French recruits in autumn 1870
The Battle of Coulmiers was a combat engagement between a Bavarian corps under general von der Tann and two French corps from the Army of the Loire under General Aurelle de Paladines on 9th November 1870, which ended with a victory of French arms.
Historical situation in autumn 1870
After the German victories in the border battles and at Sedan the bulk of the regular army of the second French empire was either in German captivity or encircled in the fortress of Metz. Meanwhile the German main force besieged Paris. The task of securing the siege lines towards the south was entrusted to the 1st Bavarian Corps under von der Tann. This formation succeeded in capturing the City of Orléans on the Loire on 11th October.
The German troops in and around Orléans faced the recently concentrated forces of the Army of the Loire. This French formation had a continuous influx of volunteers, which brought the army to a total strength of ca. 200,000, out of which 120,000 were fully effective.
Problems resulted for the French side from the fact that the volunteers lacked training and that there were too few officers and non commissioned officers to train and lead them. However, the French did all they could to achieve a proper level of training and at this stage in the war there were still sufficient supplies of arms and equipment.
The positions to the west of Orléans on the morning of November 9th, 1870 |
In the beginning of November 1870 general Aurelle de Paladines had ca. 70,000 effectives available to undertake an offensive in the direction of Orléans. The objective of this offensive was to destroy the isolated Bavarian 1st Corps, recapture the city and turn it into a base for the relief of Paris. The advancing French units were however spotted by German cavalry already on 7th November and appropriate counter-measures were taken by the German side.
Orléans was evacuated on the night of the 8th to the 9th November and the larger part of the troops (ca. 23,000) took positions in the area of Coulmiers, where a battle was fought on the next day in cold and windy weather. General von der Tann was confident that his weak corps would be able to outmanouvre the numerically superior but less well-trained and inexperienced Army of the Loire.
The gaming table, 120 x 180 cm, corresponding to the actual 21 x 14 km battlefield, positions of Victory Points marked red |
Historical course of the battle on 9th November 1870
The Bavarian troops deployed in a wide arch from St. Peravy over Coulmiers to La Renadiere. The French attacked in the late morning from the south west and first made contact with their right wing. Immediately after contacting the Germans, the bulk of the French army turned and attacked in the centre and on the right wing. Because of their widespread marching formations it took a while until all units were able to participate in the battle.
The first attack at ca. 1:30 PM succeeded in getting very close to the Bavarians, who were running out of ammunition. Here the French were narrowly beaten back by the German artillery that advanced to close range and thereby saved the Bavarians. A second attack at ca. 3 PM was directed towards Cheminiers. Again the French could not succeed in coordinating their attacks properly, giving their opponents the chance to reinforce the critical positions in their lines and beat back the piecemeal assaults by the French regiments.
After these failed attacks the French gardes mobiles withdrew in disorder. Only with great difficulty did the French officers succeed in restoring order to prepare the next assault.
Despite their numerical superiority the French could not dislodge the Bavarians from their defensive positions. The French cavalry was positioned too far west, so that the Bavarian right wing was not enveloped for a long time.
When the French infantry eventually succeeded in storming Coulmiers head on, von der Tann was forced to withdraw his Corps from the battlefield to avoid encirclement. The Bavarian retreat was in good order and the French cavalry did not pursue, neither was there a French advance towards Paris.
Vie from south towards north, St.Ay in the right foreground |
The Coulmiers scenario can be found as a free download in the "Bloody Big Battles“ Yahoo-Group:
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info
We considered it very suitable as a starting point for gaming the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 because of the relatively small numbers of troops involved.
The gaming table, or rather cloth, is, as in our previous battles, a beige-coloured paper tablecloth sold by the Company Dunicel, which was airbrushed and painted with acrylic paints. Details were then added with colour pencils and artist's Crayons.
The paper cloth without buildings and vegetation |
Rivers were covered with acrylic gloss varnish for a more realistic water effect. Villages and houses are from the 2mm ranges of Irregular Miniatures and Brigade Models. All woods consist of homemade "autumn flock". Inspiration for the layout came from internet pictures of the Loire valley and historical battlefield during November.
Autumnal atmosphere in the Loire-valley |
We have not forgotten that we promised you a detailed "Making Of" Report for such cloths, this one was already made and stored before we posted the last report, waiting for the Bavarians (and potential Hessian reinforcements) to be painted up. So, next time we will include more details concerning the set up.
The course of our game
Bavarians in Saintry |
According to the scenario rules the German player deploys first. Von der Tann (Arno) chose the option to place a small unit plus artillery in an entrenched advanced Position in the village of Saintry.
Deployment of the Bavarians and French advance at 10.00 hours ( Turn 1 ) |
The French could move first and entered the battlefield at 10 o'clock from the west. The 16th Corps under general Chanzy (Mad Dog) deployed with two divisions north of Coulmiers, the 15th Corps under Commander-in-Chief de Paladines (Yogsothoth) followed further south. The cavalry of the 15th Corps (two units) advanced isolated on the left wing.
Bavarian reserves in column of march |
Coulmiers viewed from the north |