The Military History Thread

[Ernesto75]

At the risk of being out of topic I realised the importance of the animals during WW I.
In this context the WW I period was a transition, the cavalry being rendered obsolete by modern armaments.
Nevertheless, more than eight millions animals perished beetween 1914 and 1918 over fourteen millions animals which were mobilised.
The difficulties encountered by the germans for approvisioning in horses and forraging were partly instrumental in their defeat of november 1918.

The animals were important companions for the soldiers and the death of a horse was very demoralising.
The combattants of WW II also used animals but not as much as during WW I.

So I regret no more attention is given to our four-legged companions.

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by Ernesto75

There are avenues and streets honouring her in several French towns:
- an avenue in Nice;
- an avenue in Hyères:
- a street in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
In Paris, in the Jardin des Tuileries there was a monument honouring her but it was destroyed by the Germans as soon as they got in Paris in 1940.

There are also various monuments honouring her all around the world.
The great artist Edith Piaf was born two months after her execution and was baptised Edith in honor of Edith Cavell.

And a bridge near Queenstown, NZ : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell_Bridge

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by Ernesto75

At the risk of being out of topic I realised the importance of the animals during WW I.
In this context the WW I period was a transition, the cavalry being rendered obsolete by modern armaments.
Nevertheless, more than eight millions animals perished beetween 1914 and 1918 over fourteen millions animals which were mobilised.
The difficulties encountered by the germans for approvisioning in horses and forraging were partly instrumental in their defeat of november 1918.

The animals were important companions for the soldiers and the death of a horse was very demoralising.
The combattants of WW II also used animals but not as much as during WW I.

So I regret no more attention is given to our four-legged companions.

But do not overlook the fact that huge numbers-were used in WW2 as well-by both the Axis (mainly Germany) and Allied powers-large amounts of German artillery was still horsedrawn, and significant amounts of their logistic train; whilst donkeys and mules proved indispensable in heavily forested and/or mountainous regions such as Burma and New Guinea in particular for roles as diverse as logistics, casevac and artillery transport....the concept of the mountain gun/pack howitzer* directly relates to it ability to be broken down and carried by pack animals....usually donkey/mules rather than horses.
Dogs tend to be another overlooked animal-but were extensively used in WW2 by the Germans and Russians (in various roles)....and I'm fairly sure carrier pigeons were still in limited use during the early stages of WW2

....and of course the Polish cavalry's rather misguided exploits in the opening weeks of the war should be well known.....

* I joined the NZ army in 1979-and back then we still used the Italian pack howitzer then...

https://www.armymuseum.co.nz/blog/gu...-howitzer.html

-though by that stage it was only in generally limited use by some reserve units-I recall seeing one or two parked in the gun park (along with the more common US M101 guns) in Kensington Barracks in Dunedin-these would have belonged to the reserve artillery unit, 31(B) Bty at the time.

[Ennath]

October 13, 2005
Nalchik Raid

At 9:00 on the morning of October 13, 2005, 100-200 poorly-trained guerrillas attacked Nalchik (population 250,000), capital of Russia’s Kabardino-Balkar Republic in the North Caucasus. The initial attack included 9 targets: Center-T (the anti-terrorist force of the Interior Ministry), the FSB (Security Service), Border Guards, OMON riot police, road patrol police, tax agency, military registration office, regional HQ of the prison service and the airport. Shortly thereafter, a gun store was also hit and robbed and 3 police stations were attacked. A planned attack on the KBR-MVD (anti organized crime unit) was averted by chance. Public transport shut down across the city and fighting went on until noon.

By 1:20 Arsan Kanokov, president of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, announced that several attackers had been captured. They were members of a radical Islamist group called Yarmuk Jamaat. (Yarmuk refers to the 636 Muslim victory over the Byzantines.)

At 1:45, according to an FSB source, attackers attempted to seize an FSB building but were repelled. A rebel sniper killed one FSB worker and wounded 4, and the building was seriously damaged and caught fire. At 2:30, a group of policemen in a building surrounded by attackers managed to break out.

At 3:00 RIA Novosti announced that President Putin had ordered a full blockade of Nalchik. It also announced that the Interior Ministry, Defense Ministry, and FSB were conducting a joint operation, in which “anyone with weapons in his hands who displays armed opposition, should be subject to liquidation.” By early afternoon Dmitri Kozak, Putin’s envoy to the Southern Federal District had arrived from Rostov-on-Don, and was quoted by Radio Free Europe as saying: “The situation is normalizing...At least mass unrest and attacks have been put down. The bandits that today attacked the law enforcement forces have been dispersed. There remain only a few pockets of resistance—two, to be more precise. Fighting is still going on near the Interior Ministry's third department, where unfortunately people are being held hostage. There is an operation going there at the moment. [But] there are no more threats.” However, Radio Free Europe also relayed reports from Russia's ORT state television channel that “heavy gunfire could still be heard near the central market by mid-afternoon” and that “explosions were reported in various neighborhoods of Nalchik.” Eventually, most of surviving rebels retreated to the mountains.

A few, mostly wounded gunmen, cut off by federal reinforcements, holed up with police and civilian hostages in captured buildings (including a police station and souvenir shop) but were killed by special forces the following day. According to the Russian officials, no hostages were killed during these final rounds of fighting. By midday on October 14, the head of the regional government Gennady Gubin, told Interfax that “all points of rebel resistance have been suppressed and hostages freed. Now the security forces are conducting a sweep of the city to find rebels who are hiding.” The Russian government had deployed 1500 regular troops and 500 special forces troops to Nalchik to regain government control of the city.

Deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov announced to reporters in Nalchik that 2/3 of the militants were local residents, there had been at least 100 of them, and that most were 20-30 years of age. Asked about who might have been behind the raid, the pro-Kremlin prime minister of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov answered that Chechens had nothing to do with it: “If Chechens had been there, then it wouldn't have ended so quickly. It was their own people there. It was weak guys, which is why it ended quickly - they got the better of them in two hours.”

Following the raid, law enforcement officials detained dozens of people. Some of the detainees were charged under 9 articles such as terrorism, murder, armed rebellion, and infringement on the life of police officers. There was a number of documented cases of torture of detainees and the investigation was roundly criticized by Russian and international human rights groups. At least one was reported to have “disappeared”. Those who died in the pre-trial prison were added to the number of those killed in the streets.

The Russian government and the rebels have published significantly different casualty figures. According to the Russian officials, 89 attackers were killed and 36 captured, while 35 federal servicemen and 14 civilians also died. CNN reported that 97 people were hospitalized in connection with the attack, according to the Russian Health Ministry. According to rebel statements, 37 attackers died in the operation. The rebels put federal losses at over 300 dead and wounded.

The Jamaat apparently lost most of its members, including the deputy leader Ilyas Gorchkhanov. Survivors retrenched, and in late 2007 were subsumed into the United Vilayet of Kabarada, Balkaria and Karachay that would operate not only in Kabardino-Balkaria but also in the neighboring republic of Karachay–Cherkessia after the destruction of its native Karachay Jamaat.

[Ennath]

796
Conquest of the Avars

With the subjection of the Saxons in the 780s, the borders of Charlemagne’s Frankish Empire reached the edges of the Avar Khaganate. This empire, centered in modern Hungary, had been in steady decline since the days when it had challenged the Byzantine Empire in the early 7th century. They viewed the arrival of the Franks with concern and launched 2 major raids into Lombardy and Bavaria, both unsuccessful. In 788, they raised an even larger army and crossed the Danube, intent on deterring the Franks from any further ventures eastward. They were utterly routed, leaving thousands dead and more drowned trying to escape across the Danube.

Charlemagne now determined to deal with the Avar threat personally. After the 788 campaign, peace talks had proceeded fitfully, overtures which, perhaps, had their chief purpose in the desire of both parties to gain time to prepare for war.

In the spring of 791 Charlemagne put himself at the head of a powerful army. Preparations had been extensive. The army marched in 3 divisions. One entered Bavaria, gathered recruits raised in that country, and descended the Danube in boats, which carried also an abundance of provisions and military stores. A second division, under Charlemagne himself, marched along the southern side of the river; and a third, under his generals Theoderic and Meginfried, along its northern banks. The emperor had also sent orders to his son Pepin, King of Italy, to lead an army of Lombards and other Italians to the Avar country.

According to the doubtful account of the unnamed Monk of St. Gall, the country of the Avars was defended by an ingenious and singular system of fortifications. Nine concentric circles of palisaded walls surrounded the country, the outer one enclosing the entirety of Hungary, the inner ones growing successively smaller, the innermost being the central fortification within which dwelt the Khagan, with his palace and his treasures. These walls were made of double rows of palisades of oak, beech, and pine logs, the intervals between them being filled with stone and lime. Thus was formed a great wall, which at a distance must have presented a singular appearance, since the top was covered with soil and planted with bushes and trees.

These defenses, if they really existed, failed to check the advance of Charlemagne’s army. Though he had begun his march in the spring, it was September before he reached the banks of the river Enns, the border line between Bavaria and Hungary. Here the army encamped for 3 days; while here, he received the news that Pepin, with the Duke of Friuli, had already invaded Hungary, met an Avar army, and defeated it with great slaughter. The king then broke camp and broke through 3 lines of defense. No army challenged the attackers, as disease seems to have killed many of their horses. The discouraged Avars fell to tribal infighting.

Charlemagne intended to return and complete the conquest in the spring, and, to facilitate his advance, had a bridge of boats constructed, during the winter, across the Danube. However, problems elsewhere got in the way. But in 794 his subject, Eric, Duke of Friuli, again invaded Hungary, which had been exhausted by the civil wars. He penetrated to the inner fortress, known as “the Ring”. This large encampment contained much of the spoils from earlier Avar campaigns. As regards the location of the Ring, it is believed to have been in the wide plain between the Danube and the Theiss, the probable site being the Pusste-Sarto-Sar, on the right of the Tatar. Traces of the circular wall, or of the palisaded and earth-filled fortifications of the Avars, are said still to exist in this locality. They are known as Avarian Rings, but hardly match the tales of the Monk of St. Gall.

Eric's invasion was followed by one from Pepin, King of Italy, in 795. He penetrated into the Ring and captured it, then had it demolished.

The following year, the Avar chieftains surrendered and accepted Christianity. Local groups began giving in, but scattered resistance continued until a revolt in 799, easily suppressed. The Franks baptized many Avars and integrated them into the Frankish Empire. At a subsequent date they were nearly exterminated by the Moravians, and after the year 827 this once powerful people disappear from history, though a growing amount of archaeological evidence in Transdanubia suggests an Avar population in the Carpathian Basin up to the late 9th century.

[Ennath]

October 14, 1080
Battle on the Elster

Rudolf of Rheinfeld, Duke of Swabia, had played power politics with the young Emperor Henry IV earlier in his reign, and was demonstrably ruthless (kidnapping and forcably marrying Henry's sister) even without the support of the other princes of Germany. A group of opportunistic nobles were moved to take advantage of the momentary weakness of the Emperor in a period when he had been excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII over the issue of who was entitled to appoint whom, who was therefore subservient to whom, as well as a dispute over the Emperor-elect’s desire to divorce from his arranged wife.

After meeting with a penitent Henry IV in the fall of 1076, the pope had removed the excommunication of the hot-headed 26-year-old monarch. However, during the same fall-winter season the organizers of revolt were arranging for all to meet in late winter to further their own ends against the interests of the young emperor-elect. With the delays imposed by medieval travel, news of the rapprochement were delayed enough that the decision was made to go ahead and meet anyway. The diverse council of Saxon, Bavarian, and Carinthian princes met in March 1077, as soon as early spring travel conditions allowed, in Forchheim, and decided to press forward with their plans to expand their own powers.

The group consisted of high-ranking secular rulers as well as churchmen - who had up until the recent dispute with the Pope been appointed by the Holy Roman Emperor. As the elected anti-king, Rudolf hoped to achieve the greater nobility’s backing by promising to respect the electoral concept of the monarchy (thus accepting a more limited set of powers as King of Germany) and the pope’s backing by openly declaring his willingness to be subservient to the pope, as King of the Romans.

When Rudolf was crowned at Mainz in May 1077 by one of the plotters, Siegfried I, Archbishop of Mainz, the city population revolted and forced him, the archbishop, and other nobles to flee to Saxony. Rudolf was deprived of his territories (later he was also stripped of Swabia) by Henry. Rudolf’s Saxon allies marched to reinforce him, but were intercepted at Mellrichstadt (August 7, 1078). In the confusion, one Saxon force including the bishop of Merseburg and Rudolf fled as soon as the armies met. They were harassed by the local people while they fled home. Elsewhere, the Saxons under Otto of Nordheim and Frederick of Sommerschenburg bested their opponents and chased them in the direction of Würzburg. On his return, he found another army occupying the field. When his scouts did not return, he assumed it was the enemy and returned home, not knowing that it was a Saxon contingent. The result was an imperial rally and a draw.

In 1079, some of the Saxon princes deserted Rudolf. Henry deiced to take advantage of the duke’s apparent vulnerability and marched out against him around the turn of the year. Rudolf sought out Henry and met him at Flachheim between Eisenach and Mühlhausen in Thuringia on January 27, 1080. Rudolf had arrayed his army on a hill behind a stream. Rather than attack and possibly get caught with his forces while crossing, Henry opted to march around the obstacle. Henry struck Rudolf’s army from the rear, but in a sudden snowstorm the attack became disorganized. In one account, the Saxons were driven off after duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia cut down the Saxon standard during the snowstorm. On the other hand, Ekkehard of Aura reports that Otto of Nordheim attacked and plundered Henry’s camp, forcing the surrender of the Franconians and the Bohemians. Berthold of Ratisbon states that the armies became separated in the dark and that Rudolf was forced to withdraw to a neighboring village by the cold. The next day Rudolf returned to the field, but Henry had withdrawn to Franconia.

Pope Gregory VII, who had a personal animus against the Emperor-elect, now excommunicated Henry again in March 1080. However, there was ample evidence that Gregory’s actions were rooted in hate for the Emperor-elect instead of theology and so had an unfavorable personal impact on the Pope’s reputation and authority, leading much of Germany to embrace Henry's cause. Henry convoked a synod of the highest German clergy in Bamberg and Brixen (June 1080). Here Henry had Pope Gregory (who he dubbed “The False Monk”) deposed and appointed the primate of Ravenna, Guibert (now known as the antipope Clement III), reasserting the Holy Roman Emperors’ traditional right to appoint the pope for his side of the Investiture Controversy. The civil war extended south of the Alps.

In autumn 1080, Henry marched through Thuringia trying to unite his forces from southern and western Germany with those of Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia and Margrave Egbert II of Meissen. Henry had to bypass Rudolf’s Saxon allies. He successfully drew off the Saxons by feigning a move toward Goslar, while his main army approached Erfurt eastwards along Saxony's southern border. Henry plundered the city and proceeded to Naumburg, hoping to meet up with the other half of his forces on the Saale or Elster rivers. Rudolf soon realized his mistake and pursued. They caught up on the western bank of the Elster near Hohenmölsen on October 14. While Henry's Bavarian contingent may have joined the king, the contingents from Bohemia and Meissen were still on the far bank. Henry retreated to a swampy valley called Gruna.

Rudolf decided to attack before Henry’s reinforcements could arrive. The battle began with knights from both armies trading insults. Henry was initially protected by the swampy ground. Nearby was the bridge over the Elster to the town of Zeitz. The bridge was being held against Henry, probably by the townsmen. To meet up with his other forces, Henry would either have to force the bridge or build his own crossing. Meanwhile, Rudolf sought to prevent Henry’s escape. The long pursuit had weakened the rebel cavalry, so Rudolf ordered the knights with tired horses to dismount and strengthen the infantry. The Saxon commander Otto of Nordheim led these forces on a direct assault across the swampy Gruna. Meanwhile, the remains of Rudolf’s cavalry attempted to circle around the swamp. While Henry and Rudolf’s knights fought on the periphery of the swamp, Otto was able to force his way through Henry’s screening force and broke into Henry’s camp. Otto retained control of his force and prevented them from plundering; he then fell on the remains of Henry's army engaged with the rest of Rudolf’s forces. Henry’s army broke. Many of his warriors drowned in the Elster. The king was able to escape southwards, where he was brought to safety by the approaching Bohemian forces.

Although a military defeat for Henry, Rudolf was fatally wounded when one of Henry’s knights cut off his right hand and stabbed his belly. Rudolf died of his wounds the next day and his body was laid out in Merseburg Cathedral, where the chopped-off hand is still kept. With Rudolf’s death, the rebellion lost its focus. Henry conquered and demolished the remaining rebel fortresses.

Henry now began campaigning in Italy. While he was absent, the German rebels replaced Rudolf with the belated election of Hermann of Salm, also known as Herman of Luxembourg, as their new anti-king in August 1081, but he was fought successfully to a stalemate by Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, (Rudolf's Henry-appointed successor in Swabia who had married Henry's daughter Agnes.) Henry's campaign against the pope in Italy resulted in an accommodation and he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Gregory VII in 1084, leaving the anti-king Hermann of Salm in an awkward position.

Hermann’s plan to gather an army on the banks of the Danube and march into Italy in support of the pope was dashed by the death of his main retainer, Otto of Nordheim. When Henry returned north and came into Saxony with an army in 1085, Hermann fled to Denmark. He returned, however, in 1087, in alliance with Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, and defeated the emperor at the Battle of Bleichfeld on the River Main, taking Würzburg. Soon after his victory, however, he tired of being a pawn in the hands of the grandees and retired to his familial estates. The Great Saxon Revolt ended in 1088.

[Ennath]

October 15, 1877
Battle of Aladja Dagh

Initial attacks by the Russian Caucasus army toward Kars had fizzled in the spring and summer of 1877. Nevertheless, the Russians, under Mikkhail Loris-Melikov, had not given up hopes of making important gains here. By the end of September, they had been reinforced to over 60,000 men and 200 guns. On the other side, the Ottomans of Mukhtar Pasha were growing steadily weaker, due to both disease and desertion, and in spite of calling up all the troops guarding his communications and part of the Erzurum garrison, his field army was no more than 35,000 strong, with 84 guns. Mukhtar set about strengthening his 13-mile front, but he received no support from other Turkish leaders. He hoped to hold until winter shut down operations.

On October 2, the Russians made a series of attacks on the Yagni hills, intended to cut Mukhtar off from Kars. and overwhelm him on the Aladja Dagh (“God’s Mountain”). These attacks came to a halt by the 4th. Though no ground changed hands, the fighting cost 3400 Russian and 4200 Turkish casualties, favoring the Russians in the long run.

The fighting in the Yagni hills seemed to demonstrate that the Turks were too stretched to hold a line 13 miles long. Loris-Melikov resolved, therefore, to launch a major offensive. Meanwhile, some of the Turkish commanders urged retreat to the Saghanly Dagh, reinforcing Kars with 20,000 men en route; the strengthened fortress should be able to hold up a large part of the Russian army for up to 6 months. Mukhtar, however, believed that the Russians, having failed at the Yagni hills, would go into winter quarters, snow having already fallen. However, he was growing increasingly anxious about the growing disparity in strength. He decided to concentrate his army, since it was strung out over too long a front, and on the night of October 8-9 pulled his troops back from Great Yagni and Kizil Tepe to Aladja Dagh. The Russians discovered the move the next morning and pursued so energetically that the Turkish rearguard lost some 500 men holding them off.

Grand Duke Michael soon arrived to assume the Russian command. The Russians now planned the total destruction of Mukhtar’s army. Loris-Melikov (32 battalions & 112 guns) would demonstrate against the Turkish front, while Ivan Lazarev (23 battalions, 29 squadrons and 73 guns) would execute a wide turning movement around Mukhtar’s right and into his rear.

Lazarev set out on his long march on the night of October 9-10, laying telegraph lines behind him to ensure coordination with Loris-Melikov’s force. Mukhtar’s almost complete lack of cavalry kept this move unopposed. Meanwhile, the oblivious Mukhtar decided that he had been unwise to abandon the heights of Great Yagni and on the 13th attempted to retake it, but failed. Later that day, he became aware of Lazarev’s turning movement and hurriedly cobbled together a force of 6000 men to resist it under his brother-in-law Reshid Pasha. The next day, this force was attacked by the Russians near Bazardjik and the position taken a bayonet-point. Mukhtar was now in serious trouble; there was only 1 road open to him and to retreat by night towards Kars would involve a difficult and dangerous march. He was also reluctant to abandon the strong position on Aladja Dagh. He ordered his baggage back to Kars and kept his troops in their earthworks. It was a fatal mistake.

Lazarev telegraphed back a full report during the night. The opportunity was apparent to Grand Duke Michael and orders were issued for a full attack at dawn. Heimann’s Caucasus Grenadier Division would storm the Olya Tepe position, Lazarev would advance on Vizinkoi and Kristof Roop on Kerchane, and if Heimann’s attack succeeded, would continue on to attack Aladja Dagh.

As dawn broke on October 15, Heimann’s artillery opened a heavy bombardment, causing fearful casualties. He moved 3 regiments to the north side of Olya Tepe and waited for the guns to do sufficient damage. Mukhtar saw that 1 of these regiments was too far advanced and attacked it at 10:00, but was repulsed by heavy artillery fire from Great Yagni. At noon, Heimann’s infantry began to climb the slopes of Olya Tepe. The Turks maintained a heavy fire, but as the Russians kept coming, they abandoned their outpost line, and then their position on the crest. The Russian infantry pursued in a fierce bayonet charge, and the Turks fled. Heimann ordered an immediate pursuit, while the artillery advanced between Olya Tepe and Great Yagni, from where it could cover the only line of retreat from Aladja Dagh.

Meanwhile, Lazarev moved against the heights between Vizinkoi and Magaradjik, driving the Turks from their position. As they retreated, the Turks encountered the demoralized remnants from Olya Tepe, and the whole body fled in confusion toward Kars. Mukhtar could only watch as the whole left wing dissolved.

The successes of Heimann and Lazarev now opened the way for a decisive assault on Aladja Dagh. At 2:00, Heimann was ordered to cross the ravine and attack from the northwest, leaving enough troops to hold the captured positions. Lazarev was to attack from the southwest, and at the same time to block all the escape routes near Bazardjik. Finally, Roop would attack from the north. In fact, the latter had already begun his move, seeing signs that the Turks, under Omer Pasha, were preparing to withdraw their artillery. Roop pushed forward his infantry. The Turks responded with a fierce rifle fire, but their position was already impossible. Although it was already growing dark, Roop resolved on a final attack on the Turkish trenches. Just as the advance was beginning, the sound of cheers could be heard from the south slopes of Aladja Dagh and from Bazardjik, where Omer had sent envoys under a flag of truce, the news spreading like wildfire. Grand Duke Michael sent Loris-Melikov to ratify the surrender, on terms that officers could retain their arms, personal goods and horses, but that the surrender should otherwise be unconditional. The surrender began at 2 AM on October 16, the Turkish soldiers leaving the arms in their trenches and marching down unarmed.

It had been a crushing victory. Seven pashas, including Reshid and Omer, had been taken, together with 36 guns. During the next 2 days, Russian cavalry picked up further prisoners, along with 9 guns. Altogether, the Turks lost 5600 men killed and wounded, and 12,000 prisoners. The Russians lost 230 killed and 1611 wounded. Mukhtar Pasha had lost almost half his strength and his field army had been effectively destroyed as an organized force. The way was now open for the Russians to move against the fortress of Kars (see posting, Storming of Kars).

[Ennath]

October 16, 1760
Battle of Klosterkamp

In the early autumn of 1760 Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, commander in chief of the allied army, lay behind the line of the River Diemel with his army. The French threatened Hanover. To create a diversion and draw the French armies to the west, the Duke dispatched an army of some 20,000 men under the command of Charles William Ferdinand, Erbprinz (Hereditary Prince) of Brunswick to seize Wesel on the lower Rhine.

The fortified town of Wesel lies at the junction of the River Lippe and the Rhine. The French garrison commander prepared the town to resist attack, destroying the bridge across the Rhine at the mouth of the Lippe. French forces under Charles Eugene de la Croix, Marquis de Castries hurried from the southeast to relieve the garrison.

The Erbprinz invested Wesel and finding that the town could not be taken by storm prepared for a formal siege. Heavy siege artillery was brought down from Holland with bridging equipment. Crossings were established above and below the town and the Erbprinz’s army moved to the west bank to block the advancing French forces, some 25,000 strong.

Castries’ troops took up positions behind the Fossa Eugenica, an abandoned section of canal running from Rheinberg to the hilltop convent of Klosterkamp. Castries intended to await the arrival of further French forces before beginning the assault on the lines of the besiegers around Wesel. The Erbprinz resolved to attack Castries’ army with a movement round the French left flank at Klosterkamp. His force began its approach march late in the evening of October 15.

Maj.-Gen. George Augustus Eliott commanded the advance party, 2 squadrons of Prussian Hussars, the Royal Dragoons, the Inniskilling Dragoons and the 87th and 88th Highlanders. The main attacking force (Lt.-Gen. Waldegrave) comprised 2 battalions of grenadiers, the 20th Foot, the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, the 25th Foot, 2 battalions of Hanoverians and 2 battalions of Hessians. Behind the main body was a force of cavalry, the 10th Dragoons and 10 squadrons of Hanoverian and Hessian cavalry. A reserve force of the 11th, 33rd and 51st Foot with 5 Hessian battalions (Maj.-Gen. Howard) lay some miles behind.

The battle began in the middle of the night when the army's vanguard drove the French out of Klosterkamp convent and took the bridge over the canal. The sounds of firing alerted the main French army and senior officers moved forward to reconnoiter. All these officers were captured. One, the Chevalier D’Assas, a captain in the Regiment of Auvergne, shouted to his soldiers before being bayoneted. The Auvergne Regiment rushed to arms and more French regiments came up.

Dawn broke on the 16th as the British and German foot went into the attack, the Highland regiments spilling around the French flank. The assault was successful, driving the French back and capturing the village of Kamperbruch on the canal. The Marquis de Castries brought up his reserves and rallied the retreating regiments then launched a counterattack against the allied foot. The countryside was divided into small hedged fields, making movement of formed regiments difficult. The success of the assault broke up the formations of the British and German regiments. The soldiers expended their battlefield issue of 24 rounds, with no method for resupplying them with ammunition. The French counterattack drove the allied foot back across the canal. At this critical point the Erbprinz was injured falling from his wounded horse, putting him out of action for a time. Once recovered he sent an aide de camp to bring forward Howard’s reserve. This took time and in the meanwhile the French pressed their attack.

At the western end of the canal, Eliott took the initiative, leading the 3 British cavalry regiments in a charge along the south bank. Eliott’s charge disrupted the French advance and enabled the allied foot to regain the north bank. Howard’s regiments coming up from the rear formed a cordon which enabled the retreating foot to reform. The Erbprinz, recovered from his fall, ordered his troops to fall back towards the Rhine. He there found that the pontoon bridge had been swept away by the fast flowing river, stranding his army on the west bank for 2 further days. Fortunately for the allies, Castries failed to follow up his success, choosing to wait in his positions behind the canal for reinforcements.

The French suffered 3123 casualties. The allies suffered 1615, mostly from the British regiments. During the following days the allies were permitted to cross back over the Rhine and to withdraw from the siege of Wesel. Castries’ attacks were too late to impede the retreat. The allied expedition to capture Wesel had been a failure but the French allowed it to escape.

The Allied defeat caused disappointment in Britain where many had expected better news, following the large expansion of the army in Germany. It led some to question Ferdinand’s leadership of the Allied army, although he had been leading an outnumbered force and would go on to successfully defend Hanover from invasion.

[crinolynne]

Originally Posted by Ernesto75

At the risk of being out of topic I realised the importance of the animals during WW I.
In this context the WW I period was a transition, the cavalry being rendered obsolete by modern armaments.
Nevertheless, more than eight millions animals perished beetween 1914 and 1918 over fourteen millions animals which were mobilised.
The difficulties encountered by the germans for approvisioning in horses and forraging were partly instrumental in their defeat of november 1918.

The animals were important companions for the soldiers and the death of a horse was very demoralising.
The combattants of WW II also used animals but not as much as during WW I.

So I regret no more attention is given to our four-legged companions.

I owe my existance to said four legged brethern. My grandfather was in charge of an ammunition mule train sometime in 1917. The story goes that they had stopped for lunch at a crossroads when all of a sudden one of the mules ups and gallops off down the road, my grandfather in hot pursuit. A few seconds later a shell landed where they had been. My father was born in 1922... It is somewhat humbling to realise that but for that mule, I wouldn't be here...

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by crinolynne

I owe my existance to said four legged brethern. My grandfather was in charge of an ammunition mule train sometime in 1917. The story goes that they had stopped for lunch at a crossroads when all of a sudden one of the mules ups and gallops off down the road, my grandfather in hot pursuit. A few seconds later a shell landed where they had been. My father was born in 1922... It is somewhat humbling to realise that but for that mule, I wouldn't be here...

Do not underestimates animals' ability to sense danger-it is very real. During my time in UNTSO-the South Lebanon half of that tour was-to put it mildly-fairly exciting-I was in Team Zulu at OP Hin-one of the two (there were 5 UNTSO OPs on the Israel-Lebanon 'border')-Hin (and OP Mar) were the two 'hot' ones where a disproportionate number of 'incidents used to happen close to. OP Hin had a mascot 'Shaka'-a fairly elderly but hale female alsation dog who'd been at the OP for over a decade...she could sense an attack coming quite a few seconds before impact and would get agitated-warning the rest of us-this happened on more occasions than I can count. She would get agitated and within about 30 secs you'd get the 'crump crump'..or WHUMP if it was close of incoming mortar fire or rockets. I imagine in her case it was simply a case of a dog having far better hearing than humans....and hearing the weapon discharge-even if several miles away-well before the projectile impact