The Battle of Agincourt
October 25, 1415 (St. Crispin’s Day)
Henry V, King of England, and, according to him, of France, invaded
France on August 13, 1415 to claim by force his French Kingdom. He first
laid siege to the port of Harfleur in classic medieval style complete
with primitive cannons (bombards), trenches and ramparts encircling the
town’s walls. Harfleur finally fell on September 22 and on October 8
Henry’s small, sick army of only 5,000 archers and 1,000 men-at-arms
began a 200-mile march to Calais.
The main French army started from Rouen in pursuit of the English. On
October 24 Henry’s scouts spotted the French army near the little river
Ternoise completely blocking the path to Calais. Henry now had no choice
but to give battle to the far larger French army of 20,000-30,000.
October 25th dawned cold and wet with the French army drawn up between
the villages of Tramecourt on their left flank and Agincourt on their
right, forming an impassable seal to the route to Calais. They were only
able to deploy across a ¾ mile front due to the woods that fringed the
two villages. The French formed up in three massive divisions with the
first two consisting of dismounted men-at-arms with cavalry on their
flanks and a third division consisting entirely of cavalry. Crossbowmen
and archers were to be formed up to the front of the divisions.
The French planned to shower the English with arrows then move in with
the flanking cavalry to take out the archers of the English army as the
French men-at-arms moved in to dispatch the English men-at-arms. A
perfect plan and one that would have worked had the French nobles waited
their turn. Unfortunately, they believed the English would be dispatched
before they could get into the fray so they elbowed their way forward in
line until the archers found themselves pushed to the rear where they
were ineffective.
The English army was formed up between the woods at the other end of the
field, about 1,000 yards from the French. By 11a.m. the English could
wait no longer for a French advance, Henry’s troops were tired and weak
from dysentery and the long, wet march, so they advanced to within
200-250 yards of the French position. At this point the English archers
halted and pounded in pointed wooden stakes in front of their positions
to keep the French cavalry at bay.
The English advance threw the French into confusion and precipitated the
premature charge of the French heavy cavalry. The cavalry advanced
slowly in the mud and under a hail of arrows. They tried to outflank the
English but were hemmed in by the woods and forced to continue with a
frontal assault. They quickly found themselves impaled upon the stakes
and under a constant, withering fire by the archers. The English line
held and what was left of the French cavalry was forced to withdraw.
The first French division of men-at-arms lumbered forward after the
failure of the cavalry assault. The English arrows took their toll but
the French finally closed with the English men-at-arms. Many French
nobles had already been killed by arrows and by their comrades, as the
line pushed forward many men fell and were trampled and suffocated to
death in their armor. Initially the impact of the French advance drove
the English line back 12 feet but they quickly recovered as the English
men-at-arms and archers joined the fray with clubs, axes, and swords
easily dispatching the tightly packed columns of French knights.
As the first French division was being dispatched the remaining English
archers kept up a heavy hail of arrows on the advancing second French
Division of men-at-arms. The knights in the second division saw what had
happened to their comrades and began leaving the field before engaging
the English. This left the mounted French third division as the last
hope for the French to snatch a victory from defeat. Attacking the
English archers was more than they could contemplate and they too began
drifting away through the Tramecourt Woods. The English interpreted this
movement as a potential threat with the French moving through the woods
and possibly threatening the English rear. This news coupled with
reports that the English baggage train had been attacked led Henry to
order the deaths of all the prisoners, as there simply were not enough
left to guard the prisoners and fend off another attack. Many were
killed but English knights who were horrified by this order saved some.
By the end of the day between 7,000 and 10,000 French had perished and
only 500 English. Henry and his army went on to Calais and back to
England with a number of French nobles to ransom back. It was an
incredible English victory that would go down in the annals of warfare.
Synopsis provided and produced by Forward March
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