Part 2: The Bonaparte Exodus
The Grande Armee had been crushed at the disastrous Battle of Friedland and disintegrated entirely a few weeks later. The entire war had been something of a disaster for the French, after trouncing Prussia they moved into Pommerania and attempted to siege Swedish holdings there, however a relief force consisting of large Swedish and British armies, led by Arthur Wellesley, repelled the French force. The Grande Armee was eventually able to defeat the considerably smaller Coalition force, but not completely, and as the Grande Armee marched east to fight the Russians at Friedland, the remains of the Swedish Army would pursue the French force, leading to a Coalition victory at Friedland. The British meanwhile, prepared a large force for a push into the Rhine however, this would become irrelevant following the German Revolution. In France the Second Grande Armee was assembled rapidly and within 2 months the French had assembled a large, albiet disorganised, army with which to combat the massive Coalition force at its doorstep. The French had to slow the coalition and give themselves time to raise their army, as such they bluffed the British into believing they had a large army remaining in defence of France. Through false intelligence and a few shows of force, the British Government were successfully fooled.
Fearing the non existent French army, the British waited until coalition forces could be organised before striking into France.The British had consolidated the Coalition armies in Munich, where a temporary Coalition headquarters had been established. It was decided that each general would remain in command over his own force, whilst the up and coming British General, Arthur Wellesley, would take High Command. The force numbered 190,000 men and consisted of:
-50,000 British Troops
-60,000 Russian Troops
-30,000 Prussian Troops
-25,000 Swedish Troops
-25,000 Assorted German Soldiers, from what had been the Confederation of the Rhine.
The French Army, however was more rag tag but still larger than the Coalition force. It contained 215,000 men:
-20,000 Veteran Frenchmen (Remains of the First Grande Armee and other French Forces)
-15,000 Veteran Foreigners (Who had been part of Napoleon’s forces)
-50,000 Trained French Soldiers
-80,000 Militiamen from around France, raised hurriedly
-50,000 Spanish Expeditionaries
Whilst the French had an advantage in terms of Numbers their men were poorly trained and poorly armed, they would require serious strategic leadership if victory was to be attained. The French choice of General was easy, Louis-Nicolas d’Avout, “The Iron Marhsall”. D’Avout was renowned for his skill and stern demeanour. D’Avout decided that geography would win the French the Battle, and so to the surprise of many, the Second Grande Armee marched East, blocking the road from Munich to Paris, positioning their force within the Ardennes, a large series of hills that would make it very difficult to attack. The positioning was genius, the Coalition forces would have to march up two hills with French cannon range before they could even hope to hit the French themselves. However there was one glaring issue, there was very little to stop the Coalition force from advancing West and outmanoeuvring the French Army. In light of this, d’Avout took 90,000 men, including the Spanish force, and positioned them directly to the West, blocking any outflanking the Coalition could achieve. Many criticised this decision but d’Avout planned for whichever force was engaged to hold their hill long enough for the other French force to swing around and trap the Coalition Army between the two. If the Coalition split their force to fight each army at the same time, they would still be fighting uphill and outnumbered, how could they win?
And so on September 21st, the Coalition Army marched North-West, scouts encountering the Second Grande Armee three days later. Wellesley ordered the Coalition force to wait, and used scouted the area extensively. Producing a complete and detailed map of the battlefield, Wellesley assembled his aides and the Coalition Generals in his command tent. This assembly of great military leaders would come to be known as the “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, due to their surprisingly strong cooperation and friendship. Wellesley had seen d’Avout’s forces and realised his plan and discovered a flaw, a large forest stood in between the two French armies and Wellesley took full advantage of this. His plan was simple, under cover of night, the large majority of Swedish and British troops (numbering 60,000 whilst the remaining 15,000 remained with the main force) would hide within the forest, waiting in ambush. Meanwhile the remaining 130,000 strong force would engage the large army head on, spearheaded by hardened British Highlanders and Russian Imperial Guardsmen, whilst a massive amalgamation of heavy cavalry would strike fast and hard at the eastern French flank, which (whilst being well defended) was manned by ragtag French Militiamen. In recent years, and at the time, many have criticised Wellesley's plan of being too Anglo-centric, relying on British troops to not only hold off the larger French flanking force but also to lead the main assault upon the French. However only time would tell whether this would be a major issue or not.
At 9am, on September 23rd, the Coaltion force began to march towards the Grande Armee. In order to hide his deception, Wellesley slipped extra British and Swedish Banners into the Russian and Prussian forces, to give the illusion of complete British and Swedish presence. D’Avout, seeing the large advance immediately gave the order to his flanking army to begin their advance. As they did, the Coalition force reached the crest of the first hill and French forces began their bombardment. Many of the French artillerymen were surprisingly well drilled, Talleyrand and the French government had prioritised the training of artillerymen, feeling that discipline and skill was more essential among them than among cavalrymen or infantry. The bombardment cut into coalition lines and did massive damage to the tightly grouped Russian and German forces. Coalition artillery was quick to establish its own positions and return fire yet the damage caused by the French bombardment could not be stopped. The German infantry was quick to space out and assume loose formation, as the British and Prussian armies already had, however the Russian force was too large and too compacted to effectively change formation and casualties were huge, causing a serious drop in morale. In an attempt to reinvigorate the Russian morale, Wellesley ordered the 4 Highlander Divisions and 6 Russian Guardsmen Divisions to take their positions forward of the bulk of the force and lead the advance. This would be Wellesley's largest mistake as d’Avout, spotting this, began an advance of his own and had his light cavalry strike at the Russians, in an attempt to completely shatter Russian morale. The Russians had take the most Easterly flank of the main army and their cavalry was committed in the west, there was little they could do to react, there wasn't even time to form square. The Imperial Guardsmen had been in marching order and so the surprise attack from Dragoon shot and charge would deal serious damage. The attack was devastating, 3 of the 6 divisions would withdraw, pulling back to the main Russian line whilst the other 3 would stand and fight. Before long, many Russian guardsmen had broken and fled, it was something of a disaster for the Coalition. Many of the League of Generals were worried, particularly Dmitri Golitsyn, the Russian General. Wellesley however, had trust in the remaining Russians, aided by artillery and Highlanders to repel the attack. The following event, known colloquially as the “Scottish Miracle” would inspire Scottish nationalists and loyalists alike. The bagpipers among the Highlanders had been specifically forbidden from playing any songs deemed purely “Scottish”, for fear of alienating both English Soldiers and other members of the coalition. Despite this, the bagpipes broke, one by one, into an impromptu version of “Scotland the Brave”. The Highlanders, inspired by their musicians, joined in the singing as they advance upon the French cavalry. The cavalry, in an attempt to withdraw, would expose a large flank which the Highlanders would take advantage of. The cavalrymen would break and run and together, Highlanders and Russians reached the top of the Second Hill, they were nor separated from the French Army by no more than a shallow valley. The true battle was about to begin.
Meanwhile, the French Flanking force had begun its advance and quickly approached the forest where the British Riflemen and main Swedish Force awaited. The British 95th Riflemen, positioned themselves at the flanks of the advancing French force and began their surprise volleys. Cutting into the Dragoons who flanked the French and Spanish Infantry, the attack caused great shock among the unwethered French soldiers and whilst the Spanish Dragoons were quick to spread out and search for the British, the French dawdled. It was at this point that the Swedes stepped into open view, a few hundred meters from the French, their advance was slow but deliberate and the French Infantry was again shaken. As the Swedes approached and British volleys continued to rain down from unknown locations, the French Infantry panicked and fired far too early, causing minimal Swedish casualties. The Swedes marched undeterred and whilst the French fumbled to reload, delivered a cutting volley into the French lines. Panicked Frenchmen were already beginning to attempt their retreat and following the ineffective nature of their second volley, the Swedes again cut deep into their ranks. The French infantry broke though their retreat was blocked by the large number of Spanish Infantry which was bringing up the rear. The Spaniards alone outnumbered the Swedish force, however the French Infantry were still forced back towards the Swedish line, causing massive casualties. The one major early victory attained by the Franco-Spanish Flanking force, was its victory over the British 95th. Greatly outnumbered and dogged by Dragoons, the 95th took higher casualties than any other division on either side, losing upwards of 90% of their manpower. The 95ths final stand was made famous in the 1820 Novel “Smoke and Death”, controversial for its gory depiction of warfare, it would none the less become a British classic and one of the most well known novels of the century. The Swedish cavalry had been mostly grouped with the primary Coalition army, alongside Russian, British and Prussian Cavalry men, the Swedish Flanking force contained only the Finnish “Hakkapeliitta”, which had been reformed recently in light of Sweden's greater involvement in European politics. The Hakkapeliitta were light cavalry but proved more than capable of countering the Spanish Dragoons. As the Swedish Infantry cut through the French ranks again and again, the Spanish finally broke through the French lines and faced the Swedish face to face. The fighting was bloody and devolved into bayonet charges and a stalemate. It was only due to the charge of the Hakkapeliitta, which cut through the Spanish rear, that caused a Spanish route and an ultimate Swedish victory. With the French Flanking Force dissipated, the success of the battle would depend upon Wellesley's strategies against the French.
D’Avout saw his armies crumble and is said to have wept. As the Highlanders and Russians entered musket lines they were still singing “Scotland the Brave” and “God Save the Tsar” respectively. As the first volleys were fired, the valley within which most Coalition forces were now situated was filled with smoke. Wellesley's chose this moment to deal the death blow to the French. His assembled force of Coalition Cavalry stormed ahead, hitting the French’s easterly flank and pushing towards the artillery. As they did they were struck by musket and cannon alike and suffered horrific casualties. As the French eyes were turned east, the full might of the Coalition force was brought against the main French line. German and Prussian forces struck in the west and pushed the French force East, whilst the Cavalry pushed it West. The Anglo-Russian force was then able to unleash its fury. D’Avout would go down in history with his final act. Taking his pistol from its holster he famously said;”I shall end this battle with a single bullet.” D’Avout then put the pistol in his mouth and fired. The French force was decimated and shattered. The broke and ran, most were peasants and returned to their homes, though many would be captured by the coalition. Many modern historians believe that the battle was unwinnable for the French, due to the inferiority of their equipment and training though the traditional view that valour and Wellesley's strategies were the key factor in preventing French success is still popular. Though the Coalition had taken more than 40,000 casualties themselves, the French army was destroyed and the road to Paris was wide open…