Background
The Battle of Kulm was a battle near the town Kulm (Chlumec) and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia. It was fought on 29–30 August 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition. 32,000 French troops under Dominique Vandamme attacked an army of about 50-60,000 Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy, but were defeated with heavy losses on both sides.
On 29 August, Vandamme, with 34,000 soldiers and 84 guns at his disposal, attacked Russian formations forming a rearguard for the retreating Coalition army, at 16,000 strong, under the command of Russian general Ostermann-Tolstoy. The situation was very dangerous for the allies; if Vandamme won the battle, the French would take the passes in the mountain, and the retreating Coalition army could be trapped by Napoleon. However, Ostermann-Tolstoy rallied all of his troops for a stiff defense, and soon Vandamme’s troops were repulsed. Vandamme’s situation changed the next day. A Prussian army corp commanded by Friedrich von Kleist attacked Vandamme’s rear guard. Kleist then received help from a combined Russian and Austrian attack on his front, under the command of Generals Ostermann-Tolstoy and von Colloredo-Mansfeld. In an attempt to repulse simultaneous attacks on his front and rear, Vandamme ordered his forces to form squadrons. The inexperienced French troops were unable to fend off the allies, and soon withdrew from the battlefield, with heavy losses, including Vandamme himself as a captured prisoner of war.
While Marshal MacDonald’s defeat at Katzbach coincided with Napoleon’s victory at Dresden, the Coalition success at Kulm eventually negated his triumph, given that his troops never completely crushed the enemy. Thus, by winning this battle, Ostermann-Tolstoy and his troops succeeded in buying much needed time for the Coalition armies to regroup after the Battle of Dresden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kulm
The Game
We set up the battle using our favorite Et Sans Resultant (ESR) rules. The game was set up to play both the first and second day. The first day was the French attack to take the river crossings. The second day was the allied counter attack. Day one went with the French attacking all the crossing points and successfully taking two of the three. These victories came with heavy losses that the French were unable to recover during the night turn. The allies started their attacks on the French and were initially repulsed. However, the French left collapsed under the successive allied attacks. This required the French to try to pull back, but they could not withdraw fast enough and cover their flank. This resulted in the French forces being cut off and having to surrender and an allied victory!
