Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a conflict spurred by the Battle of Hastings. For the next couple centuries after Hastings, the English built up their holdings, taking Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, but what was going on in France? The English nobles remembered the good old days when their grandparents owned Normandy. They set out to regain control of Normandy and much of France. The English built up their French possessions until it got to a point where England controlled more than half of present day France. In 1333, Edward III went to war with King David II of Scotland, a French ally (Auld alliance). The French king Philip thought this would be a great time to retake Gascony, in South west France. At the beginning of the war France had a population of well over 14 million, and England had a population of about 2 million. The French were well poised to use their larger population in a time here the amount counted more, and for every death the French had, an English death dealt England seven timed the blow because there where less English men to fight. As you can see the English were horribly out-numbered, despite this however, they were successful in conquering most of France. In 1336, Philip made plans for an expedition to restore David to the Scottish throne, and to also seize Gascony. Open hostilities broke out as French ships began ravaging coastal settlements on the English Channel in England's colonies in France. In 1337 Philip tried to reclaim Gascony, citing feudal law and saying that Edward had broken his oath (a felony) by not attending to the needs and demands of his lord. Edward III replied by saying he was in fact the rightful heir to the throne of France, and the war started. The Hundred Years' War, lasting from 1337 until 1453, was actually 116 years. The French lost for most of the war until they were saved at the last minute by a schizophrenic Joan of Arc. After a while the English lost most of their territory to the much larger French army led by Joan of Arc. Scotland went to war at the worst possible time and France united. Despite England once and for all defeating Scotland this didn't come soon enough and she lost almost, but not all of her French colonies. England still controlled Calais for about another century. British royalty still claimed the throne of France until 1801 during the act of Union when Ireland stopped being a colony and became part of the United Kingdom. In fact, the French didn't win a major battle until about 84 years into the war. And didn't start winning multiple battles until Joan of Arc came. After England, which had taken over most of France, left they still controlled territory. When the war ended England still controlled Calais for more than a century (which she held until 1558 when France took the decaying city while England was preoccupied with in the Italian wars).
First before we get into the battles here is my reasoning for why the war was not a British military loss:
The war was fought for 2 reasons:
1) Who the rightful heir to the throne of France was
2) England wanted land in France.
England gained land and claimed the French throne until 1801. Also the French king tried to restore David II to the Scottish throne, as you should know that was a failure. After Agincourt by 1420, with most of Northern, and other parts of France being under English hegemony, King Charles VI designated Henry V regent and heir to the kingdom of France and said Henry's son was going to be the next king in the Treaty of Troyes. When both of them died in 1422 Henry's son was crowned King Heny VI of England and France. Many French people didn't acknowledge this and pladged their alligence to the Dauphin (eldest son of the King) Charles VII, but it happened all the same. So England captured the throne of France, AND had more land (Calais), just what she set out to do. Sounds like an English victory to me!
First French Campaign
Battle of Sluys
The naval Battle of Sluys, fought on 24 June 1340, was the first major battle of the Hundred Years' War. King Edward III of England led at most 250 ships, many of which were undoubtedly mere transports, for the king brought with him the household of Philippa of Hainault, his Queen consort, who was then at Bruges. Edward was against a French fleet of at least 190 ships led by Hugues Quiéret and Nicolas Béhuchet. The battle was fought with long hand-to-hand conflicts to board ships or to repulse the boarders. King Edward makes no mention of any actual help given him by his Flemish allies (which compromised 50 of his ships that had joined after dark according to the French), though he says they were willing. The Genoese Barbavera advised his colleagues to go to sea, but Béhuchet, who as constable exercised the general command, refused to depart the anchorage. He most likely desired to occupy it in order to stymy the king's ability to go to Bruges. The battle ended with the virtual annihilation of the French fleet. Quiéret was slain, and Béhuchet is said to have been hung by King Edward's orders. On the morning of twenty-fifth Barbavera escaped to sea with his squadron, carrying off two English prizes. English chroniclers postulate that the victory was won with small cost of life, and that the loss of the French was 30,000 men. Modern estimates bent on lessening England's glory have put it at at least 20,000 Frenchmen despite the fact that 30,000 was the number said by both French and Englishmen for nearly 660 years.
Battle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy (1346), the second great battle of the war, was a battle in which an English army of approximately 12,000 men, commanded by Edward III of England reigned victorious against a mammoth French force under the command of Philip VI of France, whose force was approximately 40,000 Frenchmen. Edward III was victorious as a result of superior weaponry and tactics. As much as a third of French soldiers fell. English casualties were between 150 to 900 men killed or wounded. On the other hand French casualties are between 10,000 and 20,000 killed or wounded. Edward III planted his forces in an area of flat agricultural land, surrounded by natural obstacles. The king took over a windmill on a small hill, and placed himself and his staff there, where he could control the course of the battle. Edward III distributed the army between three groups (one of which his sixteen-year-old son the Black Prince command), and ordered that everybody should fight on foot in a strong defensive position. The army's secret weapon, the longbow-men, were formed in a "V-formation" along the crest of the hill. The overconfident French army, commanded by Philip VI, was in a horrible state of disarray. Philip stationed his Genoese mercenary crossbow-men in the front line, with the cavalry in the back. The French cavalry organized in rows and charged after the crossbow-men's miserable performance. At that time, the longbow-men rained a shower of arrows upon the knights. Even after 16 attempts, the French onslaught could not break the English formation, and they beheld dismaying losses. At nightfall, Philip VI, himself wounded, ordered the retreat. It was a disastrous and mortifying defeat for France, but out of the ordinary.
Battle of Neville's Cross
At the Battle of Neville's Cross on October 17, 1346, in Northern valiantly 3,000-4,000 men from Cumberland, Northumberland, and Lancashire defeated over 12,000 Scots who where trying to invade England to lessen France's invasion woes from the English in Northern France, thinking that the North of England would be virtually unprotected due to Edward III's campaign in France. David II of Scotland commanded the Scottish troops, the Archbishop of York commanded the English. There were another 3,000 Yorkshire-men on the way, but the Archbishop didn't bother waiting for them. Scottish losses where very high, and English losses were minimal.
Siege of Calais
The Siege of Calais began in 1346 and lasted 11 months (September 4, 1346 - August 3, 1347). Edward III led 33,900 men (2,000 of which were Flemish) against Jean de Fosseux and his 8,000 men. It happened because Edward needed to seize a defensible outpost where his army could regroup, and be re-supplied, and he chose Calais. French losses where high in this decisive English victory.
Battle of Poitiers
Edward, the Black Prince led Anglo-Gascon forces on a great "chevauchée" (raid) north from the English base in Aquitaine starting on August 8, 1356, in efforts to relieve allied garrisons in central France. His forces burnt down town after town, and did something Napoleon would later do, lived off the land. However, due to a heavy down-pour, when he reached the River Loire at Tours, his army was unable to burn the castle. This allowed King John II of France to try and defeat his army. On September 19, 1356, The Battle of Poitiers was fought by an Anglo-Gascon force of 9,000, under The Black Prince that vanquished a French force of 12,000, under John II of France, who lost over 2,000 men. The decisive French defeat led to England demanding France pay an impossible sum, equivalent to twice the country's G.D.P., as ransom to have back her king. He would eventually die a prisoner in England because his countrymen valued their money more than him.
Battle of Auray
The Battle of Auray was engaged on September 29, 1364. This battle decisive part of the Breton War of Succession. The battle started as a siege in which the duke John de Montfort with his Brenton troops, helped by English forces under Sir John Chandos, defeated his rival Charles of Blois, whose Brenton troops were helped by the French. The Anglo-Brenton victory ended the war of succession and by the treaty of Guérande, in 1365, in which the king of France recognized John of Montfort as duke of Brittany.
Minor French Victories
Just before New Year's Day 1370, the English Seneschal of Poitou, John Chandos, was killed. The loss of this commander was a significant blow to the English. The Breton commander Bertrand du Guesclin, who went over to the side of Charles V, carried on a series of careful campaigns, being careful to avoid any major English field forces, capturing a quite a few towns, including Poitiers in 1372 and Bergerac in 1377, until his death in 1380. He was definitely one of the most successful French generals in the whole war, especially due to the fact that he made sure not to confront any English forces of any power.
The Reviving of the Claim
Upon the death of Edward III, because of the untimely death of his son, his 10-year-old grandson Richard II was left King of England in1377. The Hundred Years' War fell into inactivity and France gained many of her possessions back. It was not until Richard had been deposed by his cousin, Henry IV of England, in 1399, that the English under the House of Lancaster would vigorously revive their assertion to the throne of France. Henry IV made plans for campaigns in France, but was unable to complete them due to his short reign.
On April 10th , 1413 a young dynamic Prince was crowned King Henry V of England. Henry had served his father, Henry IV, in battle from the age of sixteen. He fit the role superbly with his gallant bravery and cunning shown on the battlefield, and intelligence and manners on the throne. Immediately after he directed his attention towards France, and his rightful claim to the French throne. Unbeknownst to the French, their biggest nightmare was about to arrive. On August 11th , 1415 Henry and his army set sail for France. They landed at Harfleur, the greatest port in Normandy. Thus began the siege of Harfleur. The weather became very damp, and disease soon absorbed the English camp. The citizens put up surprising resistance, but on September 22nd Harfleur surrendered. The English suffered the loss of nearly two-thousand men at Harfleur, mostly from sickness. Henry decided that the victory was not great enough and planned a 150-mile raiding march across France to English controlled Calais, the greatest port in France.
Battle of Agincourt
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he that sheds his blood with me
Shall be called my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentile his condition.
And gentlemen in England, now abed,
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here;
And hold there manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon St. Crispins's Day.
(King Henry Act IV sc. iii, Henry the Fifth)
The hostile and strange French countryside, slowed down the walk of the English on their 150 mile march to Calais. On the morning of October 25, 1415 the weather was fierce and rainy, a sick, tired, and famished English army of approximately 5,000 archers and 900 men-at-arms under King Henry V, crossed the Sum and defeated a colossal French army made up of between 30,000 and 50,000 Frenchmen (many of which were mounted) that was under the orders of the constable Charles d' Albret. The English had placed themselves on the highest level they could find. The zealous and overly ambitious French troops decided to assault the English lines along the same level of the terrain, where a natural constriction/ bottleneck exists. The accurate English archers began raining arrows on the slow french calvary and troops, which made them turn back. Then the English changed over to swords and lashed out at the French troops, which stunned the French army. In the confusion, the French calvary turned back and trampled on their own troops which slowed because of the mud. At the Battle of Agincourt. English losses were 100-500 soldiers. French losses were 8,000-10,000 with well over 1,600 prisoners. The French court, humiliated and demoralized, was unable to oppose least resistance to the English campaigns during the five years which followed. Henry marched his triumphant to Calais, where they boarded ships to Dover to awaiting crowds of proud English citizens waiting cheer them.
However, Henry was just beginning.
2nd French Campaign
On July 23, 1417, Henry and his army of twenty -thousand returned to France. His force included smiths, carpenters, miners, and pioneers. Henry landed at Toques, not Harfleur like the French expected. He quickly disposed of all who dared stand in his way, easily conquering any resistance. The army moved to the town of Toques, near Castle Bonneville, one of the strongest posts in Normandy. The town was conquered with ease and Henry sent the Earl of Salisbury to the town of Anvillars demanding their surrender, which came quickly. On August 14, Henry left Toques for Caen.
With a population of over forty-thousand people, Caen was one of Europe's largest cities. The Thirty-two towers that fortified Caen, deep-water ditches, as well as the river Odon that protected the cities twelve gates of seven-foot thick walls, all made the citizens feel safe. Within the walls of Caen stood the original structure started by William the Conqueror. The English army of 1,000 men set up camp at the walls of Caen on August 18. English artillery began blasting the town from all sides, only sparing the wall that the magnificent St. Stephens Abby was behind, at the personal request of Henry. On September 4th, the English attacked the city. No Frenchmen were spared, except priests, as the English slaughtered eighteen-hundred men. The towns Lingevres, Tilly-sur-Senlles, Thury-Harcort, Lamotte-de-Cesny, and Bayeux all surrendered at the mere sight of Henry in September alone.
Siege of Rouen
In May of 1418 Henry took Pont de l' Arche, which was 8 miles from Rouen, after he left Bayeux. The possession of Rouen would lead to the possession of all of Normandy. Henry then turned his attention to Rouen, the capture of which would lead to possession of all of Normandy. A militia of 15,000, and 7,000 regular troops guarded Rouen. Before the harvest was ready, Henry led the siege, which led to quick famine. After cannibalism began, 12,000 non-combatants where released by the governor of Rouen, but Henry did not allow them to pass. Many of them starved. Citizens inside the city walls began revolting against their own magistrates as useless talks began with the Dauphin. Finally on January 20, 1419 Henry entered the gates of Rouen. His administration and fairness greatly impressed his Norman subjects. After the conquest of Rouen, Normandy once again under English control, after 200 years of French rule. The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, reached an agreement that split control of France between them on July 29, which infuriated Henry who took to the battlefield at once, attacking the town of Pontoise. Soon after the Duke of Burgundy was strangely murdered, which was by both French and English, believed that the Dauphin had, had a hand in. Charles VI and his queen renounced their son, and stated they would attempt peace with the English.
Treaty of Troyes
In 1420,with most of Northern, and other parts of France being under English hegemony, King Charles VI designated Henry V his regent and gave him his daughter Catherine de Valois' hand in marriage (Philippa of Hainault had died in 1369) in the Treaty of Troyes. The treaty said that the French throne was not to pass to the Dauphin, Charles VII but to his infant nephew, King Henry VI of England when his (Charles VII's) father Charles VI died (which happened in 1422). The almost simultaneous deaths of Henry V and Charles VI led to Henry's infant son to be crowned King Henry VI of England, and France. Most of southern France remained loyal to the Dauphin, Charles VII. Many French refused to acknowledge the English domination, though. After signing the treaty he was in firm control of both England and northern France. Henry again looked to the continent where the Dauphin still lurked somewhere in the south of France.
3rd French Campaign
Battle of Baugé
On March 21,1421, The Battle of Baugé was fought between the English and the Franco-Scots. It was one of the very first defeats for the English, and the first large battle for the English to lose. Thomas, Duke of Clarence led the English army against John Stewart, the Earl of Buchan and Sieur de Lafayette, the Constable of France who led the Franco-Scots. Despite the English having 3,000 men, only 1,500 fought in the battle against the French-Scots' 5,000. This English defeat came 84 years after the war had begun.
Sieges
Henry wasted no time in returning to battle, laying siege to the towns of Sens, Montereau, and Melun. After months of fighting, Melun fell in December of 1421. Henry entered Paris with King Charles and the (new) Duke of Burgundy, where Charles banished the Dauphin for his crimes, formally eliminating Henry's greatest problem. Henry went back to England to see his new bride's coronation at Westminster Abbey on February 24. During Henry's absence in France, the Dauphin began reclaiming the territories Henry possessed.
When Henry returned in June 1421 he was able to take back all of the captured territory in a mere ten weeks. On October 6 Henry laid siege to the town of Meaux, while his son was being born in England. On May 11, 1422 Meaux surrendered. This was Henry's last battle. Henry continued his third campaign his health began to decline. On his way to Cosne-sur-Loire, his illness increased. Henry went to the Bois de Vincennes to rest and recover and put the Duke of Bedford in charge. However, on August 31, 1422, the life of one of Britain's greatest came to an end from acute dysentery and fever. The plunder from the French towns, and the ransoms of the captured nobles is what Henry had used to finance his campaigns.
Battle of Cravant
On July 31, 1423 The Battle of Cravant was fought. The English king was permitted to occupy all the country north of the Loire because of the Treaty of Troyes. Because of his death hostilities resumed. The French army also contained a large number of Scots under Sir John Stewart, who was commanding the entire mixed force. The two sides met at the village of Cravant in Burgundy. The combined English and Burundian force was only 4,000 men led by the 4th Earl of Salisbury where out-numbered more than two-to-one by the French force of 8,000 commanded by the Comte de Vendome. While Salisbury was crossing the waist-high river 50-yard-wide river another English force under Lord Willoughby of Eresby forced a passage through the Scots across the narrow bridge and divided the Dauphin's army. Scots refused to flee and were cut down by the hundreds whilst the French abandoned them and began to withdraw. Over 3,000 of them fell at the bridgehead or along the riverbanks, and, including John Stewart and the Comte de Vendome, over 2,000 prisoners were taken. The Dauphin's forces retreated to the Loire, leaving over 6,000 dead, and many prisoners. English losses where just 600, a tenth of that of the French.
Battle of Verneuil
On the 17th of August 1423, The Battle of Verneuil was fought between an English force compromising between 8,000 and 10,000 men, commanded by John, Duke of Bedford, regent of France and the younger brother of the late Henry V with the Earls of Suffolk and Salisbury as subordinate, and a Franco-Scottish-Italian force under the field command of the Earl of Douglas who also commanded the 6,000-man Scottish contingent, Italian crossbow-men and 2,000 Italian knights. This force was considerably larger than the English, with about 10,000 more people. It was a decisive English victory with French losses amounting to approximately 8,000 men including most of the Scots. The Earl of Douglas was slain.
Siege of Orleans
On October 12, 1428, a force of 5,000 Englishmen led by the Earl of Salisbury, and also the Earl of Shrewsbury, and the Duke of Suffolk confronted a French force led by Joan of Arc that was made up of about 9,399 men and one woman, a 17-year-old peasant girl who was able to persuade Charles VII to let her fight, claiming God had told her to. The Earl of Salisbury's forces began to try and surround the city, and to claim the fortified bridge across the Loire. They seized the bridge on the 24th, but the Earl was killed in the process. The Duke of Suffolk temporarily replaced him as commander, but was replaced later by the Earl of Shrewsbury. The English cannons could not break the thick stone walls, and there weren't enough Englishmen to surround the city. The city's situation was growing desperate despite several supply runs by the French, by spring of 1429. The Dauphin allowed Joan of Arc to lead a relief expedition. After she entered the city and demanded an English withdrawal she was taunted and refused. She claimed the voices she heard in her head told her to attack from the North. So Joan left the city on May first, and aided a French assault on fort St. Loup, which myth has it that she killed all the English defenders and suffered only two French casualties. Joan led the French to victory in a few skirmishes over the next week, seizing the bridge over the Loire and several forts the English had taken. By May 9 the bridge was burned and the English had given up on Orleans. The importance of this battle was that in the weeks that followed volunteers and supplies flooded into the French army, making it even larger than the already outnumbered English army. This was the turning point in the war when the English actually began to lose a few battles. After 91 years the war finally turned in Charles' favour.
Battle of Patay
In 1429 the Battle of Patay was fought between 1,500 elite French Calvary-men under the command of La Hire and Poton de Xaintrailles, against 5,000 Englishmen on foot under Sir John Fastolf. Because of the fact that it was one of France's few victories, and one of the few where the French where actually out-numbered. The only remaining English field army was annihilated, and the course of the war would now turn in the favour of the French being able to drive the English, who had conquered half of France, out. A story goes that "the French frightened a stag, who bolted through the forest and into the English rear guard. Seeing such a prize, the English broke ranks and tried to chase it. The noise of the English rear guard alerted the French, who promptly attacked." After seeing the loss of their rear guard, the English rushed to find a defensive position where they could use their superior archers to advantage. The French keeping in mind their earlier debacles did not let this happen and defeated the English with great force, for a French army, before the disorganised English could attack. This cleared the road to Rheims so that Charles the Dauphin could be crowned King Charles VII of France.
Battle of Compiègne
On May 23, 1430 the Battle of Compiègne was fought between French and Burgundian troops. Joan of Arc led the French in attempting to relieve a Burgundian siege of Compiègne, but failed and was captured while retreating. This would lead to the English having the last laugh with her, executing her for being a witch.
Battle of Gerbevoy
When the English imprisoned Joan at Rouen in 1430, La Hire assaulted the town bent on rescuing her, only to be defeated and captured. After being let go, La Hire defeated the English in the Battle of Gerbevoy in 1435.
Battle of Formigny
The Battle of Formigny (April 15, 1450) was a hard blow the French and Brentons dealt the English. The French under the Comte de Clermont and the Comte de Richemont where compromised of 5,000 men, compared to 4,000 Englishmen under Thomas Kyriell. The French reorganize and reinvigorate their army after the Truce of Tours. Without clear leadership from the weak Henry VI, the English were scattered and dangerously weak. When the French broke the truce in June 1449 they(the Frogs) were in a much better position.
Battle of Castillon
The Battle of Castillon was the last major battle of the Hundred Years' War. It was fought between the French and Bretons against the English. After the French capture of Bordeaux in 1451 the citizens of Bordeaux sent messengers to Henry VI of England demanding he recapture the province because after three centuries of English rule, they considered themselves English. On October 17, 1452, John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury landed near Bordeaux with a force of 3,000 archers and men-at-arms. The French garrison was ejected by the gleeful Bordeaux citizens, who joyfully opened the gates to the English. Most of Gascony followed suit and welcomed the English home. Talbot received another 3,000 men, but this still fell far short of an adequate number to hold back the hordes of Frenchmen scrambling to get in past Gascony's borders. When the French army lay siege to Castillon, Talbot abandoned his original plans (bowing to the pleas of the townsmen) and set out to salvage it. The French commander, Jean Bureau, in fear of Talbot, ordered his 10 to 13,000 men to surround their camp with a palisade and trench, and on the parapet, strategically place his 300 cannons. Talbot advanced to the French camp on 17 July, arriving before his main body of troops with an advanced-guard of 1,300 mounted men. He had given his men a large boost of morale by routing a similar sized force of French archers in the woods before the French encampment. A couple hours after this preluding skirmish, a messenger sent from the town informed to Talbot's resting troops (they had marched through the night) that the French army was in full retreat and that hundreds of horsemen were taking flight from the fortifications. A colossal dust cloud could be seen speeding off into the distance from the town walls. With great haste Talbot reorganized his men and charged down towards the French camp, only to encounter the parapets defended by thousands of fully armed archers and hundreds of cannons.
Surprised but undaunted, Talbot gave the signal to attack the French army that outnumbered his own force six to one. Once the battle commenced, Talbot received a thin trickle of men from his leading foot units. After an hour French reinforcements arrived and charged his right flank. The English army gave way, pursued instantly by the French main body of troops. During the rout Talbot's horse was killed by a cannon ball and he fell trapped beneath it, until a Frenchman wielding a battle-axe recognized him and killed him. Following Henry VI's episode of insanity in 1453 and the subsequent outbreak of the Wars of the Roses, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their armed campaign for the French throne and pulled their troops out of France (except for Calais). (Italicized information is based on the Wikipedia article)
