Azincourt

During the 100-year war between England and France the army of the English king Henry V landed with 8,000 archers and 2,000 cavalry at Harfleur on August 13, 1415. The siege of this city took Hendrik one third of his army away. Then he went on 7 October to the city of Calais, which he wanted to reach via the coast as quickly as possible.

 

His quest to find a safe crossing over the Somme, the Kwinte and the Ternaas brought him to the high plateau of Azincourt. Between the forests of Azincourt and Tramecourt, he stumbled upon the French army (of King Charles VI) on 24 October, barring the road, more than 20,000 strong. Moreover, the English army was hungry, tired and was plagued by dysentery.

 

Reason for the battle

The battle was fought in an open passage between the two mentioned forests. On the night of the 24th, both armies rested, but the British enjoyed only little shelter from the heavy rain. Early on the morning of the 25th, Henry set up his army (about 1,000 mounted cavalry, 6,000 archers, and a few thousand other foot soldiers). The English left flank stood on the leadership of Camoys, the right flank under the Duke of York, and the center under Henry himself.

 

Here each group formed its own small army, with the (discarded) cavalry in the middle, archers on the flanks and advanced groups of archers. The French lined up in three rows, with considerable space. Although they were three to four times as numerous as the English, the site prevented them from making full use of it. Because of the heavy rainfall, the soil was extremely muddy, so that they could not put their artillery in position. Their crossbowmen were behind the knights and other cavalry.

 

Start of the fight

During the first three hours after sunrise it remained quiet. When Hendrik noticed that the French did not intend to attack, he ordered his army to advance in the passage between the woods. The English archers dug out the stakes (defense against knight-charges) and opened the strike with salvo’s of arrows. The French knights, undisciplined and carefree in spite of the lessons of Crécy and Poitiers, were promptly stimulated in this way, and their cavalry rose on horseback for a charge, only to be driven back in confusion.

 

The French marshal led the front line, dismounted, with their heavy armor through the mud to the English line. Despite the mud and the English arrows they reached the English line, where they got into a fight with the English cavalry. The thin English defense line was pushed back, and King Hendrik himself was pushed against the ground. The English archers chose this moment to penetrate holes in the now formless French line. The heavily armored French were bothered in their freedom of movement by their large number and the narrow battlefield. They were pushed forward by their fellow fighters from the second line who wanted to take part as quickly as possible. They had no answer to the light armored and agile English soldiers and were killed or imprisoned.

 

The end

The final scene was formed by a half-hearted attack by a group of French people who had fled before. King Hendrik, afraid that his large group of prisoners might escape, ordered them to be killed. Some of the French prisoners were burned alive in a hut where they had sought refuge. The slaughter stopped when the attackers left. The British would have lost 12 cavalrymen (including the Duke of York Eduard of Norwich, grandson of Eduard III of England) and about 100 infantry man.

 

As usual at that time, the body of the fallen duke was cooked so that his bones could be taken to England. The French lost 5000 nobles, including the French marshal, 3 dukes (among them Anton of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant and Limburg) and 90 barons (including Jan van Alençon); 1000 others were imprisoned, including Duke Charles of Orleans.