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Bavaria and the Napoleonic Wars
As a member state of the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria was required to provide an armed force to fight for the Imperial cause in time of war. It was due to this commitment that Bavarian forces were mobilised to fight France in 1792 but by October that year she had declared herself neutral. In 1796 diplomats from all the warring states met at the Congress of Rastatt to redraw the map of the Empire. The result was strongly in favour of the French, as they had conquered Belgium (Spanish Netherlands) , Alsace, Lorraine and much of the left bank of the Rhine. Before the treaty could be finalised war broke out again and the French diplomats were murdered by the Austrians while in transit. The fighting ended with a French victory at the battle of Hohenlinden in December 1800. The result was a new carving up of the Empire with the free Imperial cities loosing their status and like many other small states, being incorporated into larger German states. Bavaria gained territory and the troops that went with it.
Napoleon (who by this time was Emperor of France) wanted to use these German states as a buffer between France and any invasion by Austria or Prussia. Austria played right into his hands in 1805 when she attacked Bavaria. Napoleon destroyed both the Prussian and Austrian armies in a campaign that ended in the surrender of the Austrian General Mack in December 1805 and the devastating battle of Austerlitz. The German states of Bavaria , Baden and Wurttemberg who had allied with the French were now well rewarded. Bavaria gained kingdom status and several territories including Tyrol. Over the next few years Napoleon consolidated his hold of these vassal states by marriage and by awarding territories, announcing on 12 July 1806 the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine which would include all German states except Prussia, together with France and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. This was the death knell for the Holy Roman Empire and in August 1806 the states of the confederation left the Holy Roman Empire and Emperor Franz II became Franz I of Austria.
In the campaigns that followed Bavaria acted much more like a weaker partner with France rather than a vassal state or ally. In 1809 Bavaria was a frontline state against Austria with many of the early clashes taking place on Bavarian soil. Bavarian troops saw defeat with the French at Aspern-Essling and then victory at Wagram but the Tyrol rose in revolt and it took the Bavarian months to put down the uprising. 1812 saw Bavaria supply the Grande Armee with VI Corps for the Russian campaign and elements fought at the battle of Borodino but following the disastrous result of the campaign they finally decided to desert Napoleon's cause just before the battle of Leipzig. The Bavarians tried to cut off the French armies' retreat but failed to do so at the battle of Hanau. In 1814 the Tyrol went back to Austria, and Salzburg was also handed back in 1815. Following Napoleon's flag had gained the Bavarians little but bloodshed, but knowing when to desert their former master they also escaped being carved up by the allies.
The Bavarian Army 1809-1815
In 1800, Bavaria reluctantly fought on Austria's side against France, but in 1805 when Austria attacked Bavaria for the third time in 100 years, they found a powerful army. The Bavarians initially retreated, but only in order to link up with Napoleon's advancing army and to prepare the counter-attack, which took place quickly, methodically and thoroughly. 30,000 Bavarian troops took part in the successful Siege of Ulm and the consequent liberation of Bavaria. At the Battle of Austerlitz, the Bavarians secured the flanks and supply lines of Napoleon's army and in 1806-7 they forced several Prussian forts to surrender.
Bavaria was awarded the Austrian province of Tyrol as a reward, but unrest erupted into a full-blown rebellion under Andreas Hofer in 1809, which could only be put down with French assistance. When Austria attacked Bavaria once more in 1809, Napoleon's army was concentrated in Spain, and it was troops of the Confederation of the Rhine, predominantly Bavarian, which led the early campaigning against Austria. At the Battle of Wagram, the contribution of Bavarian forces was decisive to the outcome.
In the Russian Campaign, the Bavarian army suffered terrible losses - of about 33,000 men (including following reinforcements) who marched in 1812, only 4,000 returned. Pressed by the Crown Prince and General Wrede, King Maximilan I Josef turned with a heavy heart away from the French and changed to the Allied camp shortly before the Battle of Leipzig. The attempt by Wrede to stop the victory of the Grande Armée in 1813 at the Battle of Hanau ended in a narrow defeat for his Austro-Bavarian corps. The campaign of 1814 began badly for the Allies, but Wrede made up for his earlier defeat with valuable victories over his former allies at the battles of Arcis-sur-Aube and Bar-sur-Aube.
In 1814, the Bavarian army consisted of a Grenadier Guard regiment, 16 regiments of Line Infantry, two battalions of Jäger, seven regiments of light cavalry (of which one was territorial), one regiment of Uhlans, two Hussar regiments, one regiment of Garde du Corps (mounted royal bodyguard), two regiments of foot artillery and one of horse-artillery.
In 1815, the 7th (National) Light Cavalry regiment was formed into two Cuirassier regiments. The Hussars and Uhlans were disbanded in 1822. Following the recommendations of the Military Savings Commission in 1826, one infantry regiment was converted into two Jäger battalions, and the Grenadier Guard regiment into an Infantry lifeguard regiment. The Garde du Corps became the 1st Cuirassier Regiment, and the former 1st Cuirassier Regiment was merged into the 2nd Regiment.
A Small Treatise on Skirmishing
"Skirmishers are infantry who are stationed ahead or to the sides of a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from similar attacks by the enemy. Skirmishers are generally lightly armed and lightly armored in order to move quickly across the battlefield. In ancient and medieval warfare, skirmishers typically carried bows, jawelins, and sometimes carried light shields. Acting as light infantry with their light arms and minimal armor, they could run ahead of the main battle line, fire a volley of arrows, slingshots or javelins, and retreat behind their main battle line before the clash of the opposing main forces. The aims of skirmishing were to disrupt enemy formations by causing casualties before the main battle, and to tempt the opposing infantry into attacking prematurely, throwing their organization into disarray."
Skirmishing was not new in Europe, During the Napoleonic Wars the opposing armies would march their infantry in column formations and deploy them in a line, shoulder to shoulder in three ranks. In front of these columns and lines moved skirmishers. All infantrymen were trained in skirmishing.
The skirmishers acted in 2s. The intervals between pairs were: in the French army 15 paces, in Austrian 6 paces, in Russian 5 paces. The intervals could change depending on tactical situation and available space. In 1815 at Quatre Bras the Duke of Brunswick deployed his Jager Battalion in a ditch near Gemioncourt. The jagers were in groups of 4 at intervals of six paces. They had put their large hats on the bushes in front of them. It attracted a lot of musket fire from French voltigeurs.
As the battle continued the lines and columns fed the skirmish lines or broke down into skirmish lines themselves. The skirmishers used terrain, trees and buildings as a cover. Their primary target were enemy's officers, trumpeters, drummers, gunners, and skirmishers. The skirmishers also annoyed the flanks of the enemy and created terror when succeeded on appearing at the rear.
The skirmishers used a lot of ammunition. Once the cartrdige box was empty the skirmisher went to the ammunition wagon. It would in many cases mean being withdrawn from the front line. Also the musket didn't allow for continuous firing for many hours. Russian officer Davidov noted in 1808 that many skirmishers used to spend their ammunition very quickly or throw it out in order to leave the firing line. One general said that a number of soldiers is lost to "temporary desertion" while skirmishing. But officer F.N. Glinka wrote that in 1813 after Bautzen: "...Colonel Kern wanted to relieve a chain of skirmishers, who fought for several hours. They responded: don't relieve us ! We can fight till the evening; just give us cartridges !"
The greatest danger to skirmishers came from the cavalry. Beskrovnyi writes; "[when cavalry attack the skirmishers] The officer ... collects his men into groups of about 10 men. They stand back to back and continue firing and thrust their bayonets into the enemy cavalrymen, and everyone should be confident that the battalion or the regiment will come to their aid in a short time." |
Regimental Command
Regimental LeaderHauptmann CrunkSenior Regimental StaffLeutnant Jolyon
UnteroffiziereSpoiler Korporal Porkins
Korporal Lava
SoldatenSpoiler Jäger Dizaster
Gemeiner Philip
Gemeiner Storck
Gemeiner Ryzen
Gemeiner Cyan
Rekrut Kidterra
Rekrut PaperMario
Rekrut ElectricFence
Rekrut Von Alten
Rekrut Pouchey
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Ranks
Hauptman (Captain)
Premierleutnant (1st Lieutenant) Plt
Leutnant (Lieutenant) Lt
Fähnrich (Ensign) Fahn
Feldwebel (Sergeant) Fwbl
Unteroffizier (Corporal) UOffz
Korporal (Kpl)
Stabsgefreiter (Lance Corporal) SGfr
Jägar (Hunter) Jgr
Gemeiner (Private) Gem
Rekrut (Recruit) Rkt |
