The Battle of Jaromiersch - a 1757 Campaign game

As trailed in the previous post, the first turn moves led to a battle. Dave C, in the guise of Prince Henry of Prussia, had marched a small force down from the Silesian border to the town of Jaromiersch (modern day Jaroměř in Czechia).  Detecting a much weaker force, Serbelloni seized his opportunity.

The name Jaromirz, as shown on the German Great General Staff ('3GS') map which I used as the campaign map, rang a bell. I consulted Duffy, and in Frederick the Great: A Military Life, there was a map from the War of the Bavarian Succession of the rival positions at Jaromiersch. A bit of cross-referencing showed that this was indeed the same place and the map in Duffy was used as a basis for the table top game. I drew on roads (interpolated from another 3GS map of the region). Dave was invited to place Henry's force anywhere on the map and to give his general orders for the battle.

Henry placed a brigade of infantry at Jaromiersch, one at Schlorten and a unit of Freikorps at Schurz to contest the crossings as long as possible, with a brigade each of hussars and dragoons in between to cover the expected retreat. Austrians advanced from the left.

Looking south towards Jaromiersch. Schlorten in the foreground on the right bank. This is a 1m x 1.2m table by the way.

Serbelloni concentrated the larger part of his army on Jaromiersch, with a smaller grouping of infantry of infantry and dragoons at Schlorten. A unit of hussars was sent to scout and, if practicable, force the crossing at Schurz. A powerful artillery battery was formed across from Jaromiersch to soften up the Prussian defenders, who had no heavy guns of their own. After a protracted bombardment the Prussians retired to the rear of the town. As a long march column of Austrian infantry approached the bridge, the Prussian dragoons advanced towards the town to keep the Austrians pinned or to catch them in column. The dragoons themselves began to suffer from the artillery and retreated out of range.

Austrian guns moved up to the river, and are about to deploy to bombard the Prussian cavalry

Meanwhile at Schlorten, two brigades of infantry, backed up by dragoons, assaulted the village occupied by Prussian fusiliers. There ensued a lengthy musketry dual which was indecisive for a long time. Up at Schorz all was quiet with the respective light troops keeping a watchful truce. Live and let live eh?

Austrians march up to assault Schlorten

Back in the south, as the Austrian infantry crossed the bridge and began to form into line at right angles to the road, the Prussians emerged from the buildings and began to pour volleys into the Austrians. The Austrians took some losses, but so did the Prussians. Enough to make the brigade break. [i.e. they suffered a third hit].

Musketry battle by the Elbe

At Schlorten, both sides suffered losses, but the Prussians came off worse. With Jaromiersch lost, the Prussians' retreat could be cut off, so they withdrew to the opposite bank of the Elbe in good order, covered by the hussars.

Angry looking Death's Head Hussars

Grrr!

There was no vigorous pursuit by Serbelloni. He was satisfied throwing the Prussians back over the Elbe, and he was conscious at having left Königgrätz vulnerable.

A brief game (c.1/2 hour) with the Prussians suffering twice as many hits as the Austrians. But in the Post Battle phase, they recovered a base (effectively wiping off 3 hits, thus levelling the score). This was helped by the lack of a pursuit. The withdrawal by the Prussians was optional and not enforced because of a failed morale test. Therefore there would be no pursuit.

One valuable outcome of the battle for the Prussians is that they have gained a good appreciation of the size and composition of Serbelloni's force, which they didn't have before.