Age of Eagles - Game Report 3

The Battle of Landshut 15 April 1809

Background

This is the second battle of the Danube 1809 Campaign.

Situation

The Austrian Army was committed to forcing crossings across the Isar River in order to engage and destroy piecemeal the French Corps south of the Danube before the had an opportunity to regroup. Early on the 15^th April the advance guard of the 6^th Armee Korps made up of HR and CLR3 secured the crossing and sent picquets forward to the outskirts of Landshut. Behind this advance guard the rest of the Corps were on the march and due to arrive around 1200hrs. The 2^nd Reserve Korps was further behind them on the road.

The French had sent II Corps D’Armee with its 1^st Division to contest the crossing supported by 3^rd Hvy Cav Div. The II Corps’s 2^nd Division was due to arrive around 1400hrs.

Battlefield Map and Terrain

The battlefield was open and flat with a number of small woods on the flood plain. The Heigel Stream ran west to east to the Isar River, effectively splitting the battlefield. With the unseasonably heavy rains the stream was discovered to be uncrossable for most of its length. This committed the Austrians to conducting a forced river crossing at the bridges.

The Action

The battle started at 1300hrs with the Austrian 6^th Armee Korps arriving after crossing the Isar. The Corps Commanders plan was to send the Advance Guard Division to context the furthest west crossing while the 1^st Division forced the crossing closest to Landshut, with the 2^nd Division linking the two and capable of acting a reserve for both.

The French 1^st Division was already well deployed to defend this crossing and therefore it was important to get the artillery into action as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately the movement of the Advance Guard was hampered by poor command and control and there were significant delays in moving of to their objective.

Space for deployment was at a premium for the Austrians. In trying to achieve fire superiority over the French artillery the Austrians were less than successful, suffering a wrecked battery in the process.

Despite this the Austrian Commander decided that he needed to press home the crossing and IR4 and IR59 formed column ready to charge across the bridge. 

Where they formed line to confront the French.

Initially the IR4 did well, but the French pressure proved to great and eventually both Austrian regiments were forced to withdraw back across the river. 

As this fight was taking place the French 2^nd Division had arrived and moved to support the 1^st Division. The firefight continued across the Heigel stream for most of the afternoon.

As dusk was starting to fall the Austrian advance Guard was approaching its objective but failed to come into contact with the French.

Outcome

Casualties were very light on both sides. The French withdrew Northwest after the battle leaving the Austrians in command of the battlefield.