Introduction (By CoV Editor Fred Schachter): The preceding parts of this series provided background regarding the game’s historical situation and then of Napoleon’s remarkable resurgence after the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia. Part 2 included Napoleon’s new, but flawed, Grande Armée setting his Coalition Allied opponents reeling when it victoriously smashed its way back into Central Europe. Those victories, however, were not decisive, and both sides agreed to an Armistice’s cessation of hostilities. It is at this point Part 3â’ narrative begins. Readers may learn of the game’s design background (why things are portrayed as they are in Congress of Vienna) by reading Designer Frank Esparrago’s InsideGMT two part article: “Congress of Vienna Designer’s Notes.” There is also more information regarding the game on GMT’s site. Although war still rages in the Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) and North America (War of 1812); we now return to a temporarily quiescent Central Europe: Note: If you would like to view any of the above or below images in a larger size, you can click on the image and it will point you to the full image file.

Turn 4: July 1813

During the Armistice, while diplomatic talks took place, all the powers increased and prepared their forces for the titanic struggle ahead; they thought a renewal of hostilities would inevitably take place after the predictable fiasco of the Peace Congress [1] of Prague. While the Armistice remained in force, general Poniatowski joined Napoleon with 22,000 Poles who had been interned in Austria when they fled Russia at the beginning of 1813. By the middle of the month, news arrived of Wellington‘s victory at Vitoria which brought renewed optimistic vigor to the Allies [2]. This situation encouraged Napoleon to again seek peace, and Caulaincourt was sent to Prague to resume negotiations. However, Napoleon refused Metternich‘s proposals, and the now remote possibility of peace evaporated.

While the Central Europe Armistice continued, in Spain the British army (with their Spanish and Portuguese allies) continued pursuing the retreating French. They arrived at the mountainous Franco-Spanish border at the beginning of July and began siege operations against San Sebastian and Pamplona, two Spanish fortresses occupied by the French. To seek repairing the damage caused by the Vitoria debacle, at the beginning of July, the highly capable Soult took command of all French troops in this theater of operations. Consequently, in the face of this experienced and talented new French leader (whom he and his British soldiers derogatorily nicknamed “The Duke of Damnation”: a pun on his “Duke of Dalmatia” title), Wellington decided to regroup before attempting a move into France. But the aggressive Soult would not let Wellington make the first move. He launched a counter-offensive (the battle of the Pyrenees) to advance more deeply into Spain. When Soult was only ten miles from Pamplona, he found his way blocked by Wellington, was defeated at the Battle of Sorauen (July 28 and 30), and retired back to France. The total losses during this abortive counter-offensive were approximately 7,000 for the allies and 10,000 for the French. In addition, on Spain’s Mediterranean front, after the battle of Vitoria, French forces under Suchet, pressured by the Eastern Army’s advance, combined with an amphibious threat from the British Army of Sicily, evacuated Valencia and retreated into Catalonia. In America, the British blockade of U.S. ports became increasingly severe as the majority of American merchant ships and warships were caught in those ports. The blockade caused a dramatic throttling effect on the American economy. U.S. Exports decreased from $130 million before the War to only $7 million in 1814.

Turn 5: August 1813

With Napoleon‘s rejection of the Allied peace proposals, Metternich had no alternative but for Austria to declare war on France. On August 10, the Allies officially terminated the Armistice. Metternich had maneuvered to get the Generalissimo of Allied armies in Germany to be an Austrian: Schwarzenberg, who had to carry out the daunting task of leading a vast multinational army with at least three monarchs questioning his decisions and enthusiastically expounding their own views. Bernadotte of Sweden demanded a dominant role and was given command of the Northern Army, a multinational force of about 120,000 troops which included his own nearby Swedish Force. The remainder of Allied forces were divided into the Army of Silesia under Blücher and the Army of Bohemia under direct control of Schwarzenberg (340,000 troops). A strong Russian contingent under Barclay was integrated with the Austrians. In addition, Bennigsen brought as reinforcements another 60,000 Russians with the Reserve Army to bolster Allied Armies. To oppose this host, Napoleon had approximately 400,000 troops in Germany. During the month of July, the Allied High Command approved a plan drafted by the Austrian Chief of Staff, Radetzky, along with Bernadotte‘s plan which allowed freedom of action in the military operations of each Allied army; but with the overarching premise that when Napoleon advanced against one Allied army, that army would deny battle and withdraw while the others would take the offensive until they could concentrate against the French with overwhelming superiority. Napoleon established a line of defense behind the mighty Elbe River (the boundary between Hanover and Pomeraniain CoV) while the Army of the Elbe took the offensive in the north with Davout while Oudinot with 120,000 troops would attempt the capture of Berlin. In CoV game terms, this would be the French Army of the Elbe advancing to attack the 4VP valued Prussia space occupied by the Prussian/Russian (now with Swedish Forces) Northern Army. If this advance went well, Sweden could be defeated and compelled to abandon the Coalition. Furthermore, theorized the French Command, the conquest of Berlin would exacerbate Russian/Prussian tensions and perhaps serve as another means to shatter the Coalition. It seems clear that this plan, in addition to its strategic considerations, was “punishing” both Bernadotte‘s treacherous behavior (he was a former Marshal of Napoleon who defected to become leader of Sweden) and what the emperor considered the craven duplicity of Prussia’s Frederick William III. When hostilities resumed with the advance of Blücher’s Army of Silesia, Napoleon decided to attack him. With the French approaching, following the agreed Allied guidelines, the Prussians withdrew. This enabled the Austrian Army of Bohemia under Schwarzenberg to take the offensive from the south to march on Dresden, where he only faced 20,000 heavily entrenched French. However, Napoleon, taking advantage of his central position and his infantry’s still potent ability to force march, turned to face this new threat. In just a single day, his forces around Dresden reached 140,000 troops. On the 26th and 27th of August, the Battle of Dresden took place, where despite being outnumbered by a ratio of three to two, Napoleon attacked and enveloped the Allied left flank. The Austrian generals Klenau and Gyulai were separated from one another by a flooded creek, and Murat took advantage of this isolation to execute a massive French cavalry attack which inflicted heavy losses on the Austrian infantry as wet gunpowder caused their muskets to misfire. They became easy prey for the French cavalry. Napoleon won an impressive victory. However, his still lamentable cavalry failed to effectively pursue the defeated Allies and allowed Schwarzenberg to retire into Bohemia. The Battle of Dresden cost the Allies some 40,000 men and 40 guns. French casualties were only around 10,000. But after the Battle of Dresden, the tide turned, and from then on, things began to worsen for the French. First, Oudinot (60,000 men) was defeated in Grossbeeren (near Berlin) by Bernadotte and Bülow (80,000). In addition, on August 26, Marshal MacDonald irresponsibly attacked Blücher in Katzbach (Silesia), suffering a severe mauling with 30,000 casualties against only 5,000 Allied. The agreed Allied campaign strategy to not directly face Napoleon but go after his minions was being successfully fulfilled: the defeats of the emperor’s subordinates compensated for the victories of Napoleon himself. Back in Spain, during the month of August, the siege of San Sebastian continued, and on August 31, British General Graham ordered an assault on the fortress, which succeeded, but he suffered great losses. That same day, Soult tried to relieve the fortress, but the battle of San Marcial resulted in his repulse by Wellington‘s Spanish troops.

Turn 6: September 1813

Napoleon sent Ney to rally Oudinot’s demoralized men. Ney, the aggressive Marshal that he was, began making plans for the complete destruction of Bernadotte‘s army. However, his plans had to be temporarily suspended due to Blücher‘s new offensive. Ney did resume his advance on Berlin but was severely defeated in Dennewitz (the space of Pomerania in CoV) by Bülow and Bernadotte’s greater force. Ney and Oudinot’s lack of cooperation exacerbated the magnitude of France’s defeat, which caused 20,000 French casualties against 10,000 Allied. Bavaria abandoned Napoleon as an immediate consequence of Ney’s failure against Berlin. This compelled the emperor to adopt a strictly defensive strategy.

Turn 7: October 1813

On October 8, 1813, the Prince of Reuss-Plauen (an Austrian general) signed the Treaty of Reid that determined the entry of Bavaria (who defected from Napoleon’s ranks to join the Coalition) into the war; this diplomatic success earned the recognition of the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Bavaria. On the main Central European front, the Allies continued their offensive. Bernadotte and Blücher crossed the Elbe to the north while Schwarzenberg’s army threatened to isolate the Grande Armée in Dresden. With most of his troops, Napoleon marched northwest to attack Blücher or Bernadotte, but both evaded the emperor by retreating back behind the Elbe. It should be noted that in CoV, such an attack from Track B into Track A is not possible due to the design desire to avoid associated game mechanic complexity [3]. Lacking pontoons to cross the river, the French could not pursue them. After some hesitation on October 16, Napoleon decided to head south and attack Schwarzenberg’s Army of Bohemia about 10 km south of Leipzig. This would precipitate the climax of the campaign: the Battle of Leipzig. Napoleon concentrated 180,000 men against Schwarzenberg‘s 150,000 in the south while keeping an eye on Blücher‘s 60,000 men to the north [4]. Napoleon launched the best of his army, including Murat’s cavalry, against Schwarzenberg, and when he was about to strike the coup de grace, the attacks of Blücher from the north forced him to withdraw forces to confront this new threat. That response diverted too many troops and enabled Schwarzenberg to conduct an organized withdrawal without being defeated. On the 17th, there were few additional engagements, but reinforcements were pouring in for both sides’ resumption of battle. Napoleon managed to gather 225,000 men (French, Polish, Saxon, German, and Italian) and 700 guns for renewal of the massive struggle. Among his subordinates were Murat, Ney, Poniatowski, and Oudinot. The King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus, was also present with his French Allied contingent. Nevertheless, the Allies had concentrated their superior numbers in a wide semicircle of 365,000 men and 1,500 guns. The Allies were directed by Blücher in the north, with Schwarzenberg, Barclay de Tolly, and Bennigsen in the Southeast. The battle that was forming was the greatest of the Napoleonic Wars and would become known as “The Battle of the Nations” because most of Europe’s nations were present. However, inexplicable Allied delays meant that Bernadotte‘s army [5], as a practical matter, did not intervene. Coalition monarchs like Francis I of Austria, Tsar Alexander I, and Frederick William III of Prussia accompanied the Allied headquarters; therefore, three emperors and two European kings were present in the battle. On October 18, the Allies launched a massive assault along the entire front. In more than nine hours of fierce fighting, only a central position and the bravery of French units prevented the complete rupture of their lines before the enemy’s superiority. However, on the far left Allied flank, the advance of Austrian formations under Gyulay and Merveldt threatened to cut French communications and compel their retiring via the only existing bridge. A French counterattack saved the situation, and the Austrians fell back in disorderly retreat. Napoleon, short of ammunition and numerically surpassed by his enemies by greater than 3 to 2, finally and with great reluctance understood the battle irretrievably lost. Consequently, on the night of October 18 to 19, he approved his army’s crossing the river to withdraw from the field. The retreat initially developed in good order until the bridge, which was mined, was mistakenly destroyed, causing the French rearguard to be captured; some, like Poniatowski, drowned while trying to swim across the swift flowing river. A defeat became a debacle. However, the Allied victory at Leipzig was a very costly one; they suffered at least 54,000 casualties. The French lost 38,000, plus 15,000 taken prisoner and 5,000 Saxons who deserted. However, French losses were exacerbated by the majority of Grande Armée German contingents deserting as Allied armies occupied their respective homelands. The Battle of Leipzig had thoroughly smashed Napoleon’s plan for a resurgence of French Central European power. For the second time, Murat abandoned Napoleon upon reaching an agreement with Austria to try and preserve his throne in Naples. On the front in Spain, at dawn on October 7, 1813, Wellington attacked the entire fortified French position, which stretched for 20 km. But the decisive Allied maneuver was crossing the mouth of the Bidassoa River (separating Gascony from Castile), an approach left unguarded by the French who presumed the width and strong river flow, along with marsh at both sides, would serve as an impassable barrier. However, Wellington was informed by Basque fishermen of its crossing viability at low tide. Shocked and surprised, the French were compelled to retreat, and their fortifications fell successively, which forced Soult to commence the defense of France itself by withdrawing to the Nivelle River.

Turn 8: November-December of 1813

After the crushing defeat in Leipzig and the desertion of France’s German allies, Napoleon decided to retreat behind the Rhine (the Alsace space in CoV), but a contingent of 45,000 Bavarians and Austrians (a corps each) tried to cut his withdrawal route. The emperor halted this attempt at the battle of Hanau [6] (30-31 of October) with a smashing, well-targeted attack led by the Imperial Guard. This enabled a continued withdrawal back into France. The Allies, in addition to advancing deeply into Germany after Leipzig, had besieged [7] Dresden and Magdeburg (Pomerania space in CoV) during November. Magdeburg held, but Dresden surrendered with its 30,000 French garrison taken prisoner. Davout was besieged in Hamburg (on the border of the Hannover and Denmark in CoV), but this superbly talented French marshal, with his energy and tactical knowledge, stubbornly held his position until the end of the war. A British force, the Army of the Scheldt, amphibiously invaded the Low Countries. A Dutch revolt against France and the subsequent fast advance of Allied forces in Holland caused Imperial forces to evacuate the country. The British, seeking to exploit an opportunity, quickly sent an expeditionary force from troops landed in mid-December under Graham, but they were defeated by the French in Belgium, despite collaboration of nearby Prussian forces under Bülow. This expedition did not have the help of the self-interested Bernadotte‘s largely Swedish army, which ignored seeking the conquest of France from the north and set about defeating Denmark to seize Norway. (Note: in CoV this is handled by players deploying military units, cubes, into the Norway/Denmark Box.) On the southern front, on November 10, 1813, Wellington experienced most of his Spanish troops withdrawing back into their homeland. The Spanish government had two reasons for this: it was none too keen invading France after all their people’s suffering during the Peninsular War, and there were Spanish soldiers bent on revenge committing atrocities on French civilians. In the game, this is accommodated by the November-December 1813 situation card which returns Spanish cubes to their Force Pool. See card to the right: However, Wellington had to cease biting this painful bullet. In 1814, he recalled the best Spanish troops under Morillo back to France to assist his campaign. Despite the absence of many Spanish soldiers, the Army of Portugal attacked French fortified lines behind the Nivelle River (Gascony space in CoV), and Soult retired in good order into the fortress of Bayonne. After this, there was a period of inaction due to worsening weather. Then, despite the weather, in December, Wellington occupied the right bank of the Nivelle River. Fearing how this would further open France to invasion, Soult, from his central position in Bayonne, launched a fierce counter-attack; this was thwarted by Wellington‘s formidable defensive capabilities which allowed the Allies to maintain their positions. The French army withdrew to the northeast after leaving a strong garrison in Bayonne. Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, tensions between the Allies began to manifest themselves immediately after the Battle of Leipzig. Prussia and Austria argued over the fate of Saxony. Additionally, Austria and Russia began disputing the future border of Poland. In November 1813, the Allies, under pressure from Metternich, offered Napoleon a proposed peace agreement which would keep him as emperor and return France to its “natural frontiers.” That meant Metropolitan France would only additionally consist of Belgium, Savoy (the Alps space in CoV), and the west bank of the Rhine River (the Alsace space in CoV). Metternich indicated these were the best terms the Allies could offer. Napoleon rejected them. Napoleon signed the Treaty of Valençay with the former king of Spain, a prisoner in France since 1808. By this, he agreed to release the former monarch if Spain ceased hostilities and withdrew from the war. This implied Wellington’s withdrawal from southern France due to the absence of Spanish soldiers and a logistical base. However, the proposed treaty required effective control over the Spanish government; and in the absence of the king, Las Cortes (the Spanish parliament) would need to give its approval. Fortunately for Britain, Las Cortes rejected the agreement, and the southern front war continued. Napoleon also dispatched his former minister of police, Fouché, to rein in Murat before his possible desertion to Austria’s side (and thereby preserve his Kingdom of Naples throne). However, Fouché foresaw the war lost for Napoleon and with characteristic duplicity began maneuvering to get a future Government of France to revert to the old Bourbon dynasty and secure for himself a salient position in that regime. In late 1813, on the North American front, the U.S. made new attempts against Montreal, whose conquest would isolate British forces in Upper Canada and, therefore, could have changed the course of the war. But on October 25, a U.S. force of 4,000 men was defeated on the Chateauguay River by 500 Canadian militia and their Mohawk allies. In turn, another U.S. force of 2,500 men was repulsed with heavy losses at Crysler Farm. As small as these battles seem compared to those in Europe, their effect had true strategic impact by forestalling the U.S.A.’s attempt to seize Canada from Britain. We’ll pause here until release of this article’s Part 4 of 4, entitled “The Demise of La Gloire: The Invasion of France & Napoleon’s End (1814).” Please feel free to pose any questions or requests for additional Congress of Vienna game information in the section for comments InsideGMT provides below.

Footnotes

[1] Bold type is used to portray the historical characters that appear in Congress of Vienna’s event card deck as well as Leader cards. Bold Italic type is used for Issues, represented by cardstock counters, that are moved, debated and resolved in the Diplomacy and Decision segments during the game’s Government Phase. All the leaders that appear in CoV have a brief biography in the historical description of event cards. These can be viewed in an upcoming InsideGMT article series: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna.” [2] Beethoven composed his overture “Wellington’s Victory or the Battle of Vitoria” Op. 91 to celebrate this feat of arms. [3] In the first versions of CoV, attacks between the armies of track A (Central Europe) and track B (Northern Europe) were allowed in the key space of Saxony and other key spaces; although in the current version of the game they are forbidden since we wanted to make the game easier and with a related reduction in playing time. We are considering including this ability as a future optional rule for players who want more historicity and greater weight to the game’s military component. [4] To duplicate this and make the game more historically accurate, Blücher and his Subordinate General cards can be used to support either the Northern front (B) or Central Europe front (A) map board Military Tracks. Keep in mind that in CoV battle cards are as important (if not more so) than the number of cube military units involved. In this article’s footnotes we briefly explain some peculiarities of CoV’s military operation procedures. [5] We indicated in prior footnotes that the simple military rules of CoV currently prevent Strategic Movement (prior to battle resolution) of an army from one track to another. However, the game’s cube military units can, as permitted, be transferred between armies situated on different fronts (Tracks); i.e. Prussian or Russian military cubes can be moved from the Northern Army to the Army of Silesia and vice versa. [6] Although these events occurred in October, we prefer to explain it here, since the major French withdrawal from Germany after the Battle of Leipzig fundamentally occurred during the month of November. [7] In most cases garrisons left by the armies surrendered after 1-3 months of siege (except most notably Hamburg). In a high-level strategy game like CoV, we avoid potential rules complexity by increasing the number of casualties in battles instead of adding a siege game mechanic.

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