From Napoleon HQ:
My plan for this battle was quite simple. The two main corps of D'Erlon and Vandamme had to probe with a division each of the two bridges in the west and northwest while I was maneuvering the smallest corps of Lobau to the north to make the enemy think that the main attack would have come from the shortest path to the objective; then Vandamme had to deploy his forces from the western to the northwestern bridge and D'Erlon from the northwestern to the northern, my cavalry corps had then to support the attack in the weaker point we would have found.
Original plan
After the battle starts and the first visual contact with the enemy was made, I realize some things:
- D'Erlon corps has no cavalry division in his corps
- Lobau division has no artillery in both of his two divisions
So I had to detach a cavalry brigade and an artillery company from Exelmans corps to follow Lobau's corps and a cavalry brigade in support of the first D'Erlon's division attacking the central bridge.
Here the things went immediately bad for us, I asked D'Erlon to support Donzelot's division with an additional artillery battery. Probably I didn't make clear enough that this had to be a probe attack until the order to start a major one. This division took a lot of damage inflicting very few casualties to the enemy (something like 1:5 ratio)
The last order to the two corps commander was to start the main attack at 11:15 then I had to leave the central bridge and move to the north to see the situation in front of LObau's corps under my direct command.
Northern bridgePrussian regiments on bridge's right (from my view)So a complete prussian corps was waiting for my two small division, 6 guns and a cavalry brigade, but I was hoping that this would have permitted to my other two corps to crush the resistance in one spot elsewhere.
At 11:15 the plan had to start and indeed I saw one division of D'Erlon corps moving to reach my flank
Durutte Division?I was unaware of what was going on in the south to Vandamme's corps but it was my order to not be updated by corps commander because of our surely interrupted line of communication.
With this situation I started a light attack on the northern bridge to give the possibility to the french division on my right to safely deploy and attack what seemed a weaker point of their line (from our view).
After some minutes something seemed strange to me. On my right I saw only a small brigade and far away in the west I saw Marcognet's division standing still.
From the replay I saw what happened:
-Durutte's division started the movement to reach my flank but then turn and deployed against the central bridge
-Nogues brigade of Marcognet's division moved to my right flank and start a first attack moving to the central bridge after 15 minutes, the second brigade was held in reserve far in the west, the artillery engaged in the central bridge
-Passage's division held in reserve
After a courier exchange with Colbert, I decided to move the cavalry division of Strolz between Lobau's corps and D'Erlon left, in the meantime I tried to push a bit more in the north to hold there the prussians. With a bold attack I took the bridge and some guns but the prussian counterattacked quickly and I had to retreat again behind the river
Prussian squadron charging a squareBut the prussians didn't limit to push me back, they chase my men and I had to keep retreating saving only a fresh brigade and few battalions of the second infantry division. I saw that incredible mountain of prussian troops moving to our left flank from the north and I fallback to the centre where I saw we had just passed the bridges.
I ordered a general advance to the objective Trying to place a defence against the prussian corps in the north which now was in the northern bank of the river but the hope to really go for the objective were equal to zero.
Too few time, too much losses, too much prussians.