt Gross und Erbprinz Regiment (2)
Frankfurt Battalion
l/2nd Dutch Line Regiment
2/4th Dutch Line Regiment
(2 battalions formed into the 2nd Dutch Line after
14 June 1809)
Artillery:(figures as of 1 February)
2nd Baden Foot Artillery (5/0/0/84)
2nd Hessian Foot Artillery (1/0/0/37)
2/6th (bis) Train Battalion (1/0/0/98)

3rd Division: Général de division Valence (3,915)
4th Polish Regiment (2)
7th Polish Regiment (2)
9th Polish Regiment (2)
Artillery:
3rd Polish Foot Artillery (3/0/0/98)
Det/6th (bis) Train Battalion (0/0/0/94)

Cavalry Brigade: Général de brigade Maupetit (1,781)
5th Dragoon Regiment
3rd Dutch Hussar Regiment
Polish Lancer Regiment
Artillery Total (30 guns)

* Numbers are officers; sergeants; corporals, musicians; and gunners.
Oman, A History of the Peninsular War

The two Polish battalions can be seen in reserve behind Leval's 3rd German Division during the afternoon attack.

The corps was reorganised by the time of Talavera with the the second and third divisions exchanging titles. Only the 4th Polish Regiment under Colonel Comte Felix Potocki, joined the rest of IVth Corps at Talavera, being attached to Leval's "German Division".

Napoleon's German Division at Talavera

GdD Valence and the other two Polish regiments of the now 2nd Division were left at Toledo to watch General Venegas and the Army of La Mancha.

This decision to leave the Polish troops as a strategic reserve was mirrored with the deployment of the 4th Polish Regiment being left in tactical reserve during the Battle of Talavera. All through the campaign the French and certainly King Joseph were torn between the anticipated arrival of Soult's forces in the rear of the allied army and the threat to their own rear and a potential attack on Madrid by General Venegas. This explains the conservative retention of cavalry and infantry reserves (King Joseph's personal guard) not being thrown against the allied line during the battle.

The choice of the Poles to be in the reserve seems to have been a good decision if their fighting record is anything to go by and certainly the 4th Regiment would give a very good account of itself in the following year at Fuengirola where 300 members of the regiment defeated ten times their number of an Anglo-Spanish force sent against them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fuengirola

The wargamer has an interesting time trying to piece together the various, often contradictory, written and visual references on the infantry of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw with a preponderance of sources focusing on the later period of Polish activities from 1812 with their recall and re-uniforming in time for the invasion of Russia. 

Vistula Legion Infantry

The three Polish regiments were described as being in a very ragged state when, after being raised, they marched into Paris on their way to Spain and were entertained by the Imperial Guard. The units were issued with French uniform articles and most sources seem to agree that they entered Spain wearing bell topped shakos rather than the Polish style czapka issued to them later for the 1812 campaign in Russia. Thus I have opted to use the Warmodelling Vistula Legion infantry, suitably adapted but having a very early French style of dress with appropriate shakos and knee high leggings typical of French units earlier in the period. The flag is from Adolfo Ramos.

The shakos needed a Polish eagle painted over the brass plate above the peak (not seen on Vistula Legion infantry - see the two uniform illustrations for comparisons) and I had to scratch build a Polish eagle with raised wings to put on the standard pole. By no means perfect I am pleased with the overall look of the first battalion and they will make a very suitable reserve unit for the IVth Corps when set up on the table.

Sources consulted for this post include

http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/polish_army_2.htm

Talavera, Wellington's First Victory in Spain - Andrew W Field

Napoleonic Armies - Ray Johnson

Poles & Saxons of the Napoleonic Wars - Nafziger, Wesolowski, Devoe

Napoleon's Polish Troops - von Pivka, Roffe 

Next up Talavera Night Attack, Game Two and the 2nd/4th Regiment Grand Duchy of Warsaw Infantry.

Spanish Artillery and Supernumaries

Spanish Artillery at Bailen - Dionisio Alvarez Cueto

Progress with the Talavera project continues with the completion of the first part of the Spanish forces involved in the fighting, with the addition of Spanish artillery and supernumeraries. 

The Spanish forces were generally well served by their artillery. Like the rest of the Spanish forces, the artillery also suffered from the years of neglect, but most authorities would agree that of the the three arms of infantry cavalry and artillery, the artillery consistently out performed the other two.

The gunners were known to fight their guns, often to the last man given their poor mobility due to a lack of suitable draught horses. Many batteries ended up as position units relying on mules and bullocks to relocate them.

The Army of Estremadura had the following guns available to it;

one battery of six 12lbr guns, one battery of eight 8lbr guns, two batteries of six 8lbr guns and one battery of four 4lbr horse guns.*

The 12lbr guns were pivotal in bringing their heavy fire power to bear at the Pajar Vergara redoubt with four of their guns emplaced their along with Lawson's six 3lbr Royal Foot Artillery battery. It was these guns that stalled the attack of the German Division as the Baden regiment came face to face with the two batteries, losing about 300 of their number including Colonel von Porbeck and causing the Badeners to break back to the cover of the olive groves and causing their neighbours to halt in disorder.

Muleteers as pictures in Hamburg by the Suhr brothers

Later in the afternoon, half of the battery was redeployed to support British troops on the Cerro de Medellin, providing a long range threat to General Ruffin's troops who were gathering in attack columns at the head of the northern valley. It must have proved uncomfortable for the French troops forced to form square by the threat of allied cavalry to sit under the muzzles of these guns.

I have built more 12lbrs than I need as my batteries are now modelled on two guns rather than the three to four models suggested with Napoleon at War rules. So not all of these models will be on the table for this project, but still make a handy addition to the collection for future games.

Artillery Train - 1813

My models are using the range from Warmodelling. The gunners are still in their 1808 regulation dress all be it, "campaigned up". The limber team is rather fanciful as it is based on the 1813 uniform seen above, very unlikely to have been seen at Talavera. In time I will be looking to get some 18mm Oxen to hitch up to a limber to better represent the look of the battery as a whole. Until then, the 1813 team will substitute, and they will come in handy when we get to Castalla.

In addition to the Spanish guns I have put together some new gambion embrasures from "Last Man Last Bullet" which will be my redoubt on the Pajar. These gambion sections are perfect for my models as they are produced in 45mm sections that fit my gun base frontages precisely. I gave them an underpinning of mdf and magnetic tape that raises them to the same height and allows a bit of ground texturing. 

With a few barrels and boxes stacked nearby, this should form a nice centre piece on the British right flank.

The last bit of work done this week was to get some Spanish supernumeraries done. With Carnage & Glory, the damage inflicted on units will cause some of them to become subject to compulsory movement (halt disordered, retire, rout etc) that causes them to be unavailable to the player in the next turn. 

I always try to keep markers to a minimum on my table, limiting it to charge markers, little coloured counters to show the range of a charge move, if the defender breaks to reveal other potential targets, and little flag markers that when turned over reveal charge orders at the start of a turn.

For compulsory move restrictions I like to place a casualty marker next to the unit or commander so players know which are affected next turn. So now my Spanish forces have appropriate markers.

As you will have seen, not many of the Spanish units are modelled with skirmish elements, given their tactical doctrine. However these bases come in handy to represent small forces, garrisons etc and so I have done a few bases for when the need is required. All the models are from Warmodelling.

Sources used in this post include;

Alfons Canovas' blog showing some great pictures of examples of Spanish artillery uniforms throughout the war.

http://miniaturasmilitaresalfonscanovas.blogspot.com.ar/2013/02/uniformes-de-la-artilleria-espanola-n-3.html

Talavera - Richard Partridge & Mike Oliver*
Talavera, Wellington's First Victory in Spain - Andrew W. Field

Spanish 3rd Division - Talavera

Spanish Army of Estremadura
3rd Division: Major-General Marquis de Portago
1st Battalion Badajoz Infantry Regiment - Volunteer Line Infantry
2nd Battalion Badajoz Infantry Regiment - Volunteer Line Infantry
2nd Antequera Infantry Regiment - Volunteer Light Infantry
Imperial de Toledo - Volunteer Line Infantry in Shako
Provincial de Badajoz - Militia Infantry
Provincial de Guadix - Militia Infantry

Rey Cavalry Regiment - Regular Line

Regular followers of the blog will know that on completion of a divisional project, I usually put up a group post to get a feel of how the corps will look on the table amid the battle lines.

If you want to see the units individually and read about their history up to and including Talavera, you can follow the links above that were posted as each unit was done.

General Portago heads up his division (L-R front row, Toledo Regt, 2nd Btn. and 1st Btn. Badajoz Regt,
second row, Badajoz militia,  Antequera Light Infantry, Guadix militia, back row, Rey Cavalry Regt.)  

I am really pleased with the overall look of the division, which reflects the change in appearance that was starting to impact Spanish forces as they went into the second year of the war.

The brown, locally produced, cloth predominates, contrasted with the blue of the cavalry and light infantry, and the division will stand out when next to the other Spanish infantry division I plan to do, namely Bassecourt's 5th Division of regulars where the 1805/6 regulation white uniform will be the norm.

With the completion of this division, the formation of the forces required for the full battle that took place on the afternoon of the 28th July 1809 is moved a major step forward and for the allies, it leaves just seven regiments of Spanish cavalry, seven battalions of Spanish infantry, a battalion of redcoats and the Spanish artillery, which will be featured next.

Talavera - The Afternoon Attack

As you will know from my previous posts about the project, there is a plan to play scenarios from the battle as the collection grows, and Portagao's division adds to the work done last year on Leval's German division. Thus with the completion of the Poles and Spanish artillery, I will be able to put together a scenario looking at the attack on the Pajar Vergara redoubt.

This together with my new 6' x 4' Terrain Mat, being produced as I write this post, will allow me to set up a few scenarios with the guys at the Devon Wargames Group.

One addition to the division, that wasn't featured in previous posts on the individual units, is General Portago himself, which is using one of the Warmodelling Spanish general officer figures conversing with a militia officer sporting his new model white uniform.

Although General Portago was a divisional commander, he is based as a brigade commander, to reflect the fact that Spanish organisation didn't cater for the lower level of command. The impact of this was that Spanish divisional commanders had a lot of work to do overseeing the five, six or more battalions that were under their direct command.

Using Carnage & Glory, I am able to model this work load, by Portago having the attributes of a brigade level general officer, principally a small radius of command, about 300 - 350 paces, as against the normal radius for a divisional commander being twice that span.

This will impact on any wargamer rashly throwing this division into mass combat, as when morale problems start to arise, which they will inevitably do with a Spanish force, Portago's command radius will severely restrict his ability to keep his division functioning as a controlled fighting force.

The ability to fight this division with any success will entail the careful selection of times when to fight and when not to, and being careful not to commit or expose the division to too much wear and tear. In addition given the brittle record of the front rank units, the Toledo and Badajoz Regiments, extra care will be needed when deciding to use these units. The glaring deficiency that will cause any opposing French commander to lick his lips with anticipation is the almost total lack of skirmish cover and the opportunity to degrade the command and control of each of these battalions by softening them up with a cloud of voltigeurs

Thus a new skill set will be required by any budding Spanish Napoleonic commander, and frankly fighting with British or French troops will be a "doddle" compared to having these chaps still under command at the end of a game.

They look formidable en masse, but to the educated eye, glaring weaknesses become immediately obvious

So next up will be a few Spanish supernumeraries, in the form of a few skirmish Spanish militia which will be supporting the gunners in the Pajar redoubt, plus some casualties and running away figures which I use in C&G to mark units that have poor morale effects and compulsory movement restrictions. Then it will be on to the Spanish gunners and their mighty 12lbr cannon that roughed up the Baden Regiment. Once these chaps are done it will be on to the Polish infantry, cavalry and Westphalian Cheveau-Legere.