Historical Note
On October 9th, Napoleon directed Ney to complete his crossing of the Danube. Ney was to send only one division to Ulm, to collect stray Austrian troops and make them prisoners. The French encountered an Austrian force at Gunzburg and sought to drive the Austrians from bridges they were holding over the Danube. The French attacked and carried the the bridges. The Austrians retired with a loss of 300 killed and 1,000 taken prisoner.
Briefings and Orders of Battle
Feldmarschall-Leutnant D'Aspre :
You arrived at Gunzburg last night which is about a days march east of Ulm.
FML Mack has ordered you to hold the bridges here at all cost. The main Austrian
army in Ulm plans to use these bridges to cross to the north side of the Danube
in the next couple of days. Scouting reports have not located any French troops
in this area. It’s now 9:00am and French scouts have been seen on the north side
of the river near Gunzburg. For a detailed Order of Battle click
HERE.
Général de
Division Mahler : You are
ordered by your Corps Commander, Maréchal Michel Ney, to capture the bridges at Gunzburg
without delay. Gunzburg is about a days march east of Ulm. These bridges are a
critical part of the Emperor's plan to attack Ulm and cut off the escape route
of the Austrian army. As you approach from the north on the main road you can see
the Austrians holding the area around Gunzburg. For a detailed Order of Battle click
HERE.
Gunzburg Map : Austrian positions and French arrival at 9:00am
Battalion/Squadron scale : 1"=50 yards ; Tabletop Grid : 8 by 5 feet.
After Action Report
Only a days march east of Ulm, Gunzburg with its four bridges (actually five) crossing the Danube River would appear to be of significant military value. FML Mack apparently did not think so until early October when he sent FML D'Aspre to hold these bridges at all costs. With him were three regiments of Cavalry, three regiments of Infantry, two companies of Jagers, and a couple of batteries of artillery.
Upon arrival at Gunzburg D'Aspre realized his force can't hold all the bridges so he sends the Jaegers and a section of artillery to hold the bridge west of Gunzburg at Leipheim. The balance of his force he holds at Gunzburg and hopes to be able to deal with any possible French attack from a position of strength.
Almost at the very same time that the Austrians realized the value of Gunzburg so did the French. Marshal Ney's Corps was the nearest force so he ordered GD Mahler forward to accomplish this mission. His Division contained four regiments of Infantry, a combined Grenadier battalion, and a battery of 8lb. foot artillery.
At about 9:00am, Mahler was able to see the Gunzburg area from a hill on the north side of the Danube River. Even though he can only see any serious opposition at Gunzburg he decides to attack only this position. Like d'Aspre he wants to be able to fight from a position of strength.
The crossing at Gunzburg has two bridges that must be crossed one after the other. d'Aspre decides he will only oppose the second or last bridge. He plans to draw the French into Gunzburg where he will destroy them.
Mahler believes he must assault the bridges with his best troops and promptly sends in the two battalions of the 59th Ligne Regiment. D'Aspre sees the French movement and opens fire with one section of artillery and quickly moves another into position to support the fire of death being rained upon these crack French troops at the foot of the bridge. Although the French send out a series of assaults they can not obtain a solid foothold on the south shore.
Finally the 59th Ligne Regiment is forced back and could not muster another assault. Although frustrated at his lack of success, Mahler remained cool headed and consolidated his Grenadiers and Sappers for another assault. The Grenadiers quickly rushed the Austrian IR#38 and pushed back all three battalions in succession, clearing Gunzburg. The Austrian artillery now with no support fell back with their infantry.
Mahler finally seeing success quickly orders up the two battalions of the 27th Ligne to support the Grenadiers. D'Aspre realizing the sudden change of events sends the crack unit IR#3 into Gunzburg. Once again the Grenadiers prove their worth and repulse the first battalion of IR#3.
Before the other two battalions of IR#3 could get into position to assault Gunzberg, Prince Frederick had arrived with twenty-one squadrons of cavalry. Fredrick decides the force that is left will not be able to retake Gunzburg and tells D'Aspre to fall back to Ulm.
The entire battle had lasted less than two hours.
Conclusion
Another good game that played out very similar to the historical encounter even though the players deployed their forces differently.
