Teugn-Hausen, 19th April 1809 © Keith McNelly
This scenario has been developed by Keith McNelly.
Background:
Early on the 10th of April the Austrian Army advanced into Bavaria intent on destroying the French and Allied armies while the major French armies were tied down in actions in Spain. While Napoleon hurried to the front Berthier muddled the dispositions of the various corps in Bavaria which left Davout isolated in the area of Regensburg on the banks of the Danube.
Charles issued orders for the location and destruction of Davout's III Corps, and a cordon of three Austrian Corps advanced north in the direction of Regensburg. Meanwhile Davout moved southeast in an attempt to link up with the Bavarians and other elements of the French armies.
As the French marched in several columns they were eventually brought to action around Teugn when the Austrian III Korps advanced over the line of march of Saint Hilaire's division. The close terrain hampered intelligence causing Charles hesitate to employ his Grenadier Reserve without clear information. This, combined with IV Korps lack of action, allowed Davout with his elite corps to defeat the Austrian III Korps - driving them back to Hausen and opening his line of communication with the Bavarians advancing from the west.
The battle of Teugn-Hausen, or Thann to the French, was to form part of a four day struggle in the area resulting in the battle of Eggmuhl and the withdrawal of Austrian formations towards Vienna.
Order of Battle:
French Army - III Corps (elements), Marechal Davout, CC
Corps Troops:
- Reserve Artillery M6 [ ][ ] Hy.
2nd Division, Friant (DC), Exhaustion = 8
- 33rd Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s]
- 108th/111th Brigade M6 [s][s][s][s]
- 48th Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s]
- Divisional Artillery M6 [ ][ ] Fld.
4th Division, Saint Hilaire (DC), Exhaustion = 14
- 3rd Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s]
- 57th Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s] Shock
- 10th Legere M6 [s][s][s][s][s] Shock
- 72nd Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s]
- 105th Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s]
- Divisional Artillery M6 [ ][ ] Fld.
3rd Division, Gudin (DC), Exhaustion = 13
- 7th Legere M6 [s][s][s][s][s][s]
- 21st Legere M6 [s][s][s][s][s][s]
- 25th Ligne M6 [s][s][s]
- 85th Ligne M6 [s][s][s][s]
- Divisional Artillery M6 [ ][ ] Fld.
Austrian Army
III Korps, Hohenzollern-Hechingen (CC)
Corps Troops:
- Position Battery M5 [ ] Fld.
- Heavy Battery M5 [ ][ ] Hy.
Advance Guard, Vukassovich (DC), Exhaustion = 4
- 1st Erherzog Karl Legion M4 [s] NE
- Grenz Regt Peterwardeiner M4 [s][s][s] NE, BG
- Erherzog Ferdinand Hussars M6 [s][s] Lt.
- Horse Artillery M6 [ ] Fld.
Division Lusignan, Lusignan (DC), Exhaustion = 8
- IR 7 Schroder M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] NE, BG
- IR 56 Colloredo M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] NE, BG
- Position Battery M5 [ ] Fld.
Division St. Julien, St. Julien (DC), Exhaustion = 15
- IR 12 Manfredini M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] NE, BG
- IR 23 Wurzburg M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] NE, BG
- IR20 Kaunitz M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] NE, BG
- IR 38 Wurttemburg M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] NE, BG
- Position Battery M5 [ ] Fld.
I Reservekorps, Archduke Charles (AC), Exhaustion = 11
- Grenadier Brigade M6 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] Shock, BG
- Grenadier Brigade M6 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] Shock, BG
- Grenadier Brigade M6 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] Shock, BG
Download the OOB in PDF format.
Descriptions and Notes on Orders of Battle:
Several changes have been made to the "standard" divisional organizations in Frank Chadwick's "1809: Austria Stands Alone" V&B Scenario Book. These are based on the sources listed below.
For instance an Austrian brigade commanded by Thierry, consisting of two regiments from Lusignan's division, were dispatched to a position between Abensburg and Biburg to protect the left and rear of the Austrian III Korps. These forces were effectively blocking the Bavarian forces which moved in an attempt to link up with Davout during the day.
Arnold in his "Crisis on the Danube" makes mention of Vukassovich sending a light battalion of the "elite" Archduke Karl Legion to forward. Because of this I have removed the rating of PT from the 1st Erherzog Karl Legion skirmishers.
During the early days of the Danube campaign the Austrian Grenadiers were mainly in the I Reservekorps, this force consisted of 12 battalions of Grenadiers. These were later reorganized as described in "1809: Austria Stands Alone".
To the east the Austrain IV Korps under Liechtenstein advanced slowly on Ratisbonne. Delayed by elements of the French III Corps this entire Austrian formation was effectively to play no part in the battle. However this action to the east also means that elements of Davout's III Corps are not present on table.
Terrain and Map:
All woods should be considered "open". While several sources mention how thick the woods are at Thann the Austrian Hussars made a mounted charge through the general area of woods and both armies deployed guns in the main ridge line woods. Grading the woods as dense would prevent this happening.
Davout was advancing along secondary roads and recent rain was to cause further problems. Therefore multiply standard movement rates by a factor of two rather than three when calculating road movement.
All streams are marshy banked along their entire length.
The battle starts at 11am and historically finished at 5pm, or the end of the 4pm turn, when a thunderstorm breaks. This gives 6 games turns of play. However, if both players are aware of this they have more knowledge than either commander historically. Therefore, at the beginning of the 5pm turn roll a die. A score of 5 or 6 and the battle stops, repeat this at the beginning of each turn. The game finishes at nightfall which is at the end of the 7pm turn if not before.
Two maps are included, a terrain map and a second map detailing deployment positions.
There should be a stand depth between Hausen and the stream to it's front. Historically the Austrian artillery formed up here to block the French advance, this is not clearly shown on the map.
The high ground between Teugn and Hausen should be considered to have an east-west ridge line running across the table. In addition that part of the ridge that protrudes out towards Teugn, the Buchberg, has a seperate ridge line that connects with the east-west ridge line.
Deployment and Reinforcements:
The Austrians are deployed as shown on the map. Austrian units are shown in grey with regiment numbers. The stand marked "GP" represents the Grenzers and "H" the Hussar's of the advance guard, "G" are Grenadier units. Hohenzollern-Hechingen starts the game with Division St. Julien, while Archduke Charles is positioned with the Grenadiers.
The French, in blue, have 3rd Ligne deployed in field formation and the 57th Ligne is in road column, the 10th is only begining to arrive, being in road column behind the 57th Ligne. Davout and Saint Hilaire are on table at the beginning of the game. All additional French troops from 4th Division enter in road column at point A. The French move first.
Due to a command mix up the French artillery was not present on the battlefield for some time. They were finally committed to action about 3pm. To simulate this two rules apply. First, the artillery of each division must always be the last element of the division to arrive. And secondly, delays on the Regensburg-Tuegn road will not see Saint Hilaire's divisional artillery arriving at "A" until 1pm. III Corp’s corps artillery also arrives at point "A" but at 2pm. Like other elements arriving at "A" the artillery is in road column.
Gudin's division has marched to the west, prior to the battle. However the 7th Legere was withdrawn and thrown in to support Saint Hilaire. The 7th Legere arrives deployed on turn two, or 12 noon, at point "C". It can move it's full move distance from point "C" in the turn of arrival.
Friant's division begins to arrive at point "B" from Saalhaupt at the beginning of turn three, or 1pm, in road column.
Further Davout sent messages encouraging Gudin to strike the Austrian left flank from the direction of Saal. While Austrian pressure prevented this occurring it was a potential threat and must be accounted for in the scenario to model the holding of elements of Austrians to guard against such an attack.
To simulate this Davout can define the entry point for remaining elements of Gudin's division as being points "C" or "D" at the beginning of the game, this must be written down but is not revealed to the Austrian player. The division will start arriving at the predefined entry point from turn three, or 1pm, in field formation if a 5 or 6 is rolled. The score required decreases by one for each subsequent turn. Once the arrival is confirmed the Austrian player is made aware of the point of entry. Stands are deployed one stand per turn and in field formation. These stands can only move 1/2 speed during the turn of deployment if arriving at "D" and may not end in close combat. The French commander may select to hold any stands arriving at "D" off table and form up several stands off table before bringing them on. These stands form up at a rate of one stand per turn. These several stands may then arrive together, or not arrive at all at the French player's choice. Subsequent stands may also be held off table in this manner. However, as before, when they do come on table they can not end in melee contact during their first turn and are limited to 1/2 speed on the turn of arrival.
The Austrian Grenadiers were not committed to the fighting, partly because Charles was unsure of the enemy strengths and it was his main reserve. Until they are committed the Grenadiers and Charles remain at Grub. However the arrival on table of Gudin's additional division would have likely meant the commitment of these troops. Any Austrian player will of course want to commit these troops as soon as possible such is the power of hindsight. To model this the victory conditions are altered depending of the time the Grenadiers are committed.
The Austrian Horse artillery begins the battle unlimbered, while all all other artillery is limbered. No infantry begins the game stationary.
Victory Conditions:
The Austrian player takes the roll of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. For Hohenzollern-Hechingen to win he must destroy the elements of French III Corps in his sector by driving two division into exhaustion and blocking the Teugen Hausen road.
Hohenzollern-Hechingen may at any stage request assistance from Archduke Charles, in which case the Grenadiers of I Reservekorps may move from Grub. If the Grenadiers are committed before elements from Gudin's division are on table (excluding the 7th Legere), the Austrian victory conditions change so that they must:
- Drive all three French divisions into exhaustion or two into morale collapse.
- Have fewer exhausted divisions than the French at the end of the game.
- The Grenadier Reserve remain unexhausted at the end of the game.
Should Gudin's division arrive on table before the Grenadiers of I Reservekorps are committed the original Austrian victory conditions are maintained.
The French win by avoiding the above and driving the bulk of the Austrian troops back behind Hausen stream. This opens the road from Teugen and allows a more complete link up with the Bavarians overnight.
Any other result is considered a draw.
Sources:
I have used the following sources in developing this scenario:
- Crisis on the Danube - Napoleon's Austrian Campaign: James Arnold
- Eggmuhl 1809 - Storm Over Bavaria: Ian Castle
- The Campaigns of Napoleon: David Chandler
- Armies on the Danube 1809: Bowden & Tarbox
- Austria Stands Alone - The 1809 Campaign, V&B Scenario Book: Frank Chadwick