Battle of Sorauren - Move 6

Table at the start of move 6

Davout deploys his army

Hill arrives on the left, Morillo on the right

French Left

Reille manhandles his artillery within range of the Spanish cavalry

His infantry have climbed the hill to the right of Pamplona road

French Centre

Clausel is taking a lot of casualties as he approaches Cole’s Ridge

The French artillery are unable to reply as there are no targets within range

French Right

d’Erlon’s artillery fire on the British cavalry but miss

His infantry are unable to advance whilst the cavalry can charge them in flank

Hill takes advantage to deploy his infantry either side of Sorauren.

Game Notes

Allied artillery, both British and Spanish, are proving very effective and have caused casualties each time they have fired.

French artillery less accurate, even though within canister range of Sorauren. They have failed to cause any casualties at all.

Battle of Sorauren - Move 5

Table at the start of move 5

Davout deploys his army

Hill arrives on the left, Morillo on the right

French Left

Reille must take the small hill, so that he can prevent the Spanish from advancing through the pass behind.

French Centre

The British artillery on Cole’s Ridge have caused casualties on the French cavalry

Davout has joined Clausel to direct the attack on the ridge

French Right

d’Erlon orders his cavalry to charge the limbered enemy artillery, who are all destroyed

His artillery have opened fire on Sorauren in preparation for the infantry attack

Allied Left

Hill’s infantry are taking position between Sorauren and Cole’s Ridge

His cavalry have counter charged the enemy cavalry and routed them

Allied Centre

Cole has concentrated his division around the ridge

His artillery are inflicting casualties on the enemy cavalry

Allied Right

Morillo’s orders have been changed to Engage, so that he can more aggressively deploy his column north of the pass

Game Notes

The French cavalry declared an Opportunity Charge on the limbered British artillery, who failed their morale to evade and were cut down. The nearby British cavalry then charged the disordered and stationary French cavalry and routed them.

Battle of Sorauren - Move 4

Table at the start of move 4

Both armies are now on the table.

Soult’s three columns are now within artillery range

Hill’s column is approaching Sorauren on the left

Morillo is moving through the pass on the right

French Left

Reille’s cavalry and artillery are in position on the Pamplona road

His infantry are moving towards the hill in a dense column of attack

French Centre

Clausel is sending his cavalry and artillery forward to hold the enemy cavalry

His infantry are moving behind this screen towards Cole’s Ridge

French Right

d’Erlon sends his cavalry to the right flank to protect his artillery

His infantry are now in column of attack and ready to advance on Sorauren

Allied Left

Hill’s column is approaching Sorauren, which is occupied by one of Cole’s brigades

The British cavalry and artillery are deploying to the left of the town

Allied Right

Wellington is on the hill observing the Spanish approach

Morillo has deployed his cavalry and artillery to screen the approach and support Cole’s brigade on the hill

The Spanish infantry are moving through the pass in column of march

Game Notes

Both armies are still out of artillery range, so the deployment is going quite smoothly.

Both Morillo and d’Erlon are Poor commanders, and have less command points to move their corps.

Battle of Sorauren - Move 3

Table at the start of move 3

Soult’s three divisions approach Cole’s Ridge

French Left

Reille has sent his cavalry and artillery to cover his deployment on the Pamplona road. His infantry have changed from column of march to column of attack

French Centre

Clausel is moving through the pass and starting to deploy opposite Cole’s Ridge

French Right

d’Erlon is approaching Sorauren when he sees Hill’s division starting to arrive behind the town.

Game Notes

The French army are still deploying as Wellington arrives with Hill and Morillo divisions.

Battle of Sorauren - Move 2

Table at the start of move 2

Soult’s three divisions have started to arrive at the top of the photograph

French Left and Centre

Soult overlooks the arrival of Reille (left) and Clausel (right)

French Right

d’Erlon starts to deploy his division behind the cavalry screen

Allied Centre

Cole repositions his artillery to fire on the French left.

To his right infantry form square to protect the gunners from enemy cavalry

Game Notes

The French army deploy in preparation for an attack on Cole

Battle of Sorauren - Move 1

Table at the start of move 1

Cole’s division is deployed to cover the approach to Pamplona

French Left

Reille arrives on the Pamplona road

French Centre

Clausel arrives on the Pamplona road, overlooked by Soult on the hill to his left

French Right

D’Erlon arrives with his infantry in column of march, but the cavalry are deployed in line to cover the advance towards Sorauren

Game Notes

Cole must hold his position for the first two moves. Wellington will arrive at the start of move 3 with Hill’s British and Morillo’s Spanish divisions

Battle of Sorauren

Historical background

In July 1813 Wellington had forced the French to withdraw from Spain. He held the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, Marshal Soult the French side. On 25 July Soult attacked and forced Wellington to abandon Maya and Roncesvalles and retreat to the village of Sorauren, which is a few miles north of Pamplona. Wellington determined to halt the French advance at Sorauren, and ordered his scattered divisions to concentrate there.

Map of battle

Historical Orbat

Wellington
British - 30,000
Portuguese - 30,000
Spanish - 20,000

Soult

French - 72,000

Wargame Orbat

Wellington - Gifted - 96 Infantry, 12 cavalry, 3 guns

Soult - Gifted - 96 infantry, 12 cavalry, 3 guns

British commanders

Cole - Average - 32 infantry, 4 cavalry, 1 gun

Hill - Average - 32 infantry, 4 cavalry, 1 gun

Morillo - Poor - 32 infantry, 4 cavalry, 1 gun

French commanders

Reille - Average - 32 infantry, 4 cavalry, 1 gun

D’Erlon - Poor - 32 infantry, 4 cavalry, 1 gun

Clausel - Average - 32 infantry, 4 cavalry, 1 gun

Table at start of battle

Cole’s Ridge in the centre of the table

Sorauren to the left of the ridge

Move 1 - Reille and Clausel arrive top right road from Roncesvalles

Move 1 - D’Erlon arrive top left road from Maya

Move 1 - Cole in position at start of battle

Move 3 – Wellington and Hill arrives left centre road from San Sebastian

Move 3 - Morillo arrives bottom right road from Pamplona

Sorauren and Cole’s ridge

Rules

This battle is based on Sorauren, it is not meant to be a refight of it.

We use our own rules to fight all of these battles.

Link to wargame rules

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/