Battle of Raszyn, April 19^th, 1809

Map by [HWK]Kosciuszko

The War of the 5^th Coalition saw an army of the Austrian Empire invade the Duchy of Warsaw to punish the Polish allies of Napoleon. As the Austrians slowly advanced on Warsaw, General Major Johann Frieherr von Mohr�s advanced guard found several squadrons of Polish Lancers near Sur Bequemlichkeit Inn. Quickly penning a note to the Archduke, Mohr awaited further instructions. Archduke Ferdinand immediately set out for the inn with all of the Austrian cavalry that were at hand. Arriving south of the inn, Ferdinand launched a coordinated attack with the cavalry reserve and Mohr�s infantry. The attack compelled the Poles to retire behind the Utrata River.

The Archduke decided to attack the scattered Polish forces without delay. Civillart�s and Pflacher�s brigades would lead the advance down the Jawarow-Warsaw road. Mohr�s command would conduct the supporting attacks with Vukassovich, moving on Falenty while Siebenburger�s Grenzers took Dawidy to protect the right flank. The Grenzers occupied Dawidy unopposed and remained for the rest of the day. Vukassovich, on the other hand, became hopelessly entangled in the vicious street fighting of Falenty. Poniatowski had not expected such an energetic attack from the normally uninspired Austrians. The Austrians of Civillart�s brigade struggled to reach the Utrata. After reaching the flooded stream around four o�clock, Civillart found that the bridge to Jawarow and all bridging material had been removed by the Poles. By this time, Vukassovich�s veterans had taken the small wood near Falenty and repelled a counter-attack lead by Poniatowski himself. Renewing the assault the Austrians finally threw the Poles out of Falenty in some disorder, capturing two guns in the process. The Austrians then pursued the Poles across the bridge and gained a toe-hold in Raszyn. A counter-attack by Von Dyherrn�s Saxons stopped the Austrian advance and dislodged Vukassovich from Raszyn. The attack on Raszyn was again renewed around seven o�clock. After two hours of house to house fighting, the Austrians were in complete possession of the burning town. Poniatowski started his withdrawal to Warsaw after nightfall. Von Dyherrn�s Saxons left for home the next day, following previous orders from the Emperor. Poniatowski was forced to abandon Warsaw to the Austrians on the 21^st, however, the Polish army eventually recovered and forced the Archduke out of Poland, seizing part of Galicia in return.

Edited text taken from Brian Robinette�s �Raszyn� scenario for Napoleon�s Battle�s board game.

The Map

In the historical battle, Austrian forces were anywhere from 2 to 3 times that of the Poles, roughly 30,000 against 10,000. Nothing like that ratio is presented here on this map, but the Austrian force of around 5,100 (green) outnumbers the Polish/Saxon force (blue) by about 1,700 men. This is an objective map, with possession of the town of Raszyn (circled yellow) being the goal of the attacking Austrians. The Austrians must be in possession of the town by one hour game time or admit defeat and withdraw. Only a few of the town�s houses are garrisonable and the Utrata River has several crossing points. This means that 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. No up-grades or building allowed. ���