Spanish at the Medina de Rio Seco using Shako

I’ve put together a few ideas on the Spanish Orders of Battle for the Battle of Medina de Rio Seco (14 Jul 1808) for Shako.

Historical, Shako Field of Glory, Steven

I’ve shown the most likely regiments to have been present based on Partridge and Oliver (1998), how these correspond to the Shako Orbat from Fields of Glory (FOG), and my own suggestions (Steven).

Teniente-General Don Gregorio Garcia de la Ceusta (Capt-Gen of Castilla) was Commander in Chief and led the Army of Castile. Teniente-General Joachín Blake (Capt-Gen of Galicia) led the Galician 1st and 4th Divisions.

Division Unit Type Men FOG (1) Steven
Brigada Vanguardia (Brig. Conde Maceda) 2o Rto Ligero Cataluña Light Inf 685 1 LI 1 LI
Ligero de Gerona Light Inf 575 1 REG 1 LI
Ligero de Barbastro (1/2 Bn) Light Inf 530

(2)

1 LI
Rto de Buenos Aires Colonial Inf 350+ 1 REG 1 REG
1a Galician Division (Mariscal de Campo Felipe Jado-Cagigal) Rto del Rey (2o & 3o Bns) Line Inf 900 2 REG 2 REG
Rto de Mallorca (1 Bn) – with Grenadiers detached Line Inf 580 1 REG 1 REG
Rto de Hibernia (2o & 3o Bns) Foreign Inf 830 2 REG 2 REG
Milicia de Mondoñedo Militia 600 1 SR 1 SR
Rto de Zaragoza (1o & 2o Bns) – with Grenadiers detached Line Inf 1,040 2 SR 2 REG
Granaderos Provinciales de Galicia Militia 790 1 SR 1 SR
Sharp shooters from other units Line Inf 1 SK 1 SK
Rto de la Reina (2 Escn), Rto de Montesa (1 Escn), and/or Dragones de la Reina (1/2 Escn) Line Cav/
Dragoons
550 1 SRc 1 SRc
4a Galician Division (Mariscal de Campo El Marqués de Portago) Rto del Principe (2 Bns) Line Inf 1,510 2 REG 2 REG
Rto de Toledo (2 Bns) Line Inf 1,360 2 SR 2 REG
Rto de Aragón (1 Bn) – with Grenadiers detached Line Inf 450 1 SR 1 REG
Milicia de Santiago (1 Bn) Militia 800 1 SR 1 SR
Milicia de Lugo (1 Bn) Militia 500 1 SR 1 SR
Granaderos Unidades (2 Bns) – the combined Grenadier companies of Zaragoza, Mallorca, Aragon, and de la Corona (4) Line Grenadiers 400 1 REG 1 El (3)
Sharp shooters from other units Line Inf 1 SK 1 SK
Attached to any of Vanguardia, 1a or 4a Divisions 4o Rto de Artilleria (12 guns), Artilleria de Marina (6 guns) Art 18 guns 2 FtG 2 FtG
Ejército de Castilla (Cuesta) Rto Ligero Vol. de Navarra (3 Bns) Light Inf 783 1 SR 1 LI
Rto Voluntarios de Leon (3 Bn) New Inf 3,150 3 SR 3 SR
Rto Voluntarios Literarios de Valladolid (1 Bn) New Inf 500 1 SR 1 REG (5)
Rto Escolares de Benavente (1 Bn) New Inf 800 1 SR 1 SR
Rto de Covadonga (2 Bn) New Inf 1,500 2 REG 2 SR
Sharp shooters from other units New Inf 1 SK 1 SK
Artilleria a Caballo Art 4 guns

1 HsG

Notes:

(1) Totals from FOG:

1 General
3 Division Commanders
12 Regular Battalions
1 Light Battalion
15 Second Rate Battalions
3 Skirmishers
1 Second Rate Regiment
2 Foot Batteries

(2) I assume in FOG the men of this regiment has been merged into the other rather weak regiments in the Vanguard.

(3) Given the Grenadiers successfully assaulted a massed artillery battery I would think they had some morale advantage over the Fusiliers. After all, that is why they were brigaded together, to give the army a strike force.

(4) It would seem only the Grenadiers of de la Corona were present at the battle.

(5) My justification for the REG status is that the cadre of the Rto Escolares de Benavente were the only troops to fight heroically at Cabezón. Otherwise they’d be SR like the other volunteers and militia.

Shako Pick up versus Shako Medina de Rio Seco

This table compares the order of battle for a Shako Pick Up Battle to the order of battle described for Medina de Rio Seco. I’ve included the +20% extra forces (REG battalions) that the Pick Up Battle rules give to an attacking force in a Pick Up battle. The Pick Up battle compares quite closely to my orbat for Medina de Rio Seco.

Shako Type FOG’s Medina de Rio Seco Pick Up Battle Steven’s Medina de Rio Seco Historical Units from Steven’s Orbat
EL 1 1 Granaderos Unidades (2 Bns) – the combined Grenadier companies of Zaragoza, Mallorca, Aragon, and de la Corona
LI 1 5 4 2o Rto Ligero Cataluña
Ligero de Gerona
Ligero de Barbastro (1/2 Bn)
Rto Ligero Vol. de Navarra (3 Bns)
REG 12 17
(11 + 6 for attacking)
14 Rto del Rey (2o & 3o Bns)
Rto de Zaragoza (1o & 2o Bns) – with Grenadiers detached
Rto de Aragón (1 Bn) – with Grenadiers detached
Rto de Mallorca (1 Bn) – with Grenadiers detached
Rto del Principe (2 Bns)
Rto de Toledo (2 Bns)

Rto de Hibernia (2o & 3o Bns)
Rto de Buenos Aires
Rto Voluntarios Literarios de Valladolid (1 Bn)

SR 15 7 10 Granaderos Provinciales de Galicia
Milicia de Mondoñedo
Milicia de Santiago (1 Bn)
Milicia de Lugo (1 Bn)
Rto de Covadonga (2 Bn)
Rto Voluntarios de Leon (3 Bn)
Rto Escolares de Benavente (1 Bn)
SK 3 2 3 Sharp shooters from other units
SRc 1 6 1 Rto de la Reina (2 Escn), Rto de Montesa (1 Escn), and/or Dragones de la Reina (1/2 Escn)
HyG 1
FtG 2 3 (2 + 1 for attacking) 2 4o Rto de Artilleria (12 guns), Artilleria de Marina (6 guns)
HsG 1 1 Artilleria a Caballo

Painting Guide

Very rough notes for painting these.

Type Uniform Unit Shako Units
Light Inf Green Hussar and Helmet 2o Rto Ligero Cataluña 1 LI
Light Inf Blue Jacket and Bicorn Ligero de Gerona 1 LI

References

Leach, C. (1997). Fields of Glory: Napoleonic Scenarios for Shako Rules. NY: Quantum Printing.

Patridge, R., and Oliver, M. (1998). Battle Studies in the Peninsular, May 1808 – January 1809. London: Constable.

2 thoughts on “Spanish at the Medina de Rio Seco using Shako”

  1. Steve, What colors did the Rto de Covadonga wear? Since they were a new unit were their uniforms faced in red? Noel

    Reply
    • Your guess is as good as mine. Covadonga was raised 27 May 1808, so just after the revolution started. That doesn’t tell us much but does mean they could have worn anything. Most likely options:

      – Regular army uniforms or out dated older style uniforms from military stores (in either case a white uniform)
      – Brown local cloth because it was cheap and available
      – Fanciful uniforms, which were common early in the war, and dreamed up by the guy who formed the unit

      Red was certainly the most common Spanish facing colour throughout the war, but certainly not the only option.

      Reply

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