Read Online WAR CRIMES AND ATROCITIES (True Crime) by Anne Williams, Vivian Head, Janice Anderson - Free Book Online Page A
Ads: Link
would be a battle between the two the next day, the Feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian.
Of the two armies, the English was undoubtedly in the worse condition and the less prepared for a major encounter. It was much smaller than the French force. Henry is generally thought to have had about 900 lightly armed men-at-arms and 5,000 archers, all armed with the English longbow, at his disposal. Many of these men were suffering from dysentery, they had all been underfed for weeks and they were all tired: one military historian has calculated that they had marched about 420 km (260 miles) in 17 days. Nearly 200 years later the playwright William Shakespeare turned this ragged army into an heroically romantic ‘happy few, a band of brothers’ whose actions on ‘Crispin Crispian day’ would be remembered from that day onwards.
French numbers have been less easy to calculate. A generally accepted number is somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000, with the probable total being nearer the former number than the latter. Half the French army was made up of dismounted men-at-arms and the other half consisted of roughly two-thirds mounted knights (cavalry) and one-third crossbowmen and archers.
During the night heavy rain fell on both armies and the ground on which they would be fighting the next day. The English army made its preparations quietly; the French, full of confidence, could be heard eating and drinking, dicing and gambling, the knights resting on bales of straw to keep them above the mud, and their servants bustling to and fro and shouting cheerfully at each other. A rumour went about among the English that there was a brightly painted wagon at the back of the French camp and that in a few days’ time the English king was going to be paraded through Paris in it.
THE BATTLE BEGINS
Next day, 25 October, 1415, both the English and French were up at dawn, moving their armies into position about 914 m (1,000 yds) apart. The French had decided on a battle plan that involved sending their troops into the fight in three waves. To this end, they formed their army into three lines, or ‘battles’, each battle consisting of two ranks of dismounted men, five or six men deep, and a line of horsemen – about 6,000 men in all in each battle. Bodies of 600 cavalry were stationed on each flank. There were well-disposed crossbowmen and gunners among the lines.
Henry, with far fewer fighting men at his disposal, had a single line of men-at-arms, four men deep. The line was divided into three divisions, with wedges of bowmen between them and more archers on the wings, standing behind well-sharpened stakes set in the ground in front of them at an angle carefully calculated to make the enemy turn aside or risk being impaled.
To ensure that no one would forget that his invasion was being carried out in the name of God, Henry had his priests well to the fore before battle was joined, praying continually. He himself received the sacrament before donning his gold-plated helmet, surmounted by a gold, jewel-studded crown, and mounting his horse. Late in the morning, after addressing his troops and reminding them of the justice of his cause and of those back home in England awaiting their return, Henry ordered his army to advance. Once in the centre of the field, the line stopped. The archers hammered their stakes into the ground, and let fly a storm of arrows at the enemy.
The longbow, used by the English much more successfully than other European states, helped Henry V win the Battle of Agincourt so comprehensively. It has been said that, not until the American Civil War, would a weapon with the range and accuracy of the longbow appear on a battlefield. The first French battle into the attack was led by the flanking cavalry, advancing so tightly packed that the knights could not wield their weapons. Their charge broke apart under the hail of arrows, which a well-trained archer could loose off every ten seconds. Many of the horses
Of the two armies, the English was undoubtedly in the worse condition and the less prepared for a major encounter. It was much smaller than the French force. Henry is generally thought to have had about 900 lightly armed men-at-arms and 5,000 archers, all armed with the English longbow, at his disposal. Many of these men were suffering from dysentery, they had all been underfed for weeks and they were all tired: one military historian has calculated that they had marched about 420 km (260 miles) in 17 days. Nearly 200 years later the playwright William Shakespeare turned this ragged army into an heroically romantic ‘happy few, a band of brothers’ whose actions on ‘Crispin Crispian day’ would be remembered from that day onwards.
French numbers have been less easy to calculate. A generally accepted number is somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000, with the probable total being nearer the former number than the latter. Half the French army was made up of dismounted men-at-arms and the other half consisted of roughly two-thirds mounted knights (cavalry) and one-third crossbowmen and archers.
During the night heavy rain fell on both armies and the ground on which they would be fighting the next day. The English army made its preparations quietly; the French, full of confidence, could be heard eating and drinking, dicing and gambling, the knights resting on bales of straw to keep them above the mud, and their servants bustling to and fro and shouting cheerfully at each other. A rumour went about among the English that there was a brightly painted wagon at the back of the French camp and that in a few days’ time the English king was going to be paraded through Paris in it.
THE BATTLE BEGINS
Next day, 25 October, 1415, both the English and French were up at dawn, moving their armies into position about 914 m (1,000 yds) apart. The French had decided on a battle plan that involved sending their troops into the fight in three waves. To this end, they formed their army into three lines, or ‘battles’, each battle consisting of two ranks of dismounted men, five or six men deep, and a line of horsemen – about 6,000 men in all in each battle. Bodies of 600 cavalry were stationed on each flank. There were well-disposed crossbowmen and gunners among the lines.
Henry, with far fewer fighting men at his disposal, had a single line of men-at-arms, four men deep. The line was divided into three divisions, with wedges of bowmen between them and more archers on the wings, standing behind well-sharpened stakes set in the ground in front of them at an angle carefully calculated to make the enemy turn aside or risk being impaled.
To ensure that no one would forget that his invasion was being carried out in the name of God, Henry had his priests well to the fore before battle was joined, praying continually. He himself received the sacrament before donning his gold-plated helmet, surmounted by a gold, jewel-studded crown, and mounting his horse. Late in the morning, after addressing his troops and reminding them of the justice of his cause and of those back home in England awaiting their return, Henry ordered his army to advance. Once in the centre of the field, the line stopped. The archers hammered their stakes into the ground, and let fly a storm of arrows at the enemy.
The longbow, used by the English much more successfully than other European states, helped Henry V win the Battle of Agincourt so comprehensively. It has been said that, not until the American Civil War, would a weapon with the range and accuracy of the longbow appear on a battlefield. The first French battle into the attack was led by the flanking cavalry, advancing so tightly packed that the knights could not wield their weapons. Their charge broke apart under the hail of arrows, which a well-trained archer could loose off every ten seconds. Many of the horses
Similar Books
