Total Plays: 2
Top Army
(0%)
Avg VP: 12.5
Bottom Army
(100%)
Avg VP: 15

Historical Background Following the defeat of French Army of the Pyrenees at the Battles of Orthez on 2nd February 1814 and at Tarbes on 20th March 1814, Marshal Soult withdrew to Toulouse, closely followed by Wellington and a combination of British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops. Wellington surrounded the city on three sides. Wellington planned for a three-pronged attack on the French positions around Toulouse. To the west, he dispatched Lieutenant General Sir Rowland Hill with his 2nd Division and the Portuguese Division to capture the suburb of St. Cyprien and draw away Soult's troops. To the north, the 3rd Division, under Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton, and the Light Division would provide feint attacks, while to the east, the main assault would be made against the dominating Heights of Calvinet. This attack would be led by two divisions under Marshal Sir William Beresford, supported by two Spanish divisions commanded by General Manuel Freires. On the morning of 10 April Hill's force took St. Cyprien with ease, but to the north an overeager Picton pushed on farther than ordered, and his troops were repulsed with heavy losses. Beresford initially had difficulties moving into position and although the Spanish were under orders to wait for the British to come up, Freire's Spaniards attacked the great redoubt, but without British support were driven back with heavy losses. Beresford finally managed to get his forces deployed and his guns arrived and opened fire on the Great Redoubt with considerable effect.
After a bitter fight the British occupied most of the Heights of Calvinet. Soult realized his line of retreat was now in danger and resolved to retire. The French quietly slipped away from Toulouse to the south during the night.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

 

Battle Notes

British Army
• Commander: Wellington (Iconic)
• 6 Command Cards
• 6 Tactician Cards
• Move First

   

French Army
• Commander: Soult
• 5 Command Cards
• 5 Tactician Cards

Victory
15 Banners

Special Rules
* The British player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner for each Redoubt (Fieldworks*) hex occupied at the start of the British player's turn.
* The French player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner if the British do not occupy of any of the bridge hexes at the start of the French player's turn. The French player starts with 1 Victory Banner.
* The British player gains 1 Permanent Victory Banner for each Bridge hex occupied at the start of the British player's turn.
* The River Garonne and canal of Languedoc are impassable except at the ford* & bridges.
* Garrison markers may be used in Fieldworks hexes in this scenario.

*Adjusted per FAQ responses from Richard Borg detailed on
https://www.commandsandcolors.net/napoleonics/the-game/main/faqs/scenarios.html

© 2025 GMT Games, LLC

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blackfoxrenard replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
Here my conclusion (for the moment)

I will replace Fane with Manners for the British Heavies
No changes for Somerset and the light on the British left
And for the right I will use Fane light cavalry



Thanks for your contribution
Juan M Núñez Olarte replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
Drawing from Spanish primary sources we can help to clarify somewhat, or perhaps not, some issues:
  • Ponsonby`s brigade was on the right of the the two Spanish divisions led by Ezpeleta and Garcés, under the overall command of Freire, and helped the Spanish effort to assault the main redoubt in the Calvinet Heights by driving away the French cavalry led by Vial
  • Somerset brigade was on the extreme left of the Allied display and did the same job by driving away the French cavalry led by Berton
  • Morillo`s 2.400 strong Spanish division is absent from the scenario, and was placed on the extreme right of the Allied display close to Harding`s infantry and Fane cavalry
  • The Spanish infantry under Wellington`s command was around 12.500 men. The combined British - Portuguese infantry was around 26.500 men. French infantry availiable was around 24.000 men
For an ORBAT and maps based on these Spanish sources check:
  • Vela Santiago F. Touluose 1814; la última batalla de la Guerra de Independencia Española. Almena Ed, Madrid 2014.
RiverWanderer replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
I'm persuaded that the "Fane" in the scenario should be Manners. I think that the scenario designer has perhaps been misled by the fact that Fane was (according to AI) in overall command of the British cavalry, but in fact as stated in the preceding post he was on the British right.  Of course, this is all cosmetic, unless one was considering making a leader into a "Leader of Honor".
blackfoxrenard replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
The two sources Ive used are Osprey Campaign Allied Cavalry at Toulouse

Lieutenant-General Stapleton Cotton (6,490 not including artillery company)
Manners’ Brigade: 3rd, 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards
Fane’s Brigade: 13th and 14th Light Dragoons
Clifton’s (temporary command) Brigade: 3rd Dragoon Guards, 1st Royal Dragoons
Grüben’s (temporary command) Brigade: 18th Hussars and 1st Hussars, KGL
Arentschildt’s Brigade: 1st and 2nd Dragoons, KGL
Somerset’s Brigade: 7th, 10th and 15th Hussars
Artillery component: ‘E’ Gardiner’s Troop RHA – Light 6-pdr

and this map from Oman Charles William Chadwick, A history of the Peninsular War, Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1902, 634 p.

blogs.univ-jfc.fr/vphn/wp-content/upload...oulouse-by-oman7.png


We see Fane’s Brigade: 13th and 14th Light Dragoons on the British right
Grüben’s Brigade: 18th Hussars and 1st Hussars, KGL and Somerset’s Brigade: 7th, 10th and 15th Hussars on the British Left
So there are no more Light cavalry and on the map we see behind Alten Manners’ Brigade: 3rd, 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards


An idea to help me ?
Mark-McG replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
OB according to British Battles
Orders of Battle:
British, Portuguese and Spanish:
Fane’s Brigade: 13th and 14th Light Dragoons.
Ponsonby’s Brigade: 5th Dragoon Guards and 3rd and 4th Dragoons.
Arentschild’s Brigade: 1st and 2nd Dragoons, King’s German Legion.
Somerset’s Hussar Brigade: 7th, 10th and 15th Hussars.
Vivian’s Brigade: 18th Hussars and 1st Hussars, King’s German Legion.
Second Division (Hill): Barnes’ Brigade: 1st/50th, 1st/71st, 1st/92nd, 1 Co 5th/60th. Byng’s Brigade: 1st/3rd, 1st/57th, Prov Bn 2nd/31st & 1st/66th, 1 Co 5th/60th. Pringle’s Brigade: 1st/28th, 2nd/34th, 1st/39th, 1 Co 5th/60th. Harding’s Brigade: Portuguese 6th, 18th Line, 6th Caçadores.
Third Division (Picton): Brisbane’s Brigade: 1st/45th, 74th, 1st/88th, 4 Cos 5th/60th. Keane’s Brigade: 1st/5th, 2nd/83rd, 2nd/87th, 94th. Power’s Brigade: Portuguese 9th, 12th Line, 11th Caçadores.
Fourth Division (Cole): Anson’s Brigade: 3rd/27th, 1st/40th, 1st/48th, Prov Bn of 2nd Queen’s, 2nd/53rd. 1 Co Brunswick-Oels. Vasconcellos’ Brigade: Portuguese 11th, 23rd Line, 7th Caçadores.
Sixth Division (Clinton): Pack’s Brigade: 1st/42nd, 1st/79th, 1st/91st, 1 Co 5th/60th. Lambert’s Brigade: 1st/32nd, 1st/36th, 1st/61st. Douglas’s Brigade: Portuguese 8th, 12th Line, 9th Caçadores.
Light Division (Alten): Kempt’s Brigade: 1st/43rd, 1st/95th, 3rd/95th. Colborne’s Brigade: 1st/52nd, 2nd/95th. Portuguese 17th Line, 1st, 3rd Caçadores.
Spanish Division (Freire)
Morillo’s Spanish Brigade
Mark-McG replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
According to Nafzinger , the Anglo-Portuguese cavalry on 1 January 1814 were
Cavalry: Lieutenant-General Sir S. Cotton K.B.
 Brigade: Major-General O'Loghlin (754)
 1st Regiment Life Guards
 2nd Regiment Life Guards
 Royal Horse Guards, Blues
 Brigade: Major-General W. Ponsonby (1,080)
 5th Dragoon Guard Regiment
 3rd Dragoon Regiment
 4th Dragoon Regiment
 Brigade: Major-General Vandeleur (802)
 12th Light Dragoon Regiment
 16th Light Dragoon Regiment
 Brigade: Colonel Fane (765)
 13th Light Dragoon Regiment
 14th Light Dragoon Regiment
 Brigade: Major-General Vivian (853)
 1st KGL Hussar Regiment
 18th Hussar Regiment
 Brigade: Major-General Fane (67l)
 1st Dragoon Guard Regiment
 2nd Dragoon Guard Regiment

 Brigade (709)
 3rd Dragoon Guard Regiment
 1st Dragoon Regiment
 Brigade: Major-General Lord E. Somerset (1,438)
 7th Hussar Regiment
 10th Royal Hussar Regiment
 15th Hussar Regiment
 Brigade: Brigadier-General Barbacena (894)
 1st Portuguese Cavalry Regiment
 6th Portuguese Cavalry Regiment
 11th Portuguese Cavalry Regiment
 12th Portuguese Cavalry Regiment
 Brigade: Colonel Campbell (264)
 4th Portuguese Cavalry Regiment
 Artillery:
 Gardiner, Bull, & Beans Horse Batteries (6pdrs)

Charles, Baron Alten was commanding the Light Division.
Light Division: Major-General Baron Allen (4,683)
 Brigade: Major-General Kempt
 1/43rd Foot Regiment
 1/95th Foot Regiment
 3/95th Foot Regiment
 Brigade: Major-General Barnard
 1/52nd Foot Regiment
 2/95th Foot Regiment
 Brigade:
 17th Portuguese Regiment
 1st Cacadores
 3rd Cacadores
 Artillery:
 Ross Horse Battery

Charles had a brother, Victor, Baron Alten.
He was wounded at Salamanca, and later took command of the KGL cavalry division in the Netherlands in 1814-15, but was absent at Toulouse as far as I can tell.
RiverWanderer replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago

Hello, when i Look if lots of OOB I think that with Alten Brigade it's a KGL heavy dragon
 
The official scenario shows a Light Cavalry only in Alten’s group. The only heavy cav are two units with Fane. 

If i wanted to propose a change for my own game, I would ask first if the overall balance of light and heavy british cav was in line with the OOB. Then, did Alten’s brigade itself have predominantly llight or heavy cav?

Just my tuppence - I checked the published scenario but not the OOB. 
blackfoxrenard replied the topic:
2 months 1 week ago
Hello, when i Look if lots of OOB I think that with Alten Brigade it's a KGL heavy dragon

Have you the same feeling ?

Blackfox