Hi all,

Following a discussion on Haslach in 1805 and my last visit to Vincennes, I'd like to share the following information.

According to the 9th’s regimental registers the following casualties were incurred at Haslach.

Killed in action: 10
Wounded (recovered from field): 125
Wounded (and made prisoner): 34
Made prisoner: 144

[In addition, 15 officers were wounded, but as yet I have been unable to assign them to their companies - I have therefore ignored them in this analysis]

Conclusion 1: The low mortality rate is surprising given the length of time the 9th light were in action (approx. 5 hours) and the anecdotes about how heavy the fighting was. Perhaps those famous bulletin casualty figures are not so inaccurate after all?

In addition, just 3 men are recorded as having died of their wounds in hospital:

Chasseur 1381, died on 4 Nov 1805 from unspecified head wounds.
Chasseur 1626, died on 4 Nov 1805 from unspecified wound(s).
Chasseur 1395, died on 9 Nov 1805; his leg had been broken by a cannonball.

Conclusion 2: This low mortality rate indicates the medical services were organised and efficient in Dupont’s Division. The number of wounded men who were not captured supports the view Dupont was not pursued off the field, but retained posession of Haslach at nightfall.

Of those wounded:

Wounded by bayonet: 1
Wounded by artillery fire: 6
Gunshot wounds: 135
Sabre cuts: 9
Unspecified wounds: 8

Conclusion 3: The casualties are spread fairly evenly throughout the regiment. Every company sustained casualties, the 1st Bn voltigeurs with the most (30) and the 1st Bn carabineers the fewest with 5. The next worst casualties were in 1 Bn/5 (26) and 2 Bn/3 (25). In other words the elite companies were no more heavily engaged than anyone else.

Conclusion 4: There was very little hand-to-hand fighting; the vast majority of wounds were caused by gunshot. The sabre cuts are most likely to have been inflicted by cavalry against individuals when the 9th retreated from Jungingen.

Conclusion 5: of the gunshot wounds, the most common hit location was in the leg (33 cases). This could indicate the firing was conducted at fairly long range and the balls were losing their flight, which might also explain why so few wounds proved fatal.

Conclusion 6: It is possible that the mortality rate was reduced because the Ninth were able to shelter inside buildings.

Perhaps the most interesting research is to examine those taken prisoner. Again there is a fairly even spread of POWs with only 1 Bn/4 not losing any men as POW during the day.

Given the nature of the battle (we can see there is little hand-to-hand) the POWs would have been lost for two principal reasons:

1. Wounded that could not be evacuated during a retreat.
2. Men who were cut off from the main body.

We have seen 34 of those made POW were already wounded.

Conclusion 7: The fact they were not recovered shows the Ninth lost ground at some point and did not regain it.

The greater quantity (144) fall into the other category – those who were cut off from their comrades. Of these, 7 were recovered / released the same day.

1Bn/V, 1 man
1Bn/1, 3 men
1Bn/2, 3 men

Conclusion 8: we know the village of Jungingen changed hands several times (between 2 and 5 times). The fact these seven men were recovered indicates the French counterattacked fairly quickly, at least before these prisoners could be taken to the rear.

Of the remaining 137 POWs:

3 were musicians
2 were 1Bn/ carabineers
12 were 1Bn/ voltigeurs
49 were 1Bn/ chasseurs
3 were 2Bn/ carabineers
10 were 2Bn/ voltigeurs
58 were 2Bn/ chasseurs

Conclusion 9: it is logical to assume many of these men surrendered because they could not escape. No one particular company appears to have been cut off, so given much of this action was centred around Jungingen village, it is probable these men were cut off because they were inside buildings when the streets were taken by the Austrians. This means the static defence of the village was shared by everyone, not just the centre companies as has previously been suggested.

I think others might share my surprise at the low number of those killed in action. I am fairly confident this figure is accurate. The registers of the regiment were kept up to date and information was still being added to them as late as 1816. I have carried out similar research on several other important battles for this regiment and have found surprising results in each case.

Terry