BatRep: Montebello 1859 - First Hour of Battle

French close in on Montebello

After having Montebello out on the gaming table for a week or two, I finally pulled figures from their storage boxes and deployed them onto the table.  To refresh memory of the scenario setup, Order of Battle, and brief historical commentary, see the earlier post, Montebello 1859 Setup.

Initial Deployments

View of battlefield from east

As seen from the Initial Deployments photo above, Urban's command holds a forward position along the main road and railroad.  Schaafgottsche's brigade is dispersed with units in Genestrello, Montebello, and Casteggio.

Genestrello

Montebello

Casteggio

Urban's second brigade under Baum is poised ready to attack one battalion of the 74th protecting the railway bridge at Cascina Nuova.  Forey, with his two brigades, is hurrying to the front with a few elements already in position guarding the stream along the line of Genestrello-Cascina Nuova.  The allied northern flank is protected by four squadrons of Sardinian light cavalry regiment Aosta. 

While skirmishing had been heard in the vicinity if Genestrello for about an hour, Stadion in Montebello along with Urban order Baum to push the French from Cascina Nuova and capture the railway bridge crossing the stream.  Urban orders the defenders in Casteggio to take to the road and come up in support. 

With orders in hand and without artillery to soften up the defenders, Baum launches an attack on Cascina Nuova at 2:30pm led by two battalions of IR40.  The French 1/74 Line coolly holds its fire until the Austrians close to short range and then unleashes two quick volleys.  Taking moderate casualties, the fire from the 74th stops Baum's attack in its tracks.  Both battalions of IR40 are disrupted.  The 2/3rd Jaegers, in front of Genestrello, target 2/84th Line inflicting enough casualties to disrupt the battalion.  Being nearby, Beuret attempts to rally the 84th to no avail.  To the north of Genestrello, Hesse's column begins to challenge the Sardinian light cavalry screen.  In an attempt to break through the cavalry screen, the 3rd squadron of the 12th Hussars charges one of the squadrons of the Aosta Regiment.  As it closes and the Sardinian cavalry responds, the 3/12 Hussars loses its nerve and breaks towards the rear in rout. 

Beuret attacks Genestrello

Reacting to the aggressive Austrian activity, Forey sets his division into action as Beuret advances on the Austrian held village of Genestrello.  2/84 rallies as 1/84 moves up in support and forces the third battalion of IR39 back from the stream north of Genestrello, disrupted.  Beuret brings up his 4kg RML battery and unlimbers near the bridge along the main road.  The 1/3 Jaegers positioned in front of Genestrello is the battery's immediate target.  Not able to hold fast against bombardment, the jaegers take casualties, are disrupted, and seek safety behind the lee side of Genestrello.  As the jaegers are being driven back in front of Genestrello, the 17th Chasseurs a Pied and three squadrons of Novarra light cavalry work their way around the south side of Genestrello.

Austrians abandon Genestrello

As the 17th comes up on the Genestrello defenders from above, it engages both 3/IR59 and 2/3rd Jaegers.  Both Austrian formations take casualties and are driven back from Genestrello.  Adding into the collapse of the Austrian forward Genestrello position, the 2/84 and Beuret's battery pour fire into the 1/3 Jaeger and 3/IR39.  Both formations retreat out of Genestrello, disrupted.  Near Cascina Nuova, the 1/74th pushes IR40 back even farther from the crucial railway bridge.

French attacks and Austrian retreats

With Genestrello separating the retiring Austrians from the rapidly oncoming French, the 3rd Jaegers and 3/IR59 shake off their disruption.  Its combat effectiveness teetering on the brink, 3/IR39 falls back in search of safety while 1/IR40 moves out of Montebello to cover IR39's retreat.  Schaafgottsche's Casteggio garrison continues its repositioning towards Montebello.

Urban's fighting withdrawal to Montebello

That concludes the first hour of the battle.  The Austrians have lost Cascina Nuova and Genestrello by 3:30pm.  Historically, both of these outposts fell around the same time.  The difference in this replay is that Baum, suffering from a sharp repulse against Cascina Nuova, is in much worse shape than his historical counterpart.  Falling back towards Montebello as he did historically, the combat effectiveness of his less motivated troops puts his command in grave danger.  Both have an effectiveness down to two which makes for a brittle command.  

A good portion of Schaffgotsche's command is in trouble too.  Taking heavy casualties from the French assaults on Genestrello, support from the Casteggio garrison will be needed soon to shore up the defenses at Montebello and allow Schaffgottsche's troops a bit of time to recover.  Historically, Gaal's brigade began reinforcing Montebello by about 3pm.  That will not be the situation this time.  Gaal is still at least an hour's march from Montebello.  He needed to move out with more alacrity but not to be this time.

Hesse on the northern portion of the battlefield has been delayed by the Sardinian cavalry just as witnessed historically. Spillberger's column approaches the railway bridge spanning the Coppa River but he, too, is too distant to offer immediate assistance.

The French, for their part, moved quickly and thwarted the attack on Cascina Nuova and overpowered the Genestrello defenders without suffering many casualties.  French artillery and the well-trained chasseurs a pied made a defense of Genestrello a tough proposition for Urban.

3:30pm positions looking from Voghera

Many of the Austrian infantry are of poorer quality than their French counterparts and once the starch was knocked out of the tunics, fighting toe-to-toe would be a losing battle.  The larger Austrian battalions never made their superiority in numbers felt in this first hour of fighting.  The Austrians also suffer from a disadvantage in command quality.  In this first hour, Austrian commanders were several times outplayed by their French adversaries.  The flexibility offered by good or excellent French officers proved powerful when compared to the poor or average Austrian command structure.

As for the arrival of French reinforcements, perhaps, some arrived on the battlefield a little earlier than expected.  Still, the game timeline follows the historical battle chronology quite closely.

With the start of the 3:30pm turn, Stadion grabs hold of the initiative.  Perhaps he can sort out his far flung commands and give them a chance to prepare for the next wave of expected French assaults?  Having much of Schaafgottsche's command reeling back from Genestrello followed closely on its heels by the victorious French, will Urban be able to prepare a solid defense of Montebello in time?  The answer to these questions will be answered in the next installment of the battle.