Battle of Agincourt 1415 A.D.

English – Lead by: Henry V   Numbers: 5,900    Casualties: 112 dead, unknown woundedFrench – Lead By: Charles d’Albret    Numbers: 30,000    Casualties: 10,000(mostly killed)

Henry V and his troops were marching to Calais to embark for England when he was intercepted by French forces which greatly outnumbered his. The battle was fought in the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of Tramecourt and Agincourt. The French army was positioned by d’Albret at the northern exit so as to block the way to Calais. The night of 24th October was spent by the two armies on open ground, and the English had little shelter from the heavy rain. Early on the 25th, It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, men-at-arms and knights in the centre, and at the very centre roughly 200 archers. The English men-at-arms in plate and mail were placed shoulder to shoulder four deep. The English archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes called palings into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off.

The English army contained approximately 1,000 men-at-arms; using the lowest detailed French estimate the French army contained 16,000 men-at-arms (1,200 of which were mounted). Several French accounts emphasise that the French leaders were so eager to defeat the English that they insisted on being in the vanguard. The French were arrayed in three lines called “battles”. Waurin says there were 8,000 men-at-arms, 4,000 archers and 1,500 crossbowmen in the vanguard, with two wings of 600 and 800 mounted men-at-arm. The main battle was slightly larger. Containing 8,000 men-at-arms, 4500 archers, and 1500 crossbowmen. The total French army size was 30,000. The rearguard played little or no part in the battle however, with English and French accounts agreeing that a significant proportion of the French army fled after seeing so many French nobles killed and captured in the fighting.

The Fighting

Within bowshot from the French line , the longbowmen dug in their palings, and then opened the engagement with a barrage of arrows. The French cavalry charged the longbowmen, but it was a disaster, with the French knights unable to outflank the longbowmen (because of the encroaching woodland) and unable to charge through the palings that protected the archers.

The constable himself led the attack of the dismounted French men-at-arms. Such heavy armour allowed them to close the 300 yards or so to the English lines while being under heavy fire. However they had to lower their visors and bend their heads to avoid being shot in the face, which restricted both their breathing and their vision, and then they had to walk a few hundred yards through thick mud, wearing armour which weighed 50–60 pounds. The French men-at-arms reached the English line and actually pushed it back, with the longbowmen continuing to fire until they ran out of arrows and then dropping their bows and joining the melee. When the English archers, using hatchets, swords and other weapons, attacked the now disordered and fatigued French, the French could not cope with their unarmoured assailants. The exhausted French men-at-arms are described as being knocked to the ground and then unable to get back up. As the mêlée developed, the French second line also joined the attack, but they too were swallowed up, with the narrow terrain meaning the extra numbers could not be used effectively, and French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in their thousands.

The Aftermath

Due to a lack of reliable sources it is impossible to give a precise figure for the French and English casualties. However, it is clear that though the English were considerably outnumbered, their losses were far lower than those of the French. The French suffered heavily. The constable, three dukes, five counts and 90 barons all died. Estimates of the number of prisoners vary between 700 and 2,200, amongst them the Duke of Orléans and Jean Le Maingre, Marshal of France. Almost all these prisoners would have been nobles, as the less valuable prisoners were slaughtered.