Battle of Raszyn, April 19^th, 1809

Map by [HWK]Foxhound

On April 15th, Poniatowski received an Austrian delegation, which presented d'Este's declaration. This declaration announced "the Austrian troops were entering the territory of the Duchy at 7 a.m. on April 17th.

Poniatowski planned to leave Raszyn and move against the Austrians. However, General Rozniecki, the commander of Polish cavalry, informed him that the enemy is quite strong. General Pelletier, a Frenchman who commanded the Polish artillery, expressed concern about advancing the army too far forward and exposing it to the danger of being cut off from Warsaw.

In this situation Poniatowski decided to hold his position in Raszyn. Thus several Polish units under GB Bieganski (3rd Infantry with 4 guns, and the 6th Uhlans) entered Raszyn. Poniatowski with 8 battalions, 6 squadrons and 19 guns departed Warsaw for Raszyn. The Saxons followed Poniatowski on the next day. The stream was marshy and only crossable at few points. Poniatowski defended these crossing points with small detachments and strong reserve was held in the center. Along the strean were numerous trees obstructing the full sight of the battlefield. The Raszynka Stream is also called Rawka or Rawa Stream. The exact location and size of the "alder wood" is unknown to me. Here is another map (French website)

Poniatowski selected his battlefield at Raszyn, several km from Warsaw, a city he could not politically afford abandoning without a fight. "It was a good defensive position behind a river that was bordered with heavy marshes crossed by only a few bridges and causeways." (Nafziger - "Poles and Saxons of the Napoleonic Wars" p 102)

In the afternoon the Poles saw the first echelons of MG Mohr's Advance Guard. Looming dust clouds and the firing of skirmishers heralded the advance of Austrian troops. The whitecoats were coming in large numbers, battalion after battalion marched out of the woods. The Austrian commander watched as his Grenzers and regular infantry started forward from the fringe of pines, their well dressed lines and columns surging on like a white wave crested with a glistening foam of steel.

Poniatowski thought that the Austrians will halt their advance and set a camp. He feared an Austrian attempt to march on Jaworowo and outflank him on the next day. Such maneuver would force Poniatowski into quick retreat to Warsaw. But that didn't happen. The confident Ferdinand d'Este was eager to attack immediately and ordered Mohr to attack Falenty without waiting for the rest of the corps.

Text taken from http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Raszyn_battle.htm

The Map

Though the historical battle saw around 15,000 Polish and Saxon troops attempt to hold off an invading army more than twice their size, this map sees a defending force of 7,200 outnumbered by a mere 1,000 Austrians for the sake of game-play. Yet, this ratio still proves a challenge as the attacking force outnumbers the defenders not only in man and horse, but in cannon as well. They also have the choice of several crossing at which to amass their attack while the defenders must be wary of all such points and are forced to spread their defenses thin. The Polish/Saxon defenders will have to display the tactical brilliance of Poniatowski to succeed in holding back concerted Austrian attacks for the time required to achieve tactical victory. The map objective is for the Austrian attackers to gain control of 3 of the 4 objectives (circled yellow on mini-map) within 50 minutes of game time. The moment 3 objectives are gained, the defender must surrender. If after 50 minutes, this objective is not reached, Austrians players must surrender. No up-grades or building allowed.