Rear Guard at Heidenheim - Part 3 Conclusion

 Turn 3

A break in the smoke covering the battlefield brings a new beat to the sound of battle as a full brigade of French Cuirassiers charge the waiting Austrian Dragoons. Marshal Marmont has finally managed to get General of Division d'Hautpoul moving with his entire Cavalry Reserve Division. The French heavy cavalry lead the assault to break the center of the Austrian line while the remaining light cavalry of the 6^th Hussars and the 8^th Chasseurs charge the lines of retreating Austrian infantry.

The impact of the French Cuirassiers is immediately felt as half of the Austrian #2 Dragoons Hohenlohe regiment breaks immediately and disperses from the field. The other half of the regiment is locked in a vicious melee of rearing horses and slashing sabers.

Figure 31 - French Cuirassiers Break the Austrian Lines

Figure 32 - French II Corps Cavalry Charges the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division.

The French light cavalry inflicts heavy casualties on the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division, first by dispersing the 1^st Battalion of the Austrian #17 Line Regiment which failed to form square in time. The resulting panic caused the entire 1st Brigade of the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division to break and disperse across the battlefield. The remaining brigade in the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division is now cut off from their line of retreat and is very close to being surrounded. 

Figure 33 - French Light Cavalry Flanking the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division

At this point Von Werneck has given up hope that General Mack will appear at all today. He orders the remaining forces around Heidenheim to begin withdrawing. There is little hope that any of the remaining units from the Austrian III Corps 3^rd Infantry Division will be able to escape now that the French have broken the Austrian lines. Marshal Marmont, seeing the change in Austrian dispositions orders his 1^st Infantry Division to advance and take the town of Heidenheim.

Figure 34 - French II Corps 1st Infantry Division Begins to Advance with Artillery Support.

Figure 35 - Austrian Dragoons Begin to Withdraw.

In the center the French attack more Cuirassiers move forward in the break in the Austrian lines, this however is going to expose the heavy cavalry to fire from the Austrian grenadiers that are still defending the town of Heidenheim.

Figure 36 - The Cavalry Assault Continues.

The final moment of the battle comes when the remaining squadrons of the Austrian #2 Dragoons Hohenlohe regiment finally breaks. Out number, demoralized, and exhausted the troopers of the Austrian cavalry could not stand against the elite and very fresh heavy cavalry that they were asked to hold back. General-Major Weissenwolf, commander of the 2^nd Brigade of the Austrian III Corps 2^nd Cavalry Division orders his troopers to break and head for the river crossing. He knows that this order dooms the remains of the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division to capture, but there is nothing more that he can do.

Figure 37 - The Odds Were Very Heavily Stacked Against the Austrians in this Combat.

At that moment the Austrians under the command of von Werneck were no longer an effective fighting force and a general withdrawal ensued. Feldmarschall-Leutnant von Lindenau, commander of the Austrian 3^rd Infantry Division, ordered the remains of his division to cease fire and surrender seeing as there was no way his men could escape French encirclement.

Figure 38 - Overview of the Broken Austrian Lines.

Both Marshal Marmont and Napoleon look on as the remaining Austrian forces withdraw from the battle through the hazy smoke of the battlefield. Word has yet to arrive from the North with the results of Marshal Davout’s attack on Donauworth, but with the information on hand Napoleon can count this battle as a success for the time being.

Figure 39 - French High Command Surveys the Battlefield.

Rear-Guard at Heidenheim Results

The rear-guard action ends as a victory for the French for the moment. Until word comes from Marshal Davout, only the results of this end of the battlefield can be calculated. At the start of the entire battle (using the Blucher rules) and then proceeding into this battle with the General d’Armee rules the following results can be determined.

French Results

In total, Marshal Marmont entered battle with 2x infantry divisions, 2x cavalry divisions, and his Corps artillery. Early in the engagement(beginning of the day) the 2^nd Brigade of the 2^nd Infantry Division was broken and routed from the field along with the Batavian Cavalry Brigade from the II Corps Cavalry Division. Additional units were lost along with accumulated casualties over the course of the rear-guard action with the dispersing of two battalions from the 2^nd Brigade of the 1^st Infantry Division. This does not include the fatigue incurred on the units from the French II Corps that had to force march to the battlefield (the Corps artillery and the 1^st Dutch Division).

In total this produced a loss of around 20% losses for the French. Marshal Marmont will have to determine how and with which troops he wants to continue the pursuit of the retreating Austrians. Marmont also has to the opportunity to attempt and reform his broken and dispersed units from the survivors scattered around the battlefield. This will require a balancing of objectives and a desire to allow his fatigued units to rest.

Austrian Results

Von Werneck started the battle with about half of his III Corps total strength: 2x infantry divisions, 1x cavalry division, and his corps artillery. Of the artillery deployed by the Austrians; 2x batteries were broken and routed off the field due to a French cavalry charge. The other 2 batteries were forced to retire from battle after having expended their supply of ammunition. These two surviving batteries will be easily resupplied and returned to active service.

However, Austrian infantry casualties were much worse. Of the two infantry divisions that participated the 3^rd Infantry Division has nearly ceased to exist. The Genzers of the 1^st Brigade were broken early in the battle, the remains of the 1^st Brigade dispersed later during the rear-guard action, and the entire 2^nd brigade has been captured by the French. The 4^th Infantry Division looks little better, two of the three brigades in the 4^th Infantry Division have been completely routed off the field and the remaining brigade is barely at effective strength. Looking at the total 16 Austrian infantry battalions that fought around Heidenheim, 4 battalions have been captured, 10 have been routed from the field, and only 2 remain in some recognizable formation. This is a total of about 87% losses in the infantry (not counting the actual casualties inflicted upon the remaining battalions).

The Austrian cavalry looks little better. Of the two brigades, one has been completely routed and the other is at roughly 50% strength. These results all calculated show that the Austrians under the command of von Werneck suffered about 75% casualties trying to hold open the approaches to Heidenheim for General Mack.

Von Werneck’s goal in the coming hours will be focused on continuing the retreat and trying to rally broken units. There is the the potential to bring a decent portion of his troops back into some semblance of order. The biggest challenge is that von Werneck needs to trade space for time to get his troops back to a combat effective state. This course of action has several problems associated with it, the first is that further withdraw will deepen the gap between the two sections of the Austrian III Corps. The second problem is the French cavalry, as Marmont could choose to attempt and finish off von Werneck’s section of the Austrian III Corps by ordering his cavalry to pursue the retreating Austrians.

Outcome

While blame for the Austrian losses could very easily be laid at the feet of von Werneck for recklessly attacking the French forces, we must also recall that it was von Werneck’s job to hold back the French II Corps so that the other half of the Austrian III Corps could enter the battle. Von Werneck has managed to retreat across the Danube River with what little remains under his direct command, which in of itself is an achievement of note.

For Marshal Marmont, the localized victory is not as stunning as it could have been. Serious issues with commanding the French Cavalry Reserve prevented a much greater success that could have been achieved. There is also the issue of Marmont’s failure to take the town of Heidenheim by force. The town was eventually taken, but only after the Austrians had left it empty for Marmont to walk in and take. Though some credit does need to be given to Marmont for forcing the surrender of an entire Austrian brigade and inflicting serious casualties on the Austrians. However, it could be debated that some of the credit for the French victory goes to General Mack for failing to arrive on the field. It appears that General Mack is trying to outperform his historical record.

Next will be the rear-guard action around Donauworth.