It is close to noon on a damp autumn day,
not far from the castle of Agincourt. The French army, led by Constable Charles
d’Albret, stared down the invaders, eager to punish them for pillaging and burning their
lands. The English, led by King Henry V, were outnumbered,
hungry, and sick. Many of them anticipated that on this day,
they would die. Then, as one, they knelt in prayer. Every man kissed the ground and took a piece
of dirt to chew in his mouth. When they rose to their feet, the English
were ready to sell their lives dearly, to triumph or die… With the formidable town of Harfleur now under English
control, King Henry faced a dilemma. His strategic goal were the urban centers
and fortifications of northern France, which, once conquered, would serve as bases from
where his troops and administrators could subjugate and tax the surrounding countryside,
to pay off the war effort. This plan gained widespread support from the
people and the magnates, and large sums were borrowed to finance the campaign, in part
through parliamentary taxation. But the siege of Harfleur proved costly. The English army was worn down by casualties
and disease, and winter was just around the corner. Worse, reports came of French forces being
assembled near Rouen. It was clear that Henry’s ambitious plans
had to be put on hold. At a council meeting, the King was advised
to garrison Harfleur and sail back to England so his troops could recover. But Henry knew that conquering the principal
northern French port alone, would not produce a sense of victory and authority he needed
to secure his position at home, nor would it cover the vast borrowings for the campaign. Ignoring his councilors, Henry led his forces
out of Harfleur, planning a swift mounted march to Calais. He sent orders to governor William Bardolph,
to ride to the Somme estuary, and secure the crossing point for the incoming English army. Henry’s advisers argued that sailing through
the Channel would be safer, but the king wanted to demonstrate that he could pillage northern
France with impunity – lands that he claimed were his. However, upon learning of Henry’s departure
from Harfleur, the Constable of France, Charles d'Albret, went after him. He urged local nobles to mobilize their retinues
and help contain the invaders west of the Somme, where he planned to trap and destroy
them. Three days into the march, the English reached
the river, but there was no sign of Bardolph and his host. Instead, French forces blocked the river crossing. Henry’s plan for a fast campaign had backfired. With the French gathering, the English king
was forced to lead his army upstream to avoid being surrounded. But Charles placed his forces well. Fords and bridges were either heavily guarded
or destroyed. Knowing that Henry would have to move along
the Somme, the Constable of France advanced with the main body towards the flat plains
near Peronne, intending to intercept and give battle to the invaders. French sorties were sent to harass and soften
up the English column. But then, inexplicably, Henry moved away from
the river, heading south east. It has been suggested that during one of the
sorties, some of the French soldiers were captured and interrogated. If intelligence was indeed gathered that Charles
was waiting near Peronne, it would explain Henry’s subsequent move south-east, to avoid
the trap. Far away from Calais and safety, English troops
were dejected by rumors of a possible battle, concerned that they would be easily cornered
and overwhelmed near the river. Then, at last… 11 days into the march, scouts found an unguarded
ford. Once across the Somme, Henry moved around
the French position at Peronne. The journey, however, turned from a fast 230km
march along the coast into a 426km trek across France. The troops were tired… hungry… and sick. And just when he thought that he had evaded
the enemy, French heralds brought an ominous letter. In it, Charles informed Henry that they would
do battle before he reached Calais… The King promptly force-marched his army north-west,
cutting straight towards Calais, in the hope of outrunning the French. But then… scouts rode back at speed with
alarming news. Having learned that the English forded the
Somme, the Constable of France departed from Peronne on the same day, successfully overtaking
Henry, and was now blocking his line of march, near the castle of Agincourt. The English were now cut off from Calais… With no major action taking place on the first
day, the two armies settled in for the night. In the French camp, meals were served and
men yelled out for their servants, pages, and friends, with the noise reaching the English. Some music, played to keep the spirits up,
and loud boasting between soldiers at dinner was not unusual, especially on the eve of
battle. But, in stark contrast, across the field,
Henry instilled absolute discipline, ordering the troops to maintain silence in
the camp. He wanted his men to remain focused and be
on their guard, fearing a possible surprise mounted attack by the French during the night. Insisting that his troops keep their guard
up proved wise, when a mounted French party of men-at-arms and archers suddenly appeared
during the night. They came close enough for there to be a brief
exchange of missiles. A few English archers were reportedly captured,
but without the true element of surprise, the French contingent rode back. Heavy rain and cold weather created miserable
conditions for the men camping out overnight, but the King kept touring the camp, encouraging
the troops ahead of the battle. Next morning, on Saint Crispin’s day, the
French began deploying sometime after first light, while the English army left their tents
well before dawn, as Henry wanted to be the first to deploy, in an effort to show the
enemy that his men were eager to fight. In the light of day, Henry was quick to realize
that the dreadful rain from the night prior created an unexpected opportunity. The soil of the recently ploughed fields,
sown with winter cereals, was not the fine loam of the vineyards of France, but the thick
clay of the Somme that retained much of the rain water, turning the ground into a sticky
quagmire. Aware that this would slow down any attack
by cavalry or infantry, the king formed a defensive line, posting three divisions of
dismounted men-at-arms in the center, with small groups of archers between each division,
and two large contingents of longbowmen on each flank, in a concaved formation. The bowmen fixed sharpened stakes into the
ground in front of them, to disrupt the enemy’s cavalry charge and impale their horses. 200 mounted archers were secretly sent through
the wooded area on the flank, with orders to wait for the signal. This was a risky maneuver, as contingents
of both armies patrolled the area around the battlefield. Meanwhile, Charles and the French leadership
deployed two lines of several thousand infantrymen and dismounted men-at-arms, placing archers
and crossbowmen between the divisions, with contingents of cavalry on the flanks, while
the third line was largely composed of mounted men-at-arms. A few chroniclers mention artillery pieces,
but it appears those played no part in the battle. The size of the two armies is still hotly
debated. Accounting for the losses at Harfleur and
the garrison left to guard the town, Henry was left with around 6,000 troops for the
campaign, comprised of around 1,000 men-at-arms and 5,000 archers. Meanwhile, the notion of a vast French is
out of context of medieval history. Prior to 1415 AD, the last time a French King was able
to muster 15,000 to 16,000 men was in the 1380’s, and these
were drawn from the whole kingdom, while in 1415 AD there was very little recruitment
south of the Loire. The excellent research done by Professor Anne
Curry shows that it would’ve been difficult for the French to field more than 12,000 troops
at Agincourt. Furthermore, contemporary French records of
military financial expenses for the 1415 campaign show that 6,000 men-at-arms and 3,000 archers
were recruited, with additional men assembled in the weeks prior to the battle, for a total
of around 12,000 troops. Still, the French outnumbered the English
up to 2:1, but the biggest difference between the two armies was in the numbers of men-at-arms,
a 5:1 ratio in favor of the French. To learn more on this, links to Anne Curry’s
books and articles from the University of Southampton and FutureLearn are in the sources
below. Both armies were fully deployed by 7:00 am, but the standoff continued for another
three to four hours. The men hurled insults at each other, but – the Constable of France was in no hurry,
and Henry was outnumbered. Neither side wanted to make the first move. However, the English were desperately low
on food and supplies, while the French were well provisioned, with some of the older nobles
suggesting that they should just simply wait and let the English go hungry. And as lunchtime approached around 11:00 am,
many French nobles sent their servants to fetch meals, while others mounted their horses
to trot around and keep them warm. Seeing that the enemy was willing to wait
and starve him out, Henry made a bold decision. He gave the order: “Banners forward!” Archers pulled their hedgehog of sharpened
stakes from the ground and carried them forward to the new battle line. Surprised to see the English line advancing,
French divisions began to sort themselves out. Then came Henry’s signal for the bowmen
hidden in the trees. The 200 archers unleashed on the French! With the arrow volleys came the shouting of
hunting calls, designed to make it seem like the act of shooting at French nobles was no
different than hunting wild hogs in the forest. This was a deep insult for the French nobility
who didn’t even recognize the existence of the 'the lowborn' English archers. Enraged, the French were goaded into advancing
forward! Just when it seemed that the two armies were
charging towards each other, Henry ordered the men to stop once they reached the extreme
longbow range, and the archers quickly went about replanting the sharp wooden stakes in
front of the line. French mounted knights on either flank rode
ahead of the main line, tasked with breaking the large contingents of English archers to
allow the dismounted heavily armored men-at-arms to close in. However, the ploughed muddy field slowed them
down, and they soon rode into a virtual storm of arrows. English and Welsh archers in Henry’s army
carried more powerful bows than those used by their forefathers, and the armor piercing
arrow heads made the weapon much deadlier than its predecessor. The arrow volleys cut down many of the knights. Wounded and frightened horses threw their
riders and galloped from the fray in panic, back towards the main French line, with some
crashing into the incoming infantry, trampling over the men-at-arms and breaking their cohesion. Soon enough, the cavalry charge faltered. Most of the survivors fled back, stumbling
past their comrades in terror, while a few brave men re-joined the attack. The first French division slogged their way
forward through the mud under a constant barrage. Younger, more hotheaded nobles predicted that
the English would be struck with fear by the approach of so many knights and men-at-arms. That they were not was the result of the damage
that their arrows had caused. By the time the French reached the enemy,
they were close to exhaustion, some wounded by arrows. Still, the sheer weight of their numbers pushed
the English back, but at a heavy price. Many French men-at-arms shortened their lances
in anticipation of quickly closing-in on the English. Shorter weapons would’ve given them an advantage
in close quarters, but now the English had a longer reach, jabbing at the less protected
legs and groin of the advancing French. Those mortally wounded fell, and others piled
up on top of them, many still alive who simply fell in the crush. The second French division straggled into
the fight, but this only made matters worse. Pressing the first division from the back
failed to add any momentum to the attack and only caused more confusion in the ranks. With the English line stretched thin, archers
dropped their bows and join the melee, pulling out their swords, axes, hammers, and daggers
to add to the defense of the line. Being more lightly armored, the bowmen maneuvered
their way in the mud much easier, cutting straight into the enemy formation. With no reserves to speak of, King Henry himself
took part in the fighting, as the mauling of the French men-at-arms continued, with
many captured for ransom after the encounter. Within two hours, both sides ran out of steam
and the battle was decided. Those French who survived, staggered back
towards the uncommitted third French division, now uncertain if they should join the fighting. As the English were catching their breath,
a local French lord appeared behind the English line, leading a group of knights and a mob
of peasants. Perhaps their plan was to attack Henry’s
rear, but they soon descended on the English camp, capturing the king’s beddings and
one of his spare crowns. Unsure if the French would regroup and he
would become trapped between two enemy contingents, Henry ordered the slaughter of prisoners to
prevent them from joining a possible third French attack. As the systematic killing of prisoners unfolded,
Henry sent a herald to the third French division, ordering them off the battlefield. The third French line withdrew from the field
soon after. On the English side, casualties are thought
to have been no greater than 600. Earl of Suffolk died, as did the Duke of York
died, trampled to death in the mud. Henry himself defended his badly wounded brother,
the Duke of Gloucester, in the heat of battle. Meanwhile on the French side, five grave pits
were dug, each filled with between 1000 and 1200 dead. Around 5,000 perished, though this number
may have been higher. The Constable of France died in the fighting,
so did the Dukes of Alencon, as well as Boucicaut, along with
many prominent knights and nobles. This most incredible of triumphs had put the
Kingdom of France on its knees… The capture of Harfleur and the victory at Agincourt made Henry V a national hero in a kingdom
only beginning to feel as a nation. In just a few short weeks Henry had risen
to become the diplomatic arbiter of Europe, getting a visit from the King of Hungary, later Holy Roman Emperor,
Sigismund in 1416, with whom he entered into an alliance that would serve him well. Later he returned to France to realize his
plan of conquering Normandy. Rouen, the capital of northern France, surrendered
in 1419. Later that same year, the murder of Duke John
the Fearless secured him a Burgundian alliance. These successes forced the French to agree
to terms outlined in the Treaty of Troyes, in 1420, recognizing Henry as the heir to
the French throne and regent of France. Catherine, King Charles’ daughter, was married
to him. Still a young king, he was now at the height
of his power. But these triumphs would not last as his health
deteriorated during the sieges of Melun and Meaux. Aged only 36, he died at the chateau of Vincennes
in 1422, likely of dysentery.
