Nap Campaign: Battle of Ainsworth (Prussia) Part 2

As the Prussian columns crested the brow of the hill they were met by the threat from French Cuirassiers. For Reille it was a case of throwing everything he had in to delay the Prussians as much as possible. With the Prussians closest to the French cavalry forming square the rest attempted to move past them further out on the flank. 

In the centre, the last remaining battalion of the Prussian 26th Infantry Regt which had formed a square due to the close presence of French cavalry was sustaining heavy casualties from a Guard Horse artillery battery deployed nearby. With the loss of the other 2 battalions morale was already frail. As casualties mounted they could take no more and routed from the field. The Empress' Dragoons refrained from pursuing for fear of being cut off behind Russian lines. They took the opportunity to reform as the Grenadiers a Cheval advanced towards Watzdorf's Hussars. Watzdorf snapped out of his stupor and readied the Hussars for a counter charge. As the imposing sight of the French Guard heavy cavalry accelerating to the gallop towards them, Watzdorf ordered the counter-charge. Both regiments clashed but the ensuing melee was all too short. The mounted Grenadiers quite simply minced the Prussian Hussars with the survivors fleeing to the rear. 

There was now a gaping hole in the centre of the Prussian line precisely where Pirch had been ordered to split the French line. The outer Prussian columns on the right of the left wing formed square in light of the new threat from the Guard cavalry. 

On the French right Reille was dogged by the rather less than impressive Jerome Napoleon. However, this was at least partially offset by the excellent Bauduin who worked tirelessly in reforming his battered brigade. As the Prussians advanced down the hill towards him he had his battalions form column. Rather then just take punishment he intended for them to dish it out. On his right, Piquet had readied his Dragoons and to his left the excellent Guiton continued to harass the Prussian infantry with his Cuirassiers waiting on the opportunity to catch them unawares. Soye's brigade continued in their desperate struggle with Schmidt's 9th Infantry. Both Soye and Schmidt were in the thick of the fighting. 

Meanwhile on the French left, the Middle Guard were not getting it all their own way. A Chasseur battalion was thrown back by 1/10th Infantry regiment leaving a gap in the Guard line. The Old Guard to the rear, who had been marching towards the flank immediately changed direction to face the threat. Guard artillery limbered up and began pulling back out of harm's way. Another Chasseur battalion wheeled and charged into a Landwehr battalion causing it to retreat.

More problems occurred with the French 12th Cavalry Division. D'Hurbal knew that to simply charge the Prussian Landwehr Cavalry they would be running the gauntlet of fire from 2 batteries of artillery and a lone regiment of Silesian Landwehr cavalry. He therefore instructed Donop with his brigade of Cuirassiers to deal with the artillery and flanking Silesian Landwehr. Blancard was to charge Sydow's brigade with his Carabiniers. As Donop launched into his charge, Blancard stood rooted to the spot. He appeared confused with his orders! The 2nd Cuirassiers charged the Silesian Landwehr having to endure a round of shot at close range from an adjacent artillery battery. It nevertheless successfully completed it's charge comprehensively routing the Silesians. The 3rd Cuirassiers was not so successful. As it charge a horse artillery battery it received a blast of canister causing serious casualties. The 3rd Cuirassiers faltered in their charge. The 2nd Cuirassiers was handled with superb discipline and having defeated the Silesians wheeled into the rear of the horse artillery battery butchering the crews.

The climax was approaching on the French right. Bauduin's brigade launched their counter-attack supported by Piquet's Dragoons. The 7th Dragoons charged the Prussian 3rd Hussars who counter-charged. The 7th Dragoons got the better of the melee causing the Hussars to retreat which they pursued. The 2nd Dragoons charged into the 1st battalion of the 5th Westphalia Landwehr which had failed to form a square. They were however, in column formation which gave them a better fighting chance. It was to no avail though as the Dragoons carved their way through their ranks with the survivors routing from the field.

Two Landwehr battalions had retreated in the face of the French counter-attack and it was beginning to look as though the 6th Division's front had been stabilised.

On the French left, Blancard's Carabiniers finally acted and charged Sydow's Brigade. Despite a stiff initial resistance by the Prussian Landwehr cavalry, the superiority of the Carabiniers became very apparent as the inexperienced light cavalry were systematically routed. The Middle Guard Chasseurs with battalions from the Old Guard stabilised their line as Napoleon sensed that the time was approaching for the Guard to be unleashed. The Middle Guard units that had not been involved in the rather short but violent fight with the Prussians, formed column and were joined by the Old Guard. Such was the intensity of the melees with the Prussians, the 1st battalion 2nd Chasseurs of the Old Guard found themselves out of position and exposed.

The conscripts of the 2nd Battalion, Neumark Landwehr, who had been steadily advancing towards the Imperial Guard in column formation, emerged from the fog of musket smoke to find themselves facing the vulnerable flank of the 2nd Chasseurs. Without hesitation the battalion commander ordered the charge. As they surged forward the Old Guard battalion did not have time to react as the Prussians tore into their flank. The enthusiastic conscripts became increasingly excited as the Guards dissolved in chaos. One group of Landwehr found themselves fighting with the colour guard and the famed eagle just a few feet away. The guards fought desperately with the equally desperate Prussians who could see an incredible prize before them. With the rest of their battalion retreating in confusion the small knot of Guards and their Eagle bearer became isolated among the elated Prussians. As the last of the Guards went down to thrusting bayonets, one young Prussian conscript found himself grabbing hold of the Eagle pole, still gripped by a dying standard bearer. With a quick yank it was free and in his hands. A great cheer sounded as he ran back waving the eagle for all to see. 

The 1/2nd Chasseurs regrouped and as they reformed they realised what had happened with utter horror. It was bad enough any battalion losing it's Eagle but the Old Guard!

Schmidt's dogged perseverance with his 9th Infantry Regt against Soye's brigade finally paid off and they successfully ejected the French from the hilltop. Although Schmidt was wounded in the process, the 2nd battalion captured the eagle of the 3/1st Line. This though was the only good news for the Prussians. A combination of charges by Bauduin's brigade, and the Dragoons and Cuirassiers of the 11th Cavalry Division, all supported by artillery, had turned the tide against the Prussian left. Desperate actions were being fought along the hilltop with the French steadily gaining the upper hand.

The threat posed by the Guard heavy cavalry was now affecting both wings of the Prussian army. The 2nd Elbe Landwehr cavalry charged the Guard Grenadiers a Cheval in a brave attempt to halt their advance but sacrificed themselves in the process. Few of them survived the encounter. 

Napoleon timed his counter-attack perfectly as the Imperial Guard swung from defensive to offensive. Many of the Prussian battalions were out of position following numerous attempts to break through the Middle Guard line. As a result, when the well co-ordinated Guard columns rammed into them they were ill prepared to resist. One after another, battalions broke which then lead to entire Regiments following the same path. Blucher had no doubt now that defeat was imminent and ordered his artillery to retire immediately.

With the 4th Corps now broken and fleeing the field, panic rippled across the Prussian ranks. Men of the 2nd Corps who were still engaged on the hilltop, sensed that all was not well. Napoleon's plan to wheel the guard onto the flank of the Prussian 2nd Corps proved too late as the Prussians were not prepared to give them the opportunity. With the right collapsed and the centre collapsing, the remaining Prussians disengaged from the French and broke fleeing over the hills from which they started so confidently earlier that morning. The battle was over by midday (12 moves).

For the remainder of the day, the French forces advanced preventing the two Prussian Corps from reuniting.

Although the end came rather swiftly, it could easily have gone the Prussian's way. Had they pressed their advantage more effectively when the French 6th Division was close to collapse and put more effort into holding the centre, the outcome may have been different. For Napoleon though it all went pretty much according to plan. He had managed to split the Prussian Army into two. 

CASUALTIES:

The situation by nightfall:

Result = A decisive French victory

NEXT - The Battle of Lake Francis (Nassau)