Guest Post from Reject Richard - The Battle of Distanza Part 5

Part 5 of a Socially Distant Wargame

The Battle of Distanza, 15 June 1746

Phase 4, c.12:45pm

A little apology to begin. My cellar is never great for photos, but for some reason this phase of the game engendered even poorer quality pictures.  Even leading a dramatic cavalry clash being rendered to a written account only.

At the end of the last installment the situation was as follows at about 12.45pm:

The French Artois regiment starts by blazing away at the Austrian artillery of 1^st Brigade…

… killing the gunners to a man.

Aggressive French advances by 1st and 2nd Brigades and fire by Champagne regiment does damage on IR8 Hildburghausen on the central heights.

While on the far western flank, the Austrian dragoons continue to make progress around the French left flank and Sociale prompting Marshal Ray to shift his command to get this end moving.

But on the central heights IR8 return fire with a withering volley that sends Champagne regiment reeling back.  Shaken but not destroyed.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Austrian 1^st brigade’s performance is barely satisfactory… typical Lee-esque dice rolling!

However, Austrians of the 2^nd brigade inflicts heavy casualties on the Picardy regiment, who are forced to temporarily withdraw.

Meanwhile, on the bloodied soil of the south eastern flank, Ray’s battered cavalry are setting a trap for Lee.  Will the Austrian orders drive them into the net?

On the French right flank of the line, Piedmont regiment is charged by the Austrian grenadiers who advance determinedly despite well trained musketry by the French infantry.

French grenadiers also seek action by launching themselves at IR27 Baden-Durlach, who are taken by surprise at the speed of the charge.

The Austrian grenadiers win, throwing the Piedmont regiment back.  However, they have now suffered horrible losses themselves.

On the central heights, the French grenadiers keep honours even by defeating IR27 who retreat over the river.  The heights now seem to be disputed.

The grenadiers now exploit the situation and charge IR10 Jung-Wolfenbuttel, who just have time to release a volley before impact…

… and after a close and vicious melee push the grenadiers back towards Sociale – have the grenadiers exhausted themselves?

This is the situation at around 1pm.

The Austrian grenadiers are quickly wiped out as the French 2^nd brigade extract revenge.

But in the west the Austrian dragoons start to cross the river south of Sociale.  However, Ray is redeploying his 3^rd brigade to counter.

This is the point where my already dodgy photography seems to give up the ghost.

Which is a shame as in the southeast Lee’s cuirassier dutifully follow his aggressive orders and charge straight into Ray’s cavalry trap.  No 4 Stampbach cuirassiers is consequently wiped out to a man (and steed) when it is charged by both French units – one in a devastating flank attack.  The secret to decisive melee in this age.  La Reine chevaulegers breakthrough onto No 3 Palffy cuirassiers, who put up stern resistance before their morale cracks, forcing their ragged withdrawal.

Below is the now untidier battle lines from west of the central heights looking east.

General Lee is seen exhorting his troops to great effort despite losing two units destroyed in a quarter of an hour.

And so, we have the situation as the clock ticks towards 1.20pm.

Both armies are taking a battering.  The French are bloodied and having to react to some troublesome Austrian cavalry but have all units still available for action.  The Austrians are holding the heights but only with a titanic struggle and now with two units destroyed.  Which side will see their will to fight crack first and gain the ascendancy they seek in northern Italy.

Until the next instalment.

AHPC X - French Dragoon regt Firmacon

More figures painted during the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge back in March.

The Dragoons were created by the Chevalier of Firmacon, on September 14th 1673, and ranked 6th then 9th in its arm. During the late 1600's they were commanded by the following Mestres de Camp 1673 J de Cassagnet de Tilladet Chevalier Firmacon (Firmacon Dragoons)

1678 C-L Marquis of Barbezieres, (Barbezieres Dragoons)

1692 G-L Count of Estrades, (Estrades Dragoons)

The figures are from North Star 1672 range and can be found here.

They were undercoated to paint up for Challenge 8, but never made it on the painting table!

So I thought it was about time they did!

I also painted up the green coated fellows dismounted and a horse holder as well!

They're painted in their early uniform of green coat and yellow cuffs, in 1692 the uniform changed to a rather boring all green, so I stuck with the yellow distinctions for a bit of variety.

AHPC X - 25mm Haitian Commanders

Only a small post today, consisting of three Command figures for the Haitian Revolution.

All figures are from Trent Miniatures Revolutionary Wars range.

From L to R we have Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniére,  Toussaint Louverture (Haitian Commander) and Dutty Boukman.

Toussaint Louverture was a Haitian general and best-known leader of the Haitian Revolution. He was a leader of the growing resistance. His military and political acumen saved the gains of the first black insurrection in November 1791. He first fought for the Spanish against the French; then for France against Spain and Great Britain; and finally, he fought on behalf of Saint-Domingue in the era of Napoleonic France. He helped transform the slave insurgency into a revolutionary movement.

Louverture began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue; he was by then a free man and a Jacobin. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighbouring Santo Domingo (modern Dominican Republic), Louverture switched allegiance to the French when the new government abolished slavery. He gradually established control over the whole island and used political and military tactics to gain dominance over his rivals. Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and security of Saint-Domingue. Worried about the economy, which had stalled, he restored the plantation system using paid labour, negotiated trade treaties with the United Kingdom and the United States, and maintained a large and well-disciplined army.

After defeating leaders among the free people of colour, in 1801, he promulgated an autonomist constitution for the colony, which named him as Governor-General for Life. In 1802 he was invited to a parley by a French general, Jean-Baptiste Brunet, under false pretences and arrested. He was deported to France and jailed, dying of pneumonia in 1803

Dutty Boukman (Also known as "Boukman Dutty") (died 7 November 1791) was an early leader of the Haitian Revolution. Originally born in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), he was captured, enslaved and transported to Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where he became a leader of the Maroons and a vodou priest.

According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman, alongside Cécile Fatiman, a Vodou mambo, presided over the religious ceremony at Bois Caïman, in August 1791, that served as the catalyst to the 1791 slave revolt which is usually considered the beginning of the Haitian Revolution.

Boukman was a key leader of the slave revolt in the Le Cap‑Français region in the north of the colony. He was killed by the French planters and colonial troops on 7 November 1791, just a few months after the beginning of the uprising. The French then publicly displayed Boukman's head in an attempt to dispel the aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated. The fact that French authorities had to do this illustrates the impact Boukman made on the views of Haitian people during this time.

Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniére (fl. 1802), known in history only as Marie-Jeanne, was a Haitian soldier, woman of color, and reportedly a "dazzling beauty." She served in the Haitian army during the Haitian Revolution, which was a successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule. It took place 1791-1804.

Marie-Jeanne served at the Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot (4 March to 24 March 1802) with her husband Louis Daure Lamartinière. She fought in a male uniform standing along the fort's ramparts bearing both a rifle and a sword. She made a great impression with her fearlessness and courage, and was said to use the long rifle to snipe on the wounded French soldiers below with "a skill all the men applauded." It is said to have boosted the morale of her colleagues with her bravery.

When not fighting, Marie-Jeanne nursed her injured comrades. When describing her allocation of her scarce water supply to parched and dying troops, Bell states,

"Marie-Jeanne gave water with a silver serving spoon that hung from her sash on a fine chain. From the gourd she carried as she filled the spoon just short of the brim and slipped between the jaws of [the patient]." ... [A doctor noticed] "the short knife which rode in her sash between the spoon chain and her sword. Two days before she'd slit the throat of a man so maddened by thirst he'd tried to snatch the water gourd from her — done it as neatly as any peasant woman letting blood from a hog or snapping the head off a chicken. It had been a mercy killing, for the others of the garrison would surly have torn the offender limb from limb."