The Battle of Agincourt demonstrated the superior battlefield tactics of the English archers equipped with longbows and staves over the heavily armored French knights and crossbowmen. The battle involved an English army of about 5,900 troops led by King Henry V against 25,000 French troops led by Charles d’Albert, Constable of France.
The battle began on 25 October 1415 just east of the village of Agincourt, between Abbeville and Calais. While the English army was marching to winter in Calais, Henry’s exhausted and unhealthy troops were met by a numerically superior French force because the French were determined to break the chain of English victories and prevent King Henry V from reaching Calais with his army.
The main fighting took place between the French men-at-arms, who were mounted on horseback and walking on foot, opposing a combined force of English archers and dismounted men-at-arms. The French army initially intended to fight a defense action, but instead attacked down a narrow frontage between two woods, which resulted in a shattering defeat for the French primarily because of the skilled English archers equipped with longbows.
THE LONGBOW VS THE CROSSBOW
The English longbow evolved during the 12th century. By the 13 century, it became the most effective individual missile weapon system of Western Europe until well into the gunpowder age and it was the only foot bow since classical Greco-Roman times to equal the composite re-curved bow in tactical effectiveness and power.
While it was heavily dependent on the strength and competence of its user, the longbow in capable hands was far superior to the ordinary military crossbow in range, rate of fire, and accuracy. The longbow was large, almost two meters from tip to tip, and it was made from springy yew sapling, requiring strength to draw. Its string was made of hemp or silk. Its arrows were accurate and lethal up to the standard practice range of 200 meters. The longbow had a shorter maximum range than the short, stiff composite Turkish or Mongol saddle bows of equivalent draw force, but it could drive a heavy arrow through armor with equal efficiency at medium ranges of 200 meters and maximum ranges of 350 meters.
The longbow’s weakness was the immense amounts of physical strength, time, and energy required to master the weapon system. The skeletal remains of longbow archers reveals the archers have enlarged left arms and damaged wrists and hands from drawing and firing their bows both in training and in battle.
French archers and other European soldiers used the crossbow. Although the crossbow’s arrows did not travel as far as the longbow’s arrows and it had a slower rate of fire, it was easier to fire than a long bow because it required less physical strength to position and aim the arrows. The crossbow’s origins are obscure, but its earliest appearance in Europe was in the technologically advanced Italian cities of the 10th and 11th centuries. The destructive power that made it so feared was derived from the development of the crossbow’s metal components.
BATTLEFIELD ANALYSIS AND TACTICS
The battle of Agincourt began when Henry led his troops forward into bowshot range, where their long-range archery provoked the French into an attack. A few flanking French cavalry unites charged the English archers, but were repelled by arrows and pointed staves placed in front of the English archers. The main French attack, consisting of heavily armored, dismounted knights, advanced over the soaking wet ground. During the first clash the English line gave way, only to recover later. As more French knights entered the battle, they became so tightly group that they could barely raise their arms to strike a blow. During this decisive point in the battle, Henry ordered his lightly equipped and more mobile English archers to attack with their battle axes and swords. The lightly armed English soldiers hacked down many of the French, and many more were taken prisoner, many of whom were killed on Henry’s orders when another French attack appeared imminent. Finally, the French mounted cavalry reserves launched an ineffective charge, but were repulsed again by English archers and pointed staves.
THE BATTLE’S AFTERMATH AND SIGNIFICANCE
The battle was a calamity for the French. The constable himself, 12 other members of the highest nobility, about 1,500 knights, and approximately 4,500 men-at-arms were slaughtered on the French side, while the English lost less than 450 men. The English had been led brilliantly by Henry, but the confused French tactics had also contributed significantly to their defeat.
The battle tactics employed at Agincourt demonstrated the eclipse of the armored mounted horseman as the decisive medieval weapon. The battle revealed how effective longbow archers were
Eventually, longbow archers would be replaced by musketeers, pike-men, and artillery. In time, cavalry would discovery new tactical roles in reconnaissance operations and as mounted infantry employing shock attacks under specific conditions where they would make their final reincarnation as the main battle tanks of the 20th century.
RELATED SOURCES: Holmes, Richard; Battlefield; Oxford University Press, 2006. Roberts, Andrew and others; The Art of War; Quercus Publication, 2009. Zimmerman, Dwight, D.; The Book of War; Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2008. Zimmerman, Dwight, D.; The Book of Weapons; Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2009.