Henry V: The Background, Strategies, Tactics and Battlefield Experiences of the Greatest Commanders of History Paperback (9 page)

army was being assembled, but was told that it was too soon for them to

intervene, and so Harfleur was lost. The
Gesta Vita Henrici
describes the

events of the surrender on Sunday 22 September:

And when, neither at the appointed hour on the following Sunday nor before,

the French king, the Dauphin, or anyone else had offered to raise the siege, our

king straightaway ascended his royal throne, over which was spread cloth of

gold and fine linen, in a pavilion at the top of the hill in front of the town, and

he was attended by men of high rank, his magnates and nobles, in large number

and wearing their richest apparel; and to his right, carried on a staff by Sir Gilbert

Umfraville, was his triumphal helm bearing his crown. From the town there

came into his presence the aforesaid [Raoul], Sire de Gaucourt, accompanied by

those persons who had previously sworn to keep the agreements, and he restored

to the king the keys of the town and at the same time surrendered himself and

the townspeople to his mercy.

Henry himself didn't enter the town until Monday 23 September, when he

came barefoot and walked to the parish church to pray for his victory.

The surviving men-at-arms and knights from the garrison were paroled

to surrender to the king at Calais on 11 November to be ransomed, and

the townspeople were allowed to keep their possessions (though not

their property) if they swore obedience to Henry; those who did not

were held for ransom while all of the poorest were expelled. The town of

Harfleur was to be remade with English colonists.

Henry had his conquest, but it

had come at a price. As many as

2,000 of his men had perished

of dysentery with as many as

2,000 more having to be sent

home, including his brother,

Thomas, Duke of Clarence, and

one of his senior commanders,

Thomas, Earl of Arundel, who died

on 13 October back in England.

Henry had also decided to

garrison Harfleur strongly, leaving

some 1,200 men, 900 archers

and 300 men-at-arms under the

command of Thomas Beaufort,

Earl of Dorset. This all ensured that

his force was greatly reduced from

the 12,000 or so that had crossed the channel with him. A number of Edward III accepts the

different chroniclers list the figures of 900 men-at-arms and 5,000 archers surrender of the burghers accompanying the king on the campaign after the siege of Harfleur, though of Calais in 1347, Led by this may be on the low side, and Anne Curry has estimated that the force Eustache de Saint-Pierre.

with Henry was a few hundred men either side of 9,000. On 27 September This is a manuscript

Henry challenged (through Raoul de Gaucourt) the Dauphin, Louis, to illustration from the

a personal duel to settle the issues between the English and French
Chroniques
of Jean

monarchies, and while waiting for a response that was never to come Henry Froissart, and shows the planed his next move. The letter to Bordeaux of 3 September had stated aftermath of a medieval

that Henry would advance through Normandy before going on to Paris. siege such as that at

This was now impossible due to his straightened circumstances, but he had Harfleur. Following its

the option of heading south-west towards Bordeaux and home, much as capture by Edward III,

Clarence had done in 1412, or heading through his Duchy of Normandy Calais proved to be the

towards Calais. Against the wishes of his council he chose this latter option. most long-lasting English base in France, only finally

The march to Agincourt

falling to the French in

Between 6 and 8 October (the date varies between the sources) Henry and the 1558. (akg-images/

remnants of his army left Harfleur for their march to Calais. The journey was Erich Lessing)

supposed to take eight days, which sounds optimistic considering the distance

was 232km (144 miles). The journey was contested along the way almost

immediately, with a party of crossbowmen coming out of Montvilliers

(5km [3 miles] north of Harfleur) to skirmish with the army, a pattern that

was to be repeated along the march. The English army was organized into

three battles, as was customary, with the vanguard under the command of

Sir Gilbert Umfraville and Sir John Cornwall, while the King himself, along

with Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Sir John Holland led the main body,

while the Duke of York and Earl of Oxford led the rearguard. The army passed

Fecamp on the 9th, and French chroniclers accuse the English of sacking the

abbey there. On the 11th they reached the town and castle of Arques, just

25

inland from Dieppe, and Henry managed to acquire some supplies for his

army through intimidating the garrison of the castle with the threat of sacking

their town and fortifications. This policy again proved effective at his next

stop, the town of Eu on 12 October when, following a skirmish, the French

again submitted and provided supplies of bread and wine. Henry's intention

was to cross the river Somme at Blanchetaque, where Edward III had forced

a crossing during the Crecy campaign in 1346. He had even ordered a force

of 300 men southwards out of Calais to secure his passage. However,

here he found his crossing opposed on 13 October and had to make new

arrangements, as Tito Livio, author of the
Vita Henrici Quinti
of c.1438

describes: Then the English reached the passage of the River Somme which

the French called Blanchetaque. Because it had been defended in advance by

the enemy by means of sharp stakes fixed close together, it allowed the

English no chance of crossing. Thus they had to move upstream in search

of another crossing/

Although the French had been slow to react to the English siege of Harfleur

they had now decided to make their move. Charles d'Albret, the Constable of

France, and Marshal Boucicaut had commanded observation forces during

the siege of Harfleur at Honfleur and Caudebec respectively. Following the

fall of Harfleur they had returned to Rouen where a French army was being

assembled, with both the King and Dauphin arriving there by 12 October.

They had then formed part of an advance guard, as large as 6,000 strong, that

had crossed the Somme, based itself at Abbeville and now denied the crossing

to Henry and his army.

Henry was now forced to turn inland in an attempt to find an unguarded

crossing point so he could resume his march on Calais, though he now knew

that his supplies would not last the distance. The English force followed the

river Somme south-eastwards, skirting around the fortified city of Abbeville,

which held substantial French forces, who were also shadowing the English

progress along the other bank of the Somme. On the 15th they passed the

city of Amiens, while on the 16th they reached Boves, where Henry was able

to gain supplies for his army by threatening to sack the place, much as he had

done at Arques and Eu earlier in the march. The following day the army

pushed on towards Corbie, where there was a large-scale sortie by the French

against the English column. This was pushed back and French prisoners

taken, from whom Henry learnt something of the French battle plans and

sought to counter them to some extent, as the
Gesta Henrici Quinti
relates:

Meanwhile as a result of information divulged by some prisoners, a rumour went

the rounds of the army that the enemy command had assigned certain

squadrons of cavalry, many hundreds strong and mounted on barded horses,

to break the formation and resistance of our archers when they engaged us in

battle. The king, therefore, had it proclaimed throughout the army that every

archer was to prepare and fashion for himself a stake or staff, square or round,

but six feet long, of sufficient thickness, and sharpened at both ends; and he

commanded that whenever the French army drew near to do battle and to break