THE BATTLE OF SACILE - 16 April 1809
Refought using Napoleon's Battles 18 may, 2009
Theater Map
The fields outside Sacile. It is 0800 hrs on an April morning
in Northern Italy...
Battlefield map
French Deployment. The French line of retreat is through Sacile. That bridge is
mined for destruction should the need arise. Prince Eugene is not wholly
confident but the Austrians have always been beaten by French before. Malcolm is
Prince Eugene and Mike will be General Serras.
Austrian Deployment. Archduke John appears to have a slight numerical
superiority and indeed have twice the cavalry of the French. Jeremy plays the
part of Ignatius Giulay (IX Corps) and Warren will be the Archduke with command
of Albert Giulay's VIII Corps.
Things begin well for the French. They make good progress through the vinyards
on the right and have great success pressing against Frimont at Fontana-Fredda.
The Toscana Dragoons would voluntarily rout back rather than suffer the musketry
of French infantry. They would later get their revenge though.
The French right is the stronger, especially with the artillery able to get to
point blank range. Eugene has arrived on the right flank to urge Serras to
attack swiftly and decisively for he believes that the left flank cannot hold on
long. 
The left is already suffering heavy casualties from the advancing Austrian
artillery. They have been driven back as the Austrians just continue to advance
at the speed of their guns with depth. It is very pretty.
At Eugene's urgings, the French right appears to crack through the defences of
VIII Corps and surges forward.
Moments later though the No. 4 Erbgrossherzog v. Toscana Dragoons return to the
battle with a vengeance and FM Johann Frimont personally leads a magnificent
charge that routs three French and Italian Infantry brigades. Serras' attack is
entirely stalled. The Toscana Dragoons would be dispersed in the charge but
their glory will be eternal.
The real trouble though for the French is on their left. Sahuc's Dragoons, in a
daring gamble, managed to rout their Austrian counterparts on the northern wing
and then pursued them well into the rear. They would be obliged to take no
further part in the battle, despite their seeming advantageous position.
Eugene's infantry and artillery though can do little more than cling to their
lines and suffer more casualties. They hold, hoping that Serras' wing can win
the battle before they must fail. One routing French unit so alarms the
engineers at the bridge at Sacile that they set off the charges and blow the
bridge to pieces.
There would be no miracles for the French on this day. At the end, despite
having all of their cavalry on the battlefield and the Austrians having none,
the French could not take advantage of it. For an hour, the French fight on past
what appears to be their breaking point but the end is certain. The Austrian
VIII Corps and Advance Guard are shattered but IX Corps remains a juggernaut.
The Battle ends at 1400 hrs with the French army smashed.
