Grande Armee: Kolowrats III Korp of the Austrian Hauptarmee of 1809

These little monsters take such graft to get on top of this is obviously turning into a very VERY long term project but I was feeling a little guilty at having left Charles festering for so long that I decided that I was going to tackle one of Archduke Charles remaining corp before I went back to the high art stuff and before I started ploughing into the scenery Ive got on my list of mountains to conquer

So anyway, after much deliberation, and wokring out just whether or not I had enough artillery pieces to tool up another entire corp I decided that Feldmarschall Johann Karl, Graf von Kollowrat-Krakowsky (or Fieldmarshall Kollowrat) who commanded Austria's III corp at the battle of Wagram would be the next to be dealt with.

This was the first corp I had done that gave me the opportunity to try Lancers (or Uhlans as they were called), funky shakos (for both line infantry and auxiliary infantry; wait until you see the red and white striped Shakos) and an opportunity to adjust the colour that I painted by artillery pieces and limbers to be more realistic instead of  the gaudy yellow I had previously done...

Also over time I have become dissillusioned with the manner in which I have done my bases and as such I have left the bases on these pieces to be completed at another time as I believe I can do far better... and intend to try (but more on that in another blog!)

So... without further ado I introduce you to a very painted but equally unbases III corp!

The entire painted III Corp. Lots of sex but no sizzle!

So, I guess the first to be introduced will be the man Kollowrat himself. This guy was far more capable than the run of the mill Austrian commanders would have you believe. He was a career soldier starting off with the Austrian army in 1766. Fought against just about everybody on the continent. Proved himself a crack artillery gunner officer, an excellent logistician, had a bad six year period where in two major battles (Hohenlinden and Austerlitz) he found himself and his corp isolated and alone by incompetent commanders and suffered the brunt of the avalanche of French as a result. At Wagram Charles launched him on III korp's very dangerous assault on the French left which almost caved in the entire French army before Napoleon launched an entire cavalry division at them. The cavalry division was all but disembowelled by Kollowrats troops but not before Napoleon was able to form his 112 gun Grand Battery.... which when opened up stopped III Korp cold. They withdrew to beside Deutsch Wagram.... but they STILL werent finished. When Napoleon launched Marshall MacDonald on his gigantic attack at the juncture between III and VI Korp the III Korp STILL stood there and fought the French to a standstill!

These guys were worth their weight in gold to the Austrian cause... and were, for once, very ably led!

The man himself

So, the artillery. There are 4 batteries of Artillery in III Korp and I decided that the yellow that I had used on the previous attempts was far too gaudy so I toned the yellow down to a rather weathered and dull yellow that was far more reminiscent of artillery that had been in the field and on the move for the last 6 months.

I also decided to mix things up a little and include a couple of Handlanger Corpsmen into the serried ranks of the artillery. Those crew members that you see with the blue facings; well they are members of the Handlanger Corp... which is to say, they are the artillery crewmens bitches. They are there to push, pull, dig and fill in!

III Corp had a couple of able divisional commanders in Franz Xaver Johann Graf Saint-Julien und Walsee (or Graf St Julien for short) and Baron Josef Philipp Vukassovitch. Vukassovitch was a Croatian career soldier who earned many plaudits through his career. He was mortally wounded at Wagram defending the army against MacDonalds attack and he died of his wounds a month later. 

St Julien on the right and Vukassovitch on the left

2nd Uhlan Brigade (Von Schwarzenburg) and the 2nd Berauner Landwehr

The Uhlans! The 2nd Uhlan Brigade von Schwarzenburg shown here with III Corp's Vanguard Brigades infantry support; the Berauner Landwehr

2nd Uhlan Brigade (Von Schwarzenburg) and the 2nd Berauner Landwehr

...and of course the rest of the infantry:

The 7th Karl Schroder Regiment in the foreground followed up by Infantry Regiment 56 Wenzel Colloredo

The 7th Karl Schroder Regiment in the foreground followed up by Infantry Regiment 56 Wenzel Colloredo

IR1 Kaiser Franz on the left and IR12 Manfreddini on the right

IR1 Kaiser Franz on the left and IR12 Manfreddini on the right

IR7 Schroder

IR7 Schroder

IR20 Kaunitz at the front followed by IR38 von Wurttemburg following up.

and there we have it... the assets!

Ill come back and base these when I have mulled over what effect I want to achieve for a bit but for now, I need to finish up a load of Polish mountain infantry!

Watch this space!