Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

June 16th, 1815 17:15hrs



Graf Gneisenau receives a dispatch rider sent by Wellington. “His Lordship sends his respects, and bids me convey the following dispatch”, Graf Gneisenau takes the leather bundle and opens the letter within. The merest hint of a smile can be seen on the chief of staff’s face. “My compliments to his Lordship, tell him Yes!”. As the dispatch rider takes his leave Graf Gneisenau calls in several aides.



In the heat and torment of battle, OberstLt. Wienskowski leading 23. Infanterie-regiment raises his eyeglass and scans the front, in a brief break in the choking cloud of cordite and gunpowder smoke he spies the uniform of a French GenBrig standing high in his stirrups, just as rapidly the image disappears. “Steady men, steady! This day will be ours!”.

The smoke and fire and the gun powered and the smell of dead and dying men and animals filled the air. We find the Emperor of the French setting looking down at the ground writing on the ground words that only he knew the meaning of. As the minutes slipped into hours he knew that every time a Prussian or Allied Soldat shot and killed one of his men that it meant that he would have that lest of a chance of beating what was a head of him in the next hour. Not thinking about the next day for he had only this day and it was nearly gone!

Blucher observed the charge of the French cavalry, and hearing the cheers of the France fantassins, wondered if Napoleon really thought that his elite horsemen could win this battle on their own!

AS the Allied reinforcement move on the French left the Emperors moves his Young Guard to booster the right!

Salute!

June 16th, 1815
18:00 hrs: The semaphore stations report the Battle of Tongrinne has reached the halfway point (24 of 48 Turns)!

La Grande Armee and the combined forces of the Anglo-Allied and Prussian kingdoms are locked in mortal combat upon the battle map!

Current level of Losses & VPs are as follows:

French: infantry 9,903; cavalry 1,720; artillery 24. Leaders 9 (64 VPs); objectives 201; VPs 833 (French Minor Victory!).

Allies: infantry 14,549; cavalry 2,196; artillery 80; Leaders 8 (60 VPs).

Now the commanders plot and maneuver for the final act of the drama!

Regards,

June 16th 1815 – 17:45 hrs



Marchal Blucher and Gneisenau meet on the file and take stock of the recent successes on their left flank and thankful of the lull to the centre and right that provides time to rest and redeploy the men.



The Allies unleash a series of bold cavalry charges with Drogoner and Uhlans of the Prussians under the command of Col. Jurgass taking two French Dragon regiments in the flank and pushing them out of position. The fearless Uhlans of the Brunswick ride headlong at a French horse battery, even the close range canister cannot stop them from sweeping it and the skirmishers protecting it from the field.

The Prussians under Lt General Von Gneisau on the Allied left lunch an Attack to recover lost territory. As the French Guard moved to the Prussian right.

18:30 hrs:

The Allied staff officers make their way under flag of truce into the courtyard of a tavern which somehow remains standing and unburnt in the otherwise flaming wreck of Tongrinne village.

Negotiations result in a French Minor Victory, and with the agreed ceasefire of the batteries on both sides a sudden calm descends over the battle map.

The Rot Adlers pull back their forces, withdrawing deeper into the interior of the Belgian countryside, while the Tirailleurs et Dragons! organize the exhausted yet elated fantassins.

This was an exciting and challenging contest of arms!

Capt. Fabio Fogato and myself salute our noble adversaries: Generallieutenant David GrobHerzog Stotsenburgh, General der Kavallerie Clifton Prinz Dumas Seeney, and GeneralMajor Ian Herzog Hames.

Regards,