Henry V: The Background, Strategies, Tactics and Battlefield Experiences of the Greatest Commanders of History Paperback (13 page)

A monument to the dead

of the battle of Agincourt

(or Azincourt) stands just

outside the village of

Maisoncelle, along

with a map detailing the

events of the battle.

(Author's collection)

Mtmwm

m igit

of the almighty, protected the English. All the glory be given to her not us.

St Maurice took Harfleur, St Crispin carried the battle of Agincourt/ This has

an interesting parallel in later history when the author Arthur Machen

published an account of the battle of Mons on 29 September 1914 that has

the archers of Agincourt assisting the British Expeditionary Force in the field.

Though intended as a fiction, many took this as a true account of events.

With the battle won and the French dispersed, Henry withdrew with his

forces to Maisoncelle for the night before undertaking a three-day trek

to Calais, where he waited for a fortnight before returning to Dover on

16 November and then London where his great victory was duly celebrated

in some style.

This was in fact just one step in the process of conquest that would carve

out a Lancastrian kingdom in France, and the hardest part was yet to come.

37

Above: These two views

The conquest of Normandy

of the battlefield are

Shakespeare moves swiftly from the aftermath of the battle of Agincourt to the

taken from Rousseauville,

signing of the Treaty of Troyes; in reality five years separated these two events,

which lay to the rear of

and much of that time would be spent in hard campaigning. From the start

the French camp. The first

of his second expedition to France in July 1417 to the time of his death in

Looks towards Agincourt

1422, Henry spent only five months in England - the rest of the time he was

on the right, while the

in France, and mostly on campaign.

second looks towards

Tramecourtto the left.

The woods narrowed the

space available for the

French advance and

provided protection

for the English flanks.

(Author's collection)

One of the principal

targets of Henry's

campaign in 1417 was

Caen, Normandy's second

town. This structure,

the Exchequer Hall in

the Ducal Castle, built

by Henry I in the

12th century, is the

only surviving structure

of the medieval castle.

(Author's collection)

38

English campaigns in France, 1 4 1 7 - 2 0

N

s

-

r~\ y

1417

1 August

Touques

18 August

Siege of Caen

1420

4 September Surrender of Caen

1419

21 May

Treaty of Troyes

October

Exmes

13 January

Surrender of Rouen

2 June

Marriage of Henry

October

S6es

30 July

Pontoise

24 June

Montereau-sur-Yonne

October

Argentan

September

Mantes

13 July

Siege of Melun

1 December Siege of Falaise

23 September Gisors

18 November Fall of Melun

1 December Henry V's entry into Paris

Cherbourg®

• d : Valognes*

Carentan®

Coutances®

The Tour Leroy formed

Avranches

Aregentan

Domfront

part of the medieval

1418

Alengon

Troyes

16 February

Fall of Falaise

fortifications of Caen,

20 May

£vreux

23 June

Louviers

standing on the banks

20 July

Pont de I'Arche

30 July

Blockade of Rouen

of the river Odon, now

Angers

Beaufort-en-Vallee

• •

^0<5m

Dijon

Tours

covered over. It was

connected by a chain to a

tower on the other bank of

During 1416 Henry entertained the Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund, who, the Odon and formed part

in a sign of how far Henry's status had risen following his victory at Agincourt, of the wall of the old town.

signed the Treaty of Canterbury with the English king on 15 August 1416, (Author's collection)

which acknowledged Henry's 'just rights' in France. Following this

the King and Emperor met with the Duke of Burgundy in Calais, at

which point an extension of the Anglo-Burgundian truce for six

months was agreed, and further concessions were hinted at. An

agreement was also reached with the Duke of Brittany in April 1417

that would keep the Bretons out of the forthcoming campaign.

Henry could now prepare for his forthcoming campaign, with

parliament and church both providing generous subsidies for the

military expedition, while Henry borrowed against his crown jewels

once more. In February, Henry ordered feathers plucked from geese

throughout England and sent to the Tower of London, and by July

his preparations were complete.

Arguably the most important victory of the whole campaign

was fought and won in Henry's absence. His brother, John, Duke

of Bedford, defeated a French fleet in the Seine Estuary on

22 July 1416; this safeguarded the English conquest of Harfleur

and broke the French blockade of the port, thus enabling Henry

to have a solid base of supply when he launched his campaign

the following year.

39

The remnants of the keep

of the Ducal Castle, Caen.

The centrepiece of the

fortifications of Caen - the

keep - was built by

William the Conqueror

from 1060 onwards.

(Author's collection)

Henry's force was remarkably similar in size to that taken across for the

Agincourt campaign - as many as 12,000 strong with the balance of forces

One of the entrances to

heavily in favour of archers. The men were all contracted to serve for a year,

the Ducal Castle at Caen.

and the invasion fleet set sail on 30 July, landing in France on 1 August at

Although the town of Caen

Touques, capturing the castle there within four days, the first step in a

fell to the English on 4

programme of conquest that would enable Henry to recover 'his' Duchy of

September amidst great

Normandy. The principal target of the early days of his campaign was the

slaughter, the castle held

town of Caen, which along with Rouen was the most important town in

out for a further 16 days

Normandy and a vital administrative centre. Henry put the town under

and could have held out

siege on 18 August and, with the walls having been breached by his artillery,