Nap Campaign: Map Moves 25th April - 5th May 1808

There are rather more than the usual days of map moves so rather map heavy! As before I will begin with the overall map before zooming on various sectors with more detail. To cut down on the number of maps I will not post those days where there is little to be gained from them.

25th April

Continued -

27th April

29th April

1st May

3rd May

5th May

SOUTH

25th April. To the north Wellington begins moving his troops out of the peninsular while substantial Portuguese reinforcements approach from the south to add to his army. Content to leave the Spanish mopping up operation in the south he intends to move north with his combined force to assist in finally defeating the French.

To the south, Soult (blue 6) with his two regiments of lancers seek to avoid any of the allied forces and join Napoleon in the north. The victorious Spanish (grey 2) have other ideas!

26th April. The Spanish have sent 5 regiments of mostly heavy cavalry (grey 1) to finish the job of utterly destroying the French in the south. In anticipation that the French cavalry will head north they have sought to cut them off.

27th April. A dice roll determined if the Spanish were quick enough to intercept the French and luckily for Soult they escaped contact. With faster mounts they put some distance between them but the Spanish are not giving up and follow them north.

29th April. The situation 2 days later. Soult is aware of Wellington somewhere to the north east so angles his move towards the north west still followed by the Spanish cavalry.

To the north, Wellington has now joined the Portuguese reinforcements and has received word that the entire French army is concentrating in the north west. He therefore moves in that direction with the intention of rejoining his cavalry (red 11).

In the south west corner, Lightburne's brigade has disembarked in Portugal and begins moving north.

NORTH WEST

25th April. Napoleon (blue 1) moves to join Grouchy with the Army of the West (blue 2) before attacking the Anglo/Dutch force commanded by Hill. 

Reille with 2 infantry and 1 cavalry division (blue 3 and 5) begin to fall back in the face of the large Prussian army approaching them.

27th April. Hill in the north falls back to join the British 4th Division who are still disembarking. 

Exelmans' 2nd Cavalry Corps (blue 7), survivors of the Army of the South, rush to join Reille who continues to fall back. The speed of the Prussian advance combined with the road network appears to have caught Reille wrong-footed and risks him being cut off from Napoleon!

28th April. Reille has now joined the rest of the French forces in the south of the region but is in a precarious position. His orders were to fall back on the main French force under Napoleon but there is a very real risk he will be cut off. A miscalculation on the road they are moving along has left them on the wrong side of the river to the north of their position. It will take a full day to reach the crossing to the north west with Prussian forces already to the north of them.

At the top of the map, the last of the 4th Division (in transports red N10) are approaching their disembarkation port whereupon they will move out to join Hill.

29th April. Napoleon is intent on dealing with the British before the Prussians have any chance of intervening which means the gap between him and Reille is widening. 

30th April. Reille decides that if he has any chance of making it north then a move as far west as possible may be the only way. He has to hope that the Prussians are too focused on reaching Napoleon giving him some breathing space.

To the south east of Reille, Blucher (green 1) has his own problems caused by the choice of roads. The way is clear directly to the north which he must travel in haste.

Rather than split the maps between north and south I will now alternate as armies converge.

1st May. Too much of a gap has opened between the Spanish cavalry and their main force and is therefore ordered to halt and await Morillo.

Soult looks like he may have successfully escaped but trouble is brewing in the north. Reille narrowly avoids contact with the Prussians but they are now close enough to sight each other.

To the east, Wellington is about to join the cavalry that had been sent ahead to monitor the retreating French cavalry.

1st May. Colville's 4th Division with a cavalry brigade (red 5) has fully disembarked and now on their way to join Hill who continues to retire which has the unfortunate effect of pulling Napoleon further away from the Prussians.

3rd May. Reille has moved to the coast road but unfortunately for him, the Prussians are not going to leave him be. The Prussian 2nd Corps of von Pirch (green 2) has been detached from the main army and tasked with blocking Reille from joining Napoleon. Blucher has taken the main body north with messengers arriving from Hill requesting urgent support. 

To the south, Soult (blue 6) is now free from pursuit and heads north.

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4th May. Soult learns of the close proximity of Reille and sends a messenger ahead informing the latter of his intention to join him as soon as possible. Reille holds his position with the intention of attempting to force his way north after Soult has joined him.

To the north Hill has now joined Colville and deployed their forces awaiting the arrival of Napoleon.

5th May. Soult joins Reille and takes over command. They immediately move north to engage the Prussian 2nd Corps who obliges them. Both armies settle down for the night and will commence hostilities the next day.

The overall situation at the end of 5th May. To the north battle is joined as Napoleon moves to sweep aside Hill. Blucher continues to hurry north but there is no possibility now of him reinforcing Hill in the next day's battle.

Of the two battles to be fought on 6th May, the smaller Battle of Greysands (Soult v Pirch) will be played first. 

The supremely important Battle of Lacrosse (Napoleon v Hill) may prove to be the last battle of the campaign although I suspect Napoleon has other ideas!