To Die in Piedmont

Although I paraphrase Giovanni Badone's book title of You Have To Die In Piedmont recounting the 1747 Battle of Assieta for my title, we were not fighting the Battle of Assieta.  Instead, we enjoyed another refight of Bassignana on Friday.

Four players attended Friday's remote game with Doug and Alan returning for an encore and Brian and Jennifer joining in to fill out the quartet.  While the three gentlemen have seen action at my table recently, Jennifer has not joined into a remote game for about two-and-a-half years.  I vaguely recall her last game was fighting the 1862 Battle of Brawner's Farm. 

Piedmontese defenders of Chiesa de San Germano.

For this game, Doug would switch sides from his earlier game and take command of the French while Alan would join him reprising his role as the Spanish command.  Brian and Jennifer would split the Austro-Piedmontese Army.  Player commands are illustrated in the game map below:  

Player commands and initial dispositions.

After the game concluded, Jennifer provided an almost instantaneous link to her blog post retelling the battle in a blow-by-blow account.  Amazing effort in detailing the action in real time along with relevant screenshots.  I could use a battle chronicler of this caliber!  Jennifer's detailed report can be read at, In Remotest Bassignana.   

Let's see what I recall from the game.

Holding the initiative at the start of battle, the two Spanish brigades advance toward the Tanaro River on the Gallispan Right.  On the Gallispan Left, the French step off toward the Tanaro.  The Piedmontese wait impatiently on the high ground to the north.  With the Gallispan Army in motion, artillery opens up across the battlefield.  Artillery from both armies find their mark early as men drop on both sides of the Tanaro.

Spanish advance toward the Tanaro River.

French, likewise, advance toward the Tanaro.

As de Gage's Spanish splash into the Tanaro, King Emanuele III and his command await near Bassignana.  All along the Piedmontese line, no unit has stirred from their starting positions.  Having reached the north bank of the Tanaro, de Gage leads a charge at the head of two cavalry regiments.  Their target?  The King's cavalry positioned on the heights overlooking Bassignana.  As the enemy bears down, the Austrian infantry in Bassignana form up and march south.  With the distance quickly closing, the Austrians let loose a first volley.  One of the two Spanish cavalry regiments scatter.  De Gage still leads the second horsemen forward.  The King responds.  In the countercharge, the King and his cavalry smash into de Gage and his Spanish.  Although de Gage began at favorable odds before seeing his righthand regiment blown away from accurate musketry, the King and his cavalry overpower de Gage and his horsemen.  The remaining Spanish cavalry are destroyed and de Gage falls.  The loss of their commander leaves the remainder of the brigade leaderless.  Seeing the calamity on his right, Maillebois, himself, rides over to personally take command of de Gage's Brigade.  To add insult to injury, Piedmontese light infantry pop up out of the woods and deliver some hot fire into the Spanish as they wade across the river.   

Not a good start to battle!  

De Gage leads the Spanish cavalry into battle.
The King responds.

Surprise in the woods!

De Gage falls in battle putting his command leaderless.

Maillebois rushes forward to take over de Gage's command...

and get the Spanish attack back on track.

With the Spanish attack on Bassignana seemingly stalled, The French take the fight to the enemy.  De Montal's heavy guns in the center pound the Piedmontese infantry supporting their artillery outside of Rivarone.  The French objective is to soften the enemy up before launching an attack with Senneterre's Brigade either against Montecastelle or Rivarone.

Senneterre advances with support from de Montal's guns.

De Grammont prepares an assault against San Germano.

The French leftmost brigade under de Grammont splashes into the Tanaro taking fire from the Piedmontese guard defending San Germano.  De Grammont's infantry stop midstream to return fire with musketry split between the guard on the heights and Liguane's dragoons below.  Seeing that the volleys are causing disorder among the cavalry's ranks, de Grammont leads his cavalry into the enemy dragoons.  Liguane attempts to spoil this attack by bringing up his second dragoon regiment but it refuses.  De Grammont and his cavalry plow into the wavering Piedmontese and they scatter.  With the loss of one of his two regiments, Liguane's Brigade breaks.

Hard fighting at San Germano!

De Grammont turns the Piedmontese Left!

To de Grammont's right, Senneterre crosses the Tanaro in force and presses on against Rivarone.  Packed densely in preparation for their assault, Senneterre's two French regiments are surprised when the Piedmontese Grenadiers, move out from the cover of Montecastelle and attack.  Fortunately for the French, the fire from the grenadiers causes few casualties.  The French go in!  After suffering from repeated bombardments at the hands of de Montal's guns, the wavering Piedmontese cannot withstand the shock of Senneterre's attack.  De la Chiesa's Piedmontese infantry are put to flight and his guns overrun.  De la Chiesa's Brigade breaks.  Senneterre's infantry suffer heavy casualties in carrying the position.     

French form up to attack de la Chiesa's Piedmontese.

Out of nowhere, grenadiers deliver
an opening volley into the packed French.

Still, Senneterre's attack goes in
 and carries away the Piedmontese.

With the Piedmontese Center collapsing, Liguane attempts to stabilize the right by charging into de Grammont's cavalry outside of San Germano.  The attack is bloodily repulsed and Liguane falls back to the north.  Seeing his right turned and his left hanging in the air, d'Aix orders his brigade to retire to the north.

Piedmontese Right is turned!

With Liguane's cavalry beaten,
d'Aix orders his brigade back from the river.

Seeing the French Left pushing the enemy back, Maillebois orders the Spanish back into action.  With the Piedmontese militia pinned in Rivarone, de Gage's infantry march on Bassignana.  As the Spanish advance, a firefight develops with the Austrians in front of Bassignana.  Having suffered heavy casualties in the firefight and feeling the pressure from the uneven firefight with the Spanish, the Austrians waver.  With word from Schulenburg that his Austrian infantry are beginning to cross the pontoon bridge, the King reacts in an effort to buy time.  In a desperate act, the King leads his cavalry into the Spanish foot.  The Spanish to his front are beaten but his cavalry has suffered mightily.  Before the King can extricate himself from his forward position, he is attacked by Arambou's cavalry with Arambou leading the charge.  The Piedmontese cavalry is defeated and the King is killed in the chaos.      

The King's desperate charge...

sees initial success.

The King falls fighting for his Kingdom.

With the King dead, his command eliminated, and two of his three brigades broken, the Piedmontese have lost their will to carry on.  De la Chiesa's militia lay down their arms in Rivarone while Liguane and d'Aix retire to the northwest.  Receiving word of the King's demise, Schulenburg orders his Austrian infantry to retrace their steps back over the Po to safety. 

This battle is over ending in another historical outcome.

Wow.  Another very interesting and engaging battle.  Congratulations to Doug and Alan for executing a well-considered battle plan.  While Alan and his Spanish got off to a rocky start, they ended the battle with panache. For Doug, what can I say?  He led his French straight into the enemy and forced them out of their defensive positions.

My condolences to Brian and Jennifer, the Austro-Piedmontese put up a good fight but the enemy seemed more active everywhere.  What might have been?

While this battle is in the books, one more battle of Bassignana remains on the schedule for next week.  At that time, we see the Rejects refight this battle.  The Piedmontese are hoping for a different result.

Thanks again, everyone, for another enjoyable and intriguing game.  Please visit Jennifer's battle account as she shares her side of the battle tale.