SINSHEIM 1674

Historical Notes:

The scenario is based on the Battle of Sinsheim on June 16^th 1674. The Allies were attempting to unite the main elements of their forces in Germany prior to crossing the River Rhine and invading Alsace. Turenne, who had been given the task of defending that province by Louis XIV, decided to pre-empt the enemy and crossed the Rhine. He intercepted a force commanded by the Duke of Lorraine and Count Caprara close to Sinsheim. The Allied troops (mainly from Austria, Saxony and Lorraine) had been marching to join their main army under the Duke of Bournonville. The Duke of Lorraine wanted to continue the march; Count Caprara wanted to stand and fight the French. The latter won the argument and the Allied army drew up for battle. A detachment of infantry and dragoons (1500 strong) held Sinsheim, while the cavalry (6000-7000 strong) drew up in line on the plateau above the town. The Allies had no artillery. Turenne, with 3000 foot, 500 dragoons, 5000 cavalry and six cannons, attacked from off the march, throwing his infantry and dragoons against Sinsheim, which they captured and then went on to seize the bridges over the river and secure footholds on the edge of the plateau behind hedges and vineyards, as well as occupying a nearby castle. The French cavalry then crossed the river, unit by unit, rode up onto the plateau by a defile and deployed into line. Several attacks by the Allied cavalry failed to prevent Turenne and his mounted troops gradually extending their control of the southern end of the plateau, supported on either flank by their infantry shooting from cover. A see-saw battle ensued involving over 10,000 cavalry, but eventually, the Duke of Lorraine and Count Caprara abandoned the fight and retreated. However, Turenne made only a limited pursuit and then retired back across the Rhine.

Terrain:

See accompanying map. The river, the Elsenz, is impassable along its entire length and can only be crossed at the bridge. A bonus to movement applies on all roads. The slope along the southern edge of the plateau is steep and will reduce movement for all units, unless they move along the roads, which negate the effect of the slope (however, the road bonus does not apply in this case). Hedges can be crossed by foot units, but they will count as unformed; no other types of units can cross the hedges. The buildings at A4 and A5 are substantial townhouses. Finally, the woods along the north edge of the table are there for “aesthetic purposes” but any unit compelled to enter them is assumed to have left the battlefield.

Orders:

The Allied army is to hold the town and prevent the French crossing the river, but if unable to do so, the Allied army must prevent the French establishing a bridgehead on the plateau to the north of the town.

The French army must capture the town, cross the river and defeat the Allied force with is deployed on the plateau to the north of the town.

Allied Army Deployment:

Town Guard          A6-B6     1 x Foot Regt (Trained)

                              1 x Dragoon Regt (dismounted) (Trained)

Right Wing Cavalry  A2-B2     1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                              1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                              1 x General ‘A’

Centre Cavalry      B2-C2     1 x Cuirassier Regiment (Veteran)

                              1 x Cuirassier Regiment (Veteran)

                              1 x General ‘B’

Left Wing Cavalry   D2        1 x Horse Regiment (Trained)

                              1 x General ‘C’

Baggage Train       A1        1 x Baggage Train (Raw)

Allied Army Notes:

1) The Foot Regiment and the Dragoon Regiment (dismounted) must deploy in line behind the rows of hedges in A6-B6.

2) The Horse Regiments and Cuirassier Regiments deploy in a single line across the battlefield, each one adjacent to the next, from A2 to D2.

3) The Allied cavalry on the plateau cannot move until a French unit appears at the top of the open slope or along the hedges on the flanks.

French Army Deployment:

Advance Guard  Enter A6  1 x Foot Regiment (Veteran)

                         1 x General ‘Z’

               Enter B6  1 x Dragoon Regiment (dismounted) (Veteran)

Centre         Enter A6-B6    1 x Foot Regiment (Veteran)

                              1 x Foot Regiment (Veteran)

                              1 x Medium Gun Battery

                              1 x General ‘Y’

Left Wing      Enter on road A6    1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                                   1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                                   1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                                   1 x General ‘X’

Right Wing     Entry on road A6    1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                                   1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                                   1 x Horse Regiment (Veteran)

                                   1 x General ‘W’

French Army Notes:

1) The Foot Regiment and Dragoon Regiment (dismounted) must enter the table on Turn 1 in line, ready to attack the enemy at A6-B6.

2) The infantry units of the Centre can enter the table as soon as the French commander wishes, ready to attack the enemy. However, the Medium Gun Battery is deployed on a hill off the table to the south of B6. It is able to bombard the enemy from that position – for simplicity’s sake, measure the range from the edge of the table - from the start of the game if the French commander wishes. If he wants to bring the battery on to the table, he must state the turn on which he is ordering it forward and it will appear, in draught, at Entry Point 1, two turns later.

3) The French cavalry cannot enter the table on the road in A6 until the Town in A5 has fallen, the bridge at B5 has been captured, and the French infantry are across the river. The cavalry must enter the table, one unit after another, moving along the road. Once across the bridge, they can move and deploy as the French commander wishes.

Victory Points:

Allied Army:  

          Hold the Town in A5                     50 VP

          Hold the Bridge in B5                   50 VP

          Hold the House in A4                    20 VP

          Per enemy unit destroyed                5 VP

          Per enemy unit in rout                  2½ VP

French Army:  

          Capture the Town in A5                  10 VP

          Capture the Bridge in B5                10 VP

          Capture the House in A4                 10 VP

          Capture the Baggage Train in A1         50 VP

          Per enemy unit destroyed                5 VP

          Per enemy unit in rout                  2½ VP

Map:

Designer’s Notes:

The problem with Sinsheim as a battle is that the Allies were hampered by the fact they did not have a force with the right balance for the terrain on which they decided to fight. They were badly outnumbered in infantry, had no artillery, and, in reality, could not see what was happening down in the valley from their main cavalry position on the plateau, owing to the fact they had to pull back out of range of the French artillery to the south of the river Elsenz. If one is honest, the Duke of Lorraine, who was by far the better general on the Allied side, was correct: the Allies should not have stood and fought at Sinsheim. I think that, when they did decide to fight, the Allied commanders did not believe that the French could take Sinsheim and cross the bridges and establish a strong battle line on the edge of the plateau. However, the French displayed an élan on the day which overcame all opposition, and they were led by Turenne displaying all his military skills at almost his best. To get this balance right in a re-fight so that the Allied player has some chance of victory was rather a challenge!

In terms of the terrain, I simplified the battlefield so that only what I saw as the key features of the battle remained – the River Elsenz, Sinsheim, a bridge over the river, the plateau and its slopes, the old castle north of the river, and the two main defiles up onto the plateau. It also had to be able to fit onto a 6 feet by 4 feet table. The end result can be seen in the map and the photographs of the re-fight. Sinsheim (originally a medieval walled town with a wet moat and several bridges, as well as extensive gardens (which were really allotments belonging to the townspeople), became two large houses with hedges around it, the old castle became one large house, the bridges became one main bridge; the plateau and defiles were easy to represent with the terrain hexes. The main defile past the old castle was lined with hedges at that time and this was easy enough to represent. However, the opposite edge of the battlefield was marked by a vineyard on the plateau’s slopes; I do not have any scenery to represent a vineyard, but a line of hedges seemed an appropriate alternative.

For the opposing forces, knowing what each side had in terms of infantry, cavalry and artillery and what would actually fit on a 6 feet by 4 feet table, playing lengthways, allowed me to establish the two sides’ forces. Once I had established how many Allied mounted units would fit on the plateau, I then calculated how many cavalry units the French could have in proportion to the original opposing strengths. There had to be at least one Allied infantry unit in Sinsheim to defend it, along with a dragoon unit, and this then gave a figure from which to calculate the numb of French foot units. Only the French had artillery, so it was easy enough to give them a single battery. I also gave the French better quality troops than their opponents as a way of reflecting their élan on the day. In the end, the result of my re-fight seemed to suggest I had got the balance about right.

After that, I had to establish some ground rules and victory conditions for the engagement which would make the French and Allies behave like the two opposing armies in 1674.

Therefore, the French have to take the town because they had to on the day because it controlled the bridges; they have to take the bridge because it is the only way over the river; they have to take the house representing the old castle because they had to on the day in order to secure their hold on the left-hand defile; they cannot bring their cavalry onto the table until they have the crossing point and town because that was what happened on the day as well. After that, they are still not going to win (as they wont have accumulated enough victory points) unless they get their troops up onto the plateau and defeat the Allied cavalry and capture the latter’s baggage train.

As for the Allies, I gave them victory conditions which make them try to hold on to the town and the bridge against their numerically superior opponents because that was what happened on the day, even though is going to be difficult to achieve. In addition, the cavalry on the plateau had to be made to stay there until the French reach the top of the slopes, partly because that was what happened on the day and partly because the Duke of Lorraine and Caprara could not see down into the valley from where they were on the plateau and so react to events around Sinsheim itself. The Allies can still win (as they will be ahead on victory points even after losing the town, bridge, and their infantry and dragoons) if they prevent the French capturing their baggage and wreck plenty of French units as well.

Orders of Battle for Sinsheim 1674:

I have not managed to find full details of the opposing forces, and there are some contradictions or differences in the sources, but my research has produced the following reasonably reliable information:

Allies:

900-1,500 Imperial Foot

Regiment = Strein

200-400 Imperial Dragoons (Saxon)

6,000-7,500 Horse

     4,000 Imperial Cuirassiers

Regiments = Bournonville, Caprara (1,300), Gondola (500),           Lothringen, Jung Holstein, Dunewald

     700-1,500 Imperial Cavalry (Saxony and Pfalz)

     1,600-2,000 Lorraine Cavalry

Regiments = Du Houx, Viard, Du Puy, Thouvenin, Berrière, Mercy, Berger

French:

3,500 Foot

Regiments = Douglas, Du Plessis, La Ferté, Picardie (2,000 total)

Detachments = Champagne, Turenne, Languedoc, Bourgogne, Hamilton, Monmouth (1,500 total)

400-500 Dragoons

Regiments = La Reine

Company = Du Fay

5,000-5,500 Horse

Regiments = Pilloy, Coulanges, Colonel-Général, Royal-étranger,

Bulonde, Cornas, La Reine, Montferrier, Grignan, Prouville,

Bouillon, Armagnac, Montgeorge, Royal-Wallon, Coislin, Buzenval,

Locmaria, La Veuville, Royal

6 Artillery Pieces

Any more accurate information would be very welcome!