A different Finnish War

[Rubicon]

Still one of the best threads of the board.

Still one of the best stories of the board.

Well researched and written.

Keep it up.

[Geordie]

Originally Posted by Rubicon

Still one of the best threads of the board.

Still one of the best stories of the board.

Well researched and written.

Keep it up.

What he said.

[Lejonmod]

Please, continue
This is the best

[herricks]

Originally Posted by Lejonmod

Please, continue
This is the best

i second this

[döbeln]

Subscribed! I am very interested as to how this drama will unfold.

[Ares96]

Originally Posted by döbeln

Subscribed! I am very interested as to how this drama will unfold.

Welcome to the board! Awesome handle, by the way.

[von Adler]

The Battle of Valuyev would be the largest of the Russian campaign.

1811-09-06. 07:30.
The French forces, alerted the day before that the Russians were concentrating at Valuyev, arrive at the battlefield ready and in good order. It is a testament to the quality of the Grande Armée that after the gruesome campaign and its horrible attrition, the French corps arirve in good order, at the planned times and in the correct positions.

Napoleon fielded about 150 000 men, including I. Corps, III. Corps, IV. Corps, V. Corps, VIII. Corps, Guards Corps, Reserve Cavalry Corps and Grouchy's Cavalry Corps.

Between them, de Tolly and Bagration fielded about 170 000 men, plus the roughly 20 000 Cossacks, Tatars, Circassians, Kalmuks and other irregular cavalry under command of Uvarov.

North of the Kalatsha river, de Tolly fielded 70 000 men, facing IV. Corps and VIII. Corps, with Grouchy's Cavalry Corps in support.

South of the same, Bagration fielded 100 000 men facing I. Corps, III. Corps and V. Corps, with Reserve Cavalry Corps in support, and Napoleon's reserve, his trused Guard Corps further back.

The positons and development of the Battle of Valuyev.

[von Adler]

1811-09-06. 08:00.
The battle opens when IV. Corps and VIII. Corps assault de Tolly's lines northof the river. Unlike Bagration, de Tolly has not constructed earth redoubts, and his troops starts to buckle under the pressure of the French veterans almost immediately. Starting an organised retreat, covered by Russian light infantry, de Tolly's men launch a counter-attack only when the French have reached the small village of Valuyev. The village is captured and re-captured no less than seven times during the fighting, before de Tolly abandons it and retreats to a prepared position behind the next stream.

While the fighting has been bloody, and the Russians have lost a lot of men to the French artillery, deployed in a grand battery between the IV. Corps and VIII. Corps, de Tolly's men are still in a good fighting shape, with reserves being shuffled in during the slow retreat and the counter-attacks.

"I saw dead everywhere. French and Russian alike, the lowliest serf bleeding into the same pools as the finest sons of the nobility. Both sides fought with grim determination, silently in the thunderous sound of battle, with musket, bayonet, rapier and in several instances, their bare hands, when nothing else was left. We managed to capture the commune grain storage of Valuyev, the entire village was on fire, not set ablaze in spite to drive the enemy out or deny him shelter, by anyside, but by the many hot pieces of led hitting log walls and tatched roofs. My battalion went in four hundred souls strong, and was driven back a mere fifty souls strong. The almighty himself must have wept at the carnage we humans wrought upon each other."

Excerpt from Russia, blood and people by Maitsev the Passionate, a monk who before his calling as preacher and rabble-rouser fought as a corporal in the Battle of Valuyev.

Soon it is evident that de Tolly have planned this retreat and engaged the French in fighting all along his line to allow Uvarov to move unchecked through the forests to the north in a grand flanking manouvre. However, the French light cavalry are alert, and the movement is countered by Grouchy's Cavalry Corps.

In the clearings in the outskirts of the forests, and in the fields and pastures immediately beyond it, the French Hussars and light cavalry finally get a chance to extract vengeance upon the hated Russian irregular cavalry. The battle is vicious and extremely bloody, but it is soon evident that the French have the upper hand. The experienced and well-trained French cavalry is far better in a pitched battle than the Russian irregulars. The Tartars, Cossacks, Circassians, Kalmuks and others find themselves out of space to manouvre and unable to skirmish due to the sheer armount of men and horses at the location. For months, the French light cavalry have tried to catch the elusive shadows of Russian raiders, and finally they have a change. The French cavalry throw themselves on the Russian irregulars with a satisfaction and eagerness for revenge that thoroughly shocks the Russians. Months of pent up frustration and humiliation translates to a burning desire for revenge and a collective surge in morale in the French cavalry. 'Finally!' is heard in French all over the swirling cavalry battlefield, along with cries of 'Where is your bow now, barbarian?' and similar.

Time and again, disciplined French squadrons are able to charge home and scatter the Russian irregulars, and soon Russian horsemen are streaming backwards in a headlong retreat that soon takes the form of a complete rout. By 11:00, the Russian irregular cavalry have ceased to exist as a factor in the Battle of Valuyev.

[herricks]

yes yes finally another update woo hoo

[imperialaquila]

Excellent, good to see this continue.

[von Adler]

Any comments on the map? I spent quite some time making it.

[Bastiram]

Yay another update

I really like the map I think it gives a better understanding of the battle

[Uff Da the optimist]

YES! Loving the long-lost update Von Adler.
The map is good and informative as well.

What is the number of casualties so far?

[mattep74]

Originally Posted by von Adler

Any comments on the map? I spent quite some time making it.

The map shows what you havent written yet, another victory for Napoleon, but what at what cost

[Ares96]

Originally Posted by mattep74

another victory for Napoleon, but what at what cost

Which pretty much sums up the entire Russian campaign of OTL, up to reaching Moscow. To quote Pyrrhus of Epirus, "if we have one more victory, we shall surely be destroyed".

[Herzen's love-child]

Seems (from the map) that this battle is being fought over a broader frontage than the OTL Battle of Borodino and that not all the French attacks are frontal assaults. The general axis of the battle is different as well. Hopefully this won't be the bloody slugfest that was Borodino and will show more enterprising generalship.

Looks very interesting. Keep up the fine TL!

[von Adler]

Originally Posted by Uff Da the optimist

YES! Loving the long-lost update Von Adler.
The map is good and informative as well.

What is the number of casualties so far?

The Russian irregulars have lost about 4 000 men, Grouchy around 2 000, de Tolly around 3 000 and IV. and VIII. Corps about 2 000. But there's French attack in the south I have not taken into account yet.

[döbeln]

Nice update! The map was splendid, and a valuable addition to the text! I found myself checking it quite a few times whilst reading.

[Julius Vogel]

Huh, after reading up about de Tolly, I realised that I had spent a few minutes leaning near his statute off Nevksy Prospect in St Petersburg.

[von Adler]

1811-09-06. 08:30.
Bagration, holding the southern flank of the battlefield with his army, faced the I. Corps, III. Corps and V. Corps, with the Reserve Cavalry Corps on their right (southern) flank and Napoleon himself and his rightly feared Imperial Guard Corps in reserve.

As opposed to de Tolly, Bagration had erected at least rudimentary earth works to support his longer line. Bagration, always aware of his defence, ability to retreat and wanting to retain his artillery at any price had deployed most of it in a grand battery on the height south of the small town of Borodino. Only a smattering of 6-pounders and small mortars (3-pounders which could be separated into barrel and lavette and carried by two men) were deployed to support his infantry directly.

Bagration had intended to hold his line, suppoted by a small creek and a ridgeline on his right (northern) flank, a forest in his centre and another ridgeline on his left (southern) flank. The position was strong, especially on his left (south), and supported by light infantry between the earthworks.

However, the French III. Corps and V. Corps refused to co-operate. Both concentrated their artillery in two grand batteries and punded the earthworks opposing them into submission. The prevalence of the French artillery and its skillful handling - and the lack of a Russian grand battery to counter the French ones made it impossible for Bagration to move reserves and shift troops along his lines, and when the columns of III. Corps and V. Corps assaulted the weakened Russian lines, the Russian infantry never really stood a chance - while there were plenty of reserves, and fresh troops unaffected by the bombardement to the flanks of the weak points, the superiority of the French arillery made it impossible to move them.

That, however, did not mean that the Russians turned and fled, or stopped fighting. Casualties mounted on both sides as a merciless fighting continued all morning. The Russians, dazzled and in disorder, nevertheless met the French columns with ragged musked salvoes, grape shots from surviving light cannon and grenades from light mortars. Not all earthworks were destroyed, and parts of the Russian Guards, holding one of them, threw back no less than five separate French assaults, being decimated in the process.

Further to the south, the Russians holding the left flank faced assaults by the French I. Corps, Here, however, the forested terrain, while hiding the French movements, also hindered any kind of deployment of a grand battery, and also caused problems for the French cohesion. Duing most of the morning, the French would arrive out of the forest piecemal and be taken under fire from the entrenched Russians on the ridgeline and suffer large casualties. Slowly the I. Corps probed the Russian line further and further north, looking for a weak spot, finally finding it after more than two hours of fighting - between Bagration's centre and left (southern flank) a small ravine was held by a cavalry detachment and some skirmishers. While the centre was engaged by the French III. Corps and hindered in its movement and spotting by the forest it defended and the left (southern) flank was fighting the I. Corps, elements of the I. Corps surged through the ravine, breaking through the meagre detachements holding it and outflanking both Bagration's centre and left (southern) flank, while the Reserve Cavalry Corps had by probing found the end of the Russian line and was now circumventing it.

Thus, the Russians were unable to hold the lines in the south. The battlefield was by now, however, covered in dust and gunpowder smoke and the moment Bagration had waited for had arrived - he could now move without having every man spotted and pounded by the French artillery. In good order, the Russian retreat to prepared lines further back started - it turned into a near-routh on Bagration's right (northern) flank, and was constantly harrased and attacked on the left (southern) flank by the Reserve Cavalry Corps. However, Bagration comitted part of his reserves to stabilise the situation and despite huge casualties, most of Bagration's forces had reached the new lines, where new earthworks were waiting for them.

They now controlled three hills and a forested ridgeline in a strong position, and the first real victory of Bagration's army at this battlefield was had - the Reserve Cavalry Corps, attempting to keep up the pressure, charged before infantry and artillery support could arrive, Bagration's left (southern) flank on the forested rightline, and bounced with high casualties.

"I suspect that this man Bagration is a modern reincarnation of Xenophon. He could lead a ragged brigade through hell and back, keeping it together."

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, upon recieving the news that Bagration's troops had reformed and taken up new positions.

"Earthworks. Earthworks! This man probably had a backup plan to be born through the arse of his mother if the front had been blocked!"

Marshal Lefebvre, upon observing the new Russian line when moving the Imperial Guard forward later that day.