Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw 1813
The Poles of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw were one of Napoleon's staunchest allies and provided some the best troops available in 1813. My
Poles were the first of my French allies and were given as a Xmas present from my parents in 2005. Their full orbat for LFS is here.
VIII Corps in 1813 was in reality a combined arms Division, with three brigades of infantry, a brigade of cavalry plus plentiful efficient artillery.
This miniature little army was ably led led by the enigmatic Josef Poniatowski. The Corps fought with success at Lobau (9th September) and
at Zedtlitz (10th October). By the time of the battle of Leipzig VIII Corps infantry battalions well understrength and the Polish regiments, of two
battalions each are best represented in LFS as a single units of 12 figures.
They fought with typical tenacity and bravery at the battle of the nations. Poniatowski was made a Marshal of France and his Corps was
trusted to cover the retreat. Over half of his Poles were killed or captured and the new Marshal wounded, and then drowned, as he tried in vain
to swim the River Elster after the only bridge was prematurely blown up before his men could cross to safety.
Polish troops also served in the Imperial Guard, and IV (Polish) Cavalry Corps. The other all Polish formation in the Grand Armee of 1813 was
Dombrowski's Independent Polish Division. Jan Henryk Dombrowski shared considerable political and personal emnity with Poniatowski,
sufficiently for their formations to be kept apart. Dombrowski's force is a useful combined arms wargames force of two small regiments of foot,
two regiments of lancers and two batteries of artillery. Zotowski's brigade from Dombrowski's Division was attached to the French 32nd
Division under Durutte at the battle of Dennewitz. The 32nd Division was part of VII Corps which had a sizeable force of Saxon infantry with it.
This allows the wargamer to field both Saxons and Poles in the same corps.
1813 Poles under LFS are almost always C Class with up to 40% of units rated as having Elan.
My Poles have usually done very well on the wargames table apart from one notable exception when a unit of Polish lancers was hit in the flank
by my cossacks and routed. The cossacks then pursued into the flank of four battalions of Polish infantry routing them also. The Poles also
lost a battery in the process and suffered their Divisional commander to be hors de combat.
The Poles of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw were one of Napoleon's staunchest allies and provided some the best troops available in 1813. My
Poles were the first of my French allies and were given as a Xmas present from my parents in 2005. Their full orbat for LFS is here.
VIII Corps in 1813 was in reality a combined arms Division, with three brigades of infantry, a brigade of cavalry plus plentiful efficient artillery.
This miniature little army was ably led led by the enigmatic Josef Poniatowski. The Corps fought with success at Lobau (9th September) and
at Zedtlitz (10th October). By the time of the battle of Leipzig VIII Corps infantry battalions well understrength and the Polish regiments, of two
battalions each are best represented in LFS as a single units of 12 figures.
They fought with typical tenacity and bravery at the battle of the nations. Poniatowski was made a Marshal of France and his Corps was
trusted to cover the retreat. Over half of his Poles were killed or captured and the new Marshal wounded, and then drowned, as he tried in vain
to swim the River Elster after the only bridge was prematurely blown up before his men could cross to safety.
Polish troops also served in the Imperial Guard, and IV (Polish) Cavalry Corps. The other all Polish formation in the Grand Armee of 1813 was
Dombrowski's Independent Polish Division. Jan Henryk Dombrowski shared considerable political and personal emnity with Poniatowski,
sufficiently for their formations to be kept apart. Dombrowski's force is a useful combined arms wargames force of two small regiments of foot,
two regiments of lancers and two batteries of artillery. Zotowski's brigade from Dombrowski's Division was attached to the French 32nd
Division under Durutte at the battle of Dennewitz. The 32nd Division was part of VII Corps which had a sizeable force of Saxon infantry with it.
This allows the wargamer to field both Saxons and Poles in the same corps.
1813 Poles under LFS are almost always C Class with up to 40% of units rated as having Elan.
My Poles have usually done very well on the wargames table apart from one notable exception when a unit of Polish lancers was hit in the flank
by my cossacks and routed. The cossacks then pursued into the flank of four battalions of Polish infantry routing them also. The Poles also
lost a battery in the process and suffered their Divisional commander to be hors de combat.
Poniatowksi, C-in-C VIII Corps 1813 Polish Generals Sierawski's Brigade, VIII Corps (L-R) Vistula Legion (mostly in Shako), 1st & 16th Polish Infantry Regiments (Czapkas) Malakowski's Brigade, VIII Corps 8th & 15th Polish Infantry Regiments Grabowski's Brigade, VIII Corps 12th & 14th Polish Infantry Regiments Uminski's 27th Light Cavalry Brigade 14th Polish Cuirassier Regt In 1813 these actually didn't wear cuirasses. I used Essex Empress Dragoons figures. Krakus These were superb light cavalry and acted much as the cossacks did for the allies. These figures are from Ozmy Oddzial Dombrowski's Independent Polish Division Zotowski's Brigade 2nd (in Czapka) & 4th (in Shako) Polish Infantry Regiments Krukowiecki's 18th Light Cavlary Brigade For most of the Autumn 1813 campaign the Polish cavalry regiments seem to have been 700-800 men strong. In LFS this is best represented as two units of eight figures per regiment. 2nd Polish Uhlans 4th Polish Chasseurs a Cheval (Uhlans) My reading indicated that these were infact lance armed and dressed as Uhlans in 1813 Polish Artillery More suitable for earlier periods Polish Artillery in Shako Suitable for 1813 6th Polish Uhlans Hunting through my 'bits box' I realised I had enough figures to make two 8 figure Polish Lancer units. 6th Uhlans were part of Krzukowski's Brigade (along with 8th Uhlans), Sulkowski's 8th Light Cavalry Division, IV (Polish) Cavalry Corps. All figures Essex Miniatures unless specified. Owned and painted by yours truly. |
