Aspern-Essling Orders of Battle 1:50
This post (with page tabs) lists the Orders of Battle for the French and the Austrian armies at the Battle of Aspern-Essling. The lists are compiled from a number of sources, namely Castle, Boué, and Gill (see Reference). Care should be taken as, for example, for Austrian guns Gill simply quotes Castle. The numbers given are definitely not the exact number of men who fought on the battlefield. For example: there are no strength returns for Oudinot and Dermont’s divisions in the period immediately prior to the battle. For Ficatier’s command, two quite different estimates are listed. Numbers have been arrived at from role-calls taken near to the date of the battle or by ‘intelligent accounting’. Deductions an be allowed for absent, ill, detached troops, and deserters. Boué in Essling estimates that the Austrian army would have fought with at least 8,000 men less than listed. Ultimately as far as wargaming goes, it would seem acceptable to be liberal with French numbers and conservative with Austrian. Note: These orders of battle are constantly updated in line with new research or changes in my project.
Notes are included here to give some explanation to the lists.
• Infantry and Cavalry have a figure to men ratio of 1:50
• One artillery piece represents a battery of six (1:6)
• Howitzers are included as part of a battery.
• With some of the scaling I have given the exact division so that it can be seen
whether I have chosen to round up or down.
• Units: the number of the regimental battalions or squadrons. Bracketed numbers are
the actual number of units.
• Figs: the number of figures with which I have (provisionally) chosen to represent the
unit.
• Léger or Légère: French light infantry
• Ligne: French line infantry
• “new units inc. third veterans” means that the demi-brigade is composed of the
fourth battalions of regiments made from a mixture of two thirds raw recruits and one
third veterans.
• Not all the Cuirassier regiments made it across the Danube on the temporary
bridges that were being sabotaged by the Austrians during the battle. The regiments
marked * are likely candidates, some because they are not mentioned in battle reports.
• Guns for the Austrian 4th Column are given as 34 in Castle (and therefore in Gill).
Boué gives 48 and the breakdown listed. Similarly with the Austrian Cavalry Reserve,
Castle gives 18 while Boué gives 42.
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