Mustering of Colonel Homburgs Dragoons

"Well Colonel, what do you think of your unit?"

"A fine body, I must thank you Baron, and the Stadtrat, for providing me with such a well turned out unit."

"You realise that we had to cut a few corners to raise them in time"

"Yes, but you have not stinted in the things that mattered, disciplined troopers and excellent horseflesh"

"I trust you'll remember our little arrangement"

"Certainly Baron, I would have agreed to the arrangement without your offer of a generous discount on the raising fee for the regiment, but I now feel obliged to make any additional effort required"

Frundsberg Dragoons (2)

"Sire, we have completed our assessment as to whether we can provide the Dragoons for Colonel Homburg."

Please tell us more"

"Basically dragoons do not have to be fully trained cavalry so it would not be wise to transfer any of our existing cavalry to a new unit."

"Agreed"

"However we have the equivalent of a couple of squadrons in training and after discussing the issue with the infantry colonels I believe we can raise the same number of men from the infantry with sufficient experience of horse riding"

"Interesting, so the infantry can provide a core of expertise for dismounted operations."

"Exactly, and the two months available for training should be sufficient to bring both groups up to a common standard."

"And the officers and NCO's?"

"Far less of a problem sire, we have more than enough potential volunteers eager to see action against the Ottomans"

"And as for equipment and horses?"

"Again no problem, we have sufficient weapons in the arsenal to equip the unit, and dragoon horses are readily available from our contractors"

"Excellent, but as for the uniforms? you realise we would prefer that the unit is clearly seen as originating from us"

"That is also possible, we still have enough yellow cloth, which when combined with some surplus black lining material will make the unit sufficiently Frundsberg in appearance."

"Thank you Major Stollen, I will inform the Stadtrat and Colonel Homburg that we will proceed with raising the regiment as requested"

New Dragoons requested

A new request arrives in the Freistadt, which initially causes some confusion in the Stadtrat.

"Colonel Homburg, graciously requests the assistance of the Freistadt in the raising of a regiment of Dragoons for the service of Hesse Kassel"

"What support those mercenaries in Hesse Kassel!!"

"An outrage"

"They are up to their usual tricks"

"Gentlemen can I clarify the request, we do know the officer concerned and he was Captain Homburg of the Stocwold Horse Regiment before he was offered a position by Hesse Kassel with promotion to Major, a position for which he was well qualified but we were unable to offer at the time"

"It's still Hesse-Kassel up to its tricks and just using this man as cover"

"Gentlemen Colonel Homburg is certainly intelligent enough to see through any attempted tricks and to get involved would be counter to his calvinist upbringing"

"There's more too it than meets the eye, I'm sure of it"

"The dragoons are to be part of the Hessian contribution to the Reicharmee to help relieve Vienna and defeat the Ottomans.

"So the Hessians will just get us to do the work so that they can claim the credit"

"Colonel Homburg has noted that possibility and suggested that we equip the unit with Frundsberg uniforms"

"Seems as though this fellow is being straight with us"

"I think so gentlemen, as his promotion is to Colonel in command of this regiment and he knows that his career will be in ruins if he uses the gutter sweepings that are all that remain in Hesse after the formation of the rest of the contingent"

"It certainly seems worth considering"

"Yes, and the price is quite reasonable"

"Why not indeed"

Gentlemen shall I ask the muster-master to see if this request is feasible within our current resources and the time available?"

Chorus of "Ja"

Battle of Slava Crossing #2

Here, from a local source, is an image showing the charge of the Lowenstein Cuirassiers.

It shows the situation just as they crested the hill in the centre of the battlefield.

Battle of the Slava crossing

(xxx-1683) Report from Colonel Sturm to the Stadtrat.

We awoke early to news from our pickets that the Ottomans had crossed the river Slava. This was dire news as so far the area of Austria in which we were moving had been spared from the depredations of the Turks. Our forces rapidly mustered, our one chance was to defeat the enemy before their whole force had crossed the river.

We approached to find a substantial body of the foe across the river, but still not in sufficient number so General Kratz ordered an immediate attack. On our left were two regiments of Austrian cuirassiers ten our brigade of foot our regiment and two Austrian regiments. In the centre was out main thrust of three regiments of cavalry drawn up in succession of lines on the right was another Austrian infantry brigade.

The Ottomans had almost reached a hill in their centre and covered the gap between it and a marsh with a regiment of Janissaries and another of Azabs. behind them were Light horse and Sipahis. On their left were just a another unit of light horse back up by more sipahis In addition more light cavalry could be seen crossing the bridge. Out artillery was positioned on the nearby hills to provide supporting fire but the Ottomans had positioned their guns to provide flanking fire from the opposite river bank.

Our force steadily advanced and the first clash occur ed between the leading Austrian dragoons and the enemy light cavalry, as expected these were routed easily, but the enemy sipahis then charged the dragoons routing them in turn, pursuing them into the gap between our centre and the right flank infantry.

This was the crisis, but the enemy had sent their right flank cavalry round the marsh to extend their line and the newly arrived light cavalry had done the same on the right. However a regiment of delis had crossed the river and was heading for the central hill.

Colonel Lowenstein then grasped the opportunity and leaving the sipahis to be deal with by the following dragoons led his men over the central hill and into the midst of the enemy.

The dragoons and infantry dealt with the sipahis before they could reach our gun line. meanwhile breasting the hill before the enemy Colonel Lowenstein saw a great target ahead the Delis were still advancing in column and the Janissaries had their flank exposed as they faced the approach of or infantry. "Vorwarts" cried Colonel Lowenstein and his men surged forward in a determined mass, causing the Jannisaries to rout, but the fanatical Delis were a bigger problem and the charge became a maelstrom of hard fought actions.

After much maneuvering the Ottoman right flank cavalry had reformed after skirting the marsh and now charged against the Austrian cuirassiers. They were well positioned and both regiments counter-charged the sipahis, who were unsupported by their light horse. Although one regiment was checked weight of numbers told and the sipahis routed. The pursuing regiment then drove straight though the enemy light horse routing them in turn.

At the same moment our cuirassiers were triumphant and routed the Delis driving them into the river.

From this point on the Ottomans on our bank of the river routed back across the bridge or attempted to swim the Slava and a great many drowned. The light horse, who were mainly Transylvanians surrendered.

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This was played with the latest draft of the rules, they worked better but I still found areas to improve. Once I make the next set of updates I'll put them up on esnips.

Thanks to Paul and Daffyd for participating

Aufklarungskorps

Because of their mode of operation the Frundsberg Aufklarungskorps is rarely spotted. But a member was recently observed following a unit of Swedish dragoons

The role of this small but effective formation is to discover information on actual and potential enemy movements. To this end they wear a green uniform to aid concealment and are mounted on fast horses to ensure a fast get-away if needed.

All quiet - or was it

(xxx-1683) Report from Colonel Sturm to the Stadtrat

Sirs, I regret that to the Ottoman activity and other problems it has been difficult to communicate over the last few weeks. Our forces have twice marched out to drive off the Ottoman forces threaten our camp and supply lines.

I regret to inform you that during the first of these engagements the whole of our infantry was routed by the Ottomans, only the coming of nightfall and the staunch resistance of our cavalry prevented a complete disaster.

On the second occasion we managed to hold our positions, although one of the Austrian regiments was routed by a horde of Ottoman light horse when they mis-timed their volley and the horse were in amongst them before they had chance to fix their bayonets.

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Notes

Just catching up on a succession of games played at the club, while working up the rules. We did try a Might and Reason version just splitting the Austrians into two armies. There were some nice ideas in the rules, but some of the results were just out of keeping for the period so it was ditched.

We then tried a full blown battle using the Ottomans and Austrians, this time back to the SYW modifications I'd used in the previously reported game. It was better, but still didn't quite have the correct fell for the period, the Austrians were too vulnerable, not helped by my deploying them too tightly.

The last game was a re-run using a number of changes I had been pondering for the SYW. It worked a lot better, but as suspected the dice rolling was a bit too variable. ( A complete failure to hit anything was a partial cause of the light horse over-running a formed foot regiment)

I'm getting there but rather slowly.

Problems on the Danube

(xxx-1683) Report from Colonel Sturm to the Stadtrat

Sirs, I have the pleasure to announce a stirling performance by my regiment in its first action at Oberfeld.

At Passau the regiment was brigaded with two Austrian regiments Wendt and Hoch & Deutchmeister under the command of General Kremnitzer. Our artillery was formed into a battery with some Austrian guns. We then marched to the the main army escorting a large baggage train of supplies with the Danube to our right. Each day we alternated positions in the column and on the day in question the order of march was Wendt, Sturm then Hoch & Deutchmeister. We were marching across the Oberfeld when what appeared to be a broken down wagon on the road ahead moved aside to reveal Ottoman cannon. They were part of a force commanded by Mutapha bey which also had 2 regiments of Janissaries, 2 bodies of Balkan rabble, some skirmishers and two regiments of light horse. (initial positions below)

On spotting the artillery our guns unlimbered to clear the road, and as our infantry statrted to deploy a mass of Infantry and cavalry emerged over a hill to our left front We formed a brigade line just in time. All the cavalry swung to their right and then attacked the H&D. Our supporting fire prevented some of the cavalry from engaging, but the fire from H&D was hesitant and they ran from the cavalry. Our regiment then faced left and delivered a devestating volley into the cavalry before they could attack the fugitives. General Kremnitzer then sucessfully rallied the regiment as the Ottoman cavalry fell back to reform. At the same moment the two regiments of janissaries attacked the Wendt regiment. (below)
The charge was pressed home with extreme agression as our cannon cut swathes through the janissary ranks. One regiment faltered due to the fire, but the other pressed home and cut the brave Wendt regiment to shreds with the remenants fleeing behind the baggage wagons.

At this point General Kremnitzer joined the regiment leading them forward in a last ditch attempt to repel to Ottomans. The shock was too much and the remaining janissaries fled the battlefield. (the Frunsberg charge is shown below)

Just after this heroic charge we saw more troop movements behind the Ottoman lines and the Ottoman cavalry made another attack on H&D. This time the regiment remained steady inflicting musketry casualties and driving off those who came within reach of the pikes. As the Ottoman cavalry withdrew to lick their wounds again we saw that the distant troops were not more Ottomans but our gallant Polish allies coming to our aid. (The poles can be seen top left below)

The Ottoman army then fled in panic pursued by the Poles.

As well as the valiant performance of my regiment, the artillery performed well, as well as causing major losses to the janissaries using grape, they also drove off the enemy gunners at a point when they were causing casualties on the brigade using flanking fire.

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Other notes:
1) Game played using a version of my SYW rules modified for the period, still very much in development at this stage, but does involve command dice.
2) I also modified the melee combat results with a recent idea, that the losers losses are in proportion to the scale of difference in the modified dice scores.
3) The Frundsbergers were treated the same as the other imperial infantry.
4) Further actions will depend on the availability of suitable plastic figures for the Ottomans.

Lowenstein Kuirassiers depart

(xxx-1683)

Colonel Lowenstein paraded his regiment for the last time this morning before marching off to catch up with the infantry. This follows a foot parade yesterday when the regimental standard was blessed by the local church leaders.

The regiment will march directly to it's destination near Vienna by easy stages as barge transport is not convenient for the horses.

The Austrian painter recorded the event and then left, muttering something about visiting some Bierkeller in Munich on the way back to Austria.

Some more pictures are on my main blog

Kuirassier regiment formed

(xxx-1683)

Yesterday in the centre of Pappenheim (the commercial capital of the Freistadt) the recruits for the Lieb-Kuirassiers were assembled to swear an oath of allegiance. Like the Sturm infantry regiment they are formed of cadres from the Frei Stadt's two standing horse regiments plus volunteers. The latter have travelled from all over the Empire enabling the recruiting officers to select the best.

As for equipment, the kuirassier armour was fortunately available due to some contractual disputes with an elector. The Emperor had objected to the supply of the equipment and paid a quiet bribe to ensure that Baron Krupp found some faults with the contract. The equipment was then put into store as verified by the Imperial accountants. Of course the Baron ensured that the deal was actually completed by shipping the required equipment from an associate in the Netherlands.

Although raised as horse regiments both the standing cavalry regiments train with kuirassier equipment whenever it is available. This training also acts as a final test for the traders so they can guarantee the equipment.

The careful observer might note that the emperor seems to have paid twice for the cuirasses, firstly to prevent delivery and then again to raise the regiment. But that's business.

On the march!

(xxx-1683)

Report from Colonel Sturm to the Stadtrat

The troops are in good heart and we have just embarked on barges for the final stage of our move to Austria. As you have probably heard independantly, Vienna is now besieged by the Ottomans and we will now join the relieving force.

The additional uniforms and equipment have come in useful as we have raised over a 150 extra men enroute. Each evening when we halted I sent recruiting parties to the local towns stressing the importance of our mission and the need for true sons of the fatherland to support our cause. This message was supported by a toast to the Emperor and the recruits knowledge that pay for the Frundsberg forces is always regular and on time.

Musket practice has been sucessfully completed while we were travelling by barge on the Rhine, this included target shooting using a small skiff towing a target raft.

We also had a minor incident where vagabonds from the other side of the Rhine attempted to raid our anchorage. The sentries were alert and raised the alarm and many of the raiders were killed and the remainder fled back across the river. I atribute this success to my advice to the officers and senior NCOs to share their military experiences with the troops so that they properly understand their responsibilities and the consequences of failing to carry them out adequately.

We expect to disembark close to Passau and then make our way to the main army in conjunction with other units.

Frundsberg Infantry march out

(xxx-1683)
Within a short time the infantry regiment for imperial service has been raised and equipped. It was based on cadres from the Frei Stadt's standing regiments filled out with volunteers from Frundsberg and the surrounding states. In addition to the foot there is also an artillery detachment. Colonel Sturm has been appointed to command the regiment and hence force it will be known as the Sturm Regiment.

The regiment will now progress to the imperial camp near Vienna, the first part of the journey will be by barge down the Rhine then marching via the Schwartzwald to the Donau and then travelling by barge for the rest of the journey.

Although this will cost more than simply marching the whole way the Stadtrat considers this to be the overall most economic options as it will reduce losses due to fatigue etc. plus the troops will be paid by the Austrians as soon as they arrive there. Firearms training can be carried out on board the barges and sufficient ammunition has been provided for this purpose.

Frundsberg mustering

(xxx-1683)

At the request of the Imperial diet the Frei Stadt has committed to providing a contingent of troops to assist in fighting the Ottoman menace. Of course to help offset the costs the Frei Stadt has agreed a reduction in tolls on the Lower Elbe. Apparently the Austrians have sent an unemployed painter to record the exact details of the mustering of the troops. The painter appears to have meglomaniac tendencies, but has been easy diverted from his task by a local innkeeper Herr Braun and his daughter.

Watch this space