Patriot Cazadores a Caballo in the 1817-18 Chilean Campaign

The various sources are inconsistent about the Argentine and Chilean Cazadores a Caballo in the 1817-18 Chilean Campaign. In a discussion on the Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum, John Fletcher expressed the opinion that all references to Argentine Cazadores a Caballo and Escolta del General were in fact the Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General. Similarly references to Chilean Cazadores a Caballo, Chilean Horse Cazadores or Chilean Escort Cazadores, are the Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial. He recommended getting two squadrons of each unit for the Chilean campaign.

Chilean Cavalry

Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial
Two Squadrons of three stands each

In the case of the Battle of Cancha Rayada the Argentine unit is mistakenly subsumed into the Chilean Horse Cazadores, and needs to be separated out.

Based on the above observations the orders of battle in should modified in the following way:

Battle Source Current Orbat Suggested replacement
Chacabuco Fletcher (2005) 1 Squadron Escolta del General (150-elite) 1 Squadron Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General (150-elite)
Chacabuco “What if” Fletcher (2006) 1 Squadron Escolta del General (150-elite) 1 Squadron Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General (150-elite)
Talcahuano Fletcher (2005) 2 Squadrons Chilean Cazadores a Caballo (246-regular) 2 Squadrons Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial (246-regular)
Cancha Rayada Fletcher (2005) 3 Squadrons Chilean Horse Cazadores (342-regular) 1 Squadron Chilean Escort Cazadores (119-regular) 2 Squadrons Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General (230-regular) 2 Squadrons Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial (230-regular)
Cancha Rayada Alternate Orders of Battle for Cancha Rayada and Maipo 2 Squadron Argentine Cazadores a Caballo (342) 1 Squadron Chilean Escolta de Director (119) as above
Maipo Fletcher (2005) Left Division:

1 Squadron Chilen (sic) Cazadores a Caballo (114-regular)
1 Squadron Chilean Lancers (51-militia)

1 Squadron Argentine Cazadores a Caballo (120-regular)

Reserve Division:

1 Squadron Chilean Escolta Cazadores a Caballo (119-regular)

Left Division:
1 Squadron Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial (165-regular)
1 Squadron Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General(120-regular)
Reserve Division:
1 Squadron Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial (119-regular)
Maipo Alternate Orders of Battle for Cancha Rayada and Maipo Argentine Cazadores a Caballo & Chilean Escolta de Director (938) 4 Squadrons Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General (469) 4 Squadrons Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial (469)
Maipo Alternate Order of Battle: Battle of Maipu, Apri 5, 1818 San Martin’s Escort (14/264) 4 Squadrons Argentine Cazadores a Caballo (26/393-regular)
4 Squadrons Chilean Cazadores a Caballo (19/500-regular)
5 Squadrons Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General (40/657-regular) 4 Squadrons Chilean Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial (19/500-regular)

Regarding the quality rating of these units, John Fletcher had this to say:

I reduced the quality of all the Patriot Cazadores a Caballo to regular in 1818 based on my opinion of their performance in the campaign. In my opinion they were adequate but not spectacular. This might be due to the Cazadores a Caballo operating in this “converged” unit that caused so much OB trouble, whereby the superiority of one squadron may have been nullified by the inexperience of another or it might be my personal bias looking for a balanced wargame. In any event, it’s how I see things. The cavalry lost in a skirmish with the Royalists earlier in the afternoon at Cancha Rayada; they did not halt the Royalists at Cancha Rayada (indeed, the Granaderos left the field in disorder) and the Cazadore charge at Maipo was effective in driving the Royalist cavalry from the flank but became bogged down in the mass melee against the Burgos battalion. A decent but not spectacular record; hence the regular rating. Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum.

References

Fletcher, J. (2005). Liberators! Volume 1: The War in the South. Grenadier Productions.

Fletcher, J. (2006). Liberators! Supplement 1: The War in the South. Grenadier Productions.

Grenadier Productions specifically:

Alternate Order of Battle: Battle of Maipu, Apri 5, 1818. Fletcher cites “Las Fuerzas Armadas de Chile” as the source for the data in these orders of battle.

Alternate Orders of Battle for Cancha Rayada and Maipo. Fletcher cites Soria (2004) as the source for the data in these orders of battle.

Argentine Flags of the War of Independence, 1810-1824

Uniform: Argentine Cazadores a Caballo de la Escolta del General.

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