Nap Campaign: The Battle of High Otway

For this particular battle I dusted off my 15mm figures as I felt it would be better represented at this scale. The only problem I had was that all my 15mm figures were for the Peninsular War. Therefore, I had to take some liberties. For this battle my Peninsular War British stood in for the Hanoverians and my Spanish took the part of the Dutch/Belgians. On to the battle:

THE BATTLE OF HIGH OTWAY - HOLLAND/BELGIUM

French v Hanoverians & Dutch/Belgians

Total French = 204

CinC Lt Gen Marcognet

Total Allied = 177

CinC Col Best

Figure Scale = 15mm

7th March 1808

1300 hrs (max 16 moves)

ORDER OF BATTLE
(With the redesigned orbat, the figure in the central column after the unit name, is the number of 6mm bases. So N/A in this battle)

Marcognet had spent 2 days tracking Col Best's Hanoverian Brigade through Hanover and into Holland/Belgium. Best had so far failed to rally his troops but all that was about to change. 

Col Best met two Dutch/Belgian battalions who had been billeted in the village of High Otway near the border (6B2). He immediately saw the potential of the village as a good defensive position. The Dutch/Belgians had heard about the defeat at Greysands and the impending invasion of their country by the French. Their nervousness was not helped by the demoralised appearance of the Hanoverians.

As the Landwehr battalions streamed into High Otway, Best began the business of rallying his troops and reassuring them that this was the place where revenge on Marcognet would be achieved. The Osterode battalion were the quickest to respond given their excitement by what they had achieved at Greysands. That positivity proved infectious with the other battalions and they reformed their ranks with the Dutch/Belgians looking on. The latter were still not sure if this was the wise thing to do. The main Dutch/Belgian forces were assembling further to the north and there was precious little to support them if all did not go well. Best impressed on them that they could not simply roll over and let the French trample over their country unhindered. He also reassured them that they could be beaten, especially here. 

The Dutch/Belgian battalion commanders were sufficiently convinced by Best and agreed that he should command them being the ranking officer present. Best immediately began preparing for Marcognet's arrival.   

Shortly before 1p.m. on 7th March 1808 Marcognet's Division deployed in front of High Otway. He was again supremely confident of victory although the nature of the terrain would make it a little more difficult this time. He anticipated all would be complete by nightfall though and he would continue his relentless coastal advance.

TERRAIN (6B)

Each square = 4'6" on tabletop

6' x 3'9" table

Allies defending village

French attacking from south

Terrain Description:

From left to right:

6B3 Firm grazing land

6B2 Rough broken terrain, high peaked mountain, village of High Otway with fortified Church

6B1 Bleak treeless terrain, rivers rapid, mountainous

I treated all raised areas as difficult terrain including woods. Mountain to east of High Otway impassable.

Col Best toured his position with increasing satisfaction. His western flank was protected by an impassable mountain and his hilltop position was surrounded by rocky terrain breaking up any attack. He duly set about defending the hilltop village of High Otway. He gave the task of defending the fortified church to the 13th Dutch Line. The Osterode Landwehr deployed along the south side of the village including the road which he had barricaded. The Verden Landwehr defended the north eastern end of the village. The Munden Landwehr were given an opportunity to redeem themselves after the poor performance at Greysands and were deployed along the hilltop at the south eastern end of the village. The Belgian Chasseurs were deployed in skirmish order behind rocks on the southern slope of the hill directly facing the French line of advance, and the Luneberg Landwehr formed a reserve as well as protecting a possible line of retreat north out of the village.

The Luneberg Landwehr deployed on north east side of High Otway

Munden Landwehr at south eastern end of village.

Belgian Chasseurs deployed among the rocks and Osterode lining 

south side of village. 13th Dutch Line within church perimeter.

Osterode lining walls with Verden in background.

13th Dutch Line.

Marcognet observes the allied position.

Marcognet regarded the rocky terrain as a minor inconvenience. His professional troops would soon see off these conscripts, and as for the Dutch/Belgians, as far as he was concerned they were little better.

He planned a frontal attack with 6 battalions supported by the artillery. Noquez Brigade took the right flank and Grenier the left. Each brigade was to detach a single battalion who would move around opposite sides of the hill to cut off any escape route and attack the village from the north. It was given to 1/25th Line to advance around the western side of the mountain and the 1/21st Line the eastern side of the hill.

The eastern end of Noquez' Brigade advancing through the wood 

with the 1/21st Line preparing for the eastern advance at the bottom right of photo.

Marcognet began proceedings with an artillery bombardment of the village centred on the road block. Once again he found himself growing increasingly frustrated with his artillery commander with his balls bouncing harmlessly everywhere but the intended target! Conscious of the limited amount of time he had before nightfall, he waited no longer and ordered a general advance.

A screen of Voltigeurs ran in front of the advancing battalions who remained in line formation to minimise casualties. The exception being the 2/45th who remained in column to advance along the road towards the barricade. The Voltigeurs skirmished with the Belgian Chasseurs who had the benefit of cover from behind rocks. The French skirmishers suffered casualties as they approached the Belgian position but were soon among the rocks themselves. 

Noquez Brigade advances through the wood as their Voltigeurs 

engage the Belgian Chasseurs among the rocks.

A view of Noquez' Brigade from the allied position.

Grenier's battalions advance on the Belgian Chasseurs.

Meanwhile the 1/25th Line advances around the west side of High Otway.

The French battalions scramble over the rocks as they engage the Belgians.

The French found it a struggle climbing through the rocks and at the same time peppered with fire from the Belgian skirmishers. As the French closed on them the Belgians fell back into the village.

While the attack on the southern slopes of the village was underway, the 1/21st Line, that was sent on the eastern flanking manoeuvre, formed up to attack the Luneberg Landwehr (right of photo), with the 2/21st advancing around the flank of the Munden ready to attack them (left of photo).

The 1/25th screened by it's skirmishers, approaches the north road.

And the Verden Landwehr getting distinctly bored looking at the empty north road!

The French battalions struggling through the rocky slopes towards High Otway had descended into a disorganised mob. The 2/25th and 1/45th Line hoped to attack the Dutch in the church simultaneously but it was impossible to coordinate their attacks. The only saving grace for them was that the rocks provided them with cover from the musket fire of the Dutch battalion. 

The first to make contact were the 2/45th who charged along the road towards the company of Osterode defending the barricade. Once again the Osterode were in outstanding form as the company poured a volley into the 2/45th stopping them in their tracks. Pressure gradually built along the southern and eastern perimeters as the French scrambled into a position ready to attack. 

The 13th Dutch Line were charged repeatedly by the 2/25th and 1/45th battalions as they manned the strong perimeter of the church grounds, but the uncoordinated attacks greatly limited their impact. They could not break the Dutch hold of their position, and as casualties mounted, they became increasingly despondent. To their right the 2/45th was also struggling against the lone Hanoverian company. The Osterode company fought with tenacity, bayoneting the French fusiliers as they climbed the barricade. Gradually however, the continuing pressure of the 2/45th began to tell and the company was forced back into the village. The rising spirits of the 2/45th were quickly dashed, as seeing the danger develop, Best ordered two companies of Belgian Chasseurs to reinforce them. This had the desired effect, and with renewed vigour the Hanoverians and Belgians pushed the 2/45th back out of the village.

Over on the south side of the village, Col Best saw the lone French battalion, the 1/25th, approaching the north road. He instructed the Belgian Chasseurs to form up and defend the north road entrance to the village. The first setback for Best came when the 1/25th piled into the Belgians forcing them back into the village. The Belgians panicked and ran initially into the village causing a great deal of confusion, before exiting High Otway over a wall manned by the Verden. Best quickly restored order and charged the 1/25th with all the men of the Verden Battalion he could get together. The 1/25th were unprepared for the attack and were thrown from the village. Best thought he had seen the last of the Belgians but their battalion commander successfully rallied them on the north side of High Otway.

No sooner had Best dealt with that crisis another developed:

Noquez brigade had been applying increasing pressure on the Osterode defending the village perimeter when the 1/46th broke through pushing back several companies of Osterode as well as a few men of the Verden battalion. Col Best joined the men of Osterode, and steadying them, fought back against the lone French battalion. Noquez could not get support to the 1/46th in time before they were forced out of High Otway by the victorious Hanoverians. 

Best could hear a great deal of musketry from the direction of the Munden and Luneberg battalions defending the eastern slopes of the hill.

The Lunebergers were giving a good account of themselves holding off the 1/21st with steady volleys. The Munden Landwehr were distinctly more shaky. As the French climbed the difficult slopes they showed signs of breaking.

An overview of the battlefield at this point.

As the men of the Munden battalion continued to fall back -

Marcognet orders his artillery to bombard the church. 

He hears those immortal words, "low on ammo".

For the second time in succession his artillery commander had failed to prepare adequately for the battle ahead. Needless to say, Marcognet was not impressed.

At the southern village walls the French struggled to make any headway, although the ranks of the Osterode Landwehr were becoming perilously thin. They were again performing well above their status with the company holding the barricade behaving heroically. The attacking French battalion could simply not make any headway against them, but as with the rest of the battalion, their numbers were dwindling to dangerously low levels.

The same could not be said of the Munden Landwehr.

As the 2/21st Line charged them they did not wait. They promptly ran and continued running off into the distance along the north road. Fortunately the allied battalions witnessing this shambles held their ground (passed morale tests). The Lunebergers were pushed back into the village by the 1/21st Line just leaving the rallied Belgian Chasseurs available to hold this side of the hill.

Several companies of the Verden battalion hold the road north out of High Otway gesticulating rather rudely towards the hapless men of the 1/25th Line who could not make any headway into the village. The two flanking French battalions were however now firmly ensconced on the hill east of the village and were now a direct threat. The Belgian Chasseurs wheeled to meet them. Meanwhile on the south side of the village:

The 2/45th and 2/46th who had been attacking the Osterode Landwehr including the road barricade, had had enough and routed from the field leaving a gaping hole in the French Line. The artillery resumed their bombardment but being low on ammo was having little effect (low on ammo artillery fire at half effect). Marcognet was staring defeat in the face although all was not over yet. He issued an order to all battalions to mount an all out attack.

The flight of the Munden with the Belgian Chasseurs filling the gap.

As the French battalions surge forward the 1/25th Line, who were so enraged by the arm waving and a Hanoverian officer who had been making some rather strange finger movements, they charged with renewed vigour into these damned rude soldiers defending the road north into the village. Two companies had also charged the Verden companies defending the building adjacent to this road. The impetus was such that the men of the Verden battalion were thrown back into the village, and they also lost possession of the house. 

Col Best once again found himself in the thick of it as he joined the Verden battalion rallying them and immediately counter-attacked the French before they could get established in the village. The 1/25th fought hard but without support they gradually fell back before being ejected completely from High Otway. The battalion commander observed his men, who were still a formed unit, but were utterly exhausted. He knew that it was unlikely they could mount any further attacks that day.

Elsewhere the French attacks followed the same pattern as those all afternoon. The rocky terrain made it difficult to make coordinated attacks and thus they failed to make any headway.

With nightfall now approaching it was abundantly clear to Marcognet that his attempts to take High Otway had been defeated. He recalled all his battalions to rest them for the night. Both sides agreed to a cease fire to collect their wounded and Marcognet began mulling over how he was going to capture High Otway the next day. He was facing humiliation if he did not. It was bad enough already! Now where is that artillery battery Capitaine!

Col Best breathed a sigh of relief as the French forces withdrew. He had achieved what appeared to be the impossible but his heroic Osterode battalion in particular, had lost heavy casualties. Since the start of the campaign it had lost over a third of it's strength. During the night the Munden Landwehr drifted back into High Otway to be met with disdain by their comrades. Best believed they could have held High Otway again the following day but he was faced with two problems. Firstly there was a large French army advancing into Holland with little to stop them. They could easily cut off his line of retreat which would signal the utter destruction of his command. The second problem he had was that with Hanover lost, there was no means of replenishing his battalions. He had to husband his resources carefully and preserve what he had for future battles. Coming to the conclusion that there was nothing further to be gained by remaining, he ordered that High Otway be abandoned and he began his retreat north.

Marcognet wandered through High Otway the following morning relieved that he did not have to take the place by force. How on earth could a largely conscript force beat his well trained regulars? He mustered his Division and began his march north.

Col Best emerged as an outstanding brigade commander. And once again the Osterode Landwehr battalion performed outstandingly well and was instrumental in fighting off the French attacks.

Result - Narrow Hanoverian - Dutch/Belgian victory

CASUALTIES:

The redesigned OOB now shows in bold numbers the size of the various battalions after casualties have been calculated.

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