A battle that turned out to be smaller than I had originally expected. Everyone appeared to be busy this weekend and so a 1-on-1 game is what we settled on playing. So that the game would not drag on relentlessly and appear aimless, I setup the scenario for 10 turns each and to have control over the bridge as the objective for winning. Each side had pretty similar forces but some slight differences in artillery and cavalry. I hadn't finished my 3rd battalion of AB Portuguese, so my Old Glory units filled in the Portuguese brigade for the British 3rd Division.
Both sides cautiously move forward through the center. The natural tendency is to cling to the villages either side of the stream. Although the stream is fordable, it does restrict movement. The bridge is a natural bottleneck and no one really wants to be stuck crossing it in an unfortunate formation such as a column. In my mind, it makes a good objective because you cannot take it and hide within its confines the way you would a village, forest or on top of a hill.
The French (my side) right wing. Both sides had smartly placed their cavalry on the plains where they could maximize their movement advantage. The British light cavalry brigade can be seen at the top moving up to meet the French advance.
The Portuguese move up to secure their side of the stream. The British chose to place the artillery in the center to secure the objective through firepower. I placed my battery beside the village to help sweep the open area. Although I only had a single horse artillery battery, it did prove to be more useful as this position permitted me to get into action sooner than the British battery, which never managed to open fire.
As I tried to close in around the bridge, the British infantry took a deeper interest in my advance in the center and moved to apply pressure on my flank. This ultimately lead me to divert a few battalions to square off against them.
The French dragoons had charged in with the best of intentions but were pushed back. Although the dragoons had a slight numerical advantage, I was unable to really make great use of that due to available space. I did manage to go after the slightly easier target first, being the British light dragoons and saving the British hussars when I could gain an advantage over them.
The horse artillery didn't manage to soften the British line up much here and so the French line infantry are going to have to try and rely on some brute force to break it up. I had to be careful in advancing with the infantry as I was fully expecting the British cavalry to come charging out and force my troops to form square. They showed some uncharacteristic restraint in not charging the infantry, probably more concerned with the French dragoons.
The Anglo-Portuguese have managed to form around the bridge in a position that would permit them to have a crossfire with any of my French troops that look to seize the objective. A solid move.
I had to form into line to counter the firepower that the British troops here were able to deliver. In forming into line, my movement slowed down and when combined with the terrain, bogged my advance down. One battalion tried to advance in column and batter its way across, but the Portuguese didn't give way. It would take repeated attempts to make a crossing.
Part of 2eme Legere, having made its way through the olive rows, attempted to push the British position back. After a couple of exchanges of fire, the British infantry fired upon the French closing up. The left battalion has taken some serious disruptions that will handicap it in the upcoming melee.
A grand charge of the entire right wing. The French dragoons, having obtained a clear numerical advantage by breaking one of the British light dragoon regiments, now decide to proceed all out and perform a combined charge with the infantry. There isn't a qualitative advantage but there is a numerical advantage that the French have in their favor.
From another angle, part of the French dragoon brigade remains in reserve. The combat results turn out to be the loss of the British hussars and the 94th Foot breaks. The light dragoons would be in a horrible and isolated position were it not for the end of the scenario.
The 2nd Battalion of the 2eme Legere broke as the French charge here failed quite miserably. While the French manage to inflict slightly more casualties than they took and obtain a contested foothold on the other side of the stream, it wasn't convincing to declare a victory by the time constraints. The attack column failed to live up to its reputation and the Anglo-Portuguese infantry managed to stay solid and deliver enough fire power to weaken the French attacks. The British leftwing/French rightwing was more in the French's favor, but was not enough to decide the game. More damage would have been required to achieve victory through breaking the enemy force.
The end result was a draw.
