Talavera - New Table, Part Two

Last month I unveiled the northern end on the Talavera table and the construction needed to create the northern valley and the Cerros de Cascajal and Medellin.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/talavera-new-table.html

Given I intended to play through the next two scenarios based on the northern sector, I created a bit of terrain construction space in the project plan to put together additional items needed which included the Pajar de Vergara gun redoubt, additional stream sections for the Portina, covered in my stream building tutorial, extra road sections and some more small olive style trees.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/portina-stream-terrain-build-tutorial.html

With the redoubt and streams covered off I decided to take advantage of the excellent April weather we are having in the south west this year to build some new roads, based on some bought versions I already had. 

Nothing very tricky here, just some cleaning cloths cut up into 50mm wide strips together with a couple of corner sections, covered in PVA based sealant that is put round bathroom tiles, mixed with a very fine sand to give a bit of texture. The sealant is already brown, but needed a touch of my emulsion, used on the stream sections to darken it down, and I ran my rut making device over each strip before they dried in the sun. The rut making device was simply three cocktail sticks taped together and drawn along through the sealant.

The roads dried very quickly in the afternoon sun

Below is a comparison on the left with my bought roads and my new home made strips. I went for a lighter static grass to tie in better with my mat and decided to jolly them up a bit with the added tufts and occasional grass in the middle of the road, a very familiar aspect of driving in Devon!

So with the bits and pieces constructed I thought it might be fun to get some of it on the table to get an idea of the final look, before it is graced with a shed load of troops.

The view of the southern section of the table looking north. The German Division deployed behind the trees on the right

You can now see the Portina stream running the length of the table on its way to the River Tagus and leaving the table nearest to camera through the outskirts of Talavera, with the first indications of enclosures and buildings.

The British right flank, with the extreme right showing the enclosures of the outskirts of Talavera occupied by Portago's division.

The Pajar can be seen as a small rise surmounted by the gun redoubt in a slight clearing amongst the trees, with the Talavera road leading off to the right heading up to Casa de Salinas.

The Pajar redoubt looking a bit sparse minus its gun crews, but will be a nice centre piece objective for this flank

The olives are placed in the neat lines often associated with their planting and give an impression of the broken terrain, with limited visibility, that the German Division and Portago's Spanish will have to cope with.

The open ground nearest to camera is where the Guards charged to far exposing Wellesley's centre

The picture above is the view south towards the British right flank as would have been seen by the French command on the Cerro de Cascajal, with the Pajar de Vergara in sight.

The view to the south from the foothills of the Sierra de Segurilla with Valdafuentes Farm nearest to camera

So the stage is set for the actors to take their call. I hope you can start to imagine the colour and pageantry with the two armies lined up facing each other. All projects should begin with the end clearly in mind, with a plan to get you there step by step. Today the Talavera project took a big step forward, and having the whole table set up is a huge incentive to get on with the painting.

The view south from the French lines with Cerro de Casacajal in the foreground

We will continue the journey through the scenario plan with the third and final play test of the Night Attack, before moving on to the Dawn Attack scenario. I then thought I might make two additions to the game plan by looking at doing a redux version of the Afternoon Attack and braking it into fights for the northern and southern ends of the table, which will suit players wanting to use a smaller collection of figures and fit perfectly into my build plan, and then we will do "Talavera Max" with the Afternoon Attack as a whole eventually playing all the scenarios and the final Afternoon Attack as a linked mini campaign with the results of each carried forward to the next.

The road to Talavera from Casa de Salinas

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/talavera-series-of-linked-battles.html

The outskirts of Talavera provides plenty of cover for its Spanish garrison

Also I am eagerly awaiting my new 6 x 4 foot terrain mat so I can take some games out on the road, and start with some scenarios at the Devon Wargames Group and later some show venues, which will give a chance to show the collection and C&G II in action. All part of sharing the love!

General Portago's view of the Pajar de Vergara redoubt and the roads in to Talavera

Next Up the 2/4th Grand Duchy of Warsaw Infantry Regiment

Talavera Plans

The Guards in action at Talavera

With the the first run through of Oporto completed, and with two more plays to do, I have turned my gaze east towards the Tagus Valley and the 1809 Talavera campaign.

I thought it might be interesting to share my plans, as I have done with the previous projects of Vimeiro and Oporto; and how I think I will work up the forces and terrain to capture the essence of this really important campaign and series of battles.

The Talavera campaign is really quite a step up in terms of the models required to run the battles involved, particularly when it comes to the main battle of the 27th July.

My British forces for Oporto have broken the back of the British army on the Talavera Campaign, with just a few units to complete some gaps. The units that come to mind are the 24th, 31st, 45th, 61st, 83rd, 87th, 88th Foot, 3rd Dragoon Guards, 4th Dragoons and the 1st Hussars KGL.

The French army will require more work with 17 battalions of Line Infantry, Allied battalions are 2 Dutch, 2 Nassau, 3 Baden, 3 Hesse, 1 Frankfurt, 2 Polish. Cavalry would include Vistula Lancers, Westphalian Cheveau Legere, Baden and Dutch artillery and a French Horse Artillery battery.

Then there are the Spanish forces, about 9 battalions of infantry, 3 cavalry regiments and 2 artillery batteries.

To command these additional forces there will be a need to get some more command stands done.

As you can see that is quite a bit of painting, so I have therefore decided to approach this campaign by building my forces up progressively, and splitting the engagements up into smaller actions where possible; which as we progress, will allow a play through of the main battle with all the toys out together.

The good news is that I have just about all the figures bought and paid for and waiting for their paint job.

So the scenario plan in the time and play sequence:

Casa de Salinas - The little skirmish fought the day before the battle with Lapisse's division making a surprise attack on MacKenzie's 3rd Division who were acting as rear guard as the British pulled back to the Talavera position. The attack showed the inexperience of some of Wellesleys troops and nearly ended up bagging Sir Arthur Wellesley as well.

Cerro de Medellin, The Night Attack - Marshal Victor decides to test his enemy with an audacious attack at night on the key position of the whole allied line, the hill on the allied left flank known as the Cerro de Medellin. The French division under Ruffin nearly succeeded in taking the crest and it was only a strong counter attack led by General Hill that restored the position to British control.

Talavera, Pajar de Vergara - The attack by Laval's German division on the Pajar de Vergara redoubt held by British and Spanish troops in the centre right of the allied lines.

Talavera, Assault the Medellin - Attacked the night previously, the Medellin heights were the focus of two subsequent assaults the following day.

Talavera - The big one, where in time I should have enough of the troops that were present that day to do an 18mm mega game.

At some stage, and don't hold me to timings on this, because it needs a lot of Spanish troops, I would like to run a what if scenario that appeared in the July 1995 "Battlefields" magazine.

Casalegas 1809 - This scenario by Mike Oliver poses the question, what if Cuesta had gone along with Wellesley's original plan for their two armies to coordinate an attack on Victor alone; who had taken up a position on the Casalegas heights as outlined in Oman. I have always fancied trying this scenario and once I have a good chunk of Spaniards done it would seem a good idea to get the bulk of Cuesta's army completed. They will come in handy when I start to look at the Spanish battles in the War.

So there you have it. The plan is now out in the open and now I am going to have to make it live, because you all know that I said I would.

As always, your comments, thoughts and ideas are most welcome.

Talavera 208 - (1809 - 2017) In Support of Combat Stress

Just Giving - Talavera208

July 27th-28th 2017 will be the two-hundred and eighth anniversary of Sir Arthur Wellesley's and the Allied army's victory over Emperor Napoleon's army under King Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Talavera, about sixty-five miles south west of Madrid.

The various armies British (red), Spanish (yellow) and French (blue) and their positions approximately June 1809. The armies of Wellesley, Cuesta, Victor, Joseph and Sebastiani would meet in battle at Talavera in July.

The battle was the culmination of the first campaign by Sir Arthur Wellesley against the French in Spain; and proved to be one of Wellesley's most bloodiest victories in the Peninsular War with estimates of over 6,000 British casualties and lost troops, about 1,200 Spanish troops and over 7,000 French. However the Allied forces were left in possession of the field on the evening of the 28th July and Sir Arthur Wellesley would be recognised for the victory and created Viscount Wellington of Talavera.

Talavera 208 is part of a series of wargames, using 18mm Napoleonic figures, designed to chronologically follow the career of Sir Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War that would see his Anglo Portuguese army support the Spanish to drive Napoleon's forces back into France in 1814 and the Emperor's abdication in that year. Elements of that army would also see action in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo that would end the Napoleonic Wars once and for all.

The games played so far have been staged and reported on here at JJ's Wargames starting in March 2013 with the first significant engagement by the great British general at Rolica on August 17th 1808 (see the links below to look back at previous games).

The Talavera game is by far the largest and most complex of games organised to date and will see a series of games designed to recreate the actions fought over the two days of July 1809 brought to a conclusion with the final 'Afternoon Attack Scenario' that forms the centre piece of Talavera 208.

Rolica-1808
Action at Ventosa - Vimeiro 1808
Vimeiro Hill - Vimeiro 1808
Vimeiro-1808
Vimeiro-1808, Game Two
Oporto 1809 -205th Anniversary Game
Oporto-1809 Miniature Wargames Magazine (Directors Cuts)

The first work on specific units for the Battle of Talavera commenced with the planning stage announced in my post in May 2014.

Talavera Plans

The first unit of the German Division was presented soon after with the 1st battalion Hessen-Darmstadt Infantry Regiment Gross- und Erbprinz Nr. Four.

Hesse Darmstadt 1st battalion Gross und Erbprinz

What has followed in the last two and a half years has been a regular addition of units required, outlined in the plan of 2014, together with a series of scenarios that breaks the battle of Talavera down into bite size battles that recreates the fighting that happened over the two days of the battle and culminated in the climax of fighting that occurred on the afternoon of the 28th July 1809.

Map to illustrate the four scenarios
(1. Casa de Salinas, 2. Night Attack, 3. Dawn Attack and 4. Attack on the Pajar Vergara)

It is this afternoon attack by the combined French forces that will be the subject of a series of games designed to play-test the scenario plan, commemorate the 208th anniversary, raise as much money as we can for a very important charity, Combat Stress, and just as importantly have and share the fun.

Talavera Series of Linked Battles

Attack at Casa de Salinas

Casa de Salinas-Talavera

The movement of French troops during their daring night attack on the 27th July 1809

Talavera Night Attack

French artillery bombard the British line as their infantry beat out the 'Pas de Charge' in the 'Dawn Attack' scenario

Talavera Dawn Attack

Steve and Will went at it in the Pajar Vergara scenario

The German Division go 'toe to toe' with Spanish troops around the Pajar de Vergara gun redoubt

Talavera Attack on the Pajar de Vergara

Talavera 208

Just Giving - Talavera208

As regular followers of JJ's will know I like to work projects, it's just how my mind works when it comes to planning, and this game really falls into a project in its own right even though it is part of a greater plan.

The Talavera Afternoon Attack scenario, entitled Talavera 208 will be the major project in 2017 and will bring the larger two and half, soon to be three year Talavera build and play project to a close and the collection it has created will form the core of other Peninsular War Napoleonic projects going forward.

Action outside the Casa de Salinas

This post serves several functions in that it announces what is planned to happen going into 2017, serves as a rallying point for participants and interested parties involved with or supporting Talavera 208 going forward and is a blatant attempt to encourage you, the reader to hit one of the many 

Just Giving - Talavera208.

buttons liberally sprinkled throughout this post in a subliminal approach to converting your interest and support into hard cash for an excellent charity that is putting hope and recovery into the lives of those who defend our freedom.

To give you an idea of the size of game envisioned I have listed the orders of battle together with an approximate summary of the numbers of figures that will grace the table.

The plan will see the scenario fought on several occasions and the games summarised and reported here on JJ's in the usual way. The games will explore various options that will challenge our respective commanders to get the best from their forces whilst dealing with the key issues that faced their historical counterparts. It is anticipated that with the size of the two armies involved the players will be committed to play over two days to allow plenty of scope for reaching a conclusion and thus a weekend will be arranged here at JJ's.

Regular updates on progress will continue here on JJ's Wargames and on the other two platforms for keeping followers up to date, JJ's Wargames Facebook page.

JJ's Wargames - Facebook

and on the Just Giving page

Just Giving - Talavera208.

with the first game planned to be played June 2017.

The rules used will be Carnage & Glory II and newcomers to JJ's are encouraged to check out the links and posts here on the blog to find out more about this excellent set of computer moderated rules. Links to posts specific to this project can be found by using the labels along the top of the page under the blog banner.

Carnage and Glory II

Carnage & Glory II have been used in all the scenarios too date and tick all the boxes in terms of granularity of detail whilst giving a fun game to play.

All the players involved will be doing their bit for charity as well as having fun and will have the opportunity to own a photo book as a keepsake of what I hope will be a very special set of games that will live long in the memory.

The following orders of battle and the accompanying map show the units that will be involved in the action that featured on the left and centre of the allied line as the French commanders made their grand attack to break the will of the Anglo-Spanish troops to resist.

The statistics that follow each unit show the quality rating from A to D (A being a higher quality in terms of training and morale) with a + or - variation, the number of men in the unit and, for artillery the guns available. Most cavalry regiments are divided into two, approximately two squadron units titled A or B.

At the time of writing the forces remaining to be completed are the the seven Spanish infantry battalions under General Bassecourt, a Spanish horse artillery battery, half a French horse battery, four French limber teams and a dozen French, British and Spanish general officer stands including King Joseph, Marshal Jourdan and Marshal Victor. In addition I will put together some rear area cameo stands with supply wagons, artillery ammunition wagons etc. to complete the look of the battle when it is staged.

All the units completed to date are easily found by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page under 'British Napoleonic', French Napoleonic' and so on for other nationalities you might be interested in. If you are interested in how the units are  painted or based then just clink on the 'Tutorials' label in the side column. All the manufacturers of the figures and flags should be highlighted in the details about the units, if not please drop me a line in the message box at the top of the page, and I will tell you after you have donated to......

Just Giving - Talavera208.

The additional pieces and their completion should take us through the first half of 2017 with the first game planned to take place in June 2017.

Talavera 208 

Orders of Battle

Just Giving - Talavera208

 Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley

 Lawson's Brigade C 145/ 6-3pdr

 Sillery's Brigade C 153/ 4-6pdr[Med] + 2-How.

 Eliott's Brigade C 151/ 4-6pdr[Med] + 2-How.

 Rettberg's Brigade C 144/ 4-6pdr[Med] + 2-How.

 Heyse's Brigade C 149/ 4-6pdr[Med] + 2-How.

-

Brigadier General George Murray

Lieutenant General William Payne

BG Henry Fane at the head of his brigade of Heavy Dragoons (3rd Dragoon Guards, 4th Dragoons)

-

Brigadier General Henry Fane

3rd Dragoon Guards A C+ 255

3rd Dragoon Guards B C+ 273

4th Dragoons A C 279

4th Dragoons B C 271

-

Brigadier General Stapleton Cotton

14th Light Dragoons A C 240

14th Light Dragoons B C 229

16th Light Dragoons A C 253

16th Light Dragoons B C 271

-

Brigadier General George Anson

23rd Light Dragoons A C 229

23rd Light Dragoons B C 224

1st Light Dragoons KGL A C+ 220

1st Light Dragoons KGL B C+ 228

-

2/83rd County of Dublin Regiment of Foot  "Fitch's Grenadiers" -  part of BG Alan Cameron's brigade

Lieutenant General John Coape Sherbrooke

-

Brigadier General Henry Campbell

1/2nd Coldstream Guards C+ 873

1/3rd Scots Guards C+ 917

H.Campbell's Bde. Light Bn. B- 255

-

Brigadier General Alan Cameron

1/61st Foot C 700

2/83rd Foot C- 481

Cameron's Bde. Light Bn. C 183

-

Brigadier General Ernest Baron Langwerth

1st KGL Line Battalion C 544

2nd KGL Line Battalion C 610

Langwerth's Bde. Light Bn. C+ 234

-

Brigadier General Sigismund Baron Low

5th KGL Line Battalion C 549

7th KGL Line Battalion C 501

Low's Bde. Light Bn. C+ 117

-

Major General Rowland Hill

-

2nd Battalion 48th Northamptonshire Regiment of Foot (The Heroes of Talavera)

Brigadier General Christopher Tilson

1/3rd Foot C+ 671

2/48th Foot C- 510

2/66th Foot C- 473

Tilson's Bde. Light Bn. C+ 237

-

Brigadier General Richard Stewart

29th Foot C+ 538

1/48th Foot C 726

1st Battalion of Detachments C- 548

Stuart's Bde. Light Bn. C+ 202

-

Major General Alexander Randoll Mackenzie

2/24th Foot C- 708

2/31st Foot C- 660

1/45th Foot C+ 680

Mackenzie's Bde. Light Bn. C 228

-

Colonel Rufane Donkin

2/87th Foot C- 539

1/88th Foot C 539

5/60th Rifles B- 220

Donkin's Bde. Light Bn. C+ 175

-

Brigadier General Alexander Campbell

2/7th Foot C- 388

2/53rd Foot C- 483

A. Campbell's Bde. Light Bn. C 161

-

Colonel James Kemmis

1/40th Foot C+ 670

97th Foot C+ 452

2nd Battalion of Detachments C- 562

Kemmis' Bde. Light Bn. C+ 244

-

Active Strengths:

16578 Bayonets

2972 Sabres

742 Artillerists

30 Cannon

20292 Total of all arms

44 Standards present

-

Approximately 670 Model Figures

Just Giving - Talavera208

General Gregorio de La Cuesta

1st Battery D+ 148/ 6-12pdr[Med]

5th Battery D+ 101/ 4-4pdr

-

General Portago leads his division and the El Rey Cavalry regiment

Major General Marques de Portago

1st Bn. Badajoz Regiment D- 571

2nd Bn. Badajoz Regiment D- 557

2nd Cazadores de Antequera D- 557

Imperial de Toledo D- 792

Provincial de Badajoz Militia D 577

Provincial de Guadix Militia D 562

El Rey Cavalry Regt A D 229

El Rey Cavalry Regt B D 231

-

Spanish Pavia Dragoon Regiment - attached to General Albuquerque's 2nd Cavalry Division

Lieutenant General Duke of Albuquerque

Carabinieros Reales A D 116

Infante A D 222

Infante B D 226

Alcantara A D 226

Alcantara B D 229

Pavia Dragoons A D 235

Pavia Dragoons B D 230

Almanza Dragoons A D 218

Almanza Dragoons B D 234

1st & 2nd Hussars of Estremadura A D- 233

1st & 2nd Hussars of Estremadura B D- 234

-

Major General Luis Alejandro Bassecourt

1st Bn. Real Marina D+ 572

2nd Bn. Real Marina D+ 583

3rd Africa Line D+ 884

1st Murcia Line D+ 602

2nd Murcia Line D+ 642

1st Reyna Line D+ 705

Provincial de Siguenza D 621

-

Active Strengths:

8225 Bayonets

2637 Sabres

249 Artillerists

10 Cannon

11111 Total of all arms

13 Standards present

-

Approximately 330 Model Figures

Just Giving - Talavera208

 King Joseph Bonaparte

Marechal d'Empire Jourdan

General de Division Alexandre-Antoine se Senarmont

-

Marshal Victor heads up the mighty French I Corps d'Armee

Marechal d'Empire Claude-Victor Perrin

6/8me Artillerie a Pied C 193/ 6-8pdr + 2-How.

2/6me Artillerie a Cheval B- 156/ 4-6pdr[Light] + 2-How.

-

General de Division Francois Amable Ruffin

4/8me Artillerie a Pied C+ 209/ 6-8pdr + 2-How.

-

General de Brigade Claude-Marie Meunier

1/9me Regiment de Legere C 467

2/9me Regiment de Legere C 497

3/9me Regiment de Legere C- 491

1/24me Regiment de Ligne C 472

2/24me Regiment de Ligne C 471

3/24me Regiment de Ligne C- 497

9me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 308

24me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 308

-

General de Brigade Pierre Barrois

1/96me Regiment de Ligne. C 513

2/96me Regiment de Ligne. C 507

3/96me Regiment de Ligne. C- 476

96me Regt. Voltiguer Bn. C 288

-

General de Division Pierre- Bellon Lapisse

1/8me Artillerie a Pied C 195/ 6-8pdr + 2-How.

-

General de Brigade Jean Bartholomew R Laplanne

1/16me Regiment de Legere C 589

 2/16me Regiment de Legere C 598

3/16me Regiment de Legere C- 470

 1/45me Regiment de Ligne C 455

2/45me Regiment de Ligne C 482

3/45me Regiment de Ligne C- 459

16me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 285

45me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 285

-

Colonel Phillipon leads the three battalions of the 54me Regiment de Ligne

General de Brigade Jean Baptiste Solignac

1/8me Regiment de Ligne C 496

2/8me Regiment de Ligne C 471

3/8me Regiment de Ligne C- 460

1/54me Regiment de Ligne C 474

2/54me Regiment de Ligne C 486

3/54me Regiment de Ligne C- 489

8me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 291

54me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 290

-

 General de Division Eugene Villatte

2/8me Artillerie a Pied C+ 198/ 6-8pdr + 2-How.

-

General de Brigade Baron Louis-Victorin Cassagne

1/27me Regiment de Legere C 424

2/27me Regiment de Legere C 409

3/27me Regiment de Legere C- 428

1/63me Regiment de Ligne C 432

2/63me Regiment de Ligne C 411

3/63me Regiment de Ligne C- 422

27me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 261

63me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 261

-

General de Brigade Jacques Puthod

1/94me Regiment de Ligne C 414

2/94me Regiment de Ligne C 434

3/94me Regiment de Ligne C- 441

1/95me Regiment de Ligne C 447

2/95me Regiment de Ligne C 447

3/95me Regiment de Ligne C- 419

94me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 251

95me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 250

-

General de Brigade Louis Carriere, Baron Beaumont

1/3me Artillerie a Cheval B- 144/ 4-6pdr[Light] + 2-How.

2me Regiment de Hussards A C 228

2me Regiment de Hussards B C 243

5me Regt. Chasseur a Cheval A C 259

5me Regt. Chasseur a Cheval B C 255

-

 General de Division Horace-Comte Sebastiani

12/7me Artillerie a Pied C+ 201/ 6-8pdr + 2-How.

Oberst Potocki leads the Grand Duchy of Warsaw 4th Infantry Regiment 

-

General de Brigade Baron Jean Pierre-Antoine Rey

5/7me Artillerie a Pied C+ 198/ 6-8pdr + 2-How.

1/28me Regiment de Ligne C 568

2/28me Regiment de Ligne C 582

3/28me Regiment de Ligne C- 580

1/32me Regiment de Ligne C 546

2/32me Regiment de Ligne C 574

3/32me Regiment de Ligne C- 540

28me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 345

32me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 345

-

General de Brigade Louis Liger-Belair

1/58me Regiment de Ligne C 549

2/58me Regiment de Ligne C 551

3/58me Regiment de Ligne C- 585

1/75me Regiment de Ligne C 575

2/75me Regiment de Ligne C 559

3/75me Regiment de Ligne C- 579

58me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 346

75me Regt. Voltigeur Bn. C 345

-

General de Division Baron Jean-Francois Leval

-

Oberst Heinrich Freiherr von Porbeck

III Fuss Batterien Steinmetz C 190/ 6-4pdr + 2-How.

I.von Harrant Nr.4 (Baden) C- 376

II.von Harrant Nr.4 (Baden) C- 367

I.Nassau IR Nr.2 C- 360

II.Nassau IR Nr.2 C- 386

Porbeck's Voltigeur Bn. C- 317

-

Generalmajor David-Hendrik Chasse

3m3 Artillerie a Cheval Trip C 147/ 4-6pdr[Light] + 2-How.

I/2me Regiment Linie C- 393

2/4me Regiment Linie C- 378

Chasse's Voltigeur Bn. C- 154

-

General de Brigade Balthazard-Grandjean

III. Fuss. Batterien Venator C 96/ 4-4pdr

1/Gross und Erbprinz Nr 4 C- 398

2/Gross und Erbprinz Nr 4 C- 371

Rheinbund Bttn von Frankfort C- 391

Grandjean's Voltigeur Bn. C- 225

-

Oberst Feliks Potocki

I. IR Nr 4 (Polish) C 761

II. IR Nr 4 (Polish) C 782

Potocki's Voltigeur Bn. C 260

-

Colonel Ormancey leads his Light Cavalry brigade consisting of the Westphalian Light Horse regiment and the
Vistula Legion Lancer regiment

General de Brigade Antoine Christophe Merlin

Colonel Jean Baptiste Alexandre Strolz

10me Regt. Chasseur a Cheval C 327

26me Regt. Chasseur a Cheval C 216

Colonel Francois-Leon Ormancey

1st Vistula Legion Lancers A C 224

1st Vistula Legion Lancers B C 206

Westplalian Light Horse C 210

-

General de Division Marie Victor-Latour Maubourg

2/5me Artillerie a Cheval B- 145/ 4-6pdr[Light] + 2-How.

-

Colonel Paul Dermoncourt

1e Regiment de Dragons C 280

2me Regiment de Dragons C 280

-

General de Brigade Louis Joseph Cavrois

4me Regiment de Dragons C 284

9me Regiment de Dragons C 276

-

General de Brigade Ignace Laurant Oullenbourg

14me Regiment de Dragons C 271

26me Regiment de Dragons C 273

-

Active Strengths:

32614 Bayonets

3832 Sabres

2072 Artillerists

84 Cannon

38518 Total of all arms

26 Standards present

-

Approximately 1,284 Model Figures

Hot action during the dawn attack on the Cerro de Medellin

Map of the positions on the afternoon of the 28th July 1809

The game is modelled to a ground scale of one inch equating to fifty paces or thirty eight yards, approximately four feet to the mile, thus we have just over two by one miles of the battlefield presented on the table with the units that featured on the day of battle.

As you can see with over 2,000 figures on the table the game should provide a feast for the eye and as well as recording the fun here on JJ's I am looking to firm up a plan to take the game out to shows and provide an opportunity for others to see the collection close up.

The field of battle seen from the Pajar redoubt (left centre) looking north towards the little farm of Valdefuentes

Once the game has been thoroughly play tested, I am looking to make the Talavera collection of scenarios with all the play suggestions and rule adaptations for Carnage & Glory or your preferred set of rules available in a suitable presentation format to anyone mad enough to want to attempt something similar or simply play parts of the two day battle as demonstrated here on the blog.

Just Giving - Talavera208

JJ's Wargames is dedicated to celebrating the passion for our hobby, historical wargaming, and the great activities associated with it of modelling, painting, reading, exploring the great outdoors and the social side with the opportunity to make long lasting friendships sharing that passion.

When pulling Talavera 208 together it seemed to me to be a great and unique opportunity to use it as a vehicle to express in a practical way the value of those aspects of the hobby in support of the men and women who put themselves in harms way to defend the freedom that allow us the time and space to indulge that passion. 

Thus I have decided to dedicate Talavera 208 to support the great work done by the charity, Combat Stress, in support of our modern day veterans, the successors to those that stood in the line in July 1809.

Combat Stress is the UK's leading veterans' mental health charity and I hadn't realized has been around for much longer than I had first thought; being founded in 1919 as the Ex-Servicemen's Welfare Society straight after the First World War.

They have been at the forefront of the change in attitude towards recognising and treating mental health conditions affecting ex-servicemen and women and today support thousands of veterans aged 18 to 97 providing a vital lifeline for these men, women and their families.

Their residential and community treatment programmes support veterans with PTSD, anxiety and depression. They also work in partnership with other organisations to support the welfare of veterans in the community.

Their services are not routinely available through the National Health Service directly or elsewhere and everything they do is free of charge to the veteran, but that work and support cannot be provided without the support of people like you and me.

So please, let's show what our hobby is all about and even if you are not involved in the hobby but like what we are doing with Talavera 208 and would like to support our efforts then please express your support by making a donation to Combat Stress via the "Just Giving" site linked to the project.

Just Giving - Talavera208

In addition, if you can help by raising the profile of Talavera 208 on other blogs, forums and social media, that can only add to making it even more successful for those we seek to support.

So here's looking forward to Talavera 208 and my thanks in anticipation of your support.

JJ

The Talavera Campaign - 1809

The Battle of Talavera de la Reina by William Heath

Last April, prior to launching a series of games about the Second Battle of Oporto, I posted a couple of brief summaries (as brief as I could make them, and it still filled two posts!) of how the battle fitted in to events in that part of the Iberian Peninsula, so as to set the battle in some context for those less familiar with the history.

The Campaign in Northern Portugal Part 1
The Campaign in Northern Portugal Part 2

I got some really positive feedback on those posts, so I thought I would pick up the thread before commencing on the next series of games, tonight, about the Battle of Talavera and give some background as to why Sir Arthur Wellesley was, with his Spanish allies, facing off two French armies and the Madrid reserve under King Joseph, Napoleon's elder brother.

Map illustrating the relative positions of the various armies at the beginning of the Talavera campaign in July 1809

Having liberated Oporto and driven Soult's army out of Portugal, causing him to lose his artillery in the process, Wellesley turned his attention to Victor's 1st Corps in Estremadura.

During his pursuit of Soult, Wellesley had received authority from the British Government to extend his campaign into Spain, as part of their policy to stretch French resources away from the Scheldt and the Danube Valley.

Marshal Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, Commanding French I Corps

Leaving Portuguese General Silviera to watch the northern corridor and detaching all the Portuguese troops who had accompanied him during the Oporto campaign to watch the approaches from Leon, Wellesley marched his army south amidst reports from General Mackenzie that Victor was beginning to stir. However before committing to a plan of campaign he wrote to Spanish General Cuesta asking his views on how and whether to prosecute a campaign together.

General Gregorio de la Cuesta, commanding the Army of Estremadura

Concentrating his army at Abrantes close to the Spanish frontier, Wellesley took time to refit and reorganise his troops. Because of the demands of the Walcheren expedition, the British Government were unable to spare large numbers of reinforcements, but they did accede to Wellesley's request for light infantry and sent out the first battalions of the 43rd, 52nd and 95th, together with two troops of horse artillery plus several units from Ireland and other garrisons. Contrary winds and other circumstances kept them from joining his army before Talavera. He was also instructed to release some of his badly needed cavalry with the 20th Light Dragoons going home to recruit and the 2nd KGL Hussars to rejoin its HQ in Sicily.

At the same time he reorganised his army into the new formal divisions, creating four such formations each with two brigades of infantry, the exception being the 1st Division with four brigades including the Guards, with a brigade being two to three battalions. This would be the foundation of a new model of organisation for the British army, with Wellington, as he would later become, going on to create seven such divisions and the Light Division, each incorporating Portuguese brigades, with a few exceptions.

Alongside the reorganisation of his forces he also attempted to put his commissariat and finance arrangements into better order for the new campaign. The long marches in April and May had put considerable strain on animals and staff with a commissariat still learning on the job, and huge numbers of mules and muleteers to be arranged to support the needs of the army. This coupled with a profound lack of money produced the need to build up a war chest to pay for the transport and requisitioning of supplies along the route of march, and also to pay the soldiers as well. In this effort he borrowed £13,000 from the impoverished merchants in Oporto and obtained bills of exchange in Cadiz where the treasure fleet had just come in.

All this activity meant that the British army was not ready to move into Spain until the 28th June, crossing the border on the 3rd July.

Marshal Victor's troops (I Corps 20,000 men) lay south of the River Tagus, in a triangle, Truxillo - Cacares - Merida, so that at Abrantes, Wellesley (21,000 men) would lie on their flank and rear. In his correspondence, Cuesta (42,000 men) proposed three differing strategies

• That the British join him at Badajoz and attack Victor frontally, with two flanking columns to surround him.
• That the British cross the Tagus at Alcantara and attack Victor in the rear whilst Cuesta attacked in front.
• That the British march along the north bank of the Tagus and capture the bridges at Almaraz and Arzobispo, thus severing Victor's communications and probable line of retreat.

Of these options Wellesley was only prepared to countenance the last, for the first two could be countered by Victor by simply moving his position. However, when he wrote to accept the last option, Cuesta replied that he did not agree with the strategy and insisted instead on the British moving down to Badajoz. The possible reason for this lack of co-operation was that, unbeknown to Wellesley, his name was being mentioned in Spanish conversations as a potential Generalissimo for the combined British and Spanish armies, which did not carry favour with Cuesta who considered himself as a more preferable candidate.

On the 19th of June the situation changed altogether, when Victor destroyed all his fortified posts and moved his army north of the Tagus between Almaraz and Talavera. News had reached Madrid of Soult's defeat and consequent retreat, and with no intelligence gathering mechanism in Portugal, King Joseph assessed that Wellesley's next move would be against Mortier in Leon. This together with Victor's demands either for supplies or to be allowed to move to a more fertile area, made it obvious for I Corps to be pulled back as a first stage to reinforce any threatened area.

Victor's move brought his army closer to Wellesley and he wrote to Cuesta to urge that the British should move via Plasencia and Almaraz, whilst the Spanish attacked from the front, pointing out that with an allied combined force of 50,000 men against Victor's 25,000 men, the issue would not long be in doubt.

General Francisco Xavier Venegas

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

As well as his own army, Cuesta had a subordinate, General Venegas, in command of the Army of Andalusia (23,000 men), to his right. General Venegas preferred to treat Cuesta as an equal rather than a superior and didn't align his movements towards the Tagus with the former, instead preferring to rapidly advance on Sebastiani's IV Corps (15,500 men) just south of Madrid, who when reinforced by King Joseph and his central reserve (6,000 men) reacted by presenting to offer battle. Fortunately Venegas thought better of it than to test his army of untried new recruits against a force that he barely outnumbered and withdrew rapidly to the mountains south of the River Guadiana. The allied campaign would have been imperilled if he had suffered a defeat this early in its progress.

Within a week of his move over the Tagus, Victor wrote to King Joseph complaining that his troops were starving and that he was falling back beyond Talavera to the River Alberche. This move put him further away from Wellesley of whose presence he was completely unaware, and confused Cuesta who began to push north across the Tagus, building a new bridge at Almaraz. Patrolling east towards Arzobispo and Oropesa, the Spanish general halted to await the arrival of Wellesley, who crossing the frontier on the 3rd of July reached Plasencia on the 8th.

Wellesley, leaving his army at Plasencia, rode across country to meet with Cuesta at Almaraz on the 10th of July, arriving in darkness and inspecting a Spanish honour guard by the light of torches. The next day, the meeting with Cuesta proved a difficult affair, lasting about four hours. With neither commander speaking the others language, and although both able to speak French, Cuesta refused to use the language of the hated enemy and so the discussion was translated by Cuesta's Chief of Staff, General O'Donoju, who, with his Irish origins, was able to translate in English.

The key issue that came out in the discussions was how to deal with a French threat from the north, for whilst the two generals knew that I Corps was behind the Alberche, with King Joseph's central reserve close enough to be considered a reinforcement, and that Sebastiani was at Madridejos, they had no clear idea of the numbers or locations of the northern French Corps D'Armee of Ney, Soult and Mortier. They did however feel that their combined forces of about 50,000 men were enough to overwhelm both Victor and Joseph's combined force of about 30,000 men with General Venegas under strict orders to keep General Sebastiani tied down.

Neither commander expected the French to evacuate northern Spain in response to a threat along the Tagus Valley, but they did consider that a move against Madrid would cause Mortier to move south from Avila and thus they agreed that General Wilson would command a combined flank guard of about 3,000 Portuguese and Spanish troops, with Cuesta agreeing to send two weak battalions to guard the pass at Banos.

With these arrangements agreed and Wellesley bringing up the problem of supplies, the British commander left to join his army and prepare to move up to the River Tietar whilst Cuesta would march on a parallel route via Arzobispo, these movements to begin on the 18th July, to allow for time to build up stocks of supplies and to get orders to Venegas. However the delay was to prove time wasted as only small amounts of food stuffs were coming in despite a trawl of the countryside up to Cuidad Rodrigo and there was a severe lack of transport to move it.

Crossing the Tietar at Bazagona, the two armies met each other on the 20th July at Oropesa, where Cuesta inspected the British troops. From Oropesa the two armies marched on Talavera with the Spanish having their right flank closest to the Tagus and the British along the main road with an open flank to the north.

On the 22nd July the Spanish advance guard bumped Victor's pickets to the west of Talavera and soon discovered that all of Latour-Maubourg's Dragoons were present, with the French only falling back with the arrival of Anson's Light Brigade. Falling back from Talavera with the forward infantry supports and getting back behind the Alberche, Victor was made aware, for the first time, of British troops being in the area.

Immediately both commanders began talk of giving battle the next day, for their plans had worked perfectly and Wellesley proposed attacking the French corps frontally with his army whilst the Spanish used fords over the Alberche to come up on their left flank. After some consideration Cuesta agreed.

Early the next morning the redcoats filed down to the river bank and formed up in silence, confident that the darkness had hidden their movements, but by the time daylight broke, there was no sign of their allies and it was becoming apparent that the French pickets were aware of their presence. A bewildered Welesley rode across to see what had happened, to be informed that Cuesta had changed his mind because his men were tired and he was unsure of his route in the dark. He proposed a day of rest and to attack the next day,on the 24th, even though the French trains were on the move revealing only cavalry pickets left at the end of the day. Cuesta, however, would not move.

To Wellesley, it was quite apparent that the possibility of destroying Victor was over, and when Cuesta suggested that they should follow him up even though they had heard nothing from Venegas, Sir Arthur refused flatly, particularly as his troops were now on half rations.

Consequently on the afternoon of the 24th the Spanish moved eastwards, only to discover on the 25th that not only had Sebastiani moved west to join up with Victor, but that Joseph had also joined the new force with his reserve, giving the French a concentration of about 50,000 men. With commendable prudence, which he seldom showed, Cuesta, on the 26th July, determined upon an immediate retreat.

Such a move would normally have been fraught with risk, since the French cavalry were superior in every respect to their Spanish counterparts. Despite the fact that Victor was content to chivy the Spanish army along, excusing his lack of energetic pursuit to the fact that his men were tired from their long marches, the Spanish columns were extremely unsettled by the time they reached the Alberche and a rendezvous with the British. The retreat possibly costed them about 1000 casualties.

Incredibly, on reaching the Alberche, Cuesta decided to camp on the eastern (French) side of the river and it was only after an argument and when Wellesley pleaded with him, that he could be prevailed to fall back to Talavera, under cover of Sherbrooke's and Mackenzie's Divisions and Anson's cavalry brigade. On the morning of the 27th the Spanish fell back along the highway to Talavera followed by Sherbrooke's division with Mackenzie bringing up the rear, halting briefly at about 12pm at a derelict group of farm buildings known as the  Casa de Salinas, whilst Wellesley climbed a tower in the farm to observe the approach of the French.

Thus the text brings us to the first serious contact between the Allied and French forces at Talavera, as Marshal Victor, anticipating any likely rearguard to halt in the woods near to the Casa, stealthily moved his forward infantry across the River Alberche, taking advantage of the cover provided from the smoke caused by burning French bivouacs, ironically set alight by the British as they pulled back.

Sources used:
Great Battles of History Refought - Talavera, Richard Partridge & Mike Oliver
Talavera 1809 - Wellington's lightening strike into Spain, Rene Chartrand & Graham Turner,Osprey
Wellington's Peninsular Army 1809-14, Stuart Reid, Osprey
The Peninsular War Atlas, Colonel Nick Luscombe

Next up the action at Casa de Salinas.