Time Astra

Schematic plan · Franco-Prussian War

Battle of Coulmiers

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A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveHorseHorseGunsGuns02 km4 kmN

France (Fr Army of the Loire, 60,000 men under Aurelle) attacked Germany (Bav I Corps, 20,000 men under Von der Tann) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 7 hours of fighting on a front of 10 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against hasty defense, and that France won. Losses: France 1,800 (3%), Germany 1,800 (9%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

France

Aurelle

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry13,860
France centreInfantry18,480
France right wingInfantry13,860
France reserveInfantry11,550
France artillery (150 guns)Artillery2,250
AurelleCommander—
In this plan60,000

Germany

Von der Tann

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry3,240
Germany centreInfantry4,320
Germany right wingInfantry3,240
Germany reserveInfantry2,700
Germany cavalry of the leftCavalry2,500
Germany cavalry of the rightCavalry2,500
Germany artillery (100 guns)Artillery1,500
Von der TannCommander—
In this plan20,000

What the sources report

FranceGermany
Strength, this plan60,00020,000
Losses, this plan1,8001,800

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 226, “Coulmiers”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
7 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Cold, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
10 km (attacker), 10 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Franceattacker60,0001,800—150Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Breakthrough
Germanydefender20,0001,8005,000100Defensive plan; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages intelligence +1 · initiative +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.