Trip to Emilia-Romagna

A trip back in time that is. To 1743. The Battle of Camposanto was fought by the Spanish & Neapolitans and the Austro-Piedmontese in the War of the Austrian Succession. Camposanto is a town a dozen miles north east of Modena and 20 north west of Bologna in northern Italy. Wiki gives a handy overview, but I'm also drawing on an old book written in the 1920s by Spenser Wilkinson called the Defence of Piedmont, 1742-1748.

It's a small battle by the standards of most of the historical battles I've gamed solo, but I wanted to blood the Piedmontese and Spanish armies (not counting the Italian campaign I did early in the year). Wiki says the armies were 12-14000 each. Nafziger has handy orders of battle here: https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/carl/nafziger/743BAA.pdf

By my reckoning the totals were:-

Spanish-Neapolitans: 13 squadrons and 37 battalions. Wiki gives 12 guns but Nafziger is silent on the matter.

Austro-Piedmontese: 23 squadrons, 27 battalions and 17 guns (Wiki says 25).

The context for the battle was that de Gages in command of the Spanish had orders to attack the Austrians and their allies. Order which de Gages seemed a bit reluctant to follow. With an attempt to keep his movement secret, de Gages left Bologna and made for Camposanto where he threw up bridges, crossed to the north bank of the Panaro river, and headed west towards Modena. Near Bomporto he discovered the Austro-Piedmontese ensconced in a strong position with flanks protected by the Panaro and another watercourse, the Cavo Fiumicello. The Spanish retreated back to Camposanto where de Gages gave orders for the baggage train to cross the river, preparatory to a retreat back to Bologna. The canny Austrian, Traun made the move on the north side of the Fiumicello, allowing him to circle round the Spanish position in order to attack from the north so de Gages army would fight with a river at its back. When de Gages discovered that the Austro-Piedmontese, had followed him, his retreat was blocked by chaos amongst the baggage train.  The Spanish would have to stand and fight whilst the baggage crossed the river. 

The area of operations, shown on a modern map.

The Spanish position described a shallow trapezoid with the river at the long side, and the town in the middle of that side. The Austro-Piedmontese attacked the right side of the Spanish position (pinning the left with light troops) but the Spanish responded with vigour and even had the upper hand in the early encounters. Gradually the Spanish were ground down but night came early (it was early February) and the fight fizzled out in a stalemate. At 3500 the Spanish losses were nearly twice those of their enemy, but they had held off the attacks. To that extent de Gages could claim success as it had bought time for the baggage to cross the river, and in the night the soldiers followed. He spun this as a victory in his report to Madrid (helped no doubt by some captured colours) and promotions followed for de Gages and his senior officers. Traun too reported a victory, after all when he advanced to continue the action the next morning the Spanish had gone. The Spanish stayed at Bologna until late March, but short of supplies and suffering from disease, they retreated to Rimini where they remained until the campaign season re-opened.

Map downloaded from the Royal Collections (it's a goldmine for old maps!). Rather nice and with lots of detail, only not showing the bends in the river seen on modern maps. Now the river shape may have changed in the last 281 years, but usually rivers are straightened not the opposite (ignoring 're-wilding').

Modern map of the battlefield area. Traun crossed the Doggaro from the north. Looking at Wilkinson's map (below) the Spanish line seems to have started somewhere inside the modern town (possibly near the station), and ended near Case Bruciate.

On this map there appears to be a crossing point on the Panaro just west of the Spanish line, as there is a road both sides which seems to cross the river. Maybe a ford. The southern leg of the road isn't shown on the modern map, but opposite Passo Sant'Anna there is a collection of buildings by the river which might be a clue. Notice how this shows the Austro-Piedmontese starting slightly further west than the French map.

One of the other reasons for choosing Camposanto is because, using Twilight of the Soldier Kings, I can fit it on this thing.

At 60x100cm this is big enough for Camposanto (3000 x 5000 yards at scale). I recently bought a pack of 3 for £35 from Lidl, giving a total area 180x100cm or approx 6ft by 3ft in old money. It folds away and the height is adjustable up to 95cm if I recall correctly, so it should reduce back ache! And it is all much lighter than the kitchen cabinet boards I have been using. The downside is it's a bit wobbly so no leaning on it.

I should be able to get the game on over the weekend.