Red, Blue and Green:
Finally decided to bite the bullet and put in one of my own scenarios. This is something I’ve been playing about with for a few years now so the main events are pretty settled, with the odd tweak here and there. See what people think of it. Have plans going up to a WWI equivalent circa 1900 if it goes the distance. For the early chapters marking significant divergences in blue.
Year - 1809
POD1: 16/1/1809 – The horseman sat at the crossroads watching the battle unfold. Nearly time he thought to himself, the French assault was failing and wearing itself out in the process. The cannonball flashed passed so closely that he felt its heat on his face and his horse reared in fear. He calmed it with a few words and a pat of the hand and moved slightly to the left in case a 2nd shot was more successful.
A few minutes later he decided, “Now!” and with a wave of his hand gestured the counter attack to start. Shortly afterwards the French were retreating in considerable disorder and he relaxed, knowing his army could embark safely.
[Historically, after an advance toward the French lines of supply that led them to abandon plans for the moment to occupy Portugal again and southern Spain the British army under Sir John Moore was forced into a desperate winter retreat into the mountains of Galicia. They finally reached the port of Corunna but the RN was later arriving and embarking of troops had only started when the arrival of the French vanguard under Marshall Soult arrived and sought to prevent their escape. The British defeated the French and evacuated their army but Moore was hit by a cannonball at the height of the battle and lived only long enough to know his army was saved.
This time the shot misses and Moore survives. Immediately there are no major changes but later it means there are two highly capable commanders, Moore and Wellington, in the peninsula campaign. This will improve Britain’s position both there and later elsewhere. Furthermore, Moore, as the senior of the two gain most of the prestige. This will mean that the dominant statesman is the liberal Moore rather than the conservative Wellington].
POD 2: 5/7/1809 – A drunken French soldier in the garrison on the recently occupied Austrian capital harasses a servant girl in a tavern leading to objections from her family, who run it and a brief fight follows. During this a French soldier is killed. Early the following day a small group of French troops, in retaliation burn the tavern and hang the male members of the family.
Later that day an enraged Vienna, with rumours compounding the French atrocities and knowledge that the army is still fighting north of the Danube, explodes into riot. Demobilised soldiers and local inhabitancies gather any weapon to hand and in several hours of fighting clear much of the city. Angry at the uprising and concerned for his supply lines Napoleon orders Marmont’s XIth Corp to regain control of the city. This crossed back over the river, rallied the garrison and in heavy fighting smashing the poorly organised and equipped defenders. The following day, while much of Vienna burnt, the bulk of Marmont’s Corp crossed the Danube and played a part in the final defeat of Archduke Charles’s Austrian army in the 3rd day of the Battle of Wagram. A few days later, after a few more clashes the Austrians ask for and receive an armistice.
Napoleon is determined to prevent Austria challenging him again so the terms are harsh. The Dalmatian provinces are transferred to France, cutting Austria off from the sea and communications with Britain. In the NE the Galician province is transferred to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Most of all Napoleon separates the great kingdom of Hungary from Austria, making his brother Louis king after his other brother Lucien refuses the post. This requires that Louis give up his position as king of the Netherlands, something he was reluctant to do but Napoleon insisted. Napoleon annexed the Netherlands to France to tighten the economic blockage of British goods.
[Historically there was no uprising in Vienna and the Austrians were defeated after two rather than three days fighting. The transfers of land are as historical except for splitting Hungary from Austria. It not only weakens Austria but it removes Louis from the Netherlands where he had opposed Napoleon’s Continental system because of the impact on the Dutch economy and people.
Austria is greatly weakened but also both Austrian and more general German nationalism was stirred up higher. The Austrian nationalist leader, Stadion was forced to resign as was Archduke Charles. French losses during the campaign have been heavy and the quality of the troops had declined, in part due to the increasing numbers of non-French troops in the imperial army. He still had to face the continued opposition of Britain who had already returned to the war in Portugal and was to land in the Netherlands shortly, as a belated attempt to aid the Austrians.]
The return of Moore’s bedraggled army and the condition of the men caused much comment in Britain but the majority of the force made clear how much their survival had replied on his leadership. Also the more knowledgeable knew that his advance, although not receiving the support he had expected from the Spanish, had diverted the bulk of the French forces and for a while rescued Portugal and southern Spain from French occupation.
In April a British army returned to Portugal under Wellington. He was also given control of the Portuguese forces in the region. Early the following month they advanced northwards to drive Soult, who’s army had marched south after Corunna, to out of Oporto and northern Portugal. It then headed south to protect the main route to Lisbon and in co-operation with nearby Spanish armies advance on Madrid. However the Spanish commander Cuesta proved highly unreliable and erratic and while the British won a bruising combat at Talavera the high losses and fact other French troops were approaching forced Wellington to pull back to the Portuguese border.
Elsewhere Spanish forces continued resistance to the French occupation, which had been weakened by the withdrawal of many troops to the war in Germany. Often poorly led trained and equipped they were frequently defeated but won occasional victory and continued regrouping and harassing the French.
At the end of July a British force under Moore landed on the island of Walcheren. Aided by naval support the island was quickly occupied and forces moved to land on the mainland and advance on Antwerp. As well as hoping to divert French attention from Austria, not yet knowing that campaign was as good as over, there was the aim of capturing the shipyards of Antwerp and destroying the warships under construction. Moore displaced considerable skill to defeat the Franco-Dutch forces at Flushing and force the surrender of the city. The military shipyards were destroyed. The French had retreated their ships upriver but they were scrapped and burnt the following day when they could go no further.
With the ships destroyed Moore was able to withdraw his forces a couple of weeks later. There were some calls for forces to stay and block the Scheldt estuary but with the fleet under construction destroyed there was little point to this and also with the ongoing conflict in Spain troops were needed there. [This was to have the added bonus that as a result thousands of troops were not killed or incapacitated by malaria in the swampy region].
Napoleon ended the year virtually unparallel in power. The defeat and drastic reduction of Austria meant only Britain and Portugal were outside French control. There was a low level insurgency in the Tyrol and much more resistance in large areas of Spain but otherwise the continent seemed totally cowered.
However he stilled faced serious problems. Britain continued to oppose him and fund Spanish resistance with money and weapons as well as their own troops. Furthermore his economic counter of the so called Continental System was causing serious strain on his position. Britain was not only picking away at the remaining colonies of France and his allies but the attempt to ban trade with Britain was highly unpopular. Not only did this mean that the exotic products from overseas, the sugar, tobacco, tea and spices were unavailable. Britain’s industries, many boosted by the demands of the long war, were the most efficient and produced products unmatched in price and quality. As such his blockage leaked like a sieve with persistent smuggling by any available route. This was one reason for his annexation of the Netherlands, to tighten his control over the mouth of the Rhine. Towards the end of the year this was extended further by the annexation of the German coast up to Lubeck. [Historically this occurred in 1810 but has been advanced slightly]. However this did not solve the problems. The policy was still highly unpopular and corruption and widespread opposition meant many items were still smuggled into Europe. Furthermore the attempt to impose the policy was unpopular with both populations and governments throughout Europe. This was not helped by occasional exemptions made by Napoleon when he required imports for the French army, which heightened resentment.
Finally decided to bite the bullet and put in one of my own scenarios. This is something I’ve been playing about with for a few years now so the main events are pretty settled, with the odd tweak here and there. See what people think of it. Have plans going up to a WWI equivalent circa 1900 if it goes the distance. For the early chapters marking significant divergences in blue.
Year - 1809
POD1: 16/1/1809 – The horseman sat at the crossroads watching the battle unfold. Nearly time he thought to himself, the French assault was failing and wearing itself out in the process. The cannonball flashed passed so closely that he felt its heat on his face and his horse reared in fear. He calmed it with a few words and a pat of the hand and moved slightly to the left in case a 2nd shot was more successful.
A few minutes later he decided, “Now!” and with a wave of his hand gestured the counter attack to start. Shortly afterwards the French were retreating in considerable disorder and he relaxed, knowing his army could embark safely.
[Historically, after an advance toward the French lines of supply that led them to abandon plans for the moment to occupy Portugal again and southern Spain the British army under Sir John Moore was forced into a desperate winter retreat into the mountains of Galicia. They finally reached the port of Corunna but the RN was later arriving and embarking of troops had only started when the arrival of the French vanguard under Marshall Soult arrived and sought to prevent their escape. The British defeated the French and evacuated their army but Moore was hit by a cannonball at the height of the battle and lived only long enough to know his army was saved.
This time the shot misses and Moore survives. Immediately there are no major changes but later it means there are two highly capable commanders, Moore and Wellington, in the peninsula campaign. This will improve Britain’s position both there and later elsewhere. Furthermore, Moore, as the senior of the two gain most of the prestige. This will mean that the dominant statesman is the liberal Moore rather than the conservative Wellington].
POD 2: 5/7/1809 – A drunken French soldier in the garrison on the recently occupied Austrian capital harasses a servant girl in a tavern leading to objections from her family, who run it and a brief fight follows. During this a French soldier is killed. Early the following day a small group of French troops, in retaliation burn the tavern and hang the male members of the family.
Later that day an enraged Vienna, with rumours compounding the French atrocities and knowledge that the army is still fighting north of the Danube, explodes into riot. Demobilised soldiers and local inhabitancies gather any weapon to hand and in several hours of fighting clear much of the city. Angry at the uprising and concerned for his supply lines Napoleon orders Marmont’s XIth Corp to regain control of the city. This crossed back over the river, rallied the garrison and in heavy fighting smashing the poorly organised and equipped defenders. The following day, while much of Vienna burnt, the bulk of Marmont’s Corp crossed the Danube and played a part in the final defeat of Archduke Charles’s Austrian army in the 3rd day of the Battle of Wagram. A few days later, after a few more clashes the Austrians ask for and receive an armistice.
Napoleon is determined to prevent Austria challenging him again so the terms are harsh. The Dalmatian provinces are transferred to France, cutting Austria off from the sea and communications with Britain. In the NE the Galician province is transferred to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Most of all Napoleon separates the great kingdom of Hungary from Austria, making his brother Louis king after his other brother Lucien refuses the post. This requires that Louis give up his position as king of the Netherlands, something he was reluctant to do but Napoleon insisted. Napoleon annexed the Netherlands to France to tighten the economic blockage of British goods.
[Historically there was no uprising in Vienna and the Austrians were defeated after two rather than three days fighting. The transfers of land are as historical except for splitting Hungary from Austria. It not only weakens Austria but it removes Louis from the Netherlands where he had opposed Napoleon’s Continental system because of the impact on the Dutch economy and people.
Austria is greatly weakened but also both Austrian and more general German nationalism was stirred up higher. The Austrian nationalist leader, Stadion was forced to resign as was Archduke Charles. French losses during the campaign have been heavy and the quality of the troops had declined, in part due to the increasing numbers of non-French troops in the imperial army. He still had to face the continued opposition of Britain who had already returned to the war in Portugal and was to land in the Netherlands shortly, as a belated attempt to aid the Austrians.]
The return of Moore’s bedraggled army and the condition of the men caused much comment in Britain but the majority of the force made clear how much their survival had replied on his leadership. Also the more knowledgeable knew that his advance, although not receiving the support he had expected from the Spanish, had diverted the bulk of the French forces and for a while rescued Portugal and southern Spain from French occupation.
In April a British army returned to Portugal under Wellington. He was also given control of the Portuguese forces in the region. Early the following month they advanced northwards to drive Soult, who’s army had marched south after Corunna, to out of Oporto and northern Portugal. It then headed south to protect the main route to Lisbon and in co-operation with nearby Spanish armies advance on Madrid. However the Spanish commander Cuesta proved highly unreliable and erratic and while the British won a bruising combat at Talavera the high losses and fact other French troops were approaching forced Wellington to pull back to the Portuguese border.
Elsewhere Spanish forces continued resistance to the French occupation, which had been weakened by the withdrawal of many troops to the war in Germany. Often poorly led trained and equipped they were frequently defeated but won occasional victory and continued regrouping and harassing the French.
At the end of July a British force under Moore landed on the island of Walcheren. Aided by naval support the island was quickly occupied and forces moved to land on the mainland and advance on Antwerp. As well as hoping to divert French attention from Austria, not yet knowing that campaign was as good as over, there was the aim of capturing the shipyards of Antwerp and destroying the warships under construction. Moore displaced considerable skill to defeat the Franco-Dutch forces at Flushing and force the surrender of the city. The military shipyards were destroyed. The French had retreated their ships upriver but they were scrapped and burnt the following day when they could go no further.
With the ships destroyed Moore was able to withdraw his forces a couple of weeks later. There were some calls for forces to stay and block the Scheldt estuary but with the fleet under construction destroyed there was little point to this and also with the ongoing conflict in Spain troops were needed there. [This was to have the added bonus that as a result thousands of troops were not killed or incapacitated by malaria in the swampy region].
Napoleon ended the year virtually unparallel in power. The defeat and drastic reduction of Austria meant only Britain and Portugal were outside French control. There was a low level insurgency in the Tyrol and much more resistance in large areas of Spain but otherwise the continent seemed totally cowered.
However he stilled faced serious problems. Britain continued to oppose him and fund Spanish resistance with money and weapons as well as their own troops. Furthermore his economic counter of the so called Continental System was causing serious strain on his position. Britain was not only picking away at the remaining colonies of France and his allies but the attempt to ban trade with Britain was highly unpopular. Not only did this mean that the exotic products from overseas, the sugar, tobacco, tea and spices were unavailable. Britain’s industries, many boosted by the demands of the long war, were the most efficient and produced products unmatched in price and quality. As such his blockage leaked like a sieve with persistent smuggling by any available route. This was one reason for his annexation of the Netherlands, to tighten his control over the mouth of the Rhine. Towards the end of the year this was extended further by the annexation of the German coast up to Lubeck. [Historically this occurred in 1810 but has been advanced slightly]. However this did not solve the problems. The policy was still highly unpopular and corruption and widespread opposition meant many items were still smuggled into Europe. Furthermore the attempt to impose the policy was unpopular with both populations and governments throughout Europe. This was not helped by occasional exemptions made by Napoleon when he required imports for the French army, which heightened resentment.
