The month commenced with a stalemate against Napoleon in the north and Castanos' weight concentrating on Jourdan. After some initial skirmishes, the French would advance from the south in a seemingly disconcerted fashion and the Spanish would launch an aggressive campaign against them. One French corps would be destroyed and Barcelona would be retaken in the campaign through the early weeks. Jourdan though would manage to settle in to two sieges, at Zaragoza and Valencia, that would continue for weeks. 80,000 Spanish soldiers would be tied up in these sieges but otherwise, Jourdan was nowhere to be seen for the remainder of July.

This, and the arrival of the British in the theater, allowed Castanos to shift to the west. The hope was that the two coalition armies would be able to join together to defeat Napoleon but they would never manage the necessary coordination.  The British would be driven back to Salamanca . Finally, at Segovia on July 24th, the British and Spanish armies would manage to combine on the field to meet Napoleon and there they achieved a victory, drive the French back north. Immediately after the battle though, the coalition's successes were undone by the two armies splitting in the face of the enemy with Wellington going west and Castanos retiring on Madrid to recover his army.  Napoleon was not beaten though and he struck immediately for Madrid where he once more broke Castanos' army and captured the capital on July 31st.

Madrid has been garrisoned by the French. New Castile has fallen. The government of Spain has fled. For points, I have spent 142 out of a possible 120 points.  Some points were freed up when three Castilian divisions surrendered, including the Madrid Defenders. 15,000 men are gone.

No word comes from Wellington and Napoleon remains at Madrid with his army.

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We have 20,500 infantry and 1000 cavalry at Toledo, southwest of Madrid.  8000 of those soldiers are in the Madrid Defenders division. The rest are scattered throughout five other broken and battered divisions. To our south at Consuegra, Quixano has 35000 infantry and 1000 cavalry.  I am too wasteful of my cavalry in battle. It gets me limited results on the field but ruins my potential for future engagements.

When Quixano has joined me at Toledo, I intend to dispatch Romana with the worst damaged of my divisions to the west, marching for Badajoz.

No new word has arrived from Wellington but I know that he has received my message informing him that there would be a battle at Madrid on the 29th. That was sent from Madrid on the 28th so it might mean that the lines of communication have opened up.

New Castile, and Spain, have not yet been conquered. The French have not yet deployed a garrison in the capital.

The loss of the battle at Madrid cost me a political point. That meant that my treaty proposal was discarded and can be ignored.

Final OOB for the battle of Madrid.

Battle is upon us on the morrow. My force is estimated at 50,500 infantry and 3000 cavalry. I had taken the cheap route and purchased infantry replacements for my mixed divisions and, unfortunately, they both got downgraded to infantry divisions with this influx of infantrymen. That means that I have seven infantry divisions (three are conscripts) and one cavalry division. In opposition, the French have three infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, and a mixed division: This is estimated at 30,000 infantry and 8000 cavalry. We should expect to spend much of the day in square, being pounded by artillery. Some protection may be found in the forests. Due to road congestion, the French have left their artillery in the rear of their column but they should be arriving within the first hour of the battle tomorrow.

Some less than positive news is that I received confirmation that my Right Wing is at Cuenca, as of 2000 hrs this evening. They have confirmed receipt of my order to force march to Madrid. Unfortunately they are now fatigued so the only part of them that can make it to Madrid before the end of the battle is the headquarters with may have a couple of batteries. More though, it means that however the battle turns out, I will have 20,000 men at Terancon tomorrow night. If I retreat to Toledo, this contingent will be unable to join us directly.

The Corps are reorganized into three headquarters then, on the assumption that the Right Wing HQ will be there in a timely manner. I thank Duke Ossuna for his two days of service and then replace him as commander of Madrid Corps with Palafox

Real HQ - Castanos - 12"E(8)+1D - possibly 20 guns
Left Wing - Romana - 8"G(8)+0 - 12000 infantry, 6000 conscripts, possibly 20 guns
Right Wing - Quixano - 7"A(5)+0 - 6000 infantry, 8500 conscripts, possibly 12 guns
Madrid Corps - Palafox - 7"G(7)+1 - 13000 infantry, 3000 cavalry, possibly 30 guns 

There is nothing more to do but fight like lions tomorrow.

**********

There is one thing more that can be done. I propose a peace treaty that will come into effect on 02 Aug 1809 unless someone proposes a treaty worth more than 1 point. The terms of this treaty are as follows:

Spain would enter into a political marriage with France and be ineligible to participate in the next campaign. There would be no war in Europe until at least 28 Jan 1810. Portugal would become neutral.

The French certainly may accept this treaty and the only way that the British can prevent it is to gain a political point within the next 5 days, which can only be done by winning a major battle. If I lose a major battle at Madrid, I lose 1 political point. If Madrid is conquered, I lose 3. This is my attempt to get the British into fighting spirit... and failing that, to save Spain by selling out to the French.

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Estimated Allied strength at Madrid is 35000 infantry and 5500 cavalry

Napoleon is a day's march from Madrid with six divisions. My couriers cannot get through to the British. My solution is to raise as many conscript replacements as I can, an ad hoc Corps under command of Duke Ossuna, and then dismantle my Madrid depot. With the points from that, I raise a Castilian infantry division. My units are distributed between the two corps that I have and we settle in to wait for the French.

Can I expect help from Wellington? The newspapers have word of a defeat at Valladolid:

Strategic map of Madrid

In planning my choice of battlefield, I am favouring the initial map as shown. My opponent would get to select an adjacent 2 x 5 addition. My thinking is that the French will either need to swing around the parkland to engage me or fight through the woods down the roadway. Either way, I will limit his ability to employ his artillery to best effect. Similarly, his cavalry will have less room to deploy. Though I do not expect it to happen, if Wellington were to arrive on the battlefield behind him, he will have committed himself in such a way that he could not well extricate himself from the battlefield. Napoleon and Marmont would be trapped between us and destroyed. 

Also, with this deployment I can place my weakest units (my new conscripts) on my right and give them added protection. Finally, it is necessary that I maintain my ability to retreat to Toledo so we must deploy west of Madrid and the road to Guadarrama.

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News is coming in from all quarters. The Petulentita guerrillas were destroyed in an attack on Valladolid alongside Picton's division, acting as a vanguard for Wellington. I would have thought therefore that Napoleon would be moving to Valladolid then to engage the British. My rearguard at Segovia was attacked by five French divisions including a fresh cavalry division. Certainly Davout and Kellerman do not have fresh cavalry divisions so that must be Marmont coming for Madrid. His presence there will sever my communications with Wellington. I get a report from my Right Wing. They were at Bunol on the 23rd so that should put them at Minglanilla today. I should expect them at Madrid on the 30th. Two of Quixano's divisions are battered, one is worn, and one is weakened. But Marmont will be in Madrid on the 28th. Quixano does not mention that his units are fatigued so I could try to force march them to Madrid. That might, if I am very fortunate, put a couple of those divisions and maybe the artillery of the corps in Madrid on the 28th.

I also receive confirmation that the siege continues at Zaragoza. They are in reasonable condition, considering that they have been under siege for a month.

This comes from the British commander:

 In the present emergency, I trim my lines of communications down. Since they are cut to Wellington, I can sever that line. The 1st Valencian division that was left in Valencia gets disbanded. I can raise it again when the crisis has passed. That gives me 20 points with which to raise units and replacements  in Madrid ... or I might spend 10 of those points building my backup depot now in anticipation of losing.

I conduct a parade at Madrid

Estimated Allied strength at Madrid is 17500 infantry and 1500 cavalry.

Madrid is a city in New Castile, a province of Spain. Your army has a stocked depot here with the stores to raise and equip six divisions.
A minor road leads to the town of Guadalajara, New Castile. There are no Allied forces at Guadalajara.
A minor road leads to the town of Guadarrama, New Castile. Estimated Allied strength at Guadarrama is 4000 infantry and 3000 cavalry.
A minor road leads to the town of Torrijos, New Castile. There are no Allied forces at Torrijos.
A major road leads to the town of Toledo, New Castile. There are no Allied forces at Toledo.
A minor road with a bridge leads to the town of Terancon, New Castile. There are no Allied forces at Terancon.

Romaldo (3000 infantry)	broken Spanish regular infantry
Tremp Borderers (2000 infantry and 1000 cavalry)	battered Spanish conscript mixed (fatigued)
Kaka (3000 infantry)	broken Spanish regular infantry (fatigued)
Modrena (1500 infantry and 500 cavalry)	broken Spanish conscript mixed (fatigued)
Real HQ	worn Spanish veteran HQ
Crespo (3000 infantry)	broken Spanish regular infantry
Madrid garrison (5000 infantry)	Fresh Spanish regular garrison
Sp Left Wing HQ	worn Spanish regular HQ (fatigued)

The British parliament, preparing to debate the renewed funding of the Spanish Adventure, have asked General Lord Wellesley to submit a report on the status of the Anglo-Portuguese Expeditionary Force, which he commands. Castanos is sent a copy of the report.

A breakdown of costs for the units that I consider purchasing:

Line infantry replacements:  4 points
Mixed Conscript replacements: 4 points
Conscript Infantry replacements: 2 points
Regular Infantry Division: 6 points
Regular Mixed Division: 8 points
Regular Castilian Infantry: 5 points
Conscript Castilian Cavalry: 5 points
Conscript Castilian Infantry: 2 points
Veteran (grenadier/guard) infantry division: 12 points
Regular cavalry division: 12 points
Corps HQ: 7 - 10 points depending on quality of commander
Irish Regular Infantry Division: 4 points

Currently, I have a conscript cavalry replacement and a regular infantry replacement in Madrid. Any replacements purchased that can be used by units at Madrid will free up their points to be spent the next day (when the French are at Guadarrama) . So if I buy only replacements today and they all get used, then I will have 28 points to spend when the French are one day away from Madrid. I can only raise one division of each allied state per day. Although my Right Wing HQ may be at Madrid in two days, I cannot depend upon that, so I consider purchasing another Corps HQ... for the artillery as much as the command flexibility if I get more combat divisions.

****************

Purchases are made. Today, they are all replacements. I now have four regular infantry, two artillery, and a conscript mixed replacement scrambled to be entered into the rolls of my various divisions in Madrid. That should get my Left Wing from broken to battered status and I will definitely want to add some more replacements tomorrow. At this point though, I am pondering adding another Corps HQ and a grenadier division to the army tomorrow. Spanish are suffering on the tabletop for being disordered too easily which makes launching any sort of offensive extremely difficult. A couple brigades of grenadiers (still worse than French line infantry) could at least be capable of conducting reliable assaults without becoming disordered trivially. It would be my reserve and mass de decision.

************

  ...and then I decide that I need to change the game code. Now, a threatened depot (one that has at least three unbroken enemy corps within two days march of it) can only be used to purchase conscript divisions and replacements. Madrid is currently threatened.

Subsequently, I scrap my earlier replacement builds and instead purchase three conscript infantry replacements. The remaining fourteen points are used to create a new depot at Badajoz which will be ready in early August. In order to build it, I also had to lay down some supply lines so started a route back toward Madrid.  

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Segovian Lancers reported eleven French combat divisions at Cuellar so we have found Davout. My pursuit therefore was quickly checked and sent reeling back to Segovia. I found points to raise replacements in Madrid by disbanding two of my besieged Aragon divisions at Zaragoza.

After all the trouble that I took to get the armies of Wellington and Castanos together, they are separating again with Wellington going to Valladolid and my armies retreating to Madrid to recover. It may have been a mistake to attack while my force was still weak because it meant that should I have achieved a victory, could I have hoped to continue pursuing? Still, everything would have been different if Marmont and Napoleon had not been at Segovia or if Napoleon's attack to Guadarrama had gone in before ours did on Segovia.

For the next week, and maybe beyond, I must concentrate on rebuilding my army.

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Actual strengths at Segovia (as determined by Orders of battle generated by the system)

16,320 British infantry on the field at start
27,360 Spanish Infantry, 3840 Spanish Cavalry on the field at start
(43,680 infantry combined)
72 Coalition artillery

36,960 French infantry, 7680 French cavalry on the field at start
64 French artillery

20,640 British infantry, 15,840 Spanish infantry, 4,160 British cavalry, and 960 Spanish cavalry coming as reinforcements

By the end of the day, we will outnumber the French by a factor of 2:1 in infantry and will, for the first time perhaps, have cavalry superiority. The French artillery is what I most fear.

********

It is during this pause, as I am pondering where to shift my depot to should we lose at Segovia, that I realize that I ought have already started constructing a second depot, a week before, if I intended to shift my base of operations. Also, I should plan to have the points to build a line of communications when I do shift. I am starved for points and it will only get worse. This lack of forethought could cost me dearly as I would be obliged to go a week without any depot at all.

********

The battlefield for Segovia, as selected by Napoleon and Wellington. French will deploy first and move first. They are notionally on the defensive. Their force consists of I and III Corps so they will either split their forces on either side of that diagonal stream or they will mass on one side of it or the other. Were I the French, I'd assign I Corps (the one with the longer command radius) to cover Segovia and across the bridge and to the hill and then use III Corps and Kellerman (with the small command radius) to attack Wellington's left flank. If successful, that would drive Wellington retreating to Guadarrama and away from his line of communications. Still though, the terrain looks pretty good for defending for the British left flank. 

Second Battle of Segovia After Action Report

A hard fought victory is won at Segovia but the last Spanish army is shattered. I will send what units I have that can still march in pursuit of Napoleon while Wellington marches on Valladolid. The remnants of my Left Wing will struggle back toward Madrid to somehow recruit replacements.

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Estimated Allied strength at Segovia is 34000 infantry and 6500 cavalry.
Estimated French strength at Segovia is 38500 infantry and 9000 cavalry.

Wellington is at Avila still with three combat divisions. I am at Guadarrama with the Tremp Borderers. At Segovia, there are five Spanish combat divisions and two British. This is not what I was anticipating at all. There are at least two French Corps at Segovia (eight divisions are reported). One of those Corps is Marmont's I Corps so the other is likely Kellerman's III Corps. I sent a quick message off to Wellington to see if we ought withdraw or fight.

We determine to fight and everything is rushed to the battlefield. That's another 19,000 infantry and 6,500 cavalry. Another Castilian infantry division is desperately raised in Madrid and hurried to the front but it may not make it in time.

Davout's II Corps is still out there somewhere. Where there are two Corps, I expect there will be Napoleon. If a second French corps has marched to Segovia yesterday then this tells me that, unless Napoleon has entirely predicted our manoeuvre, he was about to conduct a significant offensive toward Madrid.

Although this battle is smaller than the previous two engagements between the British and the French, I believe that it will be more decisive.

***********

The latest report that I get from Valencia makes no reference to there being a siege there. I sent off orders for the bulk of my Right Wing to make an administrative march back to Madrid. They will likely need many replacements and in any case, should not be in Madrid before early August.

*******

It is necessary to begin making decisions about where I will move me depot to, should I lose the second battle of Segovia. My initial thought is Cadiz or Sevilla but it is something that I will need to get Wellington's thoughts on. The Madrid depot should be allowed to be dismantled on the 25th, when the French could be at Guadarrama. My Right Wing and Left Wing both could be disbanded and then I could begin to raise a new army at the new depot location but I can't afford to have a depot be captured so I daren't start disbanding units until this crisis is resolved in our favour, or I make a new depot well back from the front.

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From the newspapers:

So my Petulentita Guerrillas are indeed taking the fight to the French in Old Castile.

Wellington has agreed to my plan and I get word that there are only 20,000 French still at Segovia so I will order my Left Wing to advance on Segovia on the 23rd, expecting to fight a battle on the 24th, on the same battlefield that was so bloody five days before. This time though, Wellington and 40, 000 British will be at our sides.

The scheme, once we have triumphed at Segovia, is to push immediately to outflank the French forces at Valladolid. By the time we march tomorrow, my Left Wing should be up to a strength of 30,000. I have, I expect, been able to replenish losses faster than the French since Madrid is so close by.

For the attack, I have eight divisions to push down a minor road that can accommodate six per day. I could also use the Avila-Segovia road but should allow the British to use it. I send Wellington a note asking for permission to use the road for two divisions. I have three battered divisions at Guadarrama and one of those is a conscript mixed division (the infamous Tremp Borderers) so there may be some tough choices as to who not to send immediately. None of my units are fatigued so I could scheme to have my cavalry come as early reinforcements in the morning of the expected battle.

*******

My own headquarters is ordered moved to Guadarrama and Wellington promises to be in Segovia by the 23rd with six divisions. I will push Left Wing up the road to Segovia but leave the Tremp borderers behind, with the intention that my headquarters and the Tremp Borderers will follow quickly along to arrive early in the battle. The British likewise have some congestion as he pushes two small Corps up his road from Avila. By noon on the 24th, we should then have twelve combat divisions at Segovia, three Corps headquarters, and two army commanders.

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It is a quiet day. I have more points available than I expected, even with my latest replacements being used. I suspect that somewhere one of my besieged units has starved to death. With these points, I make an effort to rectify a long standing problem and purchase a regular cavalry division, the Segovia Lancers, and march them to join the left wing at Guadarrama. They will put piquets toward Segovia.

Wellington has three divisions with me here at Avila and I can see that he has three others behind breastworks at Salamanca. I will encourage him to be prepared to go on the offensive tomorrow, after we have confirmed from piquets the French strength at Segovia and Tordesillas. It is my belief that we must take advantage of this window of opportunity while Jourdan is stuck at sieges and otherwise quiet. Napoleon must be beaten while we have the chance.

*****

In consultation with Wellington over the day, I propose a plan that looks something like this:

My expectation is that Napoleon will send a stronger Corps to replace Kellerman at Segovia and pull Kellerman back to Valladolid to get replacements. While he is reorganizing his army, we ought to strike. This, coinciding with the guerrilla nuisance and an intended Spanish threat toward Burgos should put some panic into Bonaparte. The danger is when Wellington is at Montuenga and I am at Cuellar, that we are separately attacked but I believe that by maintaining momentum, the French will be unable to concentrate or adopt a cohesive attack plan.

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There are no orders to issue. I will try to halt the Left Wing at Guadarrama and march replacements to it from the capital. The estimated effective strength of the Left Wing that was at 40,000 yesterday morning, is less than 20,000 today. My headquarters is again ordered to Avila to try to get direct talks with Wellington.

It appears that General Hamilton is at Avila now with a couple of divisions with an estimated strength of 17,000. The British were as late to Segovia as we Spanish were to the battle of Valladolid. I do issue another order then. The Left Wing shall march to the sounds of the guns. If the French hit Avila, I do not wish to be the one that does not march to the aid of his ally in this coalition. It would take me off the road to Madrid but in some ways, standing on the field with an ally now and achieving a victory may be more important than saving the capital. It has long term advantages.

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Kellerman, with 24,000 French infantry, 2240 cavalry, and 24 artillery, is battling Count Castanos at Segovia. The Spanish will attempt to hold the line with 40,320 infantry, 1280 militia cavalry, and 56 artillery pieces. We Spanish have a few tabletop advantages in command and control and artillery in this fight.

The situation report from Wellington is discouraging. He has only three combat ready divisions at Salamanca, with the remainder of his army being pulled back further west to rest and reprovision. He says that it is far more likely that the French will attack him again, rather than fighting me.

If the two missing Corps of Napoleon make an appearance at Segovia, I will take some delight in telling the British how Bonaparte values the Spanish as more of a threat than Wellington's beaten army. The rumours that I get are that Napoleon was still at Valladolid on the 18th. Kellerman was the Corps that did no fighting in the previous two battles so it seems to me that Bonaparte is doing exactly what Wellington is, resting and replenishing his army for a second round. This III Corps expedition is the half-hearted attempt at Madrid that I had anticipated only that it is taking place while the rest of the French rest rather than while they attack the British.

Word from Zaragoza is that rations are running low but they believe they can hold out for several weeks yet. Four French combat divisions are there laying siege to six Spanish divisions. Reports come in that tell me that the Valencia situation is similar. By my count, Jourdan likely has two Corps tied down at sieges but may have a third Corps available somewhere. Maybe it is marching on Barcelona.

I send off an Essay on the Strategy of Defending Madrid to Wellington

********

Disaster at Segovia! My Left Wing is wrecked and sent reeling toward Guadarrama

Segovia AAR

Replacements, too few, are being hurriedly recruited in Madrid and sent marching to Guadarrama.

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My left wing has been struck by French III Corps at Segovia. It did not come quite as expected. III Corps came from Montuenga and no other troops marched from Cuella. The French forces consist of three infantry divisions and a cavalry division. I sent a courier off to Wellington but I do not expect him to be able to respond in time to come to my aid. Napoleon is hitting us one at a time. To make matters worse, I get a message from Valencia. My Right Wing was defeated there and is now bottled up inside Valencia fortress. My reserve has very likely already retreated into Zaragoza fortress. My entire army is pinned in three different losing battles.

There is a battle at Segovia.
Estimated Allied strength at Segovia is 35000 infantry and 2500 cavalry.
Estimated French strength at Segovia is 28500 infantry and 4000 cavalry.
The Allied force is defending.

Battlefield for Segovia

I could opt to withdraw from Segovia but currently, Napoleon is not here. It is only Kellerman. I have three Fresh infantry regular divisions, a fresh conscript mixed division, and two fresh headquarters with artillery. The Tremp borderers are en route and expect to arrive early tomorrow morning. They are another mixed conscript division but they are worn.

In frustration at my lack of options, I commit the resources and raise a guerrilla band somewhere inside Old Castile. It will march toward Valladolid if it is able and harass the French until they destroy it. It is a little petulant. I name it Petulenti.

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A note from Wellington says that he is retreating to Salamanca where he will require a week to rebuild his forces enough to go on any offensive. He talks of crushing Bonaparte between us after that but this would depend entirely upon whichever of us Bonaparte moves against before then. My Reserve has struck at Zaragoza.

There is a battle at Zaragoza.
Estimated Allied strength at Zaragoza is 41000 infantry and 5000 cavalry.
Estimated French strength at Zaragoza is 35000 infantry and 2500 cavalry.

That's a lot more Frenchmen than I had hoped to find there. I am safely at Segovia with no sign of Bonaparte. My Left Wing has enjoyed the rest  but three of the divisions remain fatigued. I order my Left Wing to requisition supplies from the local populace. That should speed up recovery from fatigue. The tremp Borderers are in Madrid now being slowly brought up to strength. It will be a day of rest, except that I will put out vedettes toward Montuenga.

Oh, and Old Castile province has fallen to the French.

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Couriers managed to get out from both of my besieged garrisons. I would like to have confidence that Quixano has saved Valencia since this note was written. I have some confidence now that I needn't rush to Zaragoza but it does concern me that they have a siege train there.

 All but one laggardly division of the Left Wing is here with me at Cuellar. I hear artillery fire and am informed by an aide that Cotton, some British division, is engaged in a battle at Valladolid. The report is that Cotton is worn. Still no word is received from Wellington, though I know that he has received my messages telling him that I am here. Do I march to Valladolid? My troops are fatigued. It may be too much to ask of them without more intelligence gathered. The prudent thing is to rest the Corps here today but am I not needed at Zaragoza? Does Cotton need me? Perhaps he is anticipating my support? I should wait for that last division in any case.

News comes in of a battle fought at Valladolid yesterday. Link to AAR. Wellington has retreated across the river and apparently left Cotton as a rear guard.

*******

If Wellington is retreating, it seems rash for my Left Wing to remain so close to Napoleon. I daren't risk my reserve being impacted by the whole of Bonaparte's army. When I look at the situation from Bonaparte's perspective though, I see him taking stock at Valladolid. He can pursue the British down the highway, turn south for Madrid, or split his forces and try to do both things. He has twelve combat divisions and four headquarters divided into three Corps. His Second Corps in particular is mauled badly. So how does he go about ordering his army? If he thinks about pushing on Madrid, he has the Montuenga road and the Cuellar road. That allows nine divisions to travel, leaving him with six divisions too many. Likewise, he could move a maximum of eight divisions to pursue Wellington immediately. With three Corps, splitting his army is awkward since II Corps is particularly weak. My hunch is that Napoleon would approach the problem as follows:

I Corps advances to Tordesillas. III Corps advances to Montuenga and II Corps moves to Segovia to make a half-hearted march to Madrid. If he does this, and this is the best possible result for me (so I should be suspicious of my fantasizing/theorizing), then I would have one day to fight a mauled II Corps at Cuellar without any other French troops interfering. I have a reasonable chance of winning that with my Fresh Corps.  But on the morrow, what is my situation: French II Corps is at Segovia, I Corps is at Valladolid, and I am trapped and the French are between my army and Madrid.

Orders will need to be issued to fall my Left Wing back to Segovia. Prudence says to pull my Reserve back to Madrid until the situation is more clear but instead I send the order for the Reserve to attack Zaragoza. I expect them to fight there on the 17th or 18th.

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Real HQ

Wellington

Sent by Real HQ from Segovia on July 14th 1809 No receipt received. I am at Segovia with 40,000 men. From here, I can hear no cannon fire but know that your fatigued Leith division is at Montuenga and that Cotton left this place this morning, making for Aguilar de Campoo. That suggests to me that you have taken the offensive, as expected by your letter of the 11th. My force here is freshly raised and I was quite proud of how they all made it here in a single day from Madrid but they are now too fatigued to repeat that feat. The best that I can promise therefore is that I will take them to Cuellar tomorrow. I will accompany them but after that, I have an attack on Zaragoza that must be tended to. I am impatient to move my headquarters to that area. Castanos

I am meanwhile prompted to decide if I want to resolve the battle of Valencia in miniature or if it can be automated. Either way, there will be a fight there tomorrow.

There is a battle at Valencia.
Estimated Allied strength at Valencia is 9000 infantry.
Estimated French strength at Valencia is 19500 infantry and 3500 cavalry.

From this I gather that my Right Wing is not at Valencia yet but it may arrive at reinforcements and, if it is the 25,000 that I expect it to be, it could be a fight that I am capable of winning. All of that though is out of my control. I can only choose to put it to the tabletop of not. I need to start thinking about what is next for my Right Wing. If they win the battle of Valencia and force the French to retreat, the French will then be without orders and likely not to get a courier to them so the French will try to fight their way north. That would put them out of the fight for at least a week if not more. If I lose the battle, I'll expect to retreat into Valencia and share the fate in the siege. I may have enough troops though there to break the siege and send the French retreating. I should send an order now to my Right Wing, ordering it to return to Madrid to replenish itself. If I win, this will be a safe option as I cannot leave an army there forever. If I lose then it will not matter as they will be inside Valencia.

To do this, I will also change my line of Communications to Valencia. Currently it follows a route through Hijar and I expect to see that broken up by Lannes or the French retreating north from Valencia. So I tear down the bits of the old route and construct a new one from Madrid to Valencia along the direct road.

With regards my Reserve Corps and what I can affect, it will take a courier (or my headquarters), two days to reach Siguenza from Segovia. I will order them to march on Calatayud and expect them to be at that place by nightfall on the 16th. That should allow me to join them in an attack on Zaragoza on the 17th.

Spies are despatched to Peveda and Alcaniz to watch for Jourdan's French trying to approach Madrid through the less travelled roads. 

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Catalonia has been liberated! My Left Wing must have made the march and found it undefended. Juan Escobar is in Barcelona harbour so I expect that he will disembark on the morrow. I will have him join my Left Wing. In theory, I could purchase another transport fleet in Barcelona and then move the entire left Wing by sea down to Valencia. That is just a flight of fancy though. For now that I have retaken Barcelona I am struck by a thought: how in God's name do I intend to defend it? I had abandoned it once before as indefensible, afterall. The situation is no better.

Wellington sends word of a loss at Burgos five days before. After Action Report.

In the subsequent capitulation of Burgos, 25,000 Portuguese also surrendered. He says though that he will be looking to fight them again shortly but this time will seek to be on the defensive. He asks that I make myself available to support him. Yesterday I had written to the English that I needed more time to strengthen my reserve forces but on closer inspection, I see that two of my infantry divisions in the reserve are from Aragon so I'd need to get their replacements from Zaragoza.

My Reserve Corps, spread between Madrid and Siguenza, consists of 37,500 soldiers. I could march it to the side of Wellington, perhaps arriving massed at Segovia as early as July 16th. Wellington expects battle at Palencia or Valladolid within a few days of July 11th. He may already be doing battle.

No. Having achieved some success at Barcelona,  I should anticipate that this will force a change in plan from Jourdan. He may march on Madrid or he may deplete some forces from Zaragoza. I should mass my reserve and prepare to meet the French on the road to Zaragoza or, if at all possible, move to relieve the fortress.

One option available to me is to dissolve my Left Wing. It is cut off from its Line of Communications so I could pull it all back instantly to my Madrid HQ, disband it, and then use the points to raise a new force that I could send to Wellington's aid while still facing down Jourdan at Zaragoza. The downside to this (besides abandoning Barcelona again) is that I will be unable to destroy my Madrid depot before July 25th.

Done.

I now have 40,000 men hurrying to Segovia, northwest of Madrid. I will accompany them for one day and then hope to switch to Siguenza to take personal command of the attack on Zaragoza. The Reserve will take a couple of days to get organized though. Then I will have 45,000 marching to the relief of Zaragoza.

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Confirmation comes from Valencia, in the form of a courier that describes three French divisions besieging the defenders there. Also, I hear that my Right Wing encountered Lannes at Alcaniz and that we drove them toward Teruel. The Right Wing was on orders to make for Valencia so they would not have pursued the French but instead should be in Vinaros today. The Left Wing may be as far as Barcelona.

My headquarters moves to Madrid to better replenish the lost artillery pieces. Yesterday I sent a message to Wellington asking for certain word of his situation and informed him that in a week I might have 50,000 men about Madrid but that I cannot promise any before then as my army is all on the eastern cost of Spain. We may be in an interlude but the tension has not abated.

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Word has spread through the countryside that Burgos has fallen to the French. That doesn't bode well, given the message that I received from Wellington yesterday. With my headquarters at Siguenza, it would take three days for a courier to travel from here to my Left Wing which should be somewhere near Manresa, a day from Barcelona unless they had run into trouble. I wouldn't know about it yet if they had. My Right Wing is two days away by courier. I got a detailed strength report from them at Hijar that was sent yesterday morning at 08:45 hrs.

By sending some units a short ways back toward Madrid, I reduce the distance that my replacements from there must march. They are all in position so after tomorrow I should have points freed up to purchase more replacements. Now that I am in location with 1st Aragon, I am surprised to see that it is in battered condition. The report that last described them, from July 5th, stated that they were in worn condition. The new attrition system seems to be working.

Escobar's ships are in the Gulf of Lyon and they report no enemies sighted.

If Bonaparte took Burgos on the 10th, I need to consider the chance that he will march on Madrid from the north. I am certain that Wellington will get word to me soon. He has moved his Center of Communications to Tordesillas so I should rearrange my line of communication appropriately.

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Received from Wellington:

I am putting pressure on them. Lannes was driven further on in a battle at Hijar. No word has come that I am being pursued from Zaragoza. The divisions that accompany us in our chase after Lannes are now all either weakened or worn. Quixano has lost 2,500 men since yesterday, at this rate I will have little more than 30,000 men when I reach Valencia. I may simply be too weak to accomplish anything.

I order the Right Wing to continue pursuing Lannes but I will go to Siguenza to join the Reserve. Also, I order the two Castilian divisions in Madrid to join the reserve at Siguenza. From this point, I intend to put some attention to using replacements to repair my reserve. My own headquarters is worn and fatigued.

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So General Espana is on the road to Barcelona. I send some follow up couriers to arrange for them to drop a garrison and Tarrega to keep a line of communication open through 'hostile' territory and also think to order one of the divisions to drop a garrison at Barcelona to effect the conquest after our glorious victory there. My Right Wing caught up to Lannes at Hijar and they will fight again though, after detaching a division, it is by no means a sure thing. This is not a broken army that I pursue. I will follow and join the battle.

It is confirmed that the French are at Valencia as the system asked me if I wished to play out the battle there in miniature. If I do get a definite upper hand against Lannes, I can expect that it will be forced to operate without orders as I can see no easy way for Jourdan, who I assume is still north of the Ebro, to get orders to or messages from Lannes. That means that Lannes will be retreating every day in a semi-random direction. He'd go toward his line of communication if available but I think I am driving him further from his lines. This reminds me that I must reset my own Corps lines of communications.

Even if everything goes perfectly and I can beat Lannes back each day with him getting comparatively weaker after each retreat, I am going to be a week or more from Valencia. From Valencia, I would be eight days from Madrid. Currently I am three days from the road to Madrid that Jourdan would take to get there from Zaragoza. My weak Reserve division is resting still at Siguenza and I have two divisions with the Madrid Defense Corps but those would be better off combined if required.

As an afterthought, I disband the Madrid Defense force and place its two Castilian divisions under command of Navarro. That frees up 8 points which I will use for replacements for Navarro's Espana Cavalry.

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A battle needs to be fought at Gelsa. Alarmingly, gunfire can be heard behind me at Zaragoza. Some 27,500 Frenchman have descended upon the Aragon capital from behind me. They must have come from Huesca or Tudela. I had made the mistake of not keeping out scouts and piquets as I started to concentrate for battle. I have one infantry division and a garrison still back there so I needn't immediately panic but ... but it certainly colours my strategic options for the upcoming battle knowing that 30,000 Frenchmen are behind me. If Bonaparte is behind me and Jourdan to my front, I am in serious peril. It is confirmed that it is Lannes' V Corps that opposes me at Gelsa.

Also, my spy from Vinaros tells me that on July 4th, five French divisions were near Vinaros. If I assume that this was triggered by the arrival of those divisions at Tortosa, that means that by today, that French Corps may already be at Valencia. I have received no word from Wellington since the 4th of July, a message that was sent on the 3rd.

My OOB (for Napoleon's Battles rules)

I may regret not bringing my Left Wing to this battle, instead leaving them on the north bank of the Ebro to limit French retreat options and prevent reinforcements coming to this battle from the north. They may well prove positively positioned if I should win and then have to turn on Zaragoza. I must similarly consider ordering my Reserve Corps up from Siguensa if I need to mass against Zaragoza.

Juan Escobar's expedition is at sea in the Western Mediterranean. They are given orders to garrison Barcelona once they have conquered it. Perhaps after I have swatted Lannes aside and driven the French from Zaragoza, I can meet Juan Escobar in Catalonia. If I had the free points, it would be an opportune time to raise Catalonian guerrillas. Of course, if Valencia disappears Juan Escobar will immediately quit the war.

It means discrediting all of my spies and scrapping all of my replacements, but I run a line of communications from Valencia to Madrid and raise a Valancian infantry division in Valancia. It may allow the fortress to hold out long enough for me to ... for something.

******

Unfortunately, we are unable to play out the battle of Gelsa in miniature (I'd have had 'im!) but instead determine together that the French would be defeated and almost all of the involved forces would take a beating. it turned out that two of the three French divisions at Gelsa were conscripts. Lannes V Corps is driven back toward Hijar. Following the battle, though orders must be submitted within hours, I am torn between two options. I could fall back to try rescuing Zaragoza or I could trust to the fortress, take advantage of the fortress, and take the opportunity to aggressively pursue Lannes down and shift my army to Valencia and Catalonia. The second is a foolish option as it opens up the road to Madrid but I struggle against the tendency to go on the defensive. Attacking is what is required to win victories.

******

Finally, the orders are for the Right Wing to pursue to Hijar. Tomorrow I can decide if I will go west to link up with my reserve or not. Due to the nature of the road congestion, my headquarters will need to remain behind at Gelsa for a day. My Left wing, slightly reinforced with the Tremp borderers, will march directly on Barcelona. Perhaps they will meet Escobar's freebooters there. Cutting the French line of communications while also driving one of his Corps in a different direction may oblige the French to pull back and regroup or switch to a single line of communications with Bonaparte in the north. This option, rather bold and aggressive (and foolish) may get me Catalonia back and save Valencia. Sitting at Zaragoza does nothing but delay the loss of Zaragoza really, while I lose ground elsewhere. The trickiest problem in all of this is wondering how I will give orders to the Left Wing if I do not take Barcelona. Even now, I am out of communications with my reserve Corps and Madrid.

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A fairly ideal result was achieved in my initial attack. We encounter the three divisions at Gelsa and my troops do not flee at the first sign of the French. At Candasnos, my Left Wing overruns the French 11th Corps commander and artillery park, sending it fleeing north to Barbastro. We also get rumours that Jourdan's headquarters is at Barbastro. So now I issue orders to the remaining 25,000 Spanish troops and send them marching to Gelsa. It seems that at Gelsa it is 45,000 against 25,000 but the French will be without a Corps command staff and artillery where as I shall have Castanos and Quixano there.

Under Jourdan, I know that Grouchy is 3rd Corps and Lannes is Fifth Corps. I have no idea who commands 11 Corps and it has me scratching my head about where Lannes went. He was at Candasnos two days ago. Maybe the rumours that I am getting are wrong and maybe the French are altering their command structure. 

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The positive news is that I exactly predicted the movements of the French to cross at Gelsa. Less positive is that the local commander of the three Spanish divisions that I had placed at Gelsa to defend the crossing opted to withdraw to Zaragoza without offering battle.

I have some 73,000 troops at Zaragoza and another several thousand that can be there in a day. The breastworks are not yet completed. There is no indication of any French divisions nearby other than the three that crossed at Gelsa. If that is all that the French have brought then they will not be attacking Zaragoza.

Again and again the French have crept to within a couple of days of Zaragoza and then not advanced. It isn't like they are massing either. Instead, it seems that they are poking me then jumping back. This seems to be a pinning force, hoping to pin me at Zaragoza while the main French army does something more diabolical. I may have to attack.

I will sleep on this but I think that I will abandon the efforts to barricade Zaragoza and march 6 divisions to Gelsa under the command of Quixano and three divisions to Candasnos under Espana. My headquarters will wait in Zaragoza to reinforce whichever battle gives the best chance of victory. Navarro will remain resting and recovering at Seguenza to protect the road to Madrid.

The plan is to force the divisions that crossed at Gelsa to retreat south to Hijar and to cut them off from the rest of the French army. I'll have four divisions under direct command of Castanos at Zaragoza, resting, that will act as my reserve. It is my hope that we can force the French hand. Do they mean to fight me or are they just a pinning force? Looking at the strategic map of Gelsa (the French, as defenders, would get to choose a 5x5 square to be the bulk of the wargames table), I see some serious difficulty in trying to force the French away from the river and a retreat path to Candasnos. 

Strategic Battlefield of Gelsa

Whimsically, I raise a Transport squadron and a division in Valencia under command of Juan Escobar. He will set out on an expedition to retake Barcelona for me.

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Wellington sends word that he has altered his plan so it is fortunate that I betrayed his trust first. He will be concentrated with all of his forces in Burgos by the end of today. He speaks of wishing to trap Bonaparte between us. I continue to fall back to Zaragoza. My reserve Corps is all weakened or worn so I consider falling them back as far as Seguenza to collect replacements. This may not be the right time for that though. Instead, perhaps I should mass for a fight at Zaragoza. Napoleon did not pursue me yet.

Things heat up in the east. Three French divisions struck Candasnos from Barbastro and my division there cleverly withdrew to Zaragoza. The Zaragoza fortifications are now 80% complete as the French are within a day of Zaragoza. I want to second guess my decision to defend Gelsa with three divisions but resist it, trusting to my original logic.

I find three infantry units in my Reserve and Left Wing that are not fatigued and order them to force march to Zaragoza. I should also send them a cavalry division from somewhere but the road will already be blocked by the infantry. Instead, I'll take the rest of my Reserve Corps and move it to Siguenza and, if time allows, I can shift them quickly to Zaragoza from there.

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The Reserve Corps and Castanos fight at Longrono. Battle of Longrono AAR

My Left Wing found three divisions at Pamplona and is engaging there. When Castanos is defeated at the battle of Longrono, we retreat toward Calahorra. I resolve to abandon efforts to cooperate with the British as they seem to make no energetic efforts to hurry to my assistance and I cannot be expected to fight Napoleon alone, especially while Jourdan advances on Zaragoza. I elect to withdraw my forces from Pamplona without a fight and order them to fall back to Tudela. My Reserve is told to move south to Agreda, protecting my line to Madrid.  My headquarters will also go to Tudela. Will Davout and Napoleon pursue me or continue moving against Wellington?

I investigate my options for recovering the losses from the battle. The two divisions that took the brunt of the casualties are Aragon divisions so they'd need to get to Zaragoza to get replacements. The militia cavalry and regular infantry are only weakened (it may get worse after the retreat) but I'd have to send replacements up from Madrid. Anticipating further losses, I will raise two infantry replacements at Madrid and send them marching up the road to Zaragoza. Replacements can be easily dispersed if they are no longer needed. 

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Action!

Furthermore, we learn that there are now only four divisions at Pamplona (including the garrison, I assume). But that's not all: I hear today that yesterday, my garrison at Tremp was overrun by Lannes' 5th Corps consisting of three divisions.  I should assume that Lannes is now at Barbastro, two days from Zaragoza. Navarro has bravely chosen to fight at Longrono and I will do what I can to support him. Estimates are that I have 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry against 10,000 French infantry and 5000 cavalry. From that, I conclude that we are facing an infantry division, and a cavalry division. Napoleon will send more troops to the battle, either from Pamplona or McDonald at Pancorbo. The British are too far to aid me directly. Though the Portuguese could maybe have forced marched to the battlefield, they will not know that it is taking place in time to be given any orders from Wellington.

I can either try to march my Left Wing to the Longrono battlefield or, perhaps accomplish as much good by sending them to Pamplona to pin French reinforcements that might be sent from that fortress.

... and Lannes is approaching Zaragoza.

*****

First thing is to destroy my Zaragoza depot to limit my risks. Left Wing is ordered to attack Pamplona. The Arties Border Guards are ordered to march back to Zaragoza. They won't get that order until the fourth so they might get back to Zaragoza on the 6th. I had to give the order now because if the French occupy Huesca, the couriers will not be able to get through to them. It may already be too late. Likewise, I have to consider the routes that my couriers might take to the Gelsa detachment.

In the message that I send to Wellington, I advise him that if I am required to retreat from Longrono, it would be toward Calahorra and then Agreda but if I am victorious, I do not expect to pursue. Though I do have to consider the possibility of going from Longrono to aid in the upcoming battle at Pamplona. It is my expectation though that my Left Wing will retire from Pamplona without a serious fight.

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At Navaleno, I am afflicted with nerves. I get almost no correspondence from my units as the lines require that most messages go through Zaragoza still. I can see though that Wellington and one of his divisions are nearby at Pradena. The British, I am told, are moving now in three columns. The Portuguese are at Burgos. One British column is moving toward Pradena and Agreda while the other is going north, through Valladolid and then to Calahorra. I worry when he mentions dates of arrival like July 7th.

I did receive rumours that there was a French division at Calahorra over the last couple of days but it must have moved of or my Reserve Corps would have reported an engagement with them.

Both of my Valencian spies are in position and, for all I know, they are already speeding back to me with reports of a French advance down the southern coastline.

My deployment is foolish. It has been brought about my a lack of confrontations with the French. I blame Bonaparte.

******

Because Wellington and my headquarters are in such proximity, we are able to send a flurry of correspondence back and forth overnight. From this I get detailed information on the location of his columns. He and I are both indecisive and unsure of how to proceed. If Bonaparte is running scared of our combined armies then he will likely sit at Pamplona or fall back to Vittoria, hoping that Jourdan will exert pressure in the south. It seems clear that there is no intention that the two French armies are intending to march to simultaneously strike Zaragoza. No, it seems Bonaparte's intention at least to switch to the defensive and wait for Jourdan to take the offensive.

Given that hypothesis, the British and I should be marching against Jourdan but I won't suggest it to Wellington. He is sick to death of marching and wants to get into a battle so it is better to get his troops fighting Bonaparte near Pamplona. I try to make no hints that this will be a fairly futile endeavour and perhaps it won't be. Perhaps the British can bring Bonaparte to battle and defeat him, with my assistance. This will require restraint on my part though because all of my instincts tell me that Jourdan should be attacking me and that I can fight him, but I have felt that way for days and there has been no movement from Jourdan. The French are not fighting this war in any way that I can currently understand so my instincts and assumptions cannot be trusted.

Wellington has received rumours that Napoleon is at Pancorbo but his Portuguese have no scouting elements at Burgos so my Reserve column will march to Longrono tomorrow and send piquets to Pancorbo. I promise Wellingotn that it will remain at Longrono until his divisions are arriving there, which should be July 5th or 6th.  Personally, I cannot stay so long so far from my extended, poorly placed armies so I will move my headquarters to Calahorra where I can more swiftly respond to events. It has been good and reassuring to have this consultation with Wellington though.

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And no Frenchmen came to Tudela. They retired back to Pamplona for some reason. According to my piquets, two divisions have otherwise left Pamplona so I assume that they went west or north. I can conceive of three reasons why Napoleon might have retired from Tafella.
1> He saw my four divisions at Tudela and felt that his five divisions could not defeat them.
2> He seeks to goad me into attacking him at Pamplona.
3> He changed his mind, from which I gather that he must have received new information.

To my mind, the third is the most likely option and the most reasonable information that he likely received that would have had him back-pedalling so quickly would be news, rumours, or spy reports of Wellington's approach toward his right flank. I will send word to Wellington that Napoleon is acting as though he recently became aware of the British arrival in theater and to approach accordingly. The wording will have to be such that it doesn't encourage him to slow down.

I hear rumours that Jourdan's headquarters is at Manresa. My piquets at Lerida reported no advance of Jourdan against me.

I intend to shift northwest, though not to strike at Bonaparte unless I get concrete information. One Corps will screen at Tafella and the other will cross the river to Calahorra and Longrono. I will also send elements of the Right Wing (not the headquarters as it is still building entrenchments) to Gelsa. That will leave Zaragoza mostly empty but it is a fortress afterall.

A message arrived from Madrid declaring that the revolutionary threats in the area have been crushed.

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