Camposanto, 8th February 1743

This scenario has been developed by Mike Kirby.

“Forget that the cavalry flees. You, valiant fellows, follow me! In Italy, you don’t conquer with the cavalry – but the infantry!”[1]

The Government in Madrid decided to act in order to ‘firm up’ the alliance between the Bourbon monarchies of France and Spain. General De Gages, the Spanish commander in Bologna, was given instructions to take the offensive against the Austrians and their Piedmontese-Sardinian allies. The Austrians under Field Marshal Traun were situated on the opposite bank of the River Panaro in Modena. On 3 February 1743, De Gages crossed the Panaro and marched into Modena to offer battle to Traun. Normally fond of manoeuvre, Traun waited but came under political pressure to engage the Spanish. Both armies met at the town of Camposanto on 8 February 1743.

Both armies formed into two lines of battle with a small reserve. The Spanish and their Neapolitan allies numbered around 13000 men, they formed up in front of the town. The Austrians and their Sardinian allies mustered some 11000 men, who deployed after crossing the Dogaro Canal. Traun’s army overlapped the Spanish right flank, in order to counter this, De Gages fed some units from the second line into the front line in order to extend his frontage.

At 2pm the Austrian artillery opened fire on the Spanish, followed by a general advance of the Austrian army. Due to the ground being terraced and broken, the Austrian infantry took two hours to cover 1000 yards. At 4pm when the armies were 400 yards apart,  the Austrian left flank cavalry attempted to outflank the Spanish right wing and to push to the Panaro. However, as they wheeled, the Spanish horse, under the Duke D’Atrisco, seized the opportunity to attack. The Sardinian cavalry broke before contact and the Austrian cuirassiers were overwhelmed. Lt. General Mariani supported the Spanish cavalry with his infantry who shot at the Austrian second line cavalry. A charge by the Sagunto Dragoons completed the rout, the Austrians losing two Generals and eight standards. The Spanish cavalry came under fire from the Croats, rallied back at their starting point and took no further part in the action.

At 4.30pm the two armies closed to musketry range. The Austrian artillery was causing many casualties on the Spanish infantry, therefore Lt. General MacDonald launched the Spanish Guards supported by the Irish Brigade into a bayonet attack on the Austrians to their front. The Regiment of Deutchmeister counter attacked and in a desperate melee was cut to pieces and its’ standard captured. More Spanish infantry joined in the attack and many men fell in the furious hand to hand fighting. The Regiments of Roth and Wallis retreated. Four Sardinian battalions attacked the Spanish right flank and checked the Spanish success, however their leader, the Count D’Aspremont, fell mortally wounded at their head. During all this time, the Spanish commander, De Gages, did nothing but observe the actions of his subordinates.

The Spanish reorganised themselves on the conquered ground, now 600 yards in front of their original positions. The Austrian second line, joined by the remnants of their front line, reformed their line of battle. It was now 6pm and the sun was setting on the smoke filled battlefield. The Spanish commander, De Gages, still refused to support MacDonald, thinking that further Austrian attacks would fall on his left wing. At 7pm Traun ordered an advance upon the Spanish right. Lt. General Mariani, on his own initiative, sent three battalions of Walloon Guards to support MacDonald. Unfortunately, in the darkness, these troops were mistaken for the enemy by the regiments of Castilla and Lombardy. A firefight ensued and 200 Spanish were laid low before the mistake was realised. De Gages ordered all these regiments to return to their original positions. Traun now launched an infantry attack with the troops of his right wing but this was a half-hearted attempt and Traun decided to order a general retreat. Mercifully, complete darkness fell over the bloody field of battle at 9pm. The Austro-Sardinians lost 1751 casualties, the Spanish 3164. The Spanish withdrew back over the Panaro, the Austrians followed up at the end of March to take Bologna. Both sides then stabilised their lines in Italy.

Camposanto 1743 – A Scenario for Volley & Bayonet

This battle is fought at the ‘Battalion Scale’ (1.200) scale. Each map square contains 9 grid-squares and therefore represents 500 x 500 paces of ground.

The Spanish deploy up to 2 map squares north of the Panaro.The Austrians deploy immediately south of the Dogaro. The first turn is at 2pm and the last turn is at 7pm for a total of 11 turns. 

All buildings are stone. The Dogaro canal is a stream, the Panaro is an unfordable river. All infantry regiments have their grenadiers present but do not have battalion guns.

Victory Conditions.

Each Commander must force a greater number of enemy commands into exhaustion by nightfall to win.

Order of Battle

The Spanish and Neapolitans

Army Commander, LG De Gages (AC)

Right Wing Cavalry, LG Duc D’Atrisco (DC), Ex = 2

• CR1 La Reina Cuirassier Regt.                M5[][] Hvy

• CRGd Carabineros Reales Horse Regt.          M5[][] Hvy

Right Centre, LG MacDonald (DC), Ex = 7

• IRG1 Guardias Espana Infantry Btns.          M5 [][][]

• IRG2 Guardias Espana Infantry Btns.          M5 [][][]

• IRCi Castilla Infantry Regt.                 M4 [][][]

• IR36 Flanders Infantry Regt.                 M4 [][][]

• IR2 Lombardy Infantry Regt.                  M4 [][][]

• A1 Pignarron’s Field Bty.                    M5 [] Fld PPA 

Left Centre, LG Mariani (DC), Ex = 4

• IRG3 Guardias Valonas Infantry Btns.         M5 [][][]

• IRG4 Guardias Valonas Infantry Btns.         M5 [][][]

• A2 Pignarron’s Field Bty.                    M5 [] Fld PPA

Left Wing Cavalry, LG Beaufort (DC), Ex = 2

• DR6 Sagunta Dragoon Regt.                    M5 [][] Med

• DR1 Reina Dragoon Regt.                      M5 [][] Med

Second Line, LG Count Savoye (CC), Ex = 11

• IR28 Reina Infantry Regt.                    M4 [][][]

• IR5 Corona Infantry Regt.                    M4 [][][]

• IR10 Guadalajara Infantry Regt.              M4 [][][]

• IR34 Hibernia Infantry Regt.                 M5 [][][]

• IR33 Irlanda Infantry Regt.                  M5 [][][]

• A1 Neapolitan Light Bty.                     M4 [] Lt PPA

• IR1 Neapolitan Infantry Regt. Bessler.       M4 [][][]

• IR2 Neapolitan Infantry Regt. Parma.         M4 [][][]

• IR3 Neapolitan Infantry Regt. Wirtz.         M4 [][][]

• L3 Miquelets Mountain Fusilier Btn.          M4 [] SS Sko

• L4 Miquelets Mountain Fusilier Btn.          M4 [] SS Sko

• CLR1 Trapas Lisexas Free-Corps Cavalry.      M4 [] Lt Sko

The Austrians and Piedmont-Sardinians

Army Commander, Field Marshall Traun (AC)

Corps Advance Guard.

• 65 Eslavones Croat Btn.                       M4 [] Sko

• 66 Eslavones Croat Btn.                       M4 [] Sko

• 67 Eslavones Croat Btn.                       M4 [] Sko

• 68 Eslavones Croat Btn.                       M4 [] Sko

• S1 Piedmontese Partisans.                     M4 [] Mil Sko

• HRiv Havor Hussar Regt.                       M4 [] Lt Mil Sko

• A1 Austrian Heavy Bty.                        M5 [] Hvy PPA

Right Wing, LG Schulenburg (DC), Ex = 4

• IR11 Alt-Wallis Infantry Regt.                M5 [][][]

• IR22 Roth Infantry Regt.                      M5 [][][]

• A2 Austrian Field Bty.                        M5 [] Fld PPA

Left Wing, LG Pallavicini (DC), Ex = 7

• IR4 Deutschmeister Infantry Regt.             M6 [][][]

• IRvi Traun Infantry Regt.                     M5 [][][]

• IR1 Sardinian Infantry Regt. Schulenburg.     M4 [][][]

• IR2 Sardinian Infantry Regt. Savoye.          M4 [][][]

• A3 Austrian Field Bty.                        M5 [] Fld PPA

• A1 Piedmontese Light Bty.                     M4 [] Lt PPA

Left Wing Cavalry, LG Pyersberg (DC), Ex = 2

• CR2 Savoye Cuirassier Regt.                   M4 [][] Hvy

• KR20 Miglio Cuirassier Regt.                  M5 [][] Hvy 

Second Line Corps Reserve.

• 63 Croat Btn.                                 M4 [] Sko

• 64 Croat Btn.                                 M4 [] Sko

• HRv Grenz Hussar Regt.                        M4 [] Sko

Second Line Centre, LG Pestaluzzi, (DC), Ex = 6

• IR20 Diesbach Infantry Regt.                  M5 [][][]

• IR25 Piccolomini Infantry Regt.               M5 [][][]

• IR3 Sardinian Infantry Regt. Rehbinder.       M4 [][][]

• IR4 Sardinian Infantry Regt. Piedmont.        M4 [][][]

• A1 Sardinian Light Bty.                       M4 [] Lt PPA

Second Line Left Wing, LG Ciceri (DC), Ex = 2

• KRi Berlichingen Cuirassier Regt.             M5 [][] Hvy

• CR1 Sardinian Horse Regt. La Reina.           M4 [][] Hvy

Cavalry Corps Reserve.

• KRc Converged Cuirassier Detachments.         M5 [][] Hvy

The Map

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