The War of the Two Churfursts Part 5

The Wars of the Two Churfursts

(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)

Chapter 5 The Battle of Rosstal

Field Marshall Lottum with additional allies from the Franconian Circle had the numerical superiority he deemed necessary to recapture the Duchy from the Bavarians.  He therefore advanced resolutely south and south west from Nurnberg until he found the position that the Count de Maffei had fortified and planned to defend the Duchy from.  The photo below shows the initial placement of the Bavarian forces:

As can be seen Maffei kept the balance of his good infantry in the center of the valley, posted behind a row of boar spears embedded into posts to serve as an obstacle to the larger Brandenburg cavalry contingent.  These were stored in nearby Ingolgstadt in any case when the troops had returned from the Turkenkreig campaigns.  The artillery was behind some quickly dug out positions while the cavalry covered the left flank (the easiest to approach) and some new infantry were posted on the hill to his right.

As Lottum surveyed the scene from his advanced location in the spire of the Vierzehnheiligen Kirche he would have seen the following:

Determined to take the bull by the horns he deployed his Brandenburg troops to assault the center with his much stronger cavalry massed to his right, and the Franconian forces covering his left.

The straight ahead advance was only interrupted by the Bavarian heavy artillery which irritated the Brandenburg foot but then went on to destroy the advancing Brandenburg artillery in short order.  (We were surprised by this but the DBAHXT QRS clearly shows that artillery when out-piped, even when not doubled, is Destroyed. Here is another case where various DBX versions differ in some ways). 

The Franconians due to their perhaps less than enthusiastic interest, promptly rolled a 1 on three of their first five pip dice so were slower to advance than their Brandenburg allies.

The first major crossing of fire over the row of boar spears was about a wash, both sides seeing some units rebuffed backwards, but the Bavarians were able to recover and man the line more quickly and soon the Brandenburg forces were halted by losses of four stands to one.  The image below shows the Brandenburg contingent as it closed to effective range.

Note that Maffei is already having his reserve force move towards his right flank as the approaching, but delayed Franconians come forward on the far side of the ridgeline.

With the halting of the Brandenburg forces the issue would be decided by the efforts between the Bavarians and the Franconians on the right.  Both sides had units fall back but come forward again into the firefight.  The skill level on either side was not very high but eventually the Bavarians found Fortuna and they stopped the Franconian advance late in the afternoon.

Although a minor action and a minor victory Maffei realized that at any time his forces would have been defeated if only the Franconians would have been able to seize a 6 from the dice instead of the several rolls of 1 that seemed to roll out of their musketry volleys…

We agreed to continue this irregular series of battles between these two less than super powers of the period and our next effort will be when the Brandenburgers switch the scene of their assault and come at the Duchy from the west and under a new Field Marshall.  De Maffei also was glad to retire to his properties on the Stammerklammer lake and will be replaced by another grizzled veteran of the Turkenkreig period.

The War of the Two Churfursts Part 4

The Bavarians defend the Duchy of Anspach after it is awarded to Bavaria by the Reichskommission.

The Wars of the Two Churfursts

(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)

Chapter 4 The Battle of Cadolzburg

Field Marshall Lottum brought his forces across the Zenn stream (here barely a stone throw across) in good order to find the Bavarians under General de Maffei deployed to both sides of the chausse leading southwestwards towards Cadolzburg  with his defense centered on the hamlet of Unter Vestling.  All the cavalry force of the Bavarian army was on the right thrown out and forward to give advance notice of any turning movement from that direction.

The field of battle was open rolling countryside with the ground sloping gently to the northeast, the direction from which the Brandenburgers were approaching as they made the long easy uphill climb from the Zennfluss.  De Maffei initially posted troops in the village and to the right of it but left a reserve his second line in column of march upon the chausee directly behind the village so as to be able to react to the Brandenburg maneuvers.  The Bavarian artillery was in two sections, one adjacent to and left of the village and one on the supporting at a distance his cavalry vanguard.

Lottum placed his own and slightly smaller cavalry force to his left as a counter to the Bavarian horse and then sent his infantry forward in two largish bodies across some open fields to his front.  His artillery was broken up into two groups, one to support each of the infantry masses but they were still deployed as the range was too distant yet for close support work.  Lottum was worried about his cavalry as the trend towards largish men on very large horses had begun under the new Elector and his troops seemed to move ponderously and without spirit.  He himself observed several troopers falling from their horses when the simplest maneuvers were attempted.

Here is the view from the Bavarian side of the advance of the Brandenburg right wing of infantry.

And here is the view of the Brandenburg left wing of infantry.

Whilst his right wing stepped off promptly his left wing found the ground extremely boggy and difficult to traverse in anything but a march column.  Poor reconnaissance from the Brandenburg staff corps thus ensured that each of his infantry wings would be committed but not supported by the other.

The deep frown on Lottum’s visage tells the story as surely as any narrative.

Responding quickly, de Maffei brought his reserve up on line to counter the Brandenburg right while waiting until only part of the Brandenburg left had emerged from the muddy fields when he then sent his own right against them.  Although their fire discipline remained excellent, both Brandenburg wings found themselves outflanked with additional Bavarian units being able to pour supporting fire into the general combat area without reply.  Sensing some disorder also in his own right wing Lottum withdrew it in part behind his second line but the continual excellent fire from the Bavarian troops who now were spirited by the Brandenburg retirement, was too much for the Field Marshal and he had to order his troops to retire towards the Zenn River in order to regain their order and determine another approach to engage the Bavarians.

Although but a small scale battle Lottum’s confidence was dealt a blow and it took him several weeks to replenish losses, re-drill his cavalry until it was fit to see action and receive some additional forces from the Franconian Circle (FrankenKreise) which the Emperor had granted as a reinforcement of the Brandenburg initiative.

During this period de Maffei was able to dispatch additional small columns to bring most of the rest of the Duchy under Bavarian control and to secure his forces in an excellent position near where the Zenn runs into the Regnitz, on high ground which was partially fortified in the manner of the times with a few small redoubts and the local woods being cut down so as to block any large scale passage by troops.

It was here that de Maffei expected to fight the next battle in the wars of the Churfursts.

We continue to play out these small scenarios between our forces organized around a 'battalion on a base' rules and have been using the latest DBA-HXT 3.0 Humberside extension rules as our latest in house rules for the period.  In the next match the stalwart Bavarians will be entrenched on a high slope with both flanks secured by impassable woods whilst the craven Brandenburhers will have to advance from the foot of the hill in a swamp to meet them.  At least that's how I remember the scenario unfolding....

The Wars of the Two Churfursts Part 3

Here is the third chapter in this ongoing series:

The Wars of the Two Churfursts

(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)

Chapter 3

After the Battle of Erlangen, the Brandenburg forces were marched directly off to Speyer and incorporated into the army under Prinz Eugen.  During the long war that followed Max Emanuel was forced to abandon his ancestral lands and served as the Viceroy of the Spanish Netherlands.  His forces likewise were moved to the Low Countries and served with distinction as allies to the Bourbons.

The long history of that war has no place in the current narrative except that it explains the length of time separating the battles between the two Churfursts.  During 1705 the small garrison in the ‘Alte Veste’ of  Kulmbach was approached by the Austrian troops who had occupied all of the Bavarian lands of the Churfurst and asked to surrender the fortress or be starved out during the coming winter.  The garrison of 27 men and 6 reserve artillerists had no choice as they could scarce cover the gates and man the walls on any kind of routine basis.  With the return of the Veste the province was able to be controlled by the Brandenburg representative, Count Dohna.

Under the terms of the Treaties of Utrecht and of Rastatt and other documents signed by Max Emanuel he was finally restored to his Electorate and returned to Munich to reign in 1715.  It was particularly galling that Frederik III had achieved the distinction of King in Prussia from the Holy Roman Emperor as part of the settlement and had been crowned at King in Prussia in 1701.

Frederick I Elector of Brandeburg and King in Prussia

The death of Frederick I in 1713 saw the next of the Churfursts of the Brandenburg line achieve the electorship of Brandenburg as Elector of Brandenburg and King in Prussia.

Frederick William I

One of the first acts of Frederick William I was to renew the dispute before the Reichskommission over the lawful succession over the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

The Reichskommission had withheld any action on any proposal regarding this during the late wars and they were reluctant to once again try to unravel this spool of intrigue and in-family matters.  Under the request of the Emperor, however, they were bound to do so and it was speculated that the decision would serve as another punishment for Bavaria who had taken sides against the Empire during the late wars.

Little did the world anticipate the decision granted by the Kommission in 1717 to award the tile of Margrave to  Bavaria claiming the agreement with the widow of George Frederick II supplanted any other action that Brandenburg had made.  The fact that the commission was held in Cologne under the auspices and influence of Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, brother to Max Emanuel and who was even then trying to build a Family Compact among all the various Wittelsbach branches, should have made Frederick William concerned but apparently he did not at first voice opposition to the ruling.

Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, Archbishop of Koln, Trier and Koblenz

While Frederick William dithered, Max Emanuel ordered General Allesandro, Marquis deMaffei to once again occupy the Margrave and this was done promptly without interference by the Emperor or the Diet at Frankurt.  Schwabach and Windsbach were occupied with no problem, the city of Anspach managed to form a deputation to greet FZM De Maffei and remind him of the Imperial Rights held by the city and their expectation that Max Emanuel would honour them.  Once secure in this they placed the keys to the city in his hand and passed under the Blau/Weiss banner once again.

In Berlin the court council finally decided that something would have to be done and Graf Lottum the new Field Marshal was appointed to lead the forces that would regain the Duchy for the House of Brandenburg.

Recently recalled from his assignment as Governor of Cleves, he hastily assembled the forces assigned for the Liberation of Anspach consisting of several of the regiments he had led to success in the late War of the Spanish Succession.  While weak in artillery the force was a balanced one of 6 regiments of foot and 4 regiments of horse or approximately 15,000 men.  This was felt to be sufficient based on projections of the Bavarian forces in the area.

So in the month of May the Prussians made the march through the Franconia uplands and descended from Bamberg using the Regnitz River as a supply source.  The initial plan called for a maneuver to seize Nurnberg but the failure of Erlangen to provide sufficient supplies lead to a situation where De Maffei was able to select a good position covering the approaches to the Duchy and offer battle.  The results will be reviewed in the following chapter.

The Wars of the Two Churfursts Part 2

And here is the first battle in our series taking place between Brandenburg and Bayern:

The Wars of the Two Churfursts

(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)

Chapter 2       The Battle of Erlangen

The Battle of Erlangen was fought on the 29^h of May, 1703, Ascension Day, in the farmlands to the immediate east of Erlangen.  It is a rich farmland area with slight elevation changes that are mostly noticeable when you note that all the church spires and villages (or ‘dorfs’ as they are referred to in this area) are placed in the low lying areas through which the many streams that crisscross the area are located.  Hench you often hear references to Generals assigning as objectives for their troops to ‘Advance and seize the village whose church tower you see to you left front’ and so forth.  The author walked this area at the turn of the century before industrialization had made many inroads on the area and it was much like it must have appeared on that day in May 1703.

The rival armies would be cheered, or dispirited with the recent announcement that Portugal had joined the ‘Grand Alliance’ and refused to recognize Philip as the new King of Spain so that another enemy was added to the Franco-Bavarian side.  While both armies spoke German as their native tongue, the Brandenburgers were discovering that the ‘sud-deutsche’ or South German variant of the language was an entirely different form from which they were familiar and the local population, even near the Free Cities of Nurnberg and Furth, were hostile and made every effort to avoid providing support or acting as if they understood any requests of the Brandenburg Quartiermeistergereralen.

As to the battle itself, it began early in the afternoon of the 29^th (most accounts agree to the cannon starting to fire around 1:30 PM) but lasted only a few hours due to the collapse of the Bavarian cavalry early in the engagement.  Let us review the events in order so that we can understand the plans and actions of each army. 

The Brandenburg army consisted of nine battalions of Danish troops under contract to the King in Prussia and who would be transferred to the control of the Dutch Republic once this short campaign was completed.  These were subsidy troops and were fully manned by trained infantry.  The army had nine battalions of Brandenburg infantry, most of which likewise were destined to reinforce Prince Eugene’s army at Speyer.  Some of these units were to have long and glorious histories but as of this time they were untried in battle and had only the ferociously imparted drill by the Dessauer to support their actions.  The cavalry consisted of twenty squadrons and included also some units like the Garde du Corps and Mousquetiers that would earn much fame in the War of the Austrian Succession.  Two batterys of artillery supported the force although on neither side were the artillerymen to earn any great praise for their efforts.

This force was deployed with the cavalry massed on the Brandenburg left in two long lines before the village of Unterscharf, then the Danes, again in two lines supported by half the artillery, and then finally the Brandenburgers, in two lines on the right flank separated from the Danes by the village of Kleinscharf.  The illustration below details their deployment along with that of the Bavarian army opposite (to the top of the illustration.

It seemed clear that the Dessauer wished to use his cavalry in a general turning movement from his left, but the village of Unterscharf was clearly an obstacle to a smooth deployment of so many glittering horsemen.  The commander on this flank was also unfortunately chosen as his abilities had never been battle tested and on this day he proved both overly cautious and unable to lead aggressively from the front.  The Danes and Brandenburgers were blessed with dependable and energetic leadership and the presence of the Dessauer directly behind them no doubt contributed to their excellence on the day.

The Bavarian army under Generalieutenant Count Santini, consisted of eighteen battalions of Bavarian infantry, two batterys and eighteen squadrons of cavalry.  Many of the cavalry continued to wear the heavy breastplate and iron ‘lobster’ helmet normally associated with the Ironsides of the English Civil War fame which they still carried from their battles in the Turkenkreig where the added protection to the back of the neck and shoulders was important in defeating the Turkish cavalry in melee.

The cavalry was massed to the Bavarian right flank, but offset from the Brandenburg horse, thereby counting on the village of Unterscharf to screen their own right flank.  It appears that Graf Santini hoped to avoid a major cavalry melee while using his own horse to punch a hole through the left center of the Brandenburg army.  The preponderance of the Bavarian infantry where 18 battalions faced but 9 of Brandenburgers also leads to the conclusion that if the cavalry attack were to fail the Bavarians might yet overpower the isolated Brandenburg foot before aid could be sent to them.

The next illustration shows the initial advance of the Bavarians down the short slope of the Adlerberg (or Eagle’s Hill as it is known locally). 

While this was expected to be a double attack situation, as it turned out the Brandenburgers barely advanced a score of yards and the Danes did not advance at all before the fighting began.  The Brandenburg cavalry can be seen in the next illustration as they are already hopelessly out of contact and have their forces dividing to try to find a way around Unterscharf.  This is occurring while the Bavarian cavalry is itself getting disordered from trying to fit too many squadrons into a front before the center of the Brandenburg army.

Count Santini had unfortunately misjudged the placement of his artillery and throughout the short action that followed they rarely had a chance to fire in support of their countrymen. 

Here the illustrious Dessau tries to make sense of what to do about his left flank of cavalry.

The Danish foot though proved up to the task and with the nearby encouragement of Dessau they did not break when the Bavarian cavalry launched its attack on their ranks.  Coolly firing and stepping back rank upon rank they decimated the Bavarian horse before they could get to saber reach.  Not a single Danish unit was ever in trouble and the back ranks of the Bavarians squadrons, being primarily unarmored Dragoons, were even less able to make any headway.  A last ditch attempt to speed up the Bavarian infantry was unable to offset the failure of the cavalry action.  Although the Bavarian foot maintained rigid lines and engaged the Brandenburgers opposite them in well aimed and fired volleys, no advantage could be said to accrue to either of these forces.

Judging that the opportunity had slipped away from him Count Santini ordered a general withdrawal southeastwards towards his depot at Donauworth which was executed with precision by his infantry.  The few attempts by the lagging Brandenburg horse to interfere with the orderly withdrawal were sent off by deliberate fire and good order amongst the Bavarians.

It has been judged that Dessau earned a major and decisive victory for the King in Prussia as after the battle he was able to re-occupy almost the entire of the Duchy of Brandenburg-Ansbach before marching westwards for his rendezvous with Prince Eugene on the Rhine. Max Emanuel for his part was able to occupy the Veste at Coburg, the ancestral seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollern family while the battle was occurring but his faith in Count Santini had been dealt a blow and his infantry and cavalry was in need of further reinforcements and training before the upcoming campaign of 1704.

The Wars of the Two Churfursts Part 1

Looking for an occasional opportunity to get our 15mm Horse and Musket period figures into battle, my friend and I decided to invent a series of actions between Brandenburg and Bavaria which would allow us to use the many battalions and squadrons that we have collected over the years.

It isn't hard to think up a potted history of the conflict and if you can forgive the obvious mistaken reference or incomplete biographies of some of the cast of characters well it is a hobby after all, not serious history.  We enjoy a game once a month or so if luck and weather allow so this works well for us.  Originally we used a set of home rules called No Brainer rules for the WSS/GNW but we are now trying out the DBAHXT 3.0 version as both feature what we refer to as 'battalion on a base' gaming where each stand is a particular battalion with proper cuffs, turnbacks (where sartorially allowed) and button/lace combinations which matter deeply to the soldiers.

We begin the general history with an overview and a first battle report:

The Wars of the Two Churfursts

(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)

Chapter 1

Even during the ten years he served the Emperor’s pleasure by keeping his army in the wars against the Turks, Maximilian II Emanuel, Churfurst of Bavaria, was constantly looking at opportunities to expand his patrimony and to raise his state to a larger and more respected role within the Empire and Europe.  Such an opportunity came about with the death of George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. 

As early as the mid 1690’s Max Emanuel had negotiated a succession plan that called for the incorporation of this territory into Bavaria upon the occasion of the death of the final son of John Frederick’s first marriage (to the Margravine Joanna Elisabeth of Baden-Durlach).  It had been ruled by the Imperial Diet that John Frederick’s second wife and her sons did not have inheritance rights due to other inheritance commitments within Baden.

George Frederick II – Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach

This dispensation had been embodied in the many articles of the Treat of Ryswick in 1697 which ended the War of the League of Augsburg and returned Philippsburg, Freiburg and the Breisach to the control of the Empire but left the issue over the potential succession of the Spanish throne still unresolved.  With this dispensation in hand and with his son Electoral Prince Joseph Ferdinand as a possible claimant to the throne of Spain, Max Emanuel believed that his plans for Bavaria and the house of Wittlesbach were moving in the proper direction.  Unfortunately the untimely death of Joseph Ferdinand of smallpox at age six in 1699 eliminated this opportunity for Bavaria and moved Max Emanuel more closely into the influence of France as the Emperor and the Imperial States continued to bicker over the status of all the states and free cities within the Empire.

The importance of Brandenburg-Ansbach and it patchwork of dependencies is that it was located just south of Franconia and was surrounded by parts of Bavaria already (see map below).  By adding these disjointed territories to Bavaria proper, Max Emanuel hoped to provide for a greater ability to defend his scattered border on the river Main and also increased the possibility that further Frei Stadte and Ecclesiastical properties might fall to him over time.  Since these territories were so far removed from the territories controlled by the cadet branch of the Hohenzollern line in Brandenburg and Prussia it was felt unlikely that they would intervene in the arrangement of the succession.

During the War of the Palatinian Succession (1695 to 1697) George Frederick II fought from 1695 to 1697 as a volunteer in the Imperial Army. During the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702 he succeeded in taking the fortress Bersello in Modena. He was killed at the Battle of Kittensee in 1703, and as he was unmarried Max Emanuel requested the proper revision of Brandenburg-Ansbach to Bavaria.  It was at this point that the Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick III, who had recently celebrated his coronation as Frederick I King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg, tried to stop the revision and have the matter brought before an Imperial Tribunal for resolution in favor of his branch of the house of Brandenburg.

Frederick III, known as Frederick I King in Prussia since 1701.

As the death of the Margrave George Frederik II occurred during the War of the Spanish Succession, Max Emanuel was already at war with the Emperor and had moved much of the Bavarian army towards France so as to better cooperate with Louis XIV’s armies so that the immediate occupation of the Duchy of Brandenburg -Ansbach on which he resolved was not completed and several towns and citadels held out for the Brandenburg cause.  It was based on this fact that Frederick I, King in Prussia, created an army under the command of Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau was assembled in Brandenburg, then moved down to Bamberg on the Regnitz River. 

 Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau from a later portrait.

From here the King in Prussia provided his defense for his action to the Diet at Frankfort and asked for a Reichskommission to be established to adjudicate the dispute.  In the commission were members from each of the Churfurst holdings as well as a member from the Franconian Circle (Frankischekreis) who represented local interests.  Max Emanuel was unhappy with the constitution of this commission but was unable to secure the membership any other Kreis as his status under the Empire was complicated by his alliance with the French King.

While the Reichskommission proceeded to review the relevant documentation, the Bavarian occupation of most of the Duchy led Frederick I to authorize the ‘Dessauer’ to march and recover his territory.  The march commenced in April of 1703 and followed the Regnitz southwesterly to Forcheim where Dessau waited a full month before a further advance down the Rednitz towards Nurnberg.  It was while breaking camp at Erlangen, where he had occupied the Seehof estate of the Turn and Taxis family that he learned that the Bavarians army had moved into the area and was advancing from the west near Neustadt-an-die-Aische (or Aisch as it is now recognized).  This would be the first clash on the War of the Churfursts and the actual combat will be detailed in Chapter 2.

The Bavarian Army under Carl VII Albert Part II

I took a picture at the Musee de l'Armee in Paris back in 2010 I believe where they display an original Bavarian flag of the period.  Suffice to say the very faded original has lost a lot of detail but confirms the use of the Imperial eagle motif and the blue bavarian lozenge use on the same flag.

There are also some nice cigarette card prints available on the GrosserGeneralstab pages that show interesting details for some units like this grenadier from the Leibregiment.  Note again the darker blue coats than most wargamers use for the period.

Finally here are some pictures of my own 15mm Bavarians with the imperial flags in use and based for our WAS games where a base is a battalion or 2 squadrons each.  The three Kuirassier regiments in their white coats on the right and the three Dragoner regiments in their red coats on the left of the infantry with converged grenadiers in the rear as reserve.  These are primarily Old Glory figures painted by a friend with a black undercoat method.

The Bavarian Army under Carl VII Albert

To begin this section I have these prints from the Herr und Tradition series published back in the 1960's showing the armed forces available to the Elector turned Emperor during the War of the Austrian Succession.

These cover all arms and the flag print is a bit rare showing the Imperial Eagle and crown with the initials C VII for Carl the seventh.  I have a copy of this for wargame figure use if anyone would like the file please let me know.

The couple of pages from the works of the Funckens is shown below:

It should be noted that almost all the Bavarian cavalry of the period were not fully up to strength and did not have enough horses to form up into units, but the uniforms are nice anyway...

A couple of prints by J. A. Drexler from the Brown Collection are also shown below and there are many more done by Drexler at the Brown University download site.  First a infantry drummer and secondly a Hussar trumpeter.

Next a series of free uniform templates available on line as well

I have a 15mm force painted and ready to go for this army and will try to get a decent set of pictures for another posting soon.